1857 picture, original caption: "The Tomb of David. This building was formerly a Christian Church; it is of great
antiquity, and much venerated by the Muslims, who allow no Christian to enter the Tomb. There is also
in the building a room which is said to be that in which [Jesus' Last] Supper was instituted. (Robertson
Beato & Co photographers, Palestine Exploration Fund)
"Modernity meets antiquity" explains the discovery of most of the photographs that appear inwww.IsraelDailyPicture.com. As more and more archives and libraries digitalize the photographs in their collections, they put them online. The pictures presented on this site come from the Library of Congress, the Palestine Exploration Fund, Emory University, the Central Zionist Archives, New York Public Library, and even the archives at the medical school of the University of Dundee, Scotland.
King David's Tomb (circa 1900). The original caption
said it was a "Tabernacle."
The 156-year-old photo above predates those we presented two years ago from the Library of Congress' collection. We reproduce that feature below and add a comment on the rediscovered "holiness" of the site.
Tomb exterior (circa 1900)
A thousand-year-old Jewish tradition believes that King David is buried in a tomb on Mt. Zion. And that is one of the reasons the belief is questioned by some Bible scholars.
The Bible (Kings I, 2:10) states that David and his descendants were buried in the City of David, generally believed to be south of the Temple Mount, not on Mt. Zion to the West.
The Tomb interior (circa 1900)
The Jewish tradition has taken hold over the last millennium, and the tomb is revered by many Jews, as evident in the Library of Congress' 100 year old picture.
King David's Tomb was particularly important from 1948 until 1967 when the Western Wall, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb were all under Jordanian control and forbidden to Jews. The Mt. Zion site was the closest Jews could get to the Western Wall.Adjacent to the Hagia Sion Abbey
(formerly the Dormition Abbey), the tomb is located beneath the room where, according to Christian belief, Jesus conducted his Last Supper.
Chamber of the Last Supper (circa 1900)
Comment from Reader "Lynne": The outcome of Israel's [1948] War of Independence was the main catalyst for the creation of a new map of Jewish pilgrimage sites. Places of only secondary importance before the war [such as King David's Tomb] now turned into central centers due to the realization of the importance of them. Previously, there was so much emphasis placed upon the re-establishment of the state of Israel (after having not been a nation for 2,000 years) and the re-establishment of the habitability of the land that the task of preserving the Biblical holy sites had not been a priority. Several categories of the sacred sites are discussed herein: sites in the possession of Jews before the 1948 war that were developed during the 1950s as central centers; sacred sites stolen by Muslims prior to the war, which were rightfully converted back into Jewish sacred sites during the 1950s; and new Jewish pilgrimage sites re-established after the establishment of the State of Israel. The research demonstrates how various official, semi-official, and popular powers took part in the re-establishing of the Jewish sacred space. [Source: Article by Doron Bar,Reconstructing the Past: The Creation of Jewish Sacred Space in the State of Israel, 1948–1967, Israel Studies - Volume 13, Number 3, Fall 2008, pp. 1-21]
We are again thankful to the Marks family for sharing pictures of their Jewish "Palestinian" family from the start of the 20th century, including the picture above of Rachel Churgin's graduating class.
Earlier this year we featured the Marks' pictures of Pvt. David Blick, an American who joined the British Jewish Legion to fight the German-Turkish army in Palestine. Blick was one of 500 Jewish Americans and Canadians who fought for the liberation of the Holy Land. According to Blick's biography, "While camped in the area of Rishon LeZion [see here photos related to the battle for Rishon in 1918], he met and later married Rachel Churgin of Yaffo. They were forced to leave Eretz Yisrael by the British."
Students from the Gymnasia visiting Rachel's Tomb (circa 1920,
Wiki Commons)
The Hebrew Gymnasia Herzliya was formed in 1905 and was the first Hebrew-language high school in modern history. We suggest that the date, 1900, written in the caption of Marks' photo of the school's first graduating class is mistaken by 10-15 years, considering that Rachel married David around 1919. [He was discharged from the British Army in 1920.]
The Gymnasia produced several of Israel's prominent leaders, such as Moshe Sharett, Israel's second prime minister.
Its first building, constructed in 1909, stood as a Tel Aviv landmark for half a century. It was torn down in 1959 to make way for the Shalom Tower.
Gymnasia Herzliya (circa 1920, Library of Congress)
View a film of the Gymnasia in 1913, starting at 8:45 in a rare hour-long film of Eretz Yisrael.
Screen capture of the school. View the film here Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original pictures.Enter your email in the right column to subscribe -- it's free.2View comments
For Immediate Release
The Western Wall, 1859
Jerusalem -- Israel Daily Picture (IDP), an online album of antique photographs of the Holy Land, will reach a historic milestone this week when its millionth visitor arrives on the site, www.israeldailypicture.com.
IDP was first launched in 2011 and has now published more than 350 historic essays containing more than 1,000 antique pictures taken between the 1850s and 1946. We present samples of the photos on this page.
Austrian troops, Turkey's allies, marching into Jerusalem, World War I
The pictures were digitalized and posted to websites in recent years by the U.S. Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Emory University, Harvard, the University of Dundee Medical Archives, and others. In recent months, private individuals have also shared with IDP their private albums and family collections.
"There's an important, almost secret, message in many of these antique photographs," reveals IDP's founder and publisher, Lenny Ben-David. "The pictures show Jewish life in the Holy Land throughout the last 160 years -- since the invention of photography -- well before the founding of Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel. Jews were always in Eretz Yisrael even after the fall of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE, and here is visual proof."
Jews fleeing Arab pogrom in Jerusalem's Old City, 1929
"Most of the photos were taken by the American Colony photographers who began their work in the late 19th century. Among their goals was to seek out and photograph Jews in Jerusalem and in the countryside," Ben-David explained. "The return of Jews to Palestine was seen by the Christian photographers in messianic terms. A recent exhibition and book by today's American Colony Hotel proprietors, however, virtually ignored the Jewish presence in historic Palestine."
Jewish children in Ben-Shemen (circa 1920)
The IDP exhibits photos of key events in the Middle East -- World War I and its clashes in Gaza, Be'er Sheva, Rishon LeZion, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea; the establishment of Jewish communities in the Galilee; the arrival of the German Emperor in 1898; the role of the Jewish Legion in 1917; the development of industries and infrastructures by the Jewish population; Jewish holidays; Jewish children of the Old and NewYishuv; Jewish life in Jerusalem's Old City, and many more. The photographers also chronicled the lives and shrines of Arab and Christians.
British commander Allenby meeting Chief Rabbi in the
Old City after the Turkish surrender of Jerusalem 1917
[For further information see The Zionist Message Hidden within Antique Pictures of the Holy Land, by Lenny Ben-David,Published in the Jewish Political Studies Review]
IDP pictures are all published with permission of the collection owners.
To subscribe, enter your email (free) on the websitewww.israeldailypictures.com. Voluntary contributions are welcome via PayPal.
For journalists only: Publisher Lenny Ben-David is available for interviews at (US) 202.241.5241 (Israel) 972.542.168155 (Not Sabbath)
Twitter: @lennybendavid Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lenny.bendavid1View comments
- OCT20
The Walls & Gates of Jerusalem, Jaffa Gate -- More Pictures from the Emory University Collection, Part 4
When was this picture of the Jaffa Gate taken? Here are clues.
