THE JEWISH NEWS

A Toast
To Jewish Living

Welcome To Yavne

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Fulfilling
A Dream

By JANE SHERMAN

Jane Sherman was national
Project Renewal chairman for the
United Jewish Appeal and the
Jewish Welfare Federation's first
Project Renewal chairman. She has
worked closely with Detroit's initial
Project Renewal city, Ramla, and its
present community, Yavne — theme
of this issue. For each edition of
L'Chayim, a rabbi, a Jewish
educator or other notable from the
community will present an overview.
"Let them come, let them
come," David Ben-Gurion said in
1948 about taking in all Diaspora
Jews who were in danger. As if in
answer to this invitation from Israel's
first prime minister, they came —
more than 1 million over the next
decade.
Unfortunately, there were no
homes for the new immigrants,
mostly from Asia and North Africa,
and they were housed in ma'abarot,
temporary housing consisting of
shacks and tents. Their skills,
language and culture differed from
the pioneer generation of
Ashkenazim. By the 1970s, large
families in these areas were
crowded into three or four very
small rooms in the asbestos and tin
shacks.
When Menachem Begin was
elected prime minister in 1977, he
called for a partnership between the
Israel government and the
organized worldwide Jewish
Diaspora to eliminate the poverty
and blight in what was now called
the "neighborhoods."
In the United States, the
partner is the United Jewish Appeal
and local Jewish federations, with
which Israeli neighborhoods are
Continued on Page L-2

Yavne schoolchildren welcome a delegation from Detroit.

Arthur M. Horwitz

tti°° Modern Yavne 'fraced To Ancient Academy

By MARILYN GRANT

The history of Yavne dates back
to at least the Middle Bronze Age,
with many artifacts attesting to the
importance of the city through the
Bronze and Iron Ages.
The first mention of Yavne
(Jabneh) in the Bible occurs in the
book of Joshua, 15:11, and again
during the Maccabean Revolt and
reign of the Hasmonean Kings.
During the Roman occupation
of Palestine, a large measure of
autonomy was given to the local
population, especially in regard to

religious matters and the
maintenance of law and order —
even the collection of taxes.
The body entrusted with this
system of self-government was
known as the Sanhedrin, a group of
71 leaders and scholars. The
Sanhedrin sat in Jerusalem, but, in
reality, ruled the entire country, with
its influence being felt even by Jews
living in the Diaspora.
After the destruction of the
Temple in 70 C.E., Rabbi Yohanan
ben Zakkai, one of the prime
leaders, was smuggled out of
Jerusalem in a coffin by his

disciples to escape the Zealots, who
preferred death to any form of
submission to the Romans.
Once oytside the walls, the
rabbi petitioned the Roman
commander for permission to
establish an academy in Yavne, for
the study of Jewish law, and a Beit
Din (Tribunal).
The Beit Din was the principal
court and political entity for all Jews
throughout the Roman Empire, from
70 to 132 C.E. After the Bar Kochba
Revolt, the Sanhedrin, together with
the remnant of the Jewish

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