THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 72 Friday, April 30, 1982 Israel's Flag: The Battle Over the Birth of a Banner By ROBERTA REBOLD World Zionist Press Service — JERUSALEM Jerusalem's Western Wall, the kibutz and the Jaffa orange are all symbols of Is- rael. Any such list is incom- plete, however, without the Magen David or Shield of David, which through its appearance on the Israeli flag has come to represent Jewish people throughout the world. Although today the Is- raeli flag's bold blue Magen David is identified with both Israel and Diaspora Jews, the shield became a popular symbol as far back as the mid-17th Century. At that time the leaders of Jewish communities in Prague and Vienna offi- cially adopted the shield and its usage quickly spread. The family arms of the aristocratic Jewish families Rothschild and Montefiore also included the Magen David. At the end of the last century, the Hibbat Zion movement, an early Zionist group, used for its flag a white rectangle. In its center was a shield of David, composed of stripes forming two triangles. Two horizontal stripes ran along the flag's length, based on a design by David Wolfsohn, who had been inspired by the talit (prayer shawl). A flag of this design was raised to celebrate the third anniversary of Rishon LeZ- ion in 1885. Before it was officially adopted by Israel, this flag was also hoisted at Eilat on the Red Sea during the bloodless climax of the War of Independence on March 10, 1949. Blue and white, the colors of today's Israeli flag also played a part in the Hibbat Zion banner. As they saw it, blue represented the sky of Israel and white the snow of the Diaspora. For Jewish writer Ludwig August Frankl, blue and white were also significant, but for different reasons. In his poem of 1864, "Zivei Erez Yehuda," 85 years be- fore Israel's statehood and the affirmation of its flag, Frankl says: All that is sacred will appear in these colors. White — as the radiance of great faith Blue — like the appearance of firmament. Theodor Herzl, though unaware of the Hibbat Zion flag and Frankl's poem, envisioned his own banner for the Jewish state. In his diary on June 12, 1895, Herzl wrote, "The flag that I am thinking of perhaps is a white flag with seven gold stars. The white back- ground stands for our new and pure life, the seven stars are the seven working hours we shall enter the promised land in the sign of work." One year later Herzl wrote "The Jewish State," in which he proposed the same flag. Later he incorpo- rated the Magen David into his planned flag by placing the six stars on the six ang- les of the shield of David and the seventh above it. About 50 years later, in 1948, when Herzl's dream was realized and Israel was established, a committee tried to use his ideas in the design of a Knesset emblem. The all-volunteer commit- tee, chaired by the minister of transportation and com- prised of artists Reuven Rubin and Arye El-Hanani and archeologist Eliezer Sukenik (father of Yigael Yadin), developed several options for the emblem, in- cluding a menora sur- rounded by seven stars, a menora surrounded by seven shofars and a combi- nation of shofars and etrogs. However inspired, these ideas were turned down by the Knesset in May 1949, in favor of a menora borrowed from Rome's Arch of Titus. According to Arye El- Hanani, several Knesset members found the seven stars offensive, and they suggested the use of a different symbol. Reject- ing the stars, the Knesset decided to surround the the menora with the more traditional laurel leaves, a design El-Hanani called "banal." El-Hanani's disappoint- ment with the Knesset did not end with the emblem decision but extended to the body's ruling on a new flag. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proposed that the committee also design a flag for a new Jewish state. The committee's task was to combine old and new themes, apparently no sim- ple task. "We literally closed our- selves into a room for a month and worked night and day," says El-Hanani. "None of us were paid, but we felt proud of our work and that we had done some- thing for our country." Ac- cording to El-Hanani, the committee dragged onto the Knesset floor over 100 pounds of material, includ- ing large prepared flags and flag poles of bronze and stone. committee's The suggested flag was similar to that of the Zionist move- ment except that the new Magen David was filled in with either blue or gold rather than being composed only of lines. "The open Magen David is not really a shield, just a geometrical figure," says El-Hanani. Despite this explana- tion the Knesset was skeptical and the Zionist flag was declared on Oct. 28, 1949, as Israel's offi- cial banner. "Our father and grandfathers used the old flag so why do we need something new?" argued conservatively- inclined Knesset mem- bers. El-Hanani was crit- ical of their judgment, claiming many were from the shtetl with little edu- cation in visual arts or aesthetic sense. Frustration finally drove both El-Hanani and painter Reuven Rubin to resign from the committee. The former, now an established architect, helped plan numerous buildings includ- ing Jerusalem's president- ial residence and Yad Vas- hem. One man who has no complaints regarding the Israel in 1934 and in rman, owner of Carmen Be- rman Industries, one of the world's largest flag-making operations. Berman, prob- ably more well-known for fathering quintuplets than producing flags, took over the business 10 years ago, after his father, Carmen's, death. A Polish embroiderer of religious objects, Carmen Berman immigrated to Isarel in 1934 and in Jerusalem opened a flag- making shop one year later. Berman, who made the first official Israeli flag, is said to have