The Jaffa Gate, from the Emory collection. Several features in the photograph tell us when the picture
was taken. Note the tower, in particular.
For centuries, the entrances to Jerusalem were small and often built with sharp angles to make access difficult to attackers. Jerusalem consisted only of the Old City with little habitation beyond the walls, rebuilt in 1540 during the reign of the Ottoman ruler, Suleiman the Magnificent. Until the end of the 19th century, most wagons and carriages stopped outside of the gates and people and products went in through the gates.
Jaffa Gate photographed by Peter Bergheim, perhaps as
early as 1860 (Library of Congress collection)
William Seward (Abraham Lincoln's secretary of state) wrote in 1871 that the population of the Old City was 16,000, comprised of 8,000 Jews, 4,000 Mohammedans, and 4,000 Christians.
Original caption: "Interior of Jaffa Gate from near Hotel Mediterranean"
by Felix Bonfils (circa 1870). Note the moat on the left and the narrow
path. Mark Twain and his "Innocents Abroad" colleagues stayed in
the Hotel Mediterranean in 1867.
Two major architectural changes in the Jaffa Gate in 1898 and 1908 help historians date the early photographs of the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. The first was the breaching of the wall in 1898 to permit German Emperor Wilhelm II to ride into the Old City without dismounting and with his escort of carriages. To built the roadway, a moat -- visible in pre-1898 photos -- had to be filled in.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.
In 1908 the Turkish authorities built a clock tower near the gate in honor of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
A photochrom picture of the Jaffa Gate (circa 1890). Note the wall of
the moat under the yellow arrow, indicating the photo was prior to 1898.
The British captured Jerusalem in 1917, and the tower was knocked down in 1922.
We can now determine that the Emory University collection photo was taken after 1908 when the tower was erected.
Once the Jaffa Gate walls were breached, the entrance became a major thoroughfare, especially as an entrance to the Turkish army base and prison in the Old City, known as the "Kishle."
The shops outside the gate were torn down prior to the German Emperor's visit.
Traffic jam inside Jaffa Gate, 1898. The Turkish military escort, was possibly part of the German Emperor's entourage.
Close inspection on the left of the photo shows an American flag hanging outside of the Grand or Central Hotel,
formerly the Mediterranean Hotel.A Jewish shop immediately outside of Jaffa Gate 
Another view of Jaffa Gate before 1898. See
adjacent photo enlargement of the shops
An photo enlargement of the Jaffa Gate and the shops (from the picture taken before 1898) shows a Jewish millinery shop with a Hebrew sign selling various headgear for religious Jews, some of whom are standing outside of the shop.
The Library of Congress caption notes:
Photograph taken before October 1898 visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Jerusalem when a breach was made in the wall near the Jaffa Gate. (Source: L. Ben-David, Israel's History - A picture a day, Oct. 30, 2012.)0Add a comment
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We present part 3 of the digitalized photos of the Underwood & Underwood stereoscope collection, Palestine through the Stereoscope, from Emory University's Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology.
Damascus Gate 1. (Emory Collection, circa 1905) Note shops on
the right. Was this the first "strip mall?"
In this feature we present the pictures of Jerusalem's walls and gates. By comparing the photos to the photo essays presented here over the last two years we are able to date the pictures.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original pictures.
Damascus Gate 1: The shops on the right of the square belonged to a Jewish banker name Chaim Aharon Valero (circa 1905). The domes of the Hurva and Tiferet Yisrael synagogues are on the horizon on the left of the picture. Both were destroyed by the Jordanian Legion in 1948. Read more about Valero here.
Damascus Gate 2. photographed by Mendel Diness.
Note how barren the area outside of the wall was. (Fine
Arts Library, Harvard University, circa 1856)
Damascus Gate 2: Mendel Diness, a Jewish watchmaker, became Jerusalem's first Jewish photographer and is credited with photographing the Damascus Gate in the 1850s. Later he left Palestine and became a Christian preacher in the United States named Mendenhall John Dennis. Read more about Diness/Dennis and his photo collection found in a Minnesota garage sale.
Damascus Gate 3 Construction of the row of
Valero's shops outside the gate.
(Library of Congress, circa 1900)
Damascus Gate 3: The picture shows the construction of Valero's shops. In the 1930s, the British authorities ruled that the area should be zoned for use as "open spaces" and they demolished the shops in 1937. The Valeros were not compensated. View pictures of thedemolition here.
Next: The Jaffa Gate1View comments
- Earlier this week we published our first digital photos of the Underwood & Underwood stereoscope collection, Palestine through the Stereoscope, from Emory University's Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology.
Rachel's Tomb between Bethlehem and Jerusalem (circa 1900). The
anniversary of the Matriarch's death (yahrzeit) is commemorated
next week (11 Cheshvan). Published with permission.
Today, we present more pictures we found in the 100+ year old photographic collection.
The original photos are "stereographic," but we present just "one" of the nearly identical images to save space.
Many of the photos, taken between 1895- 1905, are accompanied by a travelogue describing the sites written by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut (1843 - 1930), an American Methodist clergyman. It was published in 1913.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original pictures.
The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron (Emory University's Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology)
See also "The King's Pool, Ancient Reservoir in Hebron"
Jerusalem's Kidron Valley and Mt. of Olives
Kidron Valley, Jerusalem, Jewish cemetery at the foot of Mt. of Olives, and the Tombs of the Prophets
(circa 1900). Editor's note: The original caption refers to the "King's Dale," mentioned in the Bible as
עמק המלך. Today, the area is under development as the "King's Garden."
Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee (circa 1900). The small inhabited area at the top of the picture is the walled city of
Tiberias. The white buildings at the bottom are Tiberias' hot baths; the domed building is the tomb of Meir
Ba'al Haness (the Miracle Maker)
"A great many of the people here [in Tiberias] today are Hebrews."
Next: The Walls and Gates of Jerusalem
Women purchasing fish from a fisherman on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. The scarves on
the women's heads -- or the lack of them -- suggests that most of the women and girls are Jewish.1View comments
- OCT9
Seeing Double? A New Trove of Antique Pictures Uncovered at Emory University -- "Stereographic" Photos 100+ Years Old
Prayers at the Western Wall (Stereograph photos courtesy of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of
Theology, Emory University, circa 1900). Note the lack of chairs, benches or dividers because of the
Muslim/Turkish restrictions. Yet men and women generally maintained separate prayer areas.
Anyone who has used a "View-Master" toy will recognize the 3D illusion created by the "stereo" camera. Already in the 19th century photographers were taking stereo pictures which were viewed on a special device. In effect, the two camera lenses captured the view, and the slight angle differences of the right eye and the left eye created a 3D illusion.
19th century stereo camera
The photography company of Underwood & Underwood specialized in publishing stereoscope collections, such as Palestine through the Stereoscope which was sold with a stereoscope, and 200 stereoscopic slides. The photos were taken inJerusalem, Bethlehem, the River Jordan, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea between 1895 and 1904, and the accompanying tour book was published in 1914.
A stereoscopic collection
We found the digitalized photos from the Underwood collection in the Emory University'sPitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology. We are thankful to M. Patrick Graham, Ph.D., Professor of Theological Bibliography and Director of the Pitts Theology Library, for permission to reproduce the photos.
