Last month we unveiled the "Cigarbox Collection" of Dr. Othniel Seidon. We introduced the picture of the barefoot Orthodox boy from the Machane Yehuda neighborhood in Jerusalem.
Math lesson in Machane Yehuda (Cigarbox
Collection)
Our original caption read: "The drill -- if a worker earns 17.5 Eretz Yisrael pounds a day, how much would he earn for six days?"
In a letter to the editor of the Jerusalem Post Magazine where this feature also appeared, David Amini pointed out that the "math lesson is actually talking about grushim (see the gimmel) instead of lirot. If the worker had earned 105 lirot a week in those days, he would retire after a year. He is really earning only 105 grushim a week, which is the equivalent of 1.05 pounds.- JUN13
Mystery Picture: Was This a Factory in Lodz Poland? No, It Was in Tel Aviv, Palestine in the 1920s
A Lodz factory? That's what the caption on the back suggested (Cigarbox Collection, Keren Hayesod, circa 1925)
The article below reflects corrections suggested by "Anonymous" in the comments below.
Some of the pictures in the "Cigarbox Collection" have captions written on the back. They're written in pencil in German, and some are badly faded. But it's possible to read "factory, Lodz" on the back on the picture above.
The collection contains one picture from Lebanon and another from Damascus, but why would there be a photo from Poland in the middle of the the pictures from the Land of Israel?
Research revealed that the factory was in Palestine, and the workers were Jewish refugees from Lodz. The textile factory was named "Lodzia" and was first located in Tel Aviv, then Holon. The picture above was taken in the "Red House," so named because of the red brick used in its construction.
Laying the cornerstone for the expansion of Lodzia, 1929.
(Eliasaf Robinson Tel Aviv Collection, Stanford University)
The Red House before its renovation, 2010
(Judy Weiss, Tchochkes)
The factory in Holon was the subject for a series of photographs taken in 1939 by the American Colony Photographic Department archived in the U.S. Library of Congress.
The entrance to the factory (Library of
Congress, 1939)
Finishing socks and stockings (Library of Congress) 
Stocking "cotton" room (Library of Congress) 
Ironing stockings (Library of Congress)
Lodzia texiles merged with the Gibor Sabrina firm and still produces undergarments which it sells through a chain of stores. Most manufacturing, however, is done in a subsidiary in Romania or by subcontractors in China, India, Jordan and Turkey. Annual sales surpass $60 million.
The factory floor served as a poster gallery during renovations. Compare the picture to the opening picture
above and note the pillars, arches and windows. (Judy Weiss, Tchochkes)3View comments
Jewels were always the currency of travelers. Gemstones were more reliable than currency and lighter than gold bullion. Even today, some investors are smitten with a "refugee mentality," financial experts recently told The Wall Street Journal. "If the world gets a computer virus," one explained, "and suddenly you need to move $10 million in 48 hours, gold will set off metal detectors and too much cash gets cumbersome, but you slip on a $5 million ring and a $5 million necklace and you've got no problems."
Assembling rings (circa 1925, Cigarbox collection)
Tragically, that scenario repeated itself throughout Jewish history. According to some accounts, prior to the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 a rumor spread that many Jews swallowed diamonds and gold in order to take their wealth with them. Thieves killed many and sliced open their stomachs in their search for treasure. The Holocaust is fraught with tales of Jews attempting to use gems to buy their escape.
Diamond polishing (1930, Library
of Congress)
Diamond cutting on lathes (1939, Library of Congress) 
Inspecting diamonds (1939,
Library of Congress)
Since the 15th century, diamond cutting was a traditional Jewish craft, Wikipediareports. That's when a Jewish diamond cutter in Belgium invented the scaif, an essential tool for polishing. The first diamond polishing plant was opened in a Jewish town in Eretz Yisrael by Dutch refugee experts. By 1944 the industry employed 3,300 workers in 33 factories in Palestine.
Today, Israel is one of the world centers for preparation and sale of diamonds.
Today's posting is dedicated to Stella and Jordan -- Happy Anniversary and many, many more
and to Keren B, the jewelry maker and designer1View comments
- Robert F. Kennedy
Nov. 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968
We leave our regular historical features to pay tribute to Robert Kennedy who was murdered on this day in 1968.
Several special features about Kennedy make this posting very appropriate for this site today:
1. Kennedy visited the Holy Land prior to Israel's establishment as a young newspaper correspondent and described Israel's armed struggle and economic development.
2. Several historic photographs of Kennedy's 1948 visit to Palestine were provided by the Kennedy family.
Kennedy "firing a slingshot" outside of the King David Hotel in
Jerusalem, March 1948 (from the Kennedy family)
3. Kennedy, as a young college graduate, wrote several feature articles for The Boston Post on his visit. The newspaper went out of business in 1956 and for many years the articles were virtually lost.
Several years ago, The Israel Daily Picture's
publisher, Lenny Ben-David, found the articles, published them, and posted them on the "Robert Kennedy and Israel" website.
Kennedy on King David Street, north of the hotel. Note the
armored British vehicle and British checkpoint behind him
Read the full-length articles by RFK here.
4. Kennedy's family points out that he was murdered by a
Palestinian Arab terrorist, Sirhan Sirhan, who was angry about Kennedy's strong support for Israel. The assassination took place on the first anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War, and the timing was no accident, the family insists.
Bobby Kennedy deplaning from a RAF plane at Lod airport
5. Kennedy visited the Middle East in March 1948 and departed Palestine before Israel's declaration of independence on May 14 and Ben-Gurion’s announcement of the name of the new country. RFK, therefore, does not refer to “Israel” or to “Israelis” in his articles.
Read several excerpts of Robert Kennedy's articles:
The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions existing in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class is in existence.It is an unfortunate fact that because there are such well founded arguments on either side each grows more and more bitter toward the other. Confidence in their right increases in proportion to the hatred and mistrust for the other side for not acknowledging it.The Jewish people in Palestine who believe in and have been working toward this national state have become an immensely proud and determined people. It is already a truly great modern example of the birth of a nation with the primary ingredients of dignity and self-respect.
Read the full-length articles by RFK here.1View comments
A drug store in Jerusalem in the 1930s (Library of Congress)
The American Colony photographers took this picture about 80 years ago. The caption in the Library of Congress archives reads "A street corner in the Rehavia Quarter, Jerusalem."
Identifying the store and the street today is easy for veteran Jerusalemites. The pharmacy is still there; they haven't even changed the Hebrew and English "Pharmacy" signs over the windows. New stories were added to the building but it's not hard to locate the store on the corner of Keren Kayemet and Ibn Ezra Streets.
The same drug store today (Google Streetview)
Are you a subscriber to www.israeldailypicture.com? Enter your email in the box in the right sidebar and "submit."2View comments
- JUN2
Readers Provide Important Corrections to this Mystery Picture: It Actually Shows Arrival of King Feisal of Iraq in Jerusalem
When sleuths make a mistake it's important to retrace their steps to find where they veered off course. This photo of the Jerusalem train station, captioned by the Library of Congress as taken between 1898 and 1946, was correctly dated here last week as 1931.
Picture of King Feisal's arrival in December 1931, not the
arrival of the new British High Commissioner Wauchope
in November 1931 (Library of Congress)
But the photo is not of the arrival of the new British High Commissioner Sir Arther Wauchope in November 1931 to replace Mark Aitchison Young.
Instead it shows the arrival of King Feisal of Iraq, coming to Jerusalem in December 1931 to attend the World Islamic Congress, convened by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini. Husseini had two goals: to be named Caliph of the Muslim world and to showcase his new luxurious Jerusalem hotel, the Palace Hotel.
This is the welcoming ceremony for the new High
Commissioner in 1931. Note the 9-plane flyover by the RAF,
the banners, and the antelope mascot of the Royal
Regiment of Fusiliers in front of the station
We thank Chen Melling, manager of the Israel Railway Museum, for helping to put us back on the "right track."
The theory that the picture was taken late on a Friday afternoon was suggested to explain why no Jews were present for the arrival of the high commissioner. But now it is easy to understand why Jews did not attend a ceremony for Arab dignitaries to a Congress that would assail the Jewish presence in the Holy Land, saying, "Zionism is ipso facto an aggression detrimental to Muslim well-being, and that it is directly or indirectly ousting Muslims from the control of Muslim land and Muslim holy places."
Train schedule -- Jerusalem arrival at 0910 
We surmised that the dignitaries were looking west into the setting sun. Actually, they were looking east at the rising sun, and the clock showing 9:30 confirms it. The British honor guard was standing on the square in front of the station, and a train can be seen behind it on the left, as pointed out by "Hillel," a faithful reader.
A 1926 train schedule provided by the Israel Railroad Museum confirms that the arrival ceremony would have taken place at 9:30 am, 20 minutes after the arrival of the train.
Jerusalem's dignitaries, led by the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Raghib al-Nashashibi, were on hand to receive the King of Iraq.
Enlargement of photo above shows Haj Amin el Husseini in the
white turban, Mayor Nashashibi in the center, and King Feisal
Nashashibi and Husseini. The two men
loathed each other (1936)
King Feisal (left) and his brother Emir Abdullah
of Jordan visiting Jerusalem in 1933, months
before Feisal's death in Europe
Special thanks to Zvi Bessin, tour guide, for his cooperation in finding the solution to this mystery photograph.
The "square" in front of the train station (circa 2010,
by Ronen Saraf, Google Streetview)
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the originals photos.0Add a comment
- MAY29
Major Update/Correction Coming -- Mystery Picture of Jerusalem's Old Train Station Gets Nailed
Earlier this week we presented a feature on the "New Old Train Stationin Jerusalem," and we published this photo of an arrival ceremony at the station.
Arrival ceremony at the train station. But when was the
picture taken? Between "1898 and 1946."
Several clues led us to conclude the soldiers were British Royal Fusiliers and that the picture was taken between 1920 and 1936.
Acting commissioner Mark Aitchison Young 
Young (Wikipedia)
Now, veteran Israeli tour guide Zvi Bessin has nailed the picture: It was taken onNovember 20, 1931, when acting British High Commissioner Sir Mark Aitchison Young received the new commissioner, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope.
The day was Friday, and the shadows suggest evening was approaching. The clock which appears to show 9:30 may, in fact, not be working. By our reckoning, the soldiers were facing east, the dignitaries facing west. The setting sun was shining on the dignitaries' faces. The lateness of the day and the approach of the Sabbath may explain why Jewish leadership was absent from the station ceremony.
