YAD EZRA
Feeding the ..levvish Hungry
Vac! Ezra's board of Directors, 5ta1f and Volunteers
1 9 4 $
David Ben-Gurion declares the
establishment of the State of
Israel on May 14.
are thrilled to participate in our community 's
1949
The first Knesset is convened; Operation
Magic Carpet brings 45,000 Yemenite Jews
to Israel; Israel is admitted to the United
Nations.
celebration of Jsrael's eoti)
1950
Transit camps (ma'abarot), constructed
from tin, wood, or cloth tents, are built for
flood of new immigrants; the Knesset passes
the Law of Return and declares Jerusalem
the capital of Israel.
we will never forget those who worked valiantly to
establish a homeland for our people.
We are grateful to the man y individuals in
1964
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
is established, rejects Israel's existence, and
begins terrorist attacks; Israel's national
water carrier is completed.
1953
Yad Vashem is established as Israel's
Holocaust memorial. ; the first Israel Prizes
are awarded; Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion retires to the Negev.
peace and prosperity in our lifetime.
1954
Israel abolishes the death penalty, except for
Nazis; the Bank of Israel is established.
1955
h eir combined visions have created a country that
1963
Archaeological dig begins at Masada; Syrian
attacks in northern Israel intensify.
Operations Ezra and Nehemiah transport
130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel, leaving 6,000
Jews in that ancient community.
Operation Cyrus brings nearly 55,000
Iranian Jews to Israel; Israel participates in
the Olympic Games for the first time; ancient
scrolls and scroll fragments of the Bible
continue to be found in caves near the Dead
Sea.
helping Israel and its citizens experience
1 9 6 2
Haifa University opens; artist Marc Chagall
creates 12 stained-glass windows that are
installed at Hadassah Medical Center.
1951
195 2
our community who continue to work towards
I 9 6 I
The transfer of the
Jews of Morocco to
Israel (Operation Yachin)
begins. By 1964, 80,000
Moroccan Jews arrive;
Israel launches Shavit 2,
an experimental
1965
The Israel Museum opens; Syria repeatedly
attempts to destroy Israel's national water
carrier.
1966
Syria and Jordan increase attacks across
Israel's borders.
196 7
Israel's stunning victory in
the Six-Day War yields
huge territorial gains,
including: Golan Heights,
Gaza Strip, West Bank,
Sinai Peninsula and
Jerusalem's Old City, a feat
which unites Jerusalem.
Bar-Ilan University, with its founding tied in
Detroit, opens in Ramat Gan; Yarkon-Negev
water line is inaugurated to carry water to
the Negev desert.
we are proud to call our own.
1969
Golda Meir becomes first
female prime minister
in Israel;18 families in
Soviet Union ask U.N.
and Israel to help them
immigrate to the Jewish
state.
1956
Violent conflicts along Israel's borders
with Egypt and Jordan create tension that
explodes into the Sinai/Suez War; despite
its victory, Israel withdraws from the Sinai
Peninsula, which it had conquered.
\I/act Ezra, feeding families, nourishing hope...
1957
A massive project to drain Hulah swampland
in the Galilee is completed.
Yacl Ezra, a 501 (c) (3) organization provides free groceries, toiletries and household
The First Decade Exhibition in Jerusalem
highlights Israel's accomplishments; the first
International Bible Quiz is held in Israel.
goods to more than 1,300 low-income families in southeastern Michigan ever y month. In
addition, Yad Ezra assists clay school students with a lunch and nutrition program and
partners with MiCafe (Michigan Coordinated Access to rood for the Elderly) to
register Oakland County 5eniors for food stamps.
Yad Ezra 2850 W 11 Mile Road, Berkley, MI 48072 www.yadezra.orq (248) 548-3663
1970
David Ben-Gurion resigns from Knesset, after
serving continuously since 1949; S.Y. Agnon,
first Hebrew writer to win Nobel Prize for
literature, dies; Palestinian terrorists
intensify airplane hijacking campaign.
1958
1959
The Soviet Union stops Jewish emigration to
Israel; Haifa's subway, Carmelit, opens; Egypt
permanently closes the Suez Canal to Israel.
1960
Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal, is
seized in Argentina and brought to Israel for
trial.
1972
Eleven Israeli athletes are murdered by
Palestinian terrorists at Olympic Games in
Munich, Germany; movement to free Soviet
Jewry gains momentum.
1973
Yom Kippur War; Egypt and Syria launch sur-
prise attacks on Israel on the holiest day of
the Jewish year.
1974
Gush Emunim, a religious Zionist settlement
movement, is formed; Golda Meir accepts
blame for military failures during Yom Kippur
War and resigns.
Timeline on page A44
1393730
A34
May 15 • 2008