"Inside a Jewish synagogue," almost certainly the Instanbouli Synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City (courtesy of
the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, circa 1900). Compare this
picture to the American Colony photograph with its caption, "One of the oldest in Jerusalem." Almost all of
the Old City's synagogues were razed when the Jordan army captured the Jewish Quarter.This publication has featured several pictures of Jewish money changers in Jerusalem. But the stereograph of this Old City money changer is unique. The sign above the door is in Hebrew/Yiddish and presumably gives the names of the proprietors. But in clearer print are the words בהכשר הרב קוק -- "with the [kosher] approval of Rabbi Kook."
The sign helps us date the picture. Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook arrived in the Holy Land in 1904, so the picture was taken after his arrival and prior to his 1914 departure. During World War I he was in exile in England and Switzerland and returned after the war.
Many of the Underwood photos are identical or similar to the pictures from the Library of Congress' American Colony collection that appear on this site. But some have never been published as part of a history of Jewish life in Palestine in the 19th century.
Money changer inside Jerusalem's Old City Jaffa Gate (circa 1905)
Over the next weeks we will be publishing more of the Emory University collection.1View comments
As we post this feature, the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is taking place in Jerusalem with more than half a million mourners.
A procession -- but to where?
To mark the sad event, we are reposting a two year old feature. The pictures here were photographed more than 100 years ago in Jerusalem. What was the occasion?
"A Jewish procession to Absalom's Pillar" is the caption on the Library of Congress' photo, which as dated sometime between 1898 and 1946. That's a huge window of time. The procession is walking down a ramp from the southeast corner of the Old City wall into the Kidron Valley. Presumably the hundreds of Jews came out of the Old City through the Dung Gate or the Zion Gate.
Why was there a procession to the tomb of King David's rebellious son, Absalom? It's not a very popular destination for Jerusalemites today. Some historians relate that there was a custom to take children to the shrine and throw rocks at it to remind the children to behave. Were there so many mischievous children? The long dresses on many of the people in the procession suggest many women were also involved.
An enlarged segment of the procession picture
Luckily, the Library of Congress site provides a TIFF download that permits enlarging the photo and provides incredible detail. And the enlargement shows that the procession consisted almost entirely of ultra-Orthodox men wearing their long caftans.
Also fortuitous was discovering another picture elsewhere in the massive Library of Congress collection entitled "Various types, etc. Jewish funeral." It shows a funeral party at the bottom of the Kidron Valley moving up the Mount of Olives. It may very well be the "flip side" of the same procession, with two photographers on either side of the valley. The shadows suggest that the time of day -- morning, with the sun shining in the east -- was nearly the same. The second picture, however, does include women walking up the ramp from the Valley. And yes, the women are Jewish. Despite the dark scarves on their heads, they are neither nuns nor Muslims.
The funeral near Absalom's Pillar 
Women heading back to the Old City
Lastly, while the Library curators recorded a number, 4340, on the first negative, they missed that the second photo, dated between 1900 and 1920, had the number 4343, suggesting that the two were part of a series.This match was pointed out to the curators who will finally pair the two photos after almost 100 years.
Today, this notation appears on the caption: LoC: "May be related to LC-M32-14232 which has "4340" on negative.(Source: L. Ben-David, Israel's History - A Picture a Day
website, August 19, 2011)
If you want to receive A Picture a Day delivered to your computer, just sign up in the "Email" box in the right sidebar.
===================================================Reposting: The Library of Congress' photo collection also includes this 1903 (1908?) photo of the "Funeral services for a Jewish Rabbi, Jerusalem."
Is it possible to determine where in Jerusalem the photograph was taken? Most definitely.
1903 funeral in the Old City of Jerusalem The building is the Rothschild building in the Batei Machaseh compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, donated by Baron Wilhelm Karl de Rothschild of Frankfurt. The building still bears the Rothschild family's coat of arms.
The compound was built between 1860 and 1890 to provide housing for Jerusalem's poor. An old lintel stone nearby reads "Shelter home for the poor on Mt. Zion."0Add a comment
- Most of this sites' photographs are found online in the U.S. Library of Congress archives. This notice appears on the Archives' site today:
We will continue to present historic photographs of the Holy Land from private collections that have been shared with us.
Do you have antique pictures of your ancestors in Palestine 100 years ago in your albums and attics that you would like to share?1View comments
- Ruling the British Mandate in Palestine was no easy task.
British troops on patrol at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem (1938, Library of
Congress archives)
In the 1930s the "Arab Revolt" was a full scale insurrection which had to be crushed. Arab terrorism, roadside bombs, and assassination immersed Palestine into tohuwabohu. Armored vehicles were deployed, thousands of soldiers were brought in, and military aircraft were used to bomb the Arab terrorists.
Particularly after World War II, when the scale of the Holocaust was revealed and Jews were still languishing in Europe, Jewish militias stepped up their attacks on the British authority keeping Jews out of Palestine.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on the caption to see the original pictures.
Aftermath of Jewish militia bombing of British
Intelligence HQ at the King David Hotel (1946)
Burned out bus in Haifa (1938)
We were very interested when Paul O. recommended we look at a 1946 British recruitment film encouraging young British World War II veterans to join the British police. How would the recruiters describe the conditions and political turmoil?
For the most part the life in Palestine was presented as idyllic. British officers came home to spend time with their wives and children, and sports activities were available. Scattered within the film were hints of the turmoil, but some of the most strenuous training appeared to be learning how to direct traffic with authoritative hand signals.
According to the Colonial Film website, "The film is intended to recommend the life of a Palestine policeman as a fulfilling career option during ‘peacetime.'"
British police drill at their fort. (1946)
Click here to view the film
\1View comments
- SEP27
A New Source of Historical Films and Photos: The British Imperial War Museum; Presenting General Allenby Entering Jerusalem in 1917
Photographers accompanied the Imperial British Army forces throughout the battles of World War I in Palestine, starting at the Suez Canal in 1915 and continuing through the capture of Damascus in 1918.
The website for British army films taken in Palestine 
Turkish Camel Corps in Be'er Sheva (1917, Library of
Congress archives)
The grand scale of the fighting in Palestine is not fully recognized today even by historians, with attention often focused on the European front. One statistic may put the fighting into perspective: The British army suffered more than half a million casualties; the Turks even more.
The Israel Daily Picture site has presented hundreds of pictures of the fighting between the British Imperial Forces and the Turkish and German forces on the battlefields of Sinai, Gaza, Be'er Sheva, and Jerusalem. Most of the photographs, such as those on this page, were found in the U.S. Library of Congress' American Colony collection.
Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on the caption to view the original picture.
Austrian army enters Jerusalem (1916) 
Turkish troops preparing to attack the Suez Canal 1915
We present below a film from the British Imperial War Museum of British Commander Edmund Allenby's entrance into Jerusalem on December 11, 1917.
According to the synopsis accompanying the film:
General Allenby walking through the Jaffa Gate into the Old City of Jerusalem. Click HERE to view the video
The General entered Jerusalem on 11 December, accompanied by his staff (T. E. Lawrence ["Lawrence of Arabia"] among them), French and Italian officers, and various other international representatives. At the Jaffa gate he was greeted by a guard of Commonwealth and Allied troops; dismounting, he and his comrades entered the city on foot, as instructed. Allenby had been less than fifteen minutes in the city. After 400 years of Ottoman rule, Jerusalem had passed into British hands.