Young served only 20 days until his successor arrived. Wauchope served as high commissioner until 1937.1View comments
- MAY28
Journal Article Abstract: The Zionist Message Hidden within Antique Pictures of the Holy Land By Lenny Ben-David
Abstract reprinted from the Jewish Political Studies Review, May 1, 2013
A 110-year-old trove of pictures taken by the Christian photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem provides dramatic proof of thriving Jewish communities in Palestine.
Hundreds of pictures show the ancient Jewish community of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Jewish pioneers and builders of new towns and settlements in the Galilee and along the Mediterranean coastline. The American Colony photographers recorded Jewish holy sites, holiday scenes and customs, and they had a special reason for focusing their lenses on Yemenite Jews.
The collection, housed in the U.S. Library of Congress, also contains photographs from the 1860s, the first years of photography. These photographs provide a window rarely opened by historians—for several unfortunate reasons—to view the life of the Jews in the Holy Land. The photographs’ display and online publication effectively counters the biased narrative claiming that the Jewish state violently emerged ex novo in the mid-twentieth century.
Read the full article and view the photographs here.1View comments
A new cultural and entertainment center just opened in Jerusalem and it's called the "First Station." With a farmers' market, restaurants, crafts stores and a children's play center, the First Station promises to be a busy hub for Jerusalem activity.
Welcoming party at the Jerusalem train station (Library of Congress, date given as 1898-1946)
Just like it was when it first opened in 1892, more than 120 years ago, when the first train from Jaffa pulled into Jerusalem's new train station.
Open seven days a week, the new attraction presents a different fair every day. View the First Station's website here.
The Jerusalem train station has been a frequent feature of the Israel Daily Picture, with pictures of the arrival of the German emperor in 1898 and the transfer of a high-ranking British prisoner of war, Col. Coventry in 1916, captured in Sinai during World War I.
British POW Col. Coventry driven from railroad station
by Turkish army (1916)
The German emperor arrives (1898) 
Railroad station (circa 1910) 
Another view of station (1900)
The mystery picture above of a dignitary's arrival is dated by the Library of Congress as between 1898 and 1946, the years the American Colony photographers were active in Palestine. But numerous clues helps to pin down the dates.
Enlarged poster
The railroad to Jerusalem was halted during World War I and not reopened until October 1920, so the arrival ceremony with a British honor guard could not have taken place before that date.
Why is an antelope among the soldiers?
Posters on the station wall advertise the White Star Cruise Line that ceased operation in 1936 when it was taken over by the Cunard Line. We can date the picture between 1920 and 1936.
There's also one more curious feature seen when the photo is enlarged. Among the rifles and bayonets on the right of the photo appear two animal horns sticking up. The decorated horns belong to "Bobby," an antelope, the regimental mascot of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
According to the Fusiliers Association of Great Britain, "The mascot was looked after by two handlers chosen from the battalion, they would make sure that he was fed and watered and exercised. When on parade they kept him under control by means of two white ropes attached to his collar which was also white, and was emblazoned with a large silver badge. On his back he wore a coat of royal blue, embroidered with the regimental crest, and his horns were tipped with silver cones."1View comments
Fifty thousand Yemenite Jews were secretly airlifted to the new state of Israel in 1949-1950 in order to escape anti-Jewish pogroms that were erupting across the Arab world.
Embroidering and sewing in a shop for Yemenite Jewish-style clothes
(circa 1922, Cigarbox Collection, Keren HaYesod)
The emergency campaign, calledOperation Magic Carpetor Operation On Eagles' Wings, would be repeated decades later to rescue Ethiopian Jewry in the 1984 Operation Moses and the 1991 Operation Solomon when Israel flew thousands of Jews out of Ethiopia and Sudan then plagued by famine and civil war.
Neither the Yemenites nor the Ethiopians were motivated by modern political Zionism as founded by Theodore Herzl. They were fervent believers in the ancient Jewish messianic dream of returning to the Land of Israel. From Gondar in northern Ethiopia and the ancient mountain town of Sana'a in Yemen they were determined to reach Eretz Yisrael,sometimes traveling by foot.
"Arab Jew from Yemen" (original caption, Library
of Congress)
Yemenite Jew probably from Haban (Library of Congress)
Such a group of Yemenite Jews arrived in Jerusalem in 1882, and their story and photographs appear here and here. Many were fed and sheltered by the members of the American Colony of Jerusalem.
The picture above of the Yemenite embroidery and tailor shop from Otti Seidon's Cigarbox Collection was taken well before the large airlift of Yemenite Jews. These are the children of the olim. Note the men, including the hookah smoker, working on the embroidery which is not unlike the silver and gold filigree Yemenite Jewish jewelers were famous for.
Yemenite embroidery on talit (Esther Zeitz)
In the 1950s and 60s, cottage industries were set up for Yemenite embroiderers, and their wares were sold by Ruth Dayan's Maskit fashion house, WIZO's women's organization, and a legendary Jerusalem shopkeeper named Esther Zeitz who employed young blind women to embroider.1View comments
Is this Kibbutz Tel Yosef? Photo from the "Cigarbox Collection" of Dr.Othniel Seidon
The composition of this photo is striking -- a new Jewish settlement at the foot of a mountain ridge and at the bottom of a gorge. On the back someone wrote "Tel Yosef 1921," apparently the year, the only date found on a photo in the Seidon collection. The kibbutz was named after Yosef Trumpeldor, a Jewish Zionist hero who died defending the Tel Hai settlement in 1920.
The photo is an enigma. Tel Yosef is located in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, not located at the base of mountain. Research into Tel Yosef's history uncovered that the kibbutz was located a few kilometers away in its first years, and was located where Kibbutz Ein Harod is located today. But it too was not at the foot of a mountain.
Beit Alpha at the foot of the Gilboa Mountains. Note the
gorge (Google Earth)
Modern technology helped us locate the chalutzim's(pioneers) settlement 90 years ago.
A Google Earth search of the Jezreel-Gilboa area quickly found a possible location of the mystery picture -- the Kibbutz of Beit Alpha. The settlement at the foot of the mountain and the gorge appear identical.
We checked Beit Alpha's history and photo archives and confirmed that the Cigar Collection photo was Beit Alpha and not Tel Yosef. The picture below shows the same tents and buildings.
From Beit Alpha's archives. Note the same tents and cabins as the photo on top 0Add a comment
- MAY16
Introducing the "Cigarbox Collection" -- Donated by Dr. Othniel Seiden of Denver -- An Heirloom from his Father, Dr. Rudolph Avraham Seiden
The pictures inside
A version of this article appeared in The Jerusalem Post Magazine on May 17.
The cigarbox
By Lenny Ben-DavidThe antique wood cigarbox was beautifully crafted, bound like a book and entitled "Gourmet's Delight" and "Grown in California." Opening the box in Efrat, Israel, I discovered it was filled with a stack of pictures from Palestine 90-100 years ago. Almost simultaneously I received an email from a doctor in Denver which began, "I am delighted that the pictures have found a new home!"
Grave of Maimonides (Rambam) in Tiberias (circa 1920). A version of this picture also appears in the Harvard
Library archives attributed to the Central Zionist Archives
When I discovered 22,000 newly digitalized antique pictures of Eretz Yisrael in the Library of Congress archives two years ago, I immediately recognized the pictures' hasbara value. The photos showed Jewish life in the land 150 years ago, well before Herzl and the establishment of the State of Israel.
Metal worker making collection boxes for the
Jewish National Fund (Seidon collection)
A modern day JNF box But many of the pictures were not captioned nor were the dates or locations always correct. I began a painstaking process of research and enlarging photos to identify places, people and the chronological sequences. My analyses became essayswhich now total more than 300 photo analyses in the Israel Daily Picture blogsite. The www.israeldailypicture.com site has attracted some 800,000 visitors, and the Library of Congress has used some of these analyses to correct its captions.Many of the photo essays appeared in The Jerusalem Post Magazine, and I’m in discussions with a publisher about a book.
Math lesson in Machane Yehuda (the shuk area of
Jerusalem). The drill: if a worker earns 17.5 Eretz
Yisrael pounds a day, how much would he receive
for six days?
The Library of Congress archives' largest collection came from the American Colony Photographic Department in Jerusalem. Other pictures on the sitewere taken by some of the first pioneers of photography in the 1850s and 1860s. I have also published essays based on the photos (only after securing permission) from the archives of Harvard, the New York Public Library, and a Scottish medical school archives that contained antique pictures of the Jews of Tiberias amidst anatomical photographs of limbs, operations, and disease.
The Cigarbox Collection
Dr. Othniel Seiden of Denver is a fan of theIsrael Daily Picture and offered hisexceptionalcollection. A friend from Efrat was going to Denver and served as courier. I was very grateful, but asked one more favor from Dr. Seiden -- that he tell the story behind the collection. His recollection follows:
Arab village of Kalkilya. The small structure (right) is
apparently a well with a woman standing with a
jug on her head
My father, Dr. Rudolph Avraham Seiden, was born in 1900 and was first involved in Palestine through a Zionist organization in Vienna called Die Blau Weiss or the "Blue White." As a teen, sometime around 1919, he started smuggling Jews out of Eastern Europe into Palestine through Blau Weiss. At that time, a whole family could travel to Palestine on a family visa. The organization established a front travel agency and hired a Greek ship in order to put together strangers as families and
arranged tours to Palestine for these "large family groups." When the tourists got to Palestine they "disappeared," and their return tickets were sold to people wanting to go to Europe from Palestine.
Matzah factory in Haifa. Sign on the wall on the right reads
"No spitting, No smoking." Sign on the left reads "For the
mitzvah of matzah" so that workers devote themselves to
the making of matzah
My father's intent was to move our family to Palestine, and in the mid-1920s he went there to check things out. He was the first chemist to take minerals out of the Dead Sea, and it was his intent to set up a factory to do that. Unfortunately he contracted malaria and had to go back to Vienna.
He still longed to move us all to Palestine, and in the late 1920s my mother's family, the Abileahs, moved there. In the meantime, he worked in Vienna and held the first patent on tempered glass.
Workshop for making wagon wheels in the Mikve Yisrael agricultural school
When Hitler came to power and the Austrian Nazi Party gained status, my father suddenly couldn't publish anymore and saw the writing on the wall. In 1934, when we were planning our move, my mother's family said that life in Palestine was very difficult, and if we had a chance to go to the U.S. we should do it. In 1935 we moved to the U.S. Many of the Abileahs are still in Israel. [Othniel's uncle Beni Abileah was a well-known Israeli diplomat.]
The children of Nahalal (circa 1925)
In 1980, I started an organization called "Doctors To The World" which took medical personnel to various areas in the world to do volunteer work in needy areas. We sent dentists into villages in Israel to serve mostly Israeli Arabs and anyone else needing help. That was when I took out Israeli citizenship so I could get a medical license in Israel.
