Fact A Day
#4) Harry Truman was close with
tral Bureau of Statistics found that the
Israel's first president, Chaim Weiz-
most popular fields are social sci-
mann, whom he called "Cham"
ences, followed by humanities, then
because he couldn't remember how
science and math.
to pronounce "Chaim." Truman said
of Weizmann, "He was a wonder-
#8) Normally, the sound of the shofar
ful man, one of the wisest people I
is reserved for Rosh Hashana and
think I ever met." Yet days before
Yom Kippur. But when the State of
the state's founding, Truman said he
Israel was established, Jews through-
would not meet with Weizmann to
out the country blew the shofar.
discuss the American role in the
establishment of Israel. After meet-
#9) You knew Israel was small — but
ing with countless groups and indi-
just how small? About the size of the
viduals, and hearing report after
• state of New Jersey.
report from staff, he was tired of the
whole subject, Truman said. That's
#10) Israel's first prime minister, David
when an old Army buddy, Eddie
Ben-Gurion, always believed the
Jacobson, placed a call to the pres-
country should devote more effort
ident and pleaded with him to meet
toward developing the Negev Desert.
with Weizmann. Jacobson, who
Though he had a charming, book-
said he wasn't even a Zionist, had
filled apartment in Tel Aviv (which you
served with Truman during World
can still visit today), he spent his last
War I; and the two opened a cloth-
years (he was 80 when he made the
ing shop for men in Kansas City
move) on a kibbutz, Sde-Boker, in the
afterward. So how did Jacobson
Negev.
convince Truman to see Weizmann?
In the White House, he spied a
#11) To delegates at the first Zionist
statue of Truman's idol, Andrew
Congress, Theodor Herzl was any-
Jackson. Jacobson then said,
thing but a mere mortal. One
"Harry, all your life you have had a
exclaimed, "He was like a biblical
hero ... I too have a hero, a man I
prophet standing before us," while
never met but who is, I think, the
another said of the founder of modern
greatest Jew who ever lived ... I am
Zionism, "It was as if the messiah was
talking about Chaim Weizmann."
facing us."
Truman agreed. The rest, of course,
really is history.
#12) Israel's Galilee is dotted with
heavy stone terraces — but they're all
#5) According to Israel's Central
man-made. Farmers created them so
Bureau of Statistics, the average Israeli
the ground wouldn't wash into the val-
spends about 50 percent of his annu-
ley below.
al income on housing and donations
to charitable institutions, about 22 per-
#13) "Zion" is an ancient word, but
cent on food and cigarettes, and
"Zionism" (support for the State of
about 10 percent on electric and gas
Israel) wasn't coined until around
bills.
1890.
#6) The Central Bureau of Statistics
also reports that when it comes to
food, Israelis spend most of their
shekels on: a) vegetables; b) milk and
dairy products; c) bread products; d)
meat; e) fruit.
#7) And, in case you're wondering .
what Israelis study in college, the Cen-
determined. He refused to speak with
his wife and son until they learned
Hebrew.
always the same amount. The salt
content of the Dead Sea changes
with the seasons.
#16) So how have Israelis managed
to come up with words to accommo-
date new developments? Often,
words are based on ancient knowl-
edge. For example, the Hebrew
word for computer is chashban,
which comes from chashov, "think,"
while the word "telegram" in Hebrew
is mivrak, from barak, or lightning.
#24) According to Dun and Brad-
street, Israel's exports have grown at
an almost astonishing amount over the
past decades. In 1970, Israel export-
ed about $1 million in goods, which
had increased to more than 55 mil-
lion by 1980, and 120 times that
amount by 1990. These days, Israel
does almost $20,000-million in trade
each year.
#17) Many Israeli cities are, of
course, steeped in history. But did you
know that Tel Aviv is actually quite
new? Pioneers began building the city
in 1909.
#18) How to get something from
almost nothing? Kibbutzim Ketura and
Yahel grow various fruit, and even
flowers like roses, in the sand.
#19) If you love singing in the rain,
visit Israel in the winter. The rainy sea-
son begins there in November and
continues through May. But a good
3/4ths of the country's rainfall occurs
in December, January and February.
#20) After the establishment of the
state, new immigrants came from
(beginning in 1948 and continuing
through 1970): a) Romania, with
229,779; b) Morocco, with
252,642; c) Poland, with 156,011;
d) Iraq, with 124,647; e) Iran, with
60,581. (In case you're wondering
where the United States is on this list,
it's way down, following Tunis, Bulgar-
ia, Turkey, Yemen and Egypt, with
34,288.)
#21) Israel's government is called the
Knesset, which in English means •
assembly."
#14) Aliya can mean being called to
the Torah, or moving to the State of
Israel. It translates to "going up." And
if you leave Israel? That's yencla, or
"going down."
#22) To this day, Israel does not have
a formal constitution.
#15) Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who estab-
lished Hebrew as the language of
modern Israel, was more than a little
#23) Salty, saltier; saltiest ... believe it
or not, a lot changes in the Dead
Sea. There's always salt, but not
#25) So what are the hot trade items,
you're wondering? In order, they are:
a) electrical and electronic equipment –\
(almost 1/3 of all exports); b) chemi-
cals, rubber and plastic items; c) tex-
tiles, clothing and leather; d) trans-
portation equipment; e) food and bev-
erages.
#26) Israel's first stock market, the Tel
Aviv Securities Clearing House, was "--\
established in 1935.
#27),Israel's Lod Airport, now Ben-
Gurion Airport, opened in 1936.
#28) In 1998, Michigan exported
$73,516,645 worth of goods to
Israel.
#29) It's the Jewish state, but it doesn't
have the largestJewish population in
the world. According to the Jewish
Student Online Research Center, the
estimated world Jewish population is
13 million, of which 4,600,000 is in
Israel. No. 1 on the list is the United
States, with 5,800,000. In third
place is France, with 600,000. Oth-
ers in the top 10: Russia, Ukraine,
Canada, the United Kingdom,
Argentina, Brazil and South Africa.
"
#30) The city with the largestJewish
population in the world is \ew York,
followed by Miami, Los Angeles,
Paris, Philadelphia, Chicago, San
Francisco, Boston, London and
Moscow. That's right; not a one is in
Israel. Li
.
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4/23
1999
74 Detroit Jewish News