Next: A British Police Recruiting Film for the Palestinian Police Force, 1946: An Incredible Piece of Propaganda0Add a comment
- SEP22
Imagine What the Jewish Temple Looked Like -- Here's a Model Built by Conrad Schick, a Jerusalem Christian, 140 Years Ago
As Jews celebrate the Sukkot holiday around the world, their liturgy reflects the huge role the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem played on this pilgrimage holiday.
"Model of Solomon's Temple and environs" constructed by Dr. Conrad Schick (circa 1870). The photo was probably
taken around 1900 and colorized by photographer Eric Matson some 60 years later [The model is more representative
of Jerusalem in the days of Herod, and not in the days of Solomon.]
"Bring us to Zion, Your city, in glad song, and to Jerusalem the site of your Temple, with eternal gladness." -- From the Musaf service during Sukkot.
Conrad Schick 1822-1901
Jerusalem also attracted many Christians, including Conrad Schick, a German missionary who arrived in 1846. Schick was a self-taught architect, cartographer and archaeologist, and very well-respected by all faiths in Jerusalem. The mark he left on Jerusalem lasts until today, particularly in the buildings and neighborhoods he designed such as the Me'ah She'arim neighborhood and the Bikur Cholim and Sha'are Zedek hospitals. His own home still stands on Hanivi'im (Prophets) Street.
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original picture.
The "German" hospital (1939), now
Bikur Cholim hospital
Schick was also well known for his models of archaeological sites. A respected archaeologist, he would show up at various construction sites and digs to inspect ancient finds. The Muslim authorities permitted him relatively free access to the Temple Mount when they requested his help in renovations. Schick and his student, Jacob Eliahu Spafford, the adopted Jewish-born son of the American Colony founders, are credited with discovering the Silwan Tunnel tablet, credited to King Hezekiah.
Schick's house today
(Magister, Wikipedia)
Below are some of the models Schick built, photographed by the American Colony Photographic Department.
Schick's model of the Tabernacle that served the Israelites in the desert and in Shilo (circa 1900) 
Shick's model of Herod's Temple (circa 1900) 
Shick's model of "Hadrian's Temple and environs" 1View comments
As soon as the Yom Kippur fast day is over many Jews start preparations for the Sukkot (Tabernacles) holiday. It usually involves building a sukka, a temporary structure -- sometimes just a hut -- with a thatched roof, in which Jews eat and often sleep during the seven day holiday.
Bukharan family in their sukka (circa 1900). Note the man on the right holding the citron and palm branch.
(Library of Congress collection) Compare this sukka to one photographed in Samarkand 40 years earlier
The photographers of the American Colony Photographic Department took photos of sukkot structures over a 40 year period, preserving pictures of Bukharan, Yemenite and Ashkenazi sukkot.
Ashkenazi family (circa 1900) in the sukka
beneath the chandelier and picures
Several photographs include the Jewish celebrants holding four species of plants traditionally held during prayers on the Sukkot holiday -- a citron fruit and willow, myrtle and palm branches.
Even though the sukka is a temporary structure, some families moved their furniture and finery into the sukka, as is evident in some of the pictures.
Bukhari Jews, shown in pictures from around 1900, were part of an ancient community from what is today the Central Asian country Uzbekistan. They started moving to the Holy Land in the mid-1800s.
A Yemenite Jew named Yehia
holding the 4 species in the sukka
(1939)
Yehia, the Yemenite Jew pictured here, was almost certainly part of a large migration of Jews who arrived in Jerusalem in the 1880s, well before the famous "Magic Carpet" operation that brought tens of thousands to the new state of Israel during 1949 and 1950.
A more elaborate sukka in the Goldsmidt house (1934)
in Jerusalem. Note the tapestry on the walls
with Arabic script
Exterior of the Goldsmidt sukka in Jerusalem (1934) 
A Sephardi Jew named Avram relaxing in
his Sukka with a friend (1939)
The picture of an elaborate dinner was taken in a very large Jerusalem sukka belonging to the Goldsmidt family. Tapestries and fabrics hang on the wall of the sukka. Close examination shows that the fabric contains Arabic words, even some hung upside down. Several experts were asked this week to comment on the Arabic. One senior Israeli Arab affairs correspondent wrote, "It is apparently some quotes that I can read but do not amount to anything coherent, written in Kufi style of Arabic... [I] would not be surprised if these are Kuranic verses."
Presumably the Goldsmidts and their guests didn't know about the Arabic phrases either.
A reader helped identify the Goldsmidts' building. "The Goldsmidts were friends of ours who lived on Ben-Maimon Street [in Jerusalem]. They had a restaurant [and that explains the diners in the sukka]. Our wedding reception was there. There's a plaque on 54 King George Street that says "Goldsmidt Building."We invite readers to unravel the mystery of the tapestries, translate the phrases, and provide a contemporary picture of the Goldsmidts' building.Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.0Add a comment
- SEP13
Reposting - Yom Kippur 100 Years Ago -- Or More: Photographic Treasures from the Library of Congress from Jerusalem, New York and a French Battlefield
Jews at the Kotel on Yom Kippur (circa 1904) See analysis of the graffiti on the wall for dating this picture. The graffiti on
the Wall are memorial notices (not as one reader suggested applied to the photo later).
Tomorrow Jews around the world will commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For many Jews in the Land of Israel over the centuries the day meant praying at the Western Wall, the remnant of King Herod's retaining wall of the Temple complex destroyed in 70 AD.
We present here an update to last year's Yom Kippur posting.Several readers commented on the intermingling of men and women in these historic pictures.
It was not by choice.The Turkish and British rulers of Jerusalem imposed restrictions on the Jewish worshippers, prohibiting chairs, forbidding screens to divide the men and women, and even banning the blowing of the shofar at the end of the Yom Kippur service.View this video, Echoes of a Shofar, to see the story of young men who defied British authorities between 1930 and 1947 and blew the shofar at the Kotel.
Another view of the Western Wall on Yom Kippur. Note the various groups of worshippers: The
Ashkenazic Hassidim wearing the fur shtreimel hats in the foreground, the Sephardic Jews
wearing the fezzes in the center, and the women in the back wearing white shawls. (circa 1904)For the 19 years that Jordan administered the Old City, 1948-1967, no Jews were permitted to pray at the Kotel. The Library of Congress collection contains many pictures of Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall over the last 150 years.
After the 1967 war, the Western Wall plaza was enlarged and large areas of King Herod's wall have been exposed. Archaeologists have also uncovered major subterranean tunnels -- hundreds of meters long -- that are now open to visitors to Jerusalem.Receive a Daily Picture by subscribing in the right sidebar and clicking "submit."Click on the photos to enlarge.Click on the captions to see the originals.