Bedouin Arab family near Lake Hula and their reed huts My father took only some of the photos. Many were either post cards or some other stock photos. Those that had an imprint on the back [some are stamped "Keren Hayesod Photo] I assume is that of the developing and processing individual.
When I asked for formal permission to publish the photos, Dr. Seiden responded: I give you full permission to use the photos I sent you in any way you feel fit, for educational purposes, or to lend and permit to be used by other media and organizations that will use them for educational or historical purposes.Thank you Dr. Seiden. Yes, I should name it the “Seiden Collection,” but I will always consider them the “Cigarbox Pictures.”3View comments
Jews around the world commemorate the holiday of Shavuot this week, the day on which tradition says the Torah was given to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai.
Torah scrolls in the ark of the Istanbouli Synagogue in the Old City
of Jerusalem (circa 1930), "one of the oldest synagogues
in Jerusalem." The synagogues in the Old City were all
destroyed after the Jewish Quarter was captured in 1948.
(Library of Congress)
The Torah -- also known as the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses -- has been the foundation of the Jewish faith for 3,000 years, the basis for the monotheistic Christian and Islamic religions, and an inspiration for spiritual, moral and ethical values.
A Yemenite Jewish scribe and his
father, Shlomo Washadi (c 1935)
The Torah scrolls are handwritten with quills by God-fearing scribes on the parchment made of the skins of kosher animals. One skipped or illegible letter of the 304,805 letters of the Torah makes the scroll invalid for reading in the synagogue service. A Torah damaged beyond repair is buried.
Samaritan high priest with
his sons and Pentateuch
scroll (c 1911)
Doctors Herbert and David Torrance of the Scottish Mission hospital in Tiberias and the photographers of the American Colony
Photographic Department took several portraits of Jews and their Torah scrolls. They were also clearly fascinated by the scrolls and practice of the Samaritans, an ancient offshoot of Judaism who are not considered Jewish today.
The Dundee Medical School archives in Scotland contains many anatomical pictures taken by the Torrances, but also fascinating pictures of the Galilee Jewish community. We published one photo captioned "Rabbi and Torah scroll." After we identified the picture as a Samaritan, the archives corrected their caption to "a Samaritan leader with his sect’s scroll."
Jewish rabbi or Samaritan priest with scroll 
A desecrated synagogue in Hebron
with Torahs strewn on the floor (1929)
The Library of Congress archives also include pictures of the Hebron Jewish community after they were decimated in a pogrom by Arab attackers. Among the photos are pictures of a destroyed synagogue and its Torah scrolls.
Enlargement of the scrolls on the floor 0Add a comment
- MAY13
In Honor of the Jewish Holiday Shavuot, We Re-post -- The Book of Ruth Comes Alive in Antique Photos Taken 100 Years Ago
The Jewish holiday of Shavuot-Pentecost will be celebrated this week. The holiday has several traditional names: Shavuot, the festival of weeks, marking seven weeks after Passover; Chag HaKatzir, the festival of reaping grains; and Chag HaBikkurim, the festival of first fruits. Shavuot, according to Jewish tradition, is the day the Children of Israel accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is also believed to be the day of King David's birth and death.
"Ruth the Moabitess" 
Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to
leave you, to return from following
you, for wherever you go, I will go...
Your people shall be my people, your
God my God"
The reading of the Book of Ruth is one of the traditions of the holiday. Ruth, a Moabite and widow of a Jewish man (and a princess according to commentators), gave up her life in Moab to join her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, in the Land of Israel. She insisted on adopting Naomi's God, Torah and religion.
A central element of the story of Ruth is her going to the fields where barley and wheat were being harvested so that she could collect charitable handouts. She gleans in the fields of Boaz, a judge and a relative of Ruth's dead husband (as such he has a levirate obligation to marry the widow). The union results in a child, Obed, the grandfather of King David. 
And Naomi and Ruth both went on
until they arrived at Bethlehem
Ruth came to a field that belonged
to Boaz who was of the family of
Naomi's deceased husband
The members of the American Colony were religious Christians who established their community in the Holy Land. They were steeped in the Bible and photographed countryside scenes that referred to biblical incidents and prohibitions.
Boaz said to his servant, who stood
over the reapers, "To whom does
this maiden belong?"
Boaz said to Ruth, "Do not go to
glean in another field...here you shall
stay with my maidens"
Boaz said to her at mealtime, "Come
here and partake of the bread..." He
ordered his servants "Pretend to
forget some of the bundles for her."We present a few of the dozens of "Ruth" photographs found in the Library of Congress' American Colony collection.
Ruth carried it to the city and Naomi
saw what she had gleaned
A major effort was made by the photographers to re-enact the story of Ruth. "Ruth," we believe, was a young member of the American Colony community; the remaining "cast" were villagers from the Bethlehem area who were actually harvesting, threshing and winnowing their crops. We have matched the pictures with corresponding verses from theBook of Ruth.
Ruth came to the threshing floor and
Boaz said, "Ready the shawl you are
wearing and hold it," and she held
it, and he measured out six measures
of barley....
See more of the pictures here.
Unfortunately, we don't know when the "Ruth and Boaz series" was photographed, but we estimate approximately 100 years ago.
Click on the pictures to enlarge, click on the caption to view the original. 0Add a comment
- MAY9
"The Zionist Message Hidden within Antique Pictures of the Holy Land" -- Published by Jewish Political Studies Review
Jerusalem's Old City The journal article by Lenny Ben-David, the publisher of Israel Daily Picture, is based on the pictures of the Library of Congress archives and the American Colony photographers.
The Jewish Political Studies Review article discusses the importance of historical photographs for the study of Jewish life in the Holy Land in the 19th and 20th centuries. The following is the introduction to the article:
Harvesting at Jewish settlement
A 110-year-old trove of pictures taken by the Christian photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem provides dramatic proof of thriving Jewish communities in Palestine. Hundreds of pictures show the ancient Jewish community of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Jewish pioneers and builders of new towns and settlements in the Galilee and along the Mediterranean coastline. The American Colony photographers recorded Jewish holy sites, holiday scenes and customs, and they had a special reason for focusing their lenses on Yemenite Jews.
Yemenite Jew
The collection, housed in the U.S. Library of Congress, also contains photographs from the 1860s, the first years of photography.
Students in Mikve Yisrael
agricultural school
These photographs provide a window rarely opened by historians—for several unfortunate reasons—to view the life of the Jews in the Holy Land. The photographs’ display and online publication effectively counter the biased narrative claiming that the Jewish state violently emerged ex novo in the mid-twentieth century.0Add a comment
- We reach 800,000 visitors this week!
Opening the cigarbox 
From the "Cigarbox Collection" We Unveil the
Cigarbox Collection" and reveal details on the donor.
Are you a subscriber yet? Enter your email in the box on the right.1View comments
Why is there a Ferris wheel on the Temple Mount in 1904?
The Temple Mt -- in St Louis, Mo. (1904, Library of Congress)
The caption reads "Walls of Jerusalem and Ferris Wheel"
Because this picture is not taken in Jerusalem, but at the St. Louis, Mo. World's Fair in the United States.
The Fair was dedicated to the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (but was delayed until 1904).
The World's Fair attracted pavilions from all over the world and almost 20 million visitors. But, as explained inWikipedia, "the grand, neo-Classical exhibition palaces were temporary structures, designed to last but a year or two. They were built with a material called 'staff',' a mixture of plaster of Paris and hemp fibers, on a wood frame."
Author Shalom Goldman writes in his book, "God's Sacred Tongue: Hebrew & the American Imagination,"At the 1904 World's Fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, there was a massive model of Jerusalem's Old City. It sprawled over 10 acres of the fairgrounds and included grand models of the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. As Israeli scholar Rechav Rubin remarked: 'the most astonishing fact about the enterprise is that several hundred people, Moslems, Jews, and Christians, were brought from Jerusalem to St. Louis. There they lived and worked within the model, dressed in their colorful costumes... and had to entertain and guide the visitors through its streets and sites.'"
1View comments
- MAY7
The Train to Jerusalem -- Readers' Reactions and a Special Bonus: The First Motion Picture Made in the Holy Land
Two fans of Israel Daily Picture made two very important points:
Jerusalem train station (circa 1900, Library of Congress)
1. Ehud wrote, "You might note that the first train in the Holy Land was a Jewish initiative."
Ehud, you're right. Here's an abstract of the article you recommended. Already in 1838, Jewish financier Moses Montefiore raised the idea of a train. He lobbied the British prime minister and the Ottoman grand vizier in 1856. A year later he brought a British engineer to Palestine to survey a route. After his wife died in 1864, however, Montefiore gave up his dream.
But the idea was kept alive by a Jewish businessman from Jerusalem, Joseph Navon, who in 1885 lobbied the Ottoman authorities to build the train line and secured funds to finance the construction.
2. Hillel wrote: When I looked at the station over the years, I noticed the 'Jerusalem' name on the second floor of the station's side is in English and Arabic and centered
Enlargement from the picture above
below (apparently added later, judging from the appearance), in Hebrew. Now, I see the picture with the English and Arabic names, but none in Hebrew, and my deduction was proved correct.
The sign today (Credit: Jerusalem
History in Pictures)
Special feature: An earlier posting of the First Motion Picture taken in the Holy Land -- Filmed from a Train in Jerusalem
Scene from first movie
Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière were photographic inventors who began to experiment with motion pictures in the early 1890s.
Railroad Station (1900)
The Frenchmen's first footage was recorded in March 1895. In 1897, they produced the first motion picture made in the Holy Land, a 51-second film from a train leaving Jerusalem station.
Click on the picture to see the film or view an annotated version of the film which answers the question, "Who were the residents of Jerusalem when the film was made?"
[Do not adjust the sound on your computer; this is a silent movie.]
Note in the background the windmill in the Jewish neighborhood of Yemin Moshe built by Moses Montefiore in 1860.0Add a comment
The first train to Jerusalem was inaugurated in 1892 during the Ottoman rule of Palestine. The steep climb from Jaffa through the mountains to Jerusalem was slow and dangerous. The sharp curves meant frequent derailments.
Train being turned in the Jerusalem train station (circa 1900)
These pictures come from the Library of Congress' American Colony collection.
The rail system in the Holy Land was also a hodgepodge of different rail widths. The original rail to Jerusalem was 1 meter wide. Some rail lines from Cairo were standard gauge (1.435 meter); others were part of the Hejaz railroad (1.050 meter). And during Britain's campaign in Palestine against the Turks they introduced temporary narrow gauge (600 mm) rail lines from Jaffa and between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Narrow gauge line in Jaffa, built on
a wider road bed. Jews were expelled
from Jaffa by the Turks in World War I
and rails were removed for use in the
Turkish war effort. This picture, therefore,
is almost certainly taken soon after the war.
