Jewry's Role in
Human Advancement
To 14th Century Europeans the heavens were a
mysterious void and the oceans were a fearful abyss. The
form, shape and size of the world were equally as
baffling. Rarely would vessels venture far beyond visible
coast lines. But a few early Renaissance scholars,
prominently joined by Jewish astronomers, mathema-
ticians and cartographers, challenged the unknown and
helped pilot the age of exploration, trade and conquest.
Many great voyages of discovery which sailed
from Spanish and Portuguese ports were guided by maps
and instruments of Jewish handiwork. Abraham
Cresques, an esteemed mapmaker to the Spanish court,
drafted the most accurate geographies of the known
world of his day. His son, Judah., employed with other
Jewish astronomers and mathematicians by Prince Henry
the Navigator of Portugal, helped plot the nation's
nautical missions and secure its dominance at sea.
The most eminent
it ■ .*.-...
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:ivi,,,
Jewish philosopher of his
time, Rabbi Levi ben
Gershon, was an inventor as
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well who in the mid-1300s / JACOB'S STAFF
developed the Jacob's staff--
a device to measure the
altitude of the sun and stars
which was favored by
navigators until the end of
the 16th Century.
As propagators of astronomical and mathematical
systems into the Middle Ages, Jewish craftsman also
improved the astrolabe--an essential navigational aid to
ascertain latitudes and positions at sea by observing
celestial bodies. Abraham Ben Samuel Zacuto, a Spanish
astronomer and historian of
ASTROLABE
wide repute, is credited with
fashioning the first metal
astrolabe of high precision. He
counseled Vasco da Gama
before the adventurer's
momentous voyage to India,
and Christopher Columbus set
sail with his greatly improved
astronomical tables.
The Columbus expedition brought more of
Jewish vintage, other than Zacuto's tables, to the new
lands. Among five crewmen of Jewish origin who served
on board, interpreter Luis de Torres was the first in the
fleet to set foot on American soil. Years before the
Puritans arrived, de Torres was also the first white man to
permanently settle in the New World.
- Saul Stadtmauer
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32
COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION
OF JEWISH HISTORY
Founders/Sponsors: Walter & Lea Field
III Me Why
A Capital Idea
Hey, how about we insist Romeo is capital of Michigan?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Q: Someone recently told me the
Ligonier Jews
were leading par-
reason most foreign embassies are
ticipants in civic
in Tel Aviv rather than Jerusalem
life.
They helped
has do to with the fact that Tel Aviv
established
was Israel's first capital city. When
public schools,
the Israelis changed their capital
sewer systems,
to Jerusalem, almost no one rec- g
the public library
and served as
ognized it, the guy said. Therefore,
city councilmen
other countries were justified in
and committee
sticking with what the Israelis s
members. They
themselves had said was their cap- -2-
founded a con-
ital. Does that make sense?
gregation (Or-
A: Someone recently wrote
thodox, though it
market in Tel Aviv — a nice enough city, but
Tell Me Why and said that Bar- A it's bustling
would become
not Israel's capital.
ry Manilow is the greatest
Reform), and lat-
singing talent in the history of
Q: Can you tell me about the er built an impressive syna-
mankind.
Jewish connection to the town of gogue.
Believe it or not, there are Ligonier, a small town in Indiana?
The community reached its
people who say things that just
zenith in 1900, then gradual-
From reader A.D. in Oak Park
aren't true. This Tel Aviv thing
ly fell into decline. By then,
A: Like most Jewish com-
is a case in point.
most of the early generation
First, sovereign states (and munities of the American Mid- were dead, and many of the
Israel is indeed one) have every west, Indiana initially was younger sought their fortunes
settled by Jews from Germany. in big cities, especially Chica-
right to choose their own cap
In the 1830s and '40s, there go. By the 1950s, the Jewish
ital. city.
Second, the justification that was great social upheaval in community was almost gone.
Tel Aviv was the first capital Germany and many Jews em- By the 1970s, only three
city, and therefore the real cap- igrated. When they came to the elderly Jews remained.
ital, is nonsense. If such a no- United States, they often went
The Ligonier Public Library
tion were legitimate, then the to areas already settled by Ger- maintains a Jewish Historical
United States of America man gentiles, among whom Room documenting the wide-
would have foreign embassies they peddled and conducted ranging influence Jews had on
all over the northeastern other business.
the development of the city.
The first-known Jews in
seaboard.
Third, Tel Aviv never was of- Ligonier were Frederick
ficially the capital of Israel. The William Strauss and Solomon
Q: I seem to remember that
state's Provisional Government Mier, immigrants from Ger-
an
Israeli duo had a top hit in Eng-
met in Tel Aviv almost 50 years many. They came to Ligonier
ago, and then only as an expe- in 1854. At the time, Ligonier land during the 1960s. Is that
was a village of 300, although right?
dient. Here's the story.
Jerusalem was the scene of the Lake Shore and Michigan
A:It is right, and if you know
much fighting, and its final sta- Southern Railroad built a sta- anything at all about Israeli
tus was questionable. Israel's tion there.
music you'll be surprised to
Other Jews followed, and by hear that part of that duo was
fledgling army, outgunned and
outmanned, fought valiantly the turn of the century Ligo- one of the country's most
for Jerusalem. Nonetheless, nier developed into a thriving beloved and respected singers,
Transjordan's Arab Legion held city with a general population Esther Ofarim.
much of the eastern — and his- of 2,200, out of which were 200
Today, Ms. Ofarim lives in
toric — portion of the city. In Jews (55 families). The Jews France. Plagued with terrible
December 1948, the govern- established their own institu- stage fright, she makes rare
ment of Transjordan annexed tions: a synagogue with full- live appearances. When she
the Arab-occupied portion of time rabbi, the Sabbath does perform in concert, her
eastern Jerusalem. The mili- School, Cemetery Society, songs are traditional Israeli
tary situation calmed down Ladies Benefit Society, and a and Jewish favorites —
somewhat, and in February B'nai B'rith lodge.
nothing along the lines of
1949 Israel's Knesset, held its
Strauss soon brought other "Cinderella Rockefella," that
first sessions in the Jewish members of his family from great rock number she and
Agency headquarters in west- Germany to Ligonier. They her husband, Abi, recorded. It
ern Jerusalem.
went from peddlers to store- topped the British pop charts
On Dec. 10, 1949, the Unit- keepers. Later, they branched in March 1968.0
ed Nations General Assembly into farm brokerage and bank-
passed a resolution calling for ing. Solomon Mier and his sons
the internationalization of followed the Strauss pattern Send questions to Tell Me Why,
The Jewish News, 27676
Jerusalem. On Dec. 13, the Is- of retailing and banking.
Franklin
Road, Southfield, MI
raeli government officially pro-
Other German Jews came to
claimed Jerusalem as its Ligonier and gradually formed 48034, or fax to (810) 354-6069.
eternal capital.
a monopoly in retail clothing All letters must be signed and in-
Tel Aviv was provisional cap- and general merchandise, and clude the writer's address. Ques-
ital from May 14, 1948, to Dec. as brokers of grain, livestock, tions answered in the column will
feature only the writer's initials
13 1949, a total of 19 months.. land and farms.
and city of residence.
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