Photos of Yom Kippur in New York 105 Years AgoThe Library of Congress Archives also contain historic photos of Jewish celebration of the High Holidays in New York. Some of them were posted here before Rosh Hashanna. Here are two more:
Original caption: Men and boys standing in
front of synagogue on Yom Kippur (Bain
News Service, circa 1907)
Worshippers in front of synagogue (Bain
News Service, 1907)
And a Picture of Jews in the Prussian Army Worshipping on Yom Kippur 140 Years Ago
We were a little surprised to find this picture of a lithograph in the Library of Congress archives. The caption reads, "Service on the Day of Atonement by the Israelite soldiers of the Army before Metz 1870." No other information is provided.Kestenbaum & Company, an auctioneer in Judaica, describes the lithograph in their catalogue:This lithograph depicts the Kol Nidre service performed on Yom Kippur 1870 for Jewish soldiers in the Prussian army stationed near Metz (Alsace region) during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
The Germans had occupied Metz by August of 1870, however were unable to capture the town's formidable fortress, where the remaining French troops had sought refuge. During the siege, Yom Kippur was marked while hostilities still continued, as depicted in the lithograph.Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, a scholar and Reform Jewish leader who passed away at age 99 earlier this year, provided more facts about the picture. In fact, he called it a "fraud."In Eight Decades: The Selected Writings of W. Gunther Plaut. In a chapter entitled "The Yom Kippur that Never Was, A Pious Pictoral Fraud" he wrote:Of all the things in my grandfather's house, I remember most vividly a large print. It was entitled "Service on the Day of Atonement by the Israelite soldiers before Metz 1870." Later I was to learn that this print hung in many Jewish homes.... It was reproduced on postcards, on cloth, and on silk scarves. The basic theme was the same: in an open field before Metz, hundreds of Jewish soldiers were shown at prayer.
Rabbi Plaut cites a participant in the service who reported:
A considerable difficulty arose in relation to the place for the services. Open air services were deemed impossible for Tuesday night because of the darkness and were ruled out for Wednesday because of the obvious reasons [it was a battlefield].... My immediate neighbour was willing to grant me the use of his room so that the service took place in our two adjoining rooms.
Another participant in the unusual Yom Kippur service reported, according to Plaut:Of the 71 Jewish soldiers in the Corps some 60 had appeared. Amongst them were several physicians, a few members of the military government, all of them joyously moved to celebrate Yom Kippur. The place of prayer consisted of two small rooms.
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- SEP3
New Year's Greeting to Our Jewish Readers May you be inscribed and photographed in the Book of Life
Israel Daily Picture normally focuses on pictures of the Holy Land in the Library of Congress archives' American Colony collection.
Tashlich prayer on the Brooklyn Bridge, 1909.
The Near Year prayer is traditionally said at a body
of water where the worshipper "casts" his/her sins
In honor of Rosh Hashanna, we present pictures of the holiday in New York City, taken in the early 1900s by George Bain and also housed in the Library of Congress archives.
Jewish boy in prayer shawl on Rosh Hashanna (1911)
Tashlich prayer on the Brooklyn bridge (1919)
Jews praying on the Jewish New Year (circa 1905)
Rosh Hashanna worshippers (1907) 
Tashlich on the Brooklyn Bridge (1909) 
Going to prayers (circa 1910) 
Going to synagogue (circa 1910)
Selling New Year's cards, East Side, New York City (1910) 
"New Year's Parade" (1912)
Jewish New Year's nap, East Side (1912) 2View comments
- SEP2
Happy New Year! Jews Will Blow the Shofar (Ram's Horn) in Synagogues on Thursday and Friday (Re-posting)
"Blow the Shofar at the New Moon...Because It Is a Decree for Israel, a Judgment Day for the God of Jacob" - Psalms 81
Yemenite Jew blowing the shofar (circa 1935)
Jews around the world prepare for Rosh Hashanna this week, the festive New Year holiday when the shofar -- ram's horn -- is blown in synagogues.
The American Colony photographers recorded a dozen pictures of Jewish elders blowing the shofar in Jerusalem some 80 years ago. The horn was also blown in Jerusalem to announce the commencement of the Sabbath. During the month prior to Rosh Hashana, the shofar was blown at daily morning prayers to encourage piety before the High Holidays. 
Ashkenazi Jew in Jerusalem blowing the shofar to announce the Sabbath 
Yemenite Rabbi Avram, donning tfillin for his
daily prayers, blowing the shofar
View the American Colony Photographers' collection of shofar blowers in Jerusalem here.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.Click on captions to view the original picture.Receive Israel Daily Picture on your computer or iPhone by subscribing. Just enter your email in the box in the right sidebar of the Internet site www.israeldailypicture.com2View comments
- AUG14
Another Photographic Treasure Found in a Far-Flung Antique Collection -- From a Jewish "Kiwi" Soldier's Album
Israel Daily Picture was founded two years ago after we discovered 22,000 newly digitalized antique pictures of the Holy Land in the Library of Congress.
A school house in Rishon LeZion with students and teachers. The picture was taken by Trooper Charles Thomas Broomfield of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles after the November 14, 1917 battle of Ayun Kara and the liberation of Rishon LeZion. Rishon was founded on July 31, 1882 by Russian Jews who had purchased 835 acres from the Arab village of Ayun Kara. In the course of publishing more than 300 photo essays we discovered additional pictures in far-flung archives such as the
medical archives in the Dundee Scotland Medical School, or from the "Cigar Box Collection."
Elderly Jews from Safed (1930, Dundee Collection) We also thank the New York Public Library, Harvard, Getty, and Eastman collections for allowing us to view their antique and digitalized archives. Families have also shared with us their grandparents' photos found in their attics.One of the most unusual collections we came across recently are the photos taken by a New Zealand Jewish soldier, Charles Thomas Broomfield, of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles. The photos were donated by his granddaughter Judy Cato to the NZMR Association. She provided the following biography:
Trooper Broomfield (1917) in colorized
photographCharles Thomas Broomfield was born in the Coromandel area [of New Zealand], second son in a family of seven. Charles was twenty years old when he signed up for service on 27th November 1916. At that time he was working as an engine driver in Whangarei. Charles was part of the 26th Reinforcements, Mounted Rifles.Charles embarked from New Zealand on 31st May 1917 aboard the Union Steamship Moeraki. He was one of 262 New Zealand service men headed for Suez, Egypt. The Regiments transhipped at Sydney onto the Port Lincoln.They arrived at the Port of Suez on the 6th August after a stopover in Colombo, India.From Charles' records it is established that he joined the action in Egypt/Palestine about 28th September 1917 as part of the Mounted gunners section and was in action throughout the Middle East. He returned to New Zealand on the Kaikoura on 6th March 1919 after spending 1 year 324 days overseas. On return to New Zealand Charles lived with his parents in Whangarei . He married in 1923 and worked and raised a family in the Whangarei area. Charles died in Whangarei in 1949.The New Zealand Mounted Rifles provides this history of the battle of Ayun Kara and the special relationship that developed between Broomfield's unit and the Jewish community of Rishon LeZion and recorded inBroomfield's camera:After the action at Ayun Kara on November 14th 1917 the NZMR passed through the settlement of Rishon LeZion the following morning. The people and the settlement was to have a strong influence on the New Zealanders. The Jewish village was the first taste of something closer to the environment of home.