Australian army engineers in two
light locomotives near Jerusalem (1918)
As the British pushed the Turks out of Palestine they rebuilt the rail lines destroyed by the Turks. In the case of the "temporary" Jerusalem-Ramallah line, they used narrow gauge rails. By 1920 they had rebuilt the Jaffa-Jerusalem line with standard gauge.
The re-dedication of the line was celebrated by the British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel who apparently drove the locomotive between Jaffa and Lod.
British High Commissioner Sir
Herbert Samuel driving in the last
spike in Jaffa (1920)
Military, temporary light train between
Jerusalem and Ramallah, near the
Tomb of the Judges and view here (1918)
Samuel at the controls of the train
opening the Jaffa-Jerusalem route
(October 5, 1920)
Samuel responding to the crowds lining the train route
The Library of Congress captions this picture "A crowd of
men and women" and dates it as between 1925 and 1946. It
is almost certainly Samuel's dedication, probably at Lod,
in 1920. (All pictures are from the Library of Congress)
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www.israeldailypicture.com
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original pictures.0Add a comment
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Today Jews around the world are celebrating Lag B'Omer, the end of a month-long mourning period when traditional Jews refrain from weddings or joyous gatherings. The mourning remembers the thousands of students of Rabbi Akiva, a reknowned spiritual leader at the time of the Talmud. They died in a great plague that ended on Lag B'Omer. 
Meron and tomb of Shimon BarYochai(circa 1930)
Dancing at the Meron tomb (Central Zionist Archives,
Harvard Library, 1925)
The tomb on the hill (enlarged)
In Israel, Lag B'Omer is celebrated with bonfires, hikes along nature trails, and gatherings at the tombs of of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the Galilee town of Meron and of Shimon the Just (Hatzaddik) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.Bar Yochai, a student of Rabbi Akiva's, was known for his opposition to the Roman rule in the Land of Israel. He and his son were forced to flee to the Galilee where they hid in a cave for 12 years. Lag B'Omer is the day of his death, but it is actually celebrated in recognition of the Torah teachings he gave over to his students.
Hundreds of thousands of celebrants are expected to visit Shimon Bar Yochai's tomb in Meron by Wednesday night.
Shimon Hatzaddik was a High Priest of the second Temple in Jerusalem for 40 years.
Jewish women praying at the ShimonHatzaddik tomb (Central ZionistArchives, Harvard Library, c. 1930)
Jews gathered at Shimon Hatzaddik's tomb in Sheikh Jarrah,
Jerusalem (Central Zionist Archives, Harvard Library,
c. 1930)
According to Jewish tradition, Shimon clothed himself in his High Priest's vestments to receive Alexander the Great as he marched toward Jerusalem. Alexander stepped from his chariot and bowed to Shimon, who, he said, had appeared to him in a dream predicting his victories.
Children's Lag B'Omer procession
near Shimon Hatzaddik's tomb (1918)
Many traditional Jews who cannot travel to Meron in the Galilee celebrate Lag B'Omer at Shimon Hatzaddik's tomb located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in northern Jerusalem.
Shimon Hatzaddik's tomb today Jewish homes around the tomb had to be evacuated in the 1948 fighting. In recent years Jewish families have returned to the neighborhood.Today's feature is dedicated to M & Y on the occasion of their 45th anniversary1View comments
The horrific bloodshed in Syria continues without any restraint. More than 80,000 civilians have been killed, and unknown numbers are missing and wounded. More than one million civilians are refugees.
The minaret of the Great Mosque in Aleppo,
circa 1910. (Library of Congress, American Colony
collection)
With few signs of international action to stop the terrible harm to flesh and blood, we add another reminder here of the catastrophe: the great destruction to the mortar and stone of Syria's magnificent historical heritage. The minaret was built almost 1,000 years ago as part of Aleppo's Great Mosque.
In fighting between President Assad's army and Syrian rebels last week the ancient minaret was destroyed.
The destroyed minaret, photo taken last week by
Associated Press
View other historical features on the ancient cities of Syria- Homs and Hama in Syria
- Tribute to the People of Syria
- Damascus Revolt 1895
- Damascus Revolt 1925
- Ancient Aleppo
A Bedouin family near the Hula Lake. Homes were made from reeds. The
lake was partially drained in the late 1800s. Later Jewish efforts drained the
malarial swamps. (circa 1920)
An Arab street in Haifa, ironically called "al Yahud" (the
Jews) street, according to a note on the picture's back (c 1920)
Among the photographs we received in the "Cigarbox Collection" are several pictures of Arab life in Palestine approximately 100 years ago.
The village of Kalkilya. Enlarging the photo shows a woman
with a jug on her head, suggesting the structure is a well
Days before our formal "opening" of the collection, we continue to provide previews.
Today's pictures come from the Arab communities in Kalkilya, Haifa and the Hula Valley.
Mishmar Ha'emek from the 1920s
(Keren Hayesod)
Clarification
We previously posted this picture from the Cigarbox Collection. Some of the pictures, such as this one, bear a stamp on the back saying "Photo Keren Hayesod." The Central Zionist Archives contains some 50,000 pictures from the organization which was established in 1920.
We discovered this picture in the Harvard Library files, but it was dated "1948-1946." We suggest that the photograph, part of other pictures in the Cigarbox Collection, was taken in 1926, soon after Mishmar Ha'emek's establishment.1View comments
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We continue to scan and research the treasure trove of photographs donated to Israel Daily Picture, pictures taken by the donor's father in the Land of Israel in the first decades of the 20th century. We hope to unveil the collection and the donor's account in his own words in the near future.
The cigarbox collection
Meanwhile, we present two more special pictures and a response to yesterday's picture from Yizraela, an octogenarian from Nahalal, who is an expert on the early days of the community and its photographs.
Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek in the Jezreel Valley (circa 1926) with Mt Tabor in the background.
The community was evacuated briefly during the 1929 Arab riots. In the 1948 war it was attacked by
Arab artillery and aircraft.
Young women doing laundry. A notation on the back of the photo says that they are Yemenites. Are they Jewish? The talit prayer shawl in the tub suggests that they are. (circa 1920) 
The talit
Yizraela Bloch (named for the "Jezreel" Valley where she was born) is the photo archivist of Nahalal. The spry octogenarian was shown yesterday's photo of the children of Nahalal and asked if one of the boys could be Moshe Dayan.
The children of Nahalal and their teacher
She responded: "Moshe Dayan couldn't be one of the children in the picture because you can see the water tower that was built in 1924 in the background. The building in the foreground was the kindergarten and behind it the first grade class room. In 1924 Moshe Dayan would have been older than the kids in the picture." [Dayan was born in 1915.]
Confirming the unique nature of the "Cigarbox collection," Yizraela was very interested in the photograph which she doesn't have in the archive collection. She was also surprised that she didn't know the kindergarten teacher in the photo.
Our special thanks to NSP for interviewing Yizraela.0Add a comment
An avid reader of this site has allowed Israel Daily Picture to become "home" to his incredible collection of pictures of the Land of Israel assembled almost 100 years ago by his father. We received the collection in an old cigarbox this week and are in the process of digitalizing the high resolution pictures, translating German captions, and identifying those pictures without captions.
A book? No, a cigarbox 
The contents of the cigarbox
More on the collection and the generous owner of the collection will be provided soon.
Meanwhile, here are several preview samples:
The children of Nahalal (circa 1920s). It is possible that one of these boys was Moshe Dayan who was born in 1915? .A matzah factory in Haifa. The signs on the left read "For the purpose of the commandment of matzah" --
a reminder to the workers to keep their intentions on the commandment. The signs on the right, in Hebrew and
French, read "No smoking" and "No Spitting"
Smoking and spitting are prohibited 
"For the matzah mitzva" 1View comments
World War II's Jewish history focuses on the terrible Holocaust in Europe with relatively small footnotes about the Nazi persecution of Jews in North Africa, Haj Amin el-Husseini's conspiracies in Berlin, and the Italian air force bombing of Tel Aviv in September 1940.
Italian prisoners of war under British guard arrive by train in Palestine 1940
(Library of Congress)
The Holocaust's genocide could also have included the 500,000 Jews of Palestine if the British army had not stopped German General Rommel's Afrika Korps blitzkrieg across northern Africa in November 1942 in the battle of Alamein. According to the British Independent, German historians discovered that the "Nazis stationed a unit of SS troops in Athens, tasked with following invading frontline troops in Palestine and then rounding up and murdering about 500,000 European Jews who had taken refuge there." The SS would have been aided by Arab collaborators promised by el-Husseini.
POWs lining up for food
Palestine played a different role in 1940, early in the war. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, allied with Germany, ordered his troops stationed in Cyrenaica (Libya) to attack British forces in Egypt and capture the Suez Canal. Out-numbered British and Australian forces blocked the attack and pushed back the Italian army. It was a crushing defeat for Italy, and more than 100,000 soldiers were captured.
POW's food line
Where were the Italian POWs taken?
The American Colony's photographs from the Library of Congress' collection showed that thousands of Italian POWs were taken to Palestine by train, presumably from Egypt.
The photographs were taken at the Wadi Sarer train station in December 1940. The station, inside Israel, is an old Ottoman building that has been abandoned.
Wadi Sarer train station in the background 
POWs on the march
The old train station was a recent photographic subject for photographer Gunther Hartnagel. We have been unable to make contact with Mr. Hartnagel to obtain permission to use his photographs, but they can be viewed here.1View comments
- APR12
Introducing David Blick of Brooklyn, Private in the Jewish Legion, Palestine, April 8, 1918 - March 18, 1920
David Blick was born in Odessa in 1893. In 1913 he left Russia, briefly lived in France, and then moved to the United States. In New York he enlisted in the British army's Jewish Legion and was assigned to the Royal Fusiliers.
Private David Blick, Jewish Legion
We thank Yakov Marks and his wife, Rena Chaya Brownstein Marks, for providing these pictures of her maternal grandfather, David Blick. Yakov noted, "While camped in the
area of Rishon LeZion, David met and later married Rachel Churgin of Yaffo. They were forced to leave Eretz Yisrael by the British."
David and Rachel Blick standing on
what appears to be a boat (in
Haifa harbor?)
