Friday, 'lovelier 11, 1183 45

ME DEIROff 11/121 MIS

DANCE! into the 80's

Detroiter Visits Nes Amim, Christian Moshav in Israel

By HY SHENKMAN

(Editor's Note: Radio
producer Hy Shenkman,
who was a Detroit repre-
sentative at the
Holocaust survivors' re-
union in Israel last
month, visited the Hol-
land Christians' settle-
ment of Nes Amim. His
interviews with the
settlers is presented
here.)
Our forefathers would
find it hard to believe that
the time would come, when
Christians would refer to
Jews as "People of God" and
prove that it exists as a
genuine attitude of goodwill
and profound respect for
Jewry and Judaism. A half
century ago it would be be-
yond imagination to picture
Catholics observing Shabat
and singing Hebrew songs
at a Shulhan Arukh in a
Jewish state.
But this happened in our
lifetime. A Dutch doctor
Johan Pelon founded a
movement, Nes Amim,
which translates from He-
brew as "The Miracle of the
Nations."
Nes Amim proposed to
the government of Israel to
allow a group of Lutherans,
Anglicans, Calvinists,
Episcopalians and other
Christian denominations to
settle and help the state of
Israel and its people.
In spite of the good rea-
sons and the goodwill for
wanting to be in Isiael,
the Nes Amim movement
encountered opposition.
Opinions were divided.
Some felt it was a nice
idea; others were op-
posed, especially reli-
gious Jews. They
couldn't understand why
Christians who had been
trying to convert Jews
for the last 2,000 years
would all -of a sudden
want to help them.
But Nes Amim mem-
bers insisted that they were
against evangelism, that
Jews should have a place in
history like any other
people. They claimed that
there can be no solidarity
with missionary work and
that all they want is to re-
spect the Jewish people and
learn from them how to be-
come better Christians. The
Israel government granted
Nes Amim permission to
form the first Christian
moshay.
At the Nes Amim settle-
ment Doar Hasherat, near
Haifa stood a grey-haired
woman waiting to welcome
visitors. She shook their
hands with a flashing smile.
"Welcome, my name is
Kristina Pelon which is also
a Hebrew word for a young
elephant. I'm so glad to see
you. Let me show you
around."
On the way to the newly
built quarters Kristina, the
wife of the founder, pointed
at an old Egged bus and re-
marked: "Here is where we

started the operation of our
movement. Now we are
using it as an extra office.
We are now approaching
our new two-story building.
This is the place where we
meet our Israeli friends
from the neighboring areas
and tourists who have be-
come our friends. Here we
do things which have never
been possible in the Dias-
pora. We can never make
good what had been done to
the Jewish people. We rec-
ognize the injustice and we
want to build new rela-
tionships. Our presence is
our affirmation with the
Jewish state and its people."
Looking at the lobby of
the newly built guest
house, Kristina said:
"This candelabra is a
symbol of our solidarity
with the state of Israel. At
the left is the rectory and
at the right is our lunch
room. About 200 feet
away is a pavilion for
singles and another one
for married couples.
After one year one gets a
room for himself. We now
have in moshav 200
members and we have
room for 200 more."
In the center of the set-
tlement stands a monument
of Koeno H. E. Gravemeyer.
He was the first Dutch
minister who refused to fol-
low the orders of the Nazis
and he sent them protest
papers. He was sent to a
concentration camp, but
survived the Nazi era. After
the war he came to Israel to
join Nes Amim. All his
documents were contrib-
uted to the Israeli Museum.
The monument was erected
in 1973 after he died at age
90.
"We have a youth hostel.
We take the young people to
the neighboring Lohamei
Hagetaot to show them
what happened to one-third
of the Jewish people and
that history can repeat it-
self in the future if we don't
learn from this lesson. Nes
Amim will never be Nes
Amim until it has teaching
quality. Our guests are in-
vited to our club for a lec-
ture. This is a moshav
shetuvi, a cooperative
where everybody gets the
same allowance for food and
clothing.
"At the suggestion of the
Israeli government, we are
growing flowers, avocado,
cotton and we are also run-
ning a guest house. Now we
are making wooden stair-
cases, but our main indus-
try is roses. We export
10,000 roses a day, thus con-.
tributing to Israel's
economy. Israel's govern-
ment is interested in growth
and we can be partners. We
have a task to fulfill it and
we feel gratified. On one of
the hothouse's there is a sign
that reads 'Flowers love
people — take them into
your home.'
Kristina has her own

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interpretation of Nes
Amim: "Perhaps it's a
miracle that we suc-
ceeded in our objective.
While we are trying to
help we are getting a lot
in return from the state of
Israel. They are support-
ing us and protecting us.
We are actually the ones
who benefit.
"Our members enjoy the
stay in Israel. We made
many friends. Members of
the neighboring kibutzim
volunteered to help us get
organized . . . For recrea-
tion we have volleyball,
ping pong and chess. Our
day off is Shabat because if
we take off Sundays we
would never see our friends
from the nearby kibutzim.
We learn Hebrew and our
children speak it well. On
Erev Shabat our families
get together and we sing
Hebrew songs.
"Nes Amim has agencies
in Holland, Germany, Swit-
zerland, Belgium, Canada
and the United States.
There, new members are
being screened and re-
cruited. We are looking for
motivated, open-minded
people able to respect other
opinions. Most people come
to Israel for a certain time
and when they return to
their countries they become
goodwill ambassadors and
recruit other Christians for
Nes Amim, men and women
from 19 to 70."
On her way out Kristina
handed her guest a large
bouquet of fresh roses. Her
parting words were: "For us
Christians solidarity with

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the suffering Jewish people
can be best expressed by
coming to Israel and giving
a helping hand.

Dulzin Offers
Refusnik Plea
at London Parley

JERUSALEM (JNI) —
An appeal for help in ob-
taining immigration visas
to Israel written on behalf of
27 Moscow Jews was pre-
sented to the World
Presidium on Soviet Jewry
in London last week by Arye
Dulzin, chairman of the
World Zionist Organization
(WZO).
Dulzin read the appeal to
a crowd of 10,000 prior to
the "March of the Re-
fusniks" between Hyde
Park and the Soviet Em-
bassy.

353-6699

I

Detroiter Hy Shenkman, right, is pictured with
Kristina Pelon, center, and her assistant, Jordan
Bloch.

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