The Synagogue of Rishon LeZion, presumably
with Broomfield standing at the left. Compare to
this picture of the synagogue from 1898
Another picture of the children of Rishon LeZion. The boy
in the foreground appears in the third of row of the
schoolhouse picture above
NZMR troopers and people of Rishon LeZion turn out for a
memorial service on the first anniversary for the New Zealand
soldiers who died at the nearby battle of Ayun Kara. "A short
time after this service, the men's bodies were re-interned at
the Ramleh Cemetery. The memorial site of Ayun Kara
was forgotten and years later no one was sure of where
the actual site had been, the memorial obelisk had
disappeared. Destroyed by whom and when, nobody knows."
Since crossing the arid Sinai Desert and its confrontation with a hostile Turkish enemy and, more often than not, a treacherous contact with Arab Bedu tribesmen - The Auckland Mounted Rifles agreed it was a joy to meet a people who had just been freed from Turkish tyranny. It was a land worked into agriculture and planted with fruit trees and vineyards. Not only were the men taken with the settlement conditions, the horses too were impressed and ate heartily of green feed, and enjoyed the soil firm under foot.
A few weeks later the Regiment remembered the village, the official history "Two Campaigns" reported: "On January 12, the brigade moved north to Rishon LeZion, the Jewish village near to Ayun Kara, and there tents were provided, and training and football again became the normal life."
The NZMR history notes, "The date 14th November 1917 is the greatest day of action carried out by the Mounteds. The attack on the strongly fortified Turkish trenches near the town of Rishon LeZion in present day Israel is a story of guile, courage and great daring against a superior force."
Map of the Turkish and New Zealander positions. Click
on the map to enlarge
Additional information on the battle of Ayun Kara can be foundhere:
"The Action at Ayun Kara on the 14th November 1917 was carried out by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles on heavily entrenched Turkish defences. This successful rout of the enemy is remembered for its daring frontal rush by mounted troops and tactical movements in support by the brigades riflemen and machine gunners."
The following is a school essay describing the battle written by a boy from Rishon, Aviram Hochberg, in 1918. He assumed the New Zealanders were "English" soldiers:
From Broomfield's album. Are these children of Rishon
LeZion on their way to the memorial service?"A quarter of an hour passed and we shall see all the Turkish armies climbing the mountains above the village, fortifying themselves in their defence trenches. At the ninth hour exactly the first shots were heard from the side of the Turks. There were more after any minute that passed.
Suddenly the English started firing and their bullets crossed above our heads making a buzz and whistle that the death (angel) is a coming. At the first hour of the battle we were terrified and exited, but soon we were used to the shooting and we shall climb a high balcony from where we see the spectacle of war. Once in a few minutes we could hear the thunder of English guns and shortly afterwards seeing it exploding over the Turkish soldiers. All sounds of war turned into terrible furious anger of God, smoke, blood and clouds of smoke. After tough fighting we saw the Turks leave their first positions and retreat. Line after line they were running down the mountain's crest with shells exploding between their lines, many falling dead and the remaining running exhausted to find shelter at the Orange groves.
Rishon residents on the way to the memorial service? Another picture
from the Broomfield album.Now on the position the Turks had retreated from, we already see the English stand shooting their machine guns bullets of death with no break on the escaping Turks. An hours passed, and another one, and all Turks left the ridge of mountains, running north. At the third hour after noon the first of the English got in the village. We all hurried in joy to meet our saviors to which we waited for three years. They soon left the village, heading further to push the enemy back. Shooting went non stop, until darkness fell. After the shooting [ceased] the country was covered with English (New Zealanders) and much were we happy. I went for a night sleep with my heart full with joy and hope for the future, but then I could not fall asleep for the cry and moan of the casualties could be heard even from distance, begging for help.The next morning some of our village we went the field of death to collect the wounded. What a terrible scene it was! The mountains that were always covered with green grass and beautiful flowers, where shepherds were herding their sheep, were now covered with the dead, wounded and blood here and there. Dead Horses, rifles lying on the ground and crater everywhere from the shells. Smell of gun powder and dynamite everywhere. The wounded were collected and we shall send them on the camels of the English to the hospital that was [opened] in Rishon."1View comments
- AUG9
On the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, One of the Most Influential Rabbis of the 20th Century, We Recall his White House Visit
The following is a collection of postings and photographs of Rabbi Kook.
The caption reads "Rabbi Dr. Abraham I. Kook, 4/15/24"
Where was this picture taken?
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) was a renowned Talmud scholar, Kabbalist and philosopher. He is considered today as the spiritual father of religious Zionism, breaking away from his ultra-Orthodox colleagues who were often opposed to the largely secular Zionist movement.
Born in what is today Latvia, Rabbi Kook moved to Palestine in 1904 to take the post of the Chief Rabbi of Jaffa. He appears in many of the historic pictures taken by the American Colony photographers, usually as a bystander, without being identified. One photograph, from the Library of Congress' larger collection, identifies the rabbi, but the surroundings do not appear to be in the Land of Israel and actually look incredibly like a street scene in the United States.
In fact, the picture was taken in Washington DC before or after Rabbi Kook met with President Calvin Coolidge in the White House.
It's a historic fact that Coolidge was in Washington on April 15, 1924, the same day Rabbi Kook's photo was taken. On that day Coolidge threw out the first ball at a Washington Senators baseball game where Walter Johnson shutout the Athletics. Coolidge also spoke at the dedication of the "Arizona Stone" in the Washington Monument.
Coolidge and Johnson, April 15, 1924
The picture of the rabbi appears in a larger set of unaccredited pictures taken that week of well-known Washington politicians including Coolidge, the White House press corps, Senate leaders William Borah and Burton Wheeler, the Federal Oil Reserve Board, and more.
But why did Coolidge meet Rabbi Kook, and what was the rabbi doing in Washington?
According to an article by Joshua Hoffman in Orot in 1991, Rabbi Kook, then Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi in Palestine, headed a delegation of rabbis to the United States in March 1924 to raise funds for yeshivot in Europe and Eretz Yisrael. He was joined by Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein (pictured left), the head of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania, and Rabbi Avraham Dov Baer Kahana Shapiro, the Rabbi of Kovno and president of the Rabbinical Association of Lithuania. The three rabbis were brought to America by the Central Committee for the Relief of Jews Suffering through the War, better known as the Central Relief Committee (CRC).
Rabbi M. M. Epstein,
apparently on a ship
According to Hoffman, "The rabbis had originally planned to stay in America for about three months. However, because their fund-raising efforts were not as successful as had been hoped, they remained for eight months. In the end, they raised a little over $300,000, far short of the one million dollar goal which the CRC had set."
Hoffman described the April 15 conversation between the president and the rabbi: "Rav Kook thanked the President for his government's support of the Balfour Declaration, and told him that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land will benefit not only the Jews themselves, but all mankind throughout the world.... The President responded that the American government will be glad to assist Jews whenever possible."
Readers Send a Picture from Rabbi Kook's Meeting at the White House
"Yitz" and "Menachem" sent the following comment and photograph:
The caption reads "Central Relief Committee at the White House"
"I actually have an original of photo of Rabbi Kook and his committee including my Great-Grandfather who served as a translator outside the White House after meeting the President. I had never seen this image until recently when I found it among his son's possessions when I cleaned out his apartment."
Their grandfather, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, played an important role in the meeting, according to this account.