Here is David Blicks' autobiographical account that he provided to the Album of the Jewish Legion:I was born in Odessa Russia on February 23, 1896. I attended both a yeshiva and gymnasium in that city. Early in 1913 I left Russia and settled in Paris, France for a year and a half. In July, [1915?] I migrated to United States. For the first three years I lived in the city of Boston and I was an active member of the Poale Zion Party.
Early in 1918 I joined the Jewish Legion and served in Eretz Yisrael with the 39th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. During my service in Israel I met and married my wife Rachel Churgin.
In February 1920 I left Israel first for England and then in the United States. I have lived in the United States since 1920....
Pvt. David Blick's Jewish Legion unit in Eretz Yisrael
More photographs from the Blick/Marks family album
The Royal Fusiliers on the way to action 
Blick's unit. 
David Blick's army discharge papers
Click on pictures to enlarge.
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Dr. Herbert Torrance visits Tiberias residents The University of Dundee medical school in Scotland has posted the photos taken by two missionary doctors who established a hospital in Tiberias. Below is the university's own description:The Torrance collection, which includes thousands of photographs and color slides of Israel, Palestine and medical illnesses, has now been fully updated on our online catalogue. The photographs were taken by David Torrance and his son Herbert Torrance who established a hospital in Tiberius in 1885 which lasted for over a hundred years helping the local communities.
Jewish patient in bed (circa 1930) In recent months we posted several photo essays on the hospital, including incredible pictures dating back over 100 years.But we were intrigued by a Christian Mission -- albeit a hospital -- in the midst of the very traditional Jewish residents of Tiberias.We found an answer on a Hebrew Internet site by Avshalom Shachar called "נופים ותרבויות --Vistas and Cultures."The Jews initially banned [cherem] the hospital, and rabbis prohibited their disciples from being aided in the place because of its missionary nature. However, the outbreak of cholera in the city in 1902 caused hundreds of casualties (including the doctor's wife) and led many Jews to seek out the services of the hospital and Dr. Torrance who, despite his wife's death, continued to treat patients diligently and earned great respect.
When Dr. Torrance died in 1923, the rabbi of Tiberias eulogized him: "Tiberias was blessed with three things: the Sea of Galilee, the Tiberias hot springs, and Dr. Torrance."
Today's posting is dedicated to Dr. A.K. with wishes for a speedy recovery -- Your "Kids"
Jewish and Arab boy, bladder stone cases (1933) 
Muslim, Jew and Christian with bladder stones (1929) 1View comments
The caption on this Wikipedia photo reads "Jewish Legion soldiers at the Western Wall after British conquest, 1917." Was the
photo taken in 1917 after the British captured the city in December, in which case this was a group of Jewish soldiers from various
units, or after June 1918 when the Jewish Legion was first dispatched to Palestine?
The history of the Jewish Legion that fought in Palestine in World War I is relatively unknown.
Jewish soldiers liberating the Kotel 50 years
later (Rubinger, Government Press Office)
Many of the soldiers were recruited from the ranks of the disbanded Zion Mule Corps, Palestinian Jews exiled by the Turks in April 1917 who were recruited in Egypt, or from Diaspora Jewry recruited in Canada and the United States.
As many as 500 Jewish Legion soldiers came from North America, with some sources claiming the majority of them were from Canada. Many of them were originally from Poland or Russia.
The original caption reads "Jewish League Fort Edward Nova Scotia 1918." We
believe the photo was taken on Yom Kippur a year earlier in September 1917,
one month after the "draft" of soldiers for the Jewish Legion began in Canada.
By September 1918 the Jewish Legion was already in Palestine.
Leon Cheifetz, Legionnaire
One Legionnaire was Leon Cheifetz from Montreal who enlisted before the age of 18. Cheifetz assembled an album with dozens of pictures and biographies of many of the Canadians who fought with him.
A group of Jewish Legionnaires in Ben Shemen from
the Cheifetz album
Unfortunately, the huge Library of Congress collection of Palestine pictures has few photographs of the Legionnaires.
The pictures in this series of essays come from various other collections, and we hope to receive more from the descendants of soldiers who served in the Legion.2View comments
- MAR27
More on the Jewish Legion in Palestine, 1917 - 1919, The Virtually Unknown Commander, Lazar Margolin
In our last posting on the Jewish Legion we published this photo of the "Jewish Legion entering a Jewish village in the Land of Israel." We have subsequently discovered more information about the photograph.
Colonel Margolin riding into the Jewish village of Ben Shemen
(Wikipedia, public domain)
The picture shows Colonel Eliezer "Lazar" Margolin riding into Ben Shemen. Margolin, a Russian-Palestinian-Australian, was a decorated officer who succeeded John H. Patterson as the commander of the Jewish Legion.
Margolin was born in Russia in 1874 and moved to a small farm in Rechovot Palestine with his parents when he was 17. He was proficient in Hebrew, Arabic, marksmanship and riding. Years later he was known as a figure who "rides his horse like a Bedouin, and shoots like an Englishman."
Colonel E. Margolin
(Harvard-Central
Zionist Archives)
Margolin's parents died, leaving him destitute. He left for Australia in 1902 to find his fortune but not before he swore on this parents graves that he would be
back to fight the Turkish occupiers. He joined the Australian army in 1911 and fought with valor in Gallipoli (1915) and France (1916-17) where he was wounded. In 1918, Lieutenant-Colonel Margolin took command of the Jewish Legion and participated in the Palestine campaign against the Turks.
February 22, 1918, The 38th battalion of the Jewish Legion
marches in the streets of London before leaving for the
Middle East. British Jews lined the route to cheer.
Just a few months after the Balfour Declaration in November 1917, a Jewish battalion of the Jewish Legion marched in London. Zev Jabotinsky, who had encouraged Margolin to take the command post, described the scene: "Tens of thousands of Jews crowded the streets, the windows, the balconies, the roofs. Blue-white flags were over every shop door; there were women crying for joy and old Jews with fluttering beards murmuring the prayer of thanksgiving: 'Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God, Who hast permitted us to live to see this day."In May 1921, Margolin commanded the "First Jewish Battalion of Judea" police unit, and he faced a terrible challenge (as described in the biography of Margolin's predecessor, Col. David Patterson):[After publication of our first posting on the Jewish Legion in Palestine during World War I, we had several fascinating responses from readers who had old family pictures of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who served in the Legion. We invite them to scan the photos and send them for publication. Please make sure to provide details with the pictures.]
Colonel Margolin's SOS to British headquarters for arms to defend the Jaffa Jews had been turned down. So, with his approval, fellow Legionnaires broke into the munitions depot, seized weapons, rushed to Jaffa where former Legionnaires joined them, and killed 16 Arabs and drove off hundreds. The Arabs had killed 27 Jews and wounded 106.
The British declared martial law, and Margolin submitted his resignation. High Commissioner Herbert Samuel gave him two choices: to face a court-martial...or to leave Palestine immediately. Margolin chose to leave and returned to Australia.
For more information on Colonel Eliezer Margolin see:
Australian Dictionary of Biography - Eliezer Margolin
An Anzac - Zionist Hero, The Life of Lt. Col. Eliezer Margolin, by Rodney Gouttman3View comments
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Children baking matzah in kindergarten in Palestine. The teacher is in the center and it appears there's a
tiny oven in front of her (Harvard/Central Zionist Archives, circa 1920)0Add a comment
- The British army captured Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1917 and continued their Palestine campaign for another year until the capture of Damascus. Meanwhile, the Jewish Legion, consisting of Jewish volunteers, sat in Cairo chafing at the bit to join the fight in Palestine. They finally joined Allenby's forces in June 1918 and fought against the Turks in the Jordan River Valley.
The Jewish Battalion, a Passover Seder in Jerusalem, 1919. (Harvard, Central Zionist Archives) The photo is signed by
Ya'akov Ben-Dov who moved to Palestine in 1907 from Kiev. He was drafted into the Ottoman army during World War I and
served as a photographer in Jerusalem. Ben-Dov filmed Allenby's entry into Jerusalem in 1917.
The Jewish battalions of the Jewish Legion were manned by volunteers from Palestine, Europe, the United States and Canada, soldiers stirred by the call to action by Zionist leaders Zev Jabotinsky and Yosef Trumpeldor. Colonel John Henry Patterson, the unit's first commanding officer, described the Legion:
Recruiting poster for Jewish soldiers "The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. The initial unit, known as the Zion Mule Corps, was formed in 1914-1915 during World War I, when Britain was at war against the Ottoman Turks, as Zionists around the world saw an opportunity to promote the idea of a Jewish National Homeland."
Soldiers from the Jewish Battalion on Passover in Jerusalem. The
caption in the Harvard/Central Zionist Archives lists the date as
1918. The Hebrew inscription behind the soldiers reads "Pesach
Jerusalem 5678" which corresponds to 1917-1918.The photograph of the soldiers sitting in Jerusalem is something of a mystery.It is dated 1918, but the Jewish Legion was still based in Cairo in the spring of 1918. Examining the head gear of the soldiers suggests the group consisted of Jewish fighters from variousunits -- British, Australian cavalry, and Scottish -- who assembled to participate in the Passover seder in Jerusalem prior to the Jewish Legion arriving in Palestine.
16-year-old volunteer Yitzak Jacov Liss
from "Diary of a Young Soldier" by
Jeanne SamuelsMore information on the Jewish Legion is available in We Are Coming, Unafraid: The Jewish Legions and the Promised Land in the First World War by Dr. Michael Keren, professor of Political Science, and Dr. Shlomit Keren, professor of History and Israel Studies, at the University of Calgary. They present personal diaries, letters and memoirs of soldiers who fought in the Jewish Legions. "In the First World War, many small nationalities joined the war in order to ensure self-determination when it was over. This was also the case with the Jewish battalions,” writes Shlomit Keren.
"Jewish Legion enters a Jewish village in the Land of Israel" from
"We Are Coming, Unafraid"Indeed, the Jewish Legion ignited the spirit for the Jewish self-defense forces in Palestine that evolved eventually into the Israel Defense Forces.Read more about Colonel Patterson and the Jewish Legion at The Seven Lives of Colonel Patterson: How an Irish Lion Hunter Led the Jewish Legion to Victory.View a previous posting on Yemenite Passover Seder in Jerusalem4View comments
We noted previously that the American Colony photographers took many pictures of plowing practices of the Arab community in Palestine. The photographers were good Christians, and their pictures were probably meant to show Biblical prohibitions such as animal threshing wheat while muzzled or mismatched animals under a yoke pulling a plow.
"Thou shall not plow with
an ox and an ass together."
לא תַחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר וּבַחֲמֹר יַחְדָּו
Deuteronomy 20 (circa 1890)
-- from an earlier posting
View the earlier feature here.