worked all through the War of Independence, while shooting raged outside. Only when a bomb fell on the roof, damaging the shop, did Berman take a break. Today, Carmen Be- rman Industries pro- duces flags for 156 coun- tries, including some hos- tile to Israel. It works for the Israeli government, the Israeli military, municipalities, clubs and El Al airlines. In fact, Is- rael's first export to . Egypt in November 1977 was a Berman flag. Exciting as well as lucra- tive, the business keeps Yit- zhak Berman on top of re- cent events. "We know of of- ficial visits even before the newspapers," says the flagmaker, adding that inquiring reporters kept his phone lines busy before the first visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1977. Even in the face of minimum 12-hour work- days, business trips that take Berman from h: adored quintuplets, now years old, two toddlers and wife/assistant, Hadassah, the flagmaker would have it no other way. "This is the most beautiful profession," says Berman, "and we al- ways know exactly who is coming and going and what is starting and ending." The founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, noted early in 1896 in his earth-shaking pamphlet "The Jewish State" that "We have no flag. We need one. He who would lead many men must raise a symbol above their heads." Greeted with skepti- cism and even ridicule by many Jews, Herzl wrote, "Perhaps a more just his- torian will discover that after all it was still some- thing for a Jewish jour- nalist without means dur- ing an era of the most abominable persecution; when the Jewish people had sunk into the depths, to have converted a rag into a flag, a despised multitude into a nation." This, once an abject rag, is the flag which now proudly represents the sovereign and independent state of Is- rael at home and abroad, symbolizing the consumma- tion of Herzl's vision. Preparations Comple to for Sunday's Israel Independence Festival Final preparations have been made for Detroit's cel- ebration of Israel's 34th In- dependence Day. The cele- bration will be held Sunday at the Southfield Civic Cen- ter. The Independence Day parade will begin at 1 p.m., starting at the Bendix Corp. parking lot, continuing down Civic Center Drive to the Southfield Civic Center. Leading the parade will be political dignitaries fol- lowed by floats and mar- chers representing various Jewish service groups, youth groups, synagogues and Hebrew schools. Prizes will be awarded to partici- pants in the parade on the basis of originality, spirit, over-all excellence and compliance with this year's theme: "Israel, the Land, Hundreds of marchers braved the rain during the 1981 Israeli Independence Day parade at the South- field Civic Center. the Country and the the opening ceremonies will begin in the Civic People." According to Alan Yost, Center. Congressman parade committee head, William Brodhead will be there will be more than 600 keynote speaker. Rabbi Harold Loss of Temple marchers in the parade. Following the parade, Israel will offer a prayer for the state of Israel and Cantor Larry Vieder of • Adat Shalom Synagogue will sing the national an- thems. State Sen. Doug Ross and State Rep. Joseph Forbes will present a joint resolu- tion from the Michigan Legislature commemorat- ing Israel's 34th anniver- sary. Mayor Donald F. Fracassi will bring a proc- lamation from the city of Southfield. As part of the ceremony, the winners of this years Temmy Skully Essay Con- test will be announced. The winners will receive schol- arship funds for study in Is- rael provided by the Temmy Skully Fund at the Jewish Community Center. The Amranim Brothers will entertain after the opening ceremonies. The singing duo are third gen- eration Israelis of Yemenite descent and specialize in the folk music of Israel. Beginning at 11 a.m., booths and exhibits will be open at the Civic Cen- ter. Some 25 booths will sell products and display information relating to Israel. Fresh flowers are being flown in from Is- rael for the celebration and numerous food products will be avail- able for purchase. Included with the dis- plays will be several infor- mation booths. Indepen- dence Day T-shirts will also be for sale. Persons attending the In- dependence Day celebration are advised to park in the Civic Center parking lots or the lots next to the office buildings on Civic Center Drive between Northwest- ern Highway and Ever- green roads. The south lot of the Civic Center, nearest the golf course and library, will be closed. Michael Feldman is the general chairman of the cel- ebration. Assisting him as committee heads are Yost; David Gubow, booths and exhibits; Elaine Heaven- rich, publicity; Mira Eisen- berg, program; and Shelly Jackier, advisers. Ami Cohen and Adele Silver are coordinators. Jewish Appeal and the Is- raeli community of Detroit are jointly sponsoring a Yom HaAtzmaut celebra- tion 8 p.m. Saturday on the eve of Detroit's 34th Israeli Independence Day obser- vance. The gathering will take place at the Jewish Community Center in West • Bloomfield. Celebration Begins Saturday Evening The public is invited. For information, call Sandra Feuer at the Jewish Welfare Federation, 965-3939. The Young Leadership Cabinet of the United Special guest is Michael Reiner, deputy director of the Jewish Agency's Insti- tute for Leadership De- velopment in Jerusalem. Reiner, who is the Jewis'- Welfare FederaS_ "Scholar in Residence - through Monday, will share his insight on recent de- velopments in the Middle East. As part of the festivities, Israeli folk dancing will be performed by the Galai HaRuach group under the direction of Uri Segal. Av- raham Ben Ze'ev will pro- vide Israeli music. A buffet featuring Israeli foods will be served.