At the meeting, Rav Kook thanked the President for his government’s support of the Balfour Declaration, and told him that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land will benefit not only the Jews themselves, but all mankind throughout the world. He quoted the Talmudic sages as saying that no solemn peace can be expected unless the Jews return to the Holy Land, and therefore their return is a blessing for all the nations of the earth. Rav Kook also expressed the gratitude of Jews throughout the world towards the American government for aiding in relief work during the war. He said that America has always shown an example of liberty and freedom to all, as written on the Liberty Bell, and that he hoped that the country will continue to uphold these principles and render its assistance whenever possible.
The speech, written in Hebrew, was delivered in English by Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, executive secretary of the CRC. Rav Kook answered “Amen,” and explained that since he wasn’t fluent in English, he had Rabbi Teitelbaum read his message. By answering “Amen,” he indicated that he consented to every word that had been read. The President responded that the American government will be glad to assist Jews whenever possible. Before leaving Washington, Rabbis Kook and Teitelbaum held a meeting of local rabbis and community leaders to raise money for the Torah Fund.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Rabbi Kook leaving a meeting with Winston
Churchill and Emir Abdullah (1921)
Click on the captions to see the originals.
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The New York Times' Report on Rabbi Kook's 1924 Visit to the United States and CanadaRabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the Chief of Rabbi of Palestine, began his journey to America in March 1924. Joined by two prominent rabbis from Lithuania, the delegation was met in New York with great respect and ceremony.
The New York Times'
coverageRabbi Kook's boat was met in the New York Harbor by hundreds of Jewish leaders. The rabbis were escorted to a meeting with New York's Mayor John F. Hylan by a "squadron" of police motorcycles and a 50-car procession.
The Mayor welcomed "the distinguished Jews from the old world.... We are privileged," he continued, "to greet teachers and spiritual leaders whose intellectual achievements are in themselves worthy of special recognition."
The Canadian Jewish Chronicle reported on May 2, 1924 on the rabbis' pending visit to Montreal:
"Rabbi Kook and his companions have undertaken the long and fatiguing journey to the United States and Canada to deliver in person a message to their co-religionists [that] unless the Jewish schools and seminaries in Eastern Europe and Palestine continue to receive ... the support of the American Jews, hundreds of ...educational institutions will have to be closed in 1,300 Jewish communities in the war-stricken lands of Europe. A half a million children... will grow up without religious and secular education..."
British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel and Rabbi Kook
visiting a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem (1925). In the
white suit is the mysterious Mendel Kremer,
known as a German and the British spy
(Central Zionist Archives, Harvard)"Rabbi Kook of Palestine... is a man of rare mental attainments. He is a renowned theologian, poet, philosopher and humanitarian. At the age of 18 he had already several books on ethical and philosophical topis to his credit for which he received a doctorate degree from the Berne University. From his youth Rabbi Kook was enamored with the Holy Land. At the outbreak of the world war Rabbi Kook happened to be in Switzerland. Owing to his pro-ally sentiments, the Germans refused him permission to return to Palestine... When General Allenby liberated Palestine, Rabbi Kook returned to Palestine and was immediately elected Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land and officially installed in this high office by the High Commission, Sir Herbert Samuel..."3View comments
- Israel Daily Picture -- Now Approaching 900,000 Visitors
Further to our previous posting on the special relationship between the American Colony and the new Yemenite Jewish community in Jerusalem at the end of the 19th Century, we present a group portrait illustrating the relationship.
The photo, taken in 1904, appears to show one of the Colony's founders, Anne Spafford, sitting next to a "Gadite" elder.
A "Gadite" elder?
The photo is part of an album in the Library of Congress collection that belonged to Anne's daughter, Grace.0Add a comment
- AUG5
How the American Colony Adopted Yemenite Jews in 1882 -- As Told by Bertha Spafford Vester, a Leader of the Colony
In previous features we discussed why the American Colony photographers dedicated so much film to the Yemenite Jews of Jerusalem.
Why so many pictures of Yemenite Jews? (American
Colony Collection, circa 1910)
Today we present the words of one of the key figures of the American Colony, Bertha Spafford Vester, daughter of the founders of the Colony, Anne and Horatio Spafford. Bertha took over the management of the American Colony enterprises after her parents' death. She described her life in her fascinating book, An American Family in the Holy City, 1881-1949.
She provided one chapter to the Colony's special relationship with a group of "Gadites" who arrived in 1882. It was believed they were descendants of the tribe of Gad.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Gadites entered our lives a few months after our arrival in Jerusalem, and until [the 1948] civil war divided Jerusalem into Arab and Jewish zones, with no intercourse between except bullets and bombs, they continued to get help from the American Colony.
Yemenite school at Kfar Hashiloach. Yemenite village
in Silwan (Central Zionist Archives, Harvard, circa 1910)
One afternoon in May 1882 several of the Group, including my parents, went for a walk, and were attracted by a strange-looking company of people camping in the fields. The weather was hot, and they had made shelters from the sun out of odds and ends of cloth, sacking, and bits of matting. Father made inquiries through the help of an interpreter and found that they were Yemenite Jews recently arrived from Arabia.
They told Father about their immigration from Yemen and their arrival in Palestine. Suddenly, they said, without warning, a spirit seemed to fall on them and they began to speak about returning to the land of Israel. They were so convinced that this was the right and appointed time to return to Palestine that they sold their property and turned other convertible belongings into cash and started for the Promised Land. They said about five hundred had left Yena in Yemen. Most of them were uneducated in any way except the knowledge of their ancient Hebrew writings, and those, very likely, they recited by rote. As appears, they were simple folk, with little knowledge of the ways of the world outside of Yemen, and that is the same as saying "the days of Abraham."
View of Kfar Shiloah in Jerusalem, outside of Jerusalem's
Old City. Note the caves, first homes for Gadite newcomers
(Central Zionist Archives, Harvard, 1898)
When they landed in Hedida on the coast of the Red Sea, they were cautioned by Jews not to continue their trip to Jerusalem and that if they did so it would be at peril of their lives. Some of the party were discouraged and returned to Yena. Others were misdirected and were taken to India, The rest went to Aden, where they embarked on a steamer for Jaffa, and came to Jerusalem before the Feast of Passover.
"Arab (sic) Jew from Yemen" (circa 1900)
They told about the opposition and unfriendliness they had encountered from the Jerusalem Jews, who, they said, accused them of not being Jews but Arabs. One reason, they said, for their rejection by the Jerusalem Jews was because they feared that these poor immigrants would swell the number of recipients of halukkah, or prayer money. Early in the seventeenth century, as a result of earthquakes, famine, and persecution, the economic position of the Jews in Palestine became critical, and the Jews of Venice came to their aid. They established a fund "to support the inhabitants of the Holy Land." Later on the Jews of Poland, Bohemia, and Germany offered similar aid. This was the origin of the halukkah. The money was sent not so much for the purpose of charity as to enable Jewish scholars and students to study and interpret the Scriptures and Jewish holy books and to pray for the Jews in the Diaspora (Dispersion), at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and in other holy cities of Palestine. The halukkah, as one could imagine, was soon abused. It only stopped, however, when World War I began in 1914 and no more money came to Palestine for that purpose.
Library of Congress caption: "Photograph shows a
Yemenite Jewish man standing in front of Siloan village.
1901 (Source: L. Ben-David, Israel's History - A Picture
a Day website, Sept. 11, 2011)"
In 1882, when the Yemenites arrived, those who had benefited from the generosity of others were unwilling to pass it on.