Recently, we discovered in the medical archives of the Dundee University in Scotland the picture below with the same subjects -- an ox and a donkey pulling a plow. The picture was taken by the head of the Scots Mission Hospital in Tiberias, Herbert Torrance, who was both a doctor and a Christian missionary who undoubtedly also knew his Bible well.
"Plowing with an ox and an ass" (April, 1929, Torrance Collection, University of Dundee) 2View comments
Some 20 years ago, Tel Aviv's Mayor Shlomo Lahat "gave" one of his beaches to Jerusalem's mayor Teddy Kollek. Ostensibly, "Jerusalem Beach" is the closest beach to Jerusalem and those citizens who want to drive the 40 kilometers to swim and splash.
"Solomon's pools becomes a picnic and swimming resort. Group of bathers"
(Library of Congress)
But Jerusalem has had huge swimming pools nearby for 2,000 years, and the photographers of the American Colony filmed the Jerusalem residents who flocked to Solomon's Pools in the 1940s.
Solomon's Pools -- Picnic and Swimming Resort
and here (circa 1940, Library of Congress)
Cars arriving from Jerusalem and concession stand
(Library of Congress)From 1948 until 1967 the area was occupied by Jordan, and Israelis could not travel to Solomon's Pools. The area, of course, was open to local Arab residents.After the Oslo Agreements, Solomon's Pools were granted to the Palestinian Authority. Since the mid-1990s, Jewish groups have been able to visit only with special permission and escort by Israel's army. Foreign tourists can reach the site without restrictions from Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem.After the 1967 War, the area was reopened and Jerusalemites and residents of the local Jewish communities would visit the pools for picnics and to swim. Recommended reading (in Hebrew) סיפורן של אמות המים לירושלים The Story of the Water Supply to Jerusalem from "All About Jerusalem," Israeli Tour Guide Course. Photographs by Tamar Hayardeni and Ron Peled whose comments and photos have appeared in these postings in the past.1View comments
- MAR11
Are You a Fan of Novelist Daniel Silva? Make Sure to Read The Fallen Angel with Our Pictures Nearby
Bestselling novelist Daniel Silva has written a dozen books based on the exploits of Gabriel Allon, a fictional Israeli spy.
His latest page-turner, The Fallen Angel (Harper Collins), takes place in Rome and Jerusalem.
Under the al Aqsa Mosque, behind the sealed
Hulda Gate. Note the staircase that apparently
led to the surface and the Temple plaza
(circa 1927)
Newly-released photo from Israel Archaeological Authority
archives. Stairs and passage under the Temple Mount (circa 1927)
The cave under the "foundation stone" and the Dome
of the Rock on the Temple Mount. Woodcut in explorer
Col. Charles Wilson's book, 1881
Silva's books are always well-researched, and if you've read The Fallen Angel or plan to read it, keep these links containing rare pictures of subterranean Jerusalem close by. On this page is a sampling of the pictures.
View postings and photographs at Israel Daily Picture's
2View comments
Solomon seemed to have had a lot of property around Jerusalem.
Solomon's Pools. The photo from the Library of Congress archives is dated
between 1860 and 1880. No photographer is credited for the photo. The photo
and handwritten caption are similar to photos by Felix Bonfils (1831-1885).
Solomon's Temple, of course, was located on the Temple Mount and was actually built by King Solomon. After its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, it was covered by rubble, then two versions of the Second Jewish Temple, a Roman pagan shrine, a church and a Muslim shrine.
Around Jerusalem one can see other ancient sites with Solomon's name- Solomon's Quarries,
Solomon's pools, north of Efrat, south of Bethlehem and east of
Route 60. (Google Earth) - Solomon's Prayer Place,
- Solomon's Stables,
- and Solomon's Pools
Other than the First Temple, none of them had any real association with King Solomon.By the time of the Second Temple in the Hasmonean/Roman period, the man-made reservoirs at "Solomon's Pools" south of Jerusalem were vital for providing water for the burgeoning population of Jerusalem and the many tens of thousands who made pilgrimages to Jerusalem on festivals.
The local springs and cisterns in Jerusalem could not possibly provide enough water for all their needs as well as for the sacrificial service and hygiene required in the Temple and the city. The springs to the south could provide a bountiful supply despite their location some 30-40 kilometers away, but a massive engineering project of aqueducts was required to convey the water from near what is today Efrat, south of Bethlehem. The water flowed from pools slightly higher than Jerusalem through the many kilometers of aqueduct built with a relatively tiny 0.08 degree angle of decline!
Solomon's pools (circa 1900) in a rare
colored photochrom pictureClick on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original pictures.
Water from the Biyar Spring
flows into one of Solomon's
Pools (circa 1935)
The water aqueduct system begins some 10 km south of Solomon's Pools at the Arrub Spring, and included a collection pool at the Biyar Spring west of Efrat. From there the water in the aqueduct flowed north to the first of the pools 4.7 kilometers.
Water flowing through the mountains via
ancient aqueduct to Solomon's Pools
(circa 1939)
The pools are massive reservoirs built to hold water from the south and the Eitam spring to the east. The largest is 177 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 15 meters deep. Parts of the ancient aqueduct system are still visible.
Tomorrow: -- Solomon's Pools in the 20th Century0Add a comment
- Solomon's Quarries,
News accounts today report a plague of locusts in Egypt and sightings of locusts along Israel's border.
A fig tree before the locust plague hit (Library of Congress) The same fig tree after the locust plague hit
The photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem conducted an extensive photographic study of the locust plague of 1915 including the life cycle of the insects, the devastation, and attempts to eradicate.
A year ago we presented here a photo essay on the photo collection. Click here to view the whole article.
The aftermath of the plague 
Team waving flags tries to push a swarm of locusts into a
trap dug into the ground. The Turkish governor demanded
that every man deliver 20 kilo (44 pounds) of locusts
The pictures presented here were hand colored by the American Colony Photographic Dept.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on the caption to view the original picture.0Add a comment
- MAR4
Congressional Visits to Israel Are Not New. Pictures of a Senate Delegation in 1936, a Critical Year
Republishing this post in honor of the citizen lobbyists meeting with their elected officials during AIPAC's 2013 Policy Conference.
The senators and their wives visit the Temple Mount (1936)
April 1936 was the start of a vicious anti-Semitic and violent "Arab Revolt" in Palestine that would last through 1939. The murderous attacks against Jews, Jewish communities and Jewish property were widespread throughout Palestine. British government offices, banks and railroads were also attacked.
Coming so soon after the 1929 massacres of Jews in Palestine and under the looming shadow of the Nazi threat, the attacks against Palestine's Jews alarmed friends of the Zionist movement. The British Mandate's policies were viewed as biased against the Jews. Rumors of a British threat to suspend Jewish immigration to Palestine were particularly worrisome.
In July 1936, Secretary of State Cordell Hull cabled the U.S. Ambassador to Britain, "It has been brought to the attention of the President by influential Jewish groups in this country that the British Government is contemplating the suspension of Jewish immigration into Palestine. American Jewish leaders fear that such suspension may close the only avenue of escape of German and Polish Jews..."
The senators visiting an empty Western Wall (1936)
Hull instructed the ambassador to assure the British prime minister that he was only reporting on the concern of "influential Jewish circles in the U.S." and "not speaking on behalf" of the U.S. Government.
With such attitudes prevalant in Washington and London, it was little wonder that friends of the Jewish community and the Zionist movement would react. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst organized and financed a mission of three senators -- Dr. Royal Copeland of New York, Warren Austin of Vermont, and Daniel Hasting from Delaware -- to visit Palestine in August 1936 to "investigate the Palestine situation." [Note: the visit took place several years before the Holocaust and 12 years before Israel's founding.]
On August 11, 1936 Senator Copeland introduced a Senate resolution protesting British policies. The JTA reported:Condemning British proposals to partition Palestine as "outrageous," Senator Royal S. Copeland (Dem., NY) introduced in the Senate today a resolution asking the Senate's "forthright indication of unwillingness to accept modification in the mandate without Senate consent."
Senator Copeland declared that the territory allotted the Jews in the proposed partition was insufficient to maintain even a small number of Jews and that establishment of a small Jewish state might result in a war between the Jews and the Arabs. The Jews are having a "terrible time" in Germany, Poland and Rumania.... At the same time he noted a "distinct animosity" on the part of American consuls abroad in granting visas to Jews, which, he said, showed discrimination.
On August 22, the American consul general in Jerusalem cabled his Secretary of State to report, " A local committee of five representative Americans (leading Zionists) has been formed to meet the [Senate] party on arrival and has planned propaganda visits to Jewish colonies before proceeding [to] Jerusalem... [The] junket is designed to appeal to pro-Jewish propaganda.... The [British] Chief Secretary of the Palestine Government takes position on grounds of safety alone that the party cannot be permitted to tour country. With this I fully concur, particularly in view of present recrudescence of terrorism and especially as Zionists are sponsoring tour."
Postscript: Senator Austin was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1946. On November 29, 1947 the UN approved the partition plan for Palestine, recommending the formation of a Jewish state and an Arab state. On March 18, 1948 President Truman met with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and assured him of the United States' support for Jewish statehood.
Senators visiting Hebrew University's Mt. Scopus amphitheater
On March 19, Amb. Austin announced to the UN Security Council that the United States no longer viewed the partition plan as viable. Truman wrote two days later, "The striped pants conspirators in the State Department had completely balled up the Palestine situation." The White House reversed the position taken by State Department Arabists, and Truman supported the formation of the Jewish state.Hat tip: Y. Medad2View comments
The mirthful festival of Purim will be celebrated in the Jewish world on Sunday. Residents of Jerusalem celebrate "Shushan Purim" on Monday.
What holiday is it? Original caption from the Torrance
collection: "Rabbi Aboulafia blowing a shofar," but the
scroll the rabbi is holding is most certainly the Megillat
Esther read on Purim. The shofar is traditionally blown
on Rosh Hashanna. The Aboulafia family has been
associated with Tiberias for centuries.
We present pictures we found in the Scottish Dundee University Medical Archives, including the mysterious picture of "Rabbi Aboulafia" blowing a shofar and holding what appears to be a Megillat Esther read on Purim.
What an unusual sight! Snow in Tiberias. (Torrence collection)
The Jews of Palestine used to celebrate heartily at the Purim Adloyada ["until they don't know"] festival and parade held in Tel Aviv in the 1920s and 30's.
Some commentators make a crude comparison to Marde Gras partying, but the merriment is based on an ancient rabbinic tradition of Jews imbibing on Purim to the point where they do not know the difference between sobriety and drunkenness, between Mordechai and Haman -- but without losing their wits.
The American Colony's "Book Club"
(1898). Certainly not Purim-related,
but great costumes!
The Purim tale did not take place in Eretz Yisrael, but in Persia. A villain named Haman arose and tried to destroy the Jewish people. Through guile and disguise, Mordechai and Esther were able to thwart Haman's genocidal plans and save the Jewish people. To this day there is a custom to dress up in disguises.See last year's post -- Purim in the Holy Land: Tales of Disguise, Mirth and the Constant Threat of Haman
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to see original photos.View Yaakov Gross' film of the Tel Aviv celebrations in the 1930s here:
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- FEB17
The Flood that Almost Destroyed Tiberias, A Scottish Medical Museum Gives Up Its Photo Secrets
The Galilee town of Tiberius has suffered hard times over its two millennia -- invading armies, plagues, and earthquakes. Yet, it almost always remained a Jewish center for religious study where the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled.
A main street in Tiberius. The worst flood struck in 1934. This photo is dated
1938. (All pictures are from the University of Dundee's Unlocking the Medicine
Chest, Torrance collection)
But in recent history, probably nothing has devastated Tiberius as much as flash floods, particularly a freak storm and flood that struck the town in May 1934, ostensibly after the Holy Land's rainy season.
Five thousand residents were made homeless by the two days of flooding which led to mud and rock slides that cascaded down on the city, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency report at the time. More than 30 people died.
Vehicles stuck in Tiberias flood (1938)
Also view the newsreel film of the flood below, from the Spielberg Archives at the Hebrew University. It was the first Hebrew language news film.
Clean-up from 1926 flood
Click on pictures to enlarge and on captions to view the original photo.The doctors of the Scots Mission Hospital documented the damage of several of the floods, and their photographs can be found in the University of Dundee medical archives.
Original caption: "Such a mess!" 
The aftermath of a flood
Boy rescued from the mud at the Scots Mission Hospital
Not so lucky. Body of child pulled from
the mud. (Torrence collection, but the
photo was taken by G. Eric Matson of
the American Colony Photographic
Department)
"The Tiberias Catastrophe" (Spielberg Jewish Film Archives)1View comments
In our virtual expedition into the medical archives of the Scottish University of Dundeewe continue to explore pictures of life in Tiberias, the location of the Scots Mission Hospital established in the 1880s.
"Poor Jewish women leaving the hospital after the feast which was given them"
Christmas, 1924. (Torrence Collection, "Unlocking the Medicine
Chest," University of Dundee)
Amidst the pictures of medical cases photographed by Doctors David Watt Torrance and his son Herbert, the hospital's directors, are pictures of the Jews and Arabs of Tiberias. View an 1886 picture of patients here.
All the pictures presented are from the Torrance collection.
David Torrance arrived in a very poor, economic backwater town in the 1880s. Under Ottoman rule, Tiberias had little in the way of employment opportunities or basic hygienic infrastructure.
Orthodox Jews in Tiberias (1927)
Tiberias was nonetheless a center of Jewish life over the centuries, particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. It emerged as one of Judaism's holy cities after Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed. Rabbis of the Talmud and Maimonides are buried in Tiberias. And over the last few centuries pious Jewish families and scholars made it their home.
Elderly Jewish couple from Safed (1930)
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.
Hats and Faces: "The Jew on left belongs to Ashkenazi group (from Germany, Russia, Poland etc.) and speaks Yiddish; the other two are Sephardic Jews (Spanish and Portuguese) and speak Arabic and a Spanish patois [Ladino]." (circa 1940) 
Orthodox couple from Tiberias with the Torrances (1925) 
Original caption: "Orthodox Jew wearing phylacterus and
reading from scroll" (circa 1930). See also here
"Orthodox boy on the way to synagogue with talit"
(circa 1930)
From a Scot Mission Hospital fundraising
brochure (circa 1930)
Note fromIsrael Daily Picture'spublisher: Some Jewish readers may object to our publishing photos from the Scots Mission because of its proselytizing activity. We do not get into religious issues. We are thankful for the photographs of Palestine taken by Christian photographers, pictures that establish without any doubt many aspects of Jewish life in the Holy Land 150 years ago. Indeed, we suspect that some of their pictures have not been given the attention warranted precisely because Jewish scholars may have chosen to avoid the works of these photographers or because Middle East scholars chose to overlook pictures of Jewish inhabitants of Palestine.2View comments
- FEB13
Welcome to Tiberias, Home of David W. Torrance, 19th Century Doctor, Missionary, Photographer
Open the digital files of the Scots Missionary Hospital of Tiberias in the University of Dundee medical archives. Skim past the gruesome clinical pictures of patients with anthrax, typhoid, amputations, and deformities. And find the photographic treasures left behind by the father-son team, David Watt Torrance and Herbert Watt Torrance who ran the hospital along the shores of the Sea of Galilee from 1884 until 1959.
Arab and Jewish patients waiting outside of the dispensary of the hospital (1886)
Torrence Collection, "Unlocking the Medicine Chest," University of Dundee
See more on the Torrances here.
Original caption: "General view of the shore of Lake Galilee,
showing people washing clothes and cooking utensils and
drawing water at the same spot." (circa 1910)
The Torrance photos show the primitive conditions in Tiberias which was confined by Ottoman rulers to remain a small walled city until the early 20th century. The town was pillaged and destroyed by marauding armies over the centuries. Earthquakes, plagues, and floods devastated the town.
On the back of the picture of washing at the Sea of Galilee shore appears this notation: "No wonder there were outbreaks of cholera, enteric fever and such diseases! Father [Dr David Torrance] took the 'boilers' from the hospital wash-house into the town so that people could obtain boiled water."
"The old walls and castle of Tiberias" (1890) 
Aerial photo of Tiberias, 1938,
showing expansion of the town
Future features: The great Tiberias flood, and the Jews of Tiberias.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original photos.
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Several Israel Daily Picture readers responded immediately and identified the man in the picture.
The caption reads "Jew with a Torah." Actually, the man is a
Samaritan priest and the scroll is the Samaritan bible. (Torrance
collection, Medical Archives, University of Dundee)
Yoni wrote: "The 'Jew' with a Torah Scroll is in fact a Samaritan Cohen from Mt. Gerizim, above Shchem (Nablus). They have the 5 books of Moses (Torah) in similar casings as do Sephardi Jews, and therefore the confusion."
[A similar response came from reader BLS.]
We present this picture to introduce a large collection of photographs from the Scottish University of Dundee's medicalarchives and database, entitled "Unlocking the Medicine Chest." Amidst the historical medical records from many Scottish hospitals, clinics, infirmaries and universities is an entry Herbert Watt Torrance, Medical Missionary (1892-1977).
Dr. Herbert Torrance succeeded his father Dr. David Watt Torrance, a Scottish doctor and missionary, who established the Scots Missionary Hospital in Tiberias in the 1880s. The two doctors were dedicated to treating the poor of the Galilee -- Christians, Muslim and Jews. They also documented and photographed the diseases and injuries they encountered such as leprosy, anthrax, typhoid, and deformities, to name a few.
The collection also includes dozens of 100-year-old pictures of the elderly and poor Jews of Tiberias, early photographs of the town, and damage to Tiberias from natural calamities. Watch for these pictures atwww.israeldailypicture.com in the next weeks.
Back to the Samaritans
In case anyone has doubts about the true identity of the Torrance's "Jew," view the pictures of Samaritan priests we have posted here in the past. Note the turbans.
Samaritan priest (American
Colony)
Also note the scrolls' covering and handles. The scroll and chair in the Torrance picture actually provide the best proofs. Compare the shape, the arms, the metal tacks on the upholstery and compare it to the chair in this picture from a Samaritan synagogue. They may be the same chair. 
Samaritan priest (American Colony
collection)
Samaritan synagogue in Shchem
(Library of
Congress collection)0Add a comment
In the near future we hope to publish newly found antique photos and details of a collection of pictures we found in a European archive. The pictures show another aspect of Jewish life in the Holy Land over 100 years ago.
Meanwhile, here's a tasty morsel from the collection, a picture taken almost 120 years ago.
The caption reads "Sea of Galilee [Scots] Mission Hospital. A peek at a corner of the Male Ward 1894."
The picture shows care being given to Jewish and Arab patients. The orderly (?) on the right appears to be a religious Jew.1View comments
According to the British Broadcasting Corp.,this little boy is one of many patients who came to the Scottish Mission Hospital in Tiberias from "as far away as Damascus."
The original caption in the American Colony collection read,
"A little Jewish boy patient in the Scots Mission Hospital, Tiberias."
BBC used the photo in a review of a hotel located in the former
hospital building with the caption, "The hospital treated patients from
as far away as Damascus." No mention was made of the boy's faith.
Readers of Israel Daily Picture, however, may recognize the picture of a "little Jewish boy patient" from an earlier posting detailing with the massacre of 19 Jews in Tiberias on October 2, 1938 during the "Arab Revolt." We postulated that the boy was a survivor of the massacre. Most of the victims were women and children.
Especially after the BBC's deceptive caption, we have been reviewing other pictures from the Scots Mission Hospital. The hospital, part of the Scottish missionary efforts in Palestine, served Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Arab patient? The headscarf is of a style
typically worn by religious Jewish women
Looking and comparing headscarves, we believe that some of the pictures may be of Jewish women patients, especially these pictures captioned in the Library of Congress collection as "Arab patient with ailing daughter." Other possible Jewish patients can be viewed here and here.
View below pictures of Muslim women patients in their traditional head garb.
Arab patient and her headscarf
Coming Attraction: Why Is this "Jew with a Torah" Scroll Not Jewish?
Future feature: In researching the Scots Hospital in Tiberias,
we discovered an archive of Galilee pictures in a most unusual
library. The caption reads "Jew with Torah," but our research
shows that he was not Jewish. Who was he?
Arab girl patients and their scarves
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.2View comments
As the Ottoman Empire disintegrated in the late 19th century, many of the world powers pushed to strengthen their claims to parts of Palestine.
Italian hospital in Jerusalem (circa 1919). Note the horse-drawn
buggy on the left and the Hebrew sign on the shop on the far
right. It appears to read חלב לבן "White milk." Suggestions are
welcome. One reader suggested a more likely reading:
"Tea, milk, leben."
Ottoman "capitulation" agreements had been signed with France already in 1500, conceding control over French citizens and religious institutions within the Ottoman Empire.
Hebrew on
the shop signInternational competition for regional hegemony was often the engine pushing missionary activity in Palestine. It motivated Russia to establish the "Russian compound" for thousands of Russian Orthodox pilgrims, served as an impetus for the visit of the German emperor in 1898, and emerged as one of Great Britain's motives for its Sinai and Palestine campaigns against the Turks and Germans in World War I.
USS North Carolina provided essential
aid to the Jews of Palestine in 1914Even the United States was involved, bringing cash and assistance to the suffering Jewish community of Palestine. In a classic example of "gunboat diplomacy," the USS North Carolina delivered $50,000 on October 6, 1914. Such aid ceased when the United States entered World War I.
Italy was determined not to be left out of the picture. The cornerstone for the Italian hospital and church was laid in 1910, but work was interrupted by the 1912 war between Italy and the Ottomans and later by World War I. After Britain captured Jerusalem in winter 1917 the Italians were able to continue their work on the Gothic, Middle Age-style structure. It opened its doors in 1919 -- presumably when the American Colony photographers took this picture.
The Italian hospital, today the Israeli Ministry of Education and
Culture (credit: Google Maps/Street View)With the outbreak of World War II, Italy and Britain were at war, and the hospital was taken over by the British Royal Air Force. The building was badly damaged in the 1948 war for Israel's independence when it was shelled by Jordanian troops.
In 1963, the hospital was sold to Israel and was transformed into the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is located on the corner of HaNiviim Street and Shivtei Yisrael Street between the Meah Shearim and Musrara neighborhoods.2View comments
American-style football with helmets and pads has only recently caught on in Israel. But "football" in Israel after 1948 and in British Mandate Palestine prior to 1948 is "soccer."
Game at the YMCA in Jerusalem between the Greek airforce
and the "Y's" team (April 1942). King George of Greece
attended the game and presented a cup to the winner. See here
Football match between the French and
British armies playing at the YMCA
before a "tensely interested" crowd.
(March 1940)
In the 1930s soccer caught on in the Jewish community of Palestine with organized teams and soccer fields. 
The bleachers at the Jerusalem soccer
field. See also here (circa 1935)
"Crowd of Orthodox Jews who arrived on the scene to force the
discontinuing of the Maccabee football game." (circa 1935)
In Jerusalem, however, the field was located near the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim, and games on the Sabbath led to disturbances, as documented by the American Colony Photographers' pictures and posted in an earlier feature.
During World War II the various military forces based in region -- British, French, Greek -- played on the Jerusalem YMCA field, also preserved in the pictures from the Library of Congress' collection.2View comments
- JAN30
Civil Defense, Shelters, and Bombs Falling on Tel Aviv Were Facts of Life More than 70 Years Ago
Who can forget the scenes of Israel's citizens scurrying to shelters as Hamas rockets from Gaza fell on cities, towns and villages in recent months and years, or as Hizbullah rockets were fired from Lebanon in 2006, or as Iraqi Scud missiles exploded in Haifa and Tel Aviv during the 1991 Gulf War?
2012: Apartment building damaged in November 2012 by a
Hamas rocket fired from Gaza, November 2012 (credit: Channel 2)
Actually, the civilian populations in the Holy Land have been targets of bombs for more than 70 years.
1991: Scud damage in Ramat Gan
The American Colony photograph collection at the Library of Congress contains pictures of the civil defense and shelter preparations already in 1939.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to see the originals.
1940: After an Italian air attack on Tel
Aviv in World War II (Damien Peter Parer,
photographer, Australian War Memorial)
Below are pictures from previous attacks, some prior to the creation of Israel.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
1948: After an Egyptian air attack on Tel Aviv
(Government Press Office)
1945: Close up of the air raid shelter
sign at Solomon's Quarries
1945: Air raid shelter under Jerusalem's Old City at
Solomon's Quarries (Library of Congress)
1939: Decontamination and air raid exercise at the Jerusalem YMCA sports field
(Library of Congress)0Add a comment
- JAN27
1939 Jewish Demonstration against the British White Paper -- Led by the Grandes Dames of Jerusalem
The British Mandatory forces brutally crushed the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936-1939). Despite their heavy losses, however, the Arabs succeeded politically in forcing the British government to severely limit Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine.
Women led by (right to left) Ben-Zvi, Herzog and Yellin protesting
the British White Paper (May 22, 1939). Library of Congress
caption: "The procession of young women raising their right
hands in attestation to their claim."
The women hearing speakers on Jaffa Rd
Protesters marching on King George St.
The sign they carry on the left translates
roughly to "There is no betrayal for the
Eternal of Israel"
In 1939, the British government headed by Neville Chamberlain issued the "MacDonald White Paper," a policy paper which called for the establishment of a single Palestine state governed by Arabs and Jews based on their respective populations. The White Paper was approved by the British Parliament in May 1939, thus signing the death sentences of millions of Jews precisely when the Nazi tide was threatening to engulf Europe.In a previous posting we presented details and pictures of Palestine's Jews demonstrating in Jerusalem against the White Paper on May 18, 1939. The American Colony photographers returned four days later to film the protest of the women of the Yishuv, led by some of the leading women figures in Jerusalem at the time: Ita Yellin, Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, and Sarah Herzog.Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi arrived in the Land of Israel from the Ukraine in 1908, and she emerged as a leading figure in political Zionist organizations and the early Labor Party. She married Yitzchak Ben-Zvi who succeeded Chaim Weizmann as Israel's second president.
Women protesters against the British White Paper stopped near
the King David Hotel by a cordon of British policeIta Yellin made aliya to Palestine as a 12-year-old in 1880. Her father, Yehiel Michal Pines, was a well-known rabbi in what is known today as Belarus and a leader of the religious Zionist movement.Ita Yellin headed the Ezrat Nashim charitable organization in Jerusalem, later known as the Hospital for the Chronically and Mentally Ill. She was married to Prof. David Yellin, a prominent educator, Zionist leader and Hebraist.Sarah Herzog, known as the "Rabbanit," was married to the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Yitzchak Isaac Herzog. They moved toEretz Yisrael in 1936 when he succeeded the Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.Mrs. Herzog succeeded Ita Yellin as volunteer head of Ezrat Nashim Hospital, displaying tremendous energy and tenacity to gather support for the hospital which is today named the Sarah Herzog Hospital in her honor.A persistent Jerusalem rumor hints that Jordan's King Talal bin Abdullah (King Hussein's father) was institutionalized at some point at the Ezrat Nashim Hospital for his severe depression and schizophrenia that led to his dethroning in 1952.
Rabbanit Herzog was mother to two sons: Ya'akov and Chaim, who both served in senior Israeli posts. Ya'akov, a rabbi as well as diplomat, served in Washington and Canada and as a senior advisor to Israeli prime ministers. Ben-Gurion referred to him as "Israel's Safnat Paneah," the name granted to Joseph by Pharoah for his wisdom and advice.
Mrs. Yellin (left) and Rabbanit Herzog
Chaim Herzog served as Israel's president (1983-1993) after serving in Israel's military and as ambassador to the United Nations. Many recall the ambassador standing at the UN podium tearing up the "Zionism is racism" resolution, an action once taken by his father, the chief rabbi, at the May 18, 1939 demonstration where he tore up the British White Paper.
Chaim Herzog's son, Yitzchak, serves in Israel's Knesset, and son Michael is a general in the IDF reserves.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on the caption to view the original picture.0Add a comment
The photographers of the American Colony Photographic Department traveled the length and breadth of the Holy Land and the Middle East, from Damascus to Cairo, Malta to Iraq. 
Pomegranate tree, hand-colored photo
(circa 1900-1920)
Date palm tree (circa 1900-1920)
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the originals.
Olive trees. Click here for more. Click
here to see original black and white
Almond tree. See original
in black and whiteThey were also fond of photographing the flora of the land of the Bible and providing the botanical genus name.Facing the 1915 plague of locusts that hit with Biblical proportions, the photographers documented the life cycle and devastating results of the swarms.
"Cactus figs," called today
cactus pears or "sabras"
On the eve of Tu B'Shvat, the traditional New Year for trees, we present this collection of photos of trees taken between 1900 and 1920. Some of them were hand-colored 25-30 years later.
Carob tree
Sycamore tree (hand-colored)
Gnarled trunk of a sycamore tree 
Acacia (Shetim) tree in the desert 
Pine trees (circa 1900) 0Add a comment
Reposting Tu B'Shvat feature from February 1912. Updated with picture of first Hebrew radio broadcast.
Reforested hills along the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, near Bab
el-Wad, or Sha'ar HaGuy (circa 1930)
The Jewish National Fund was established in 1901 to purchase and develop land in the Holy Land.
Planting trees on the barren hills on the
way to Jerusalem (circa 1930)
One major activity of the JNF, or in Hebrew theKeren Kayemet LeYisrael, was the planting of trees on Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Many a Jewish home had the iconic JNF blue charity box, or pushke, in order to buy trees. In its history, the JNF is responsible for planting almost a quarter of a billion trees.
A government tree nursery on Mt.
Scopus, Jerusalem (circa 1930)The photographers of the American Colony recorded the JNF's efforts.
"Afforestation sponsored by Keren
Kayemeth" (circa 1935)
Reforested hillside along the road to
Jerusalem. "Demonstrating reforestation
possibilities" (circa 1930)The day chosen for school children and volunteers to go out to the fields and barren hilltops to plant trees was Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, a date assigned thousands of years ago in the Mishna for the purposes of determining the age of a tree and its tithing requirements.Indeed, the date usually coincides with the first blossoms on the almond trees in Israel.Today, Tu B'Shvat is commemorated as a combination of Arbor Day, environment-protection day, a kibbutz agricultural holiday, and, of course, a day for school outings and plantings.Postscript
In 1935, the Jews of Britain and the JNF established a "Jubilee Forest" near Nazareth. According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency's account at the time, an "oriental cypress tree presented by King George V of England to the Jubilee Forest in the hills of Nazareth will be formally planted by High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope on December 19."
Ceremony of planting the King's tree (1935) at Nahalal
"The Jubilee Forest is British Jewry's mark of loyalty and devotion to the throne, expressed on the occasion of the royal couple's twenty-fifth jubilee. It will cover a large area of desolate and barren land on the hills of Nazareth which in ancient times were famed for their forest beauty. The forest constitutes the most important effort in reforestation of the Holy Land."
Tomorrow, the trees of Eretz Yisrael "The tree shipped by King George was removed from Windsor Great Park in London, where it was the only one of its kind. It is the first ever to have been shipped from England to Palestine."Tomorrow: 100 year old pictures of the trees of the Land of Israel0Add a comment
- JAN21
Get Your Paper! Read All about It! Israel Daily Picture Receives its 700,000th Visitor this Week
Reading newspapers posted on Jerusalem street (circa 1937)
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Reading newspapers in Jerusalem (circa 1937)
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