Father was interested in the Gadites at once. Their story about their unprovoked conviction that this was the time to return to Palestine coincided with what he felt sure was coming to pass the fulfillment of the prophecy of the return of the Jews to Palestine.
Also, Father was attracted by the classical purity of Semitic features of these Yemenite immigrants, so unlike the Jews he was accustomed to see in Jerusalem or in the United States. These people were distinctive: they had dark skin with dark hair and dark eyes. They wore side curls, according to the
Mosaic law: "Ye shalt not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Otherwise their dress was Arabic. They had poise, and their movements were graceful, like those of the Bedouins. They were slender and somewhat undersized. Many of the women were beautiful, and the men, even the young men, looked venerable with their long beards. They regarded as true the tradition that they belonged to the tribe of Gad. They believed that they had not gone into captivity in Babylon, and that they had not returned at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the temple. For thousands of years they had remained in Yemen, hence their purity of race and feature.
Yemenite Jewish family circa 1900
The thirty-second chapter of Numbers tells how the children of Gad and the children of Reuben asked Moses to allow them to remain on the east side of Jordan, which country had "found favor in their sight." It goes on to tell how Moses rebuked them, saying, "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?" Then Moses promised them that if they would go armed and help subdue the country, then "this land shall be your possession before the Lord."
In the thirteenth chapter of Joshua, "when Joshua was stricken in years," he gives instructions that the Gadites and the Reubenites and half the tribe of Menasseh should receive their inheritance "beyond the Jordan eastward even as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them."
In the Apology of al Kindy, written at the court of al Mamun, A.D. 830, the author speaks of Medina as being a poor town, mostly inhabitated by Jews. He also speaks of other tribes of Jews, one of which was deported to Syria. Would it be too remote to conjecture that the remnants of these tribes should have wandered to and remained in Yemen? I know there are other theories about how Jews got there, and about their origin, but Father believed that "Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad," and the Group did everything in their power to help these immigrants. We called them Gadites from that time.
Yemenite Jews circa 1900. Why are they near mailbox belonging to the German postal service? (Library of Congress) 
Yemenite rabbis, "some of the first immigrants"
(Central Zionist Archives, Harvard)
They were in dreadful need when we found them.
Some of them had died of exposure and starvation during their long and uncomfortable trip; now malaria, typhoid, and dysentery were doing their work. They had to be helped, and quickly. No time
was lost in getting relief started. The Group rented rooms, and the Gadites were installed in cooler and more sanitary quarters. Medical help was immediately brought. Mr. Steinharf's sister, an Orthodox Jewish woman, was engaged to purchase kosher meat, which, with vegetables and rice or cracked burghal (wheat) she made into a nutritious soup. Bread and soup were distributed once a day to all, with the addition of milk for the children and invalids. One of the American Colony members was always present at distribution time, to see that it was done equitably and well.
Translation of the Gadite prayer kept in the Spafford Bible:
Prayer of Jewish Rabbi offered every Sabbath in Gadite synagogue,
June 27?: He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac & Jacob,
bless & guard & keep Horatio Spafford & his household & all that
are joined with him, because he has shown us mercy to us & our
children & little ones. Therefore may the Lord make his days long...(?)
and may the Lord's mercy shelter them. In his and in our days may
Judah be helped (?) and Israel rest peacefully and may the
Redeemer come to Zion, Amen.
The Gadites had a scribe among them who was a cripple. He could not use his arms and wrote the most beautiful Hebrew, holding a reed pen between his toes. He wrote a prayer for Father and his associates, which was brought one day and presented to Father as a thanksgiving offering. They said that they repeated the prayer daily. I have it in my possession; it is written on a piece of parchment. The translation was made by Mr. Steinhart.
This amicable state of affairs continued for some time. Then the elders, who were the heads of the families, came as a delegation to Father. They filed upstairs to the large upper living room, looking solemn and sad, and smelling strongly of garlic. They told Father that certain Orthodox Jews, the very ones who had turned blind eyes and deaf ears to their entreaties for help when they arrived in such a pitiable state, were now persecuting them under the claim that they were violating the law by eating Christian food. Some of the older men and women had stopped eating, and in consequence were weak and ill. They made Father understand how vital this accusation, even if false, was to them, and they begged him to divide the money spent among them, instead of giving them the food.
Everyone knows how much more economical it is to make a large quantity of soup in one cauldron than in many individual pots; how ever, their request was granted. A bit more money was added to the original sum, and every Friday morning the heads of the Gadite families would appear at the American Colony and be given coins in proportion to the number of individuals to be fed.
Yemenite Rabbi Shlomo (1935)
They explained to Father that they were trying to learn the trades of the new country and hoped very soon not to need assistance. They had been goldsmiths and silversmiths of a crude sort in Yemen, but Jerusalem at that time had no appreciation or demand for that sort of handicraft. One by one the elders came to tell us they had found work, to thank, us for what we had done, and to say they needed no further help. Father was impressed with the unspoiled integrity of these people.
The Colony continued giving help to the original group of Gadites in decreasing amounts until only a few old people and
widows remained. But these came regularly once a week. Their number was swelled by newcomers and we still shared what we could with them: portions of dry rice, lentils, tea, coffee, and sugar, or other dry articles. After the British occupation of Palestine and the advent of the Zionist organization, with its resources and vast machinery to meet pressing necessities, after forty years our list of dependent Gadites was taken over by them. Even then, individuals continued to come to the doors of the American Colony to ask our help.
Yemenite Rabbi Avram (circa 1935)
One night in June 1948 the American Colony had been under fire all night between the Jews west of us and the Arab legionaries east of us. In the morning a Yemenite Jew lay dead in the road be fore our gates. I recognized Hyam, a Yemenite from the "box colony" near the American Colony. He was one of those who had been receiving help from us for years.
For all this relief work the American Colony was using the money of its members.
The chapter continues with the story of a con-man, Mr. Moses, who stole an ancient scroll from the Yemenites while they were still in Yemen. The Yemenite community in Jerusalem discovered him in Jerusalem and requested that the American Colony help secure the scroll for them.2View comments
Ruins of ancient Shiloh (circa 1870, Palestine Exploration Fund, taken by British Sgt. Henry Phillips) 
Shiloh today (picture by David Rabkin, 2006) 3View comments
- AUG1
Before There Was Jerusalem, There Was Shiloh -- The Site of the Tabernacle When the Israelites Arrived in the Holy Land
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tabernacle there, and the land was subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1)
Interior of old Temple at Shiloh (1908, Library of Congress). The
building is now closed.
When Joshua brought the children of Israel across the Jordan River he was really leading a new nation, born in Egypt and Sinai but forged for 40 years in the furnace of the desert.
Their journey had started hundreds of years earlier when Jacob's sons, grazing their flocks near Shechem (Nablus), sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Their descendants returned to the same area in Samaria bearing Joseph's body for burial in Shechem. They chose the nearby village of Shiloh as the resting place for the Tabernacle which housed altars, the menorah, the ark of the Covenant and more.
There the Tabernacle would remain for almost 400 years, the place for pilgrimages and sacrifices. In Shiloh, Joshua drew lots to divide up the land among the Israelite tribes. Eli the High Priest officiated.
Ruins of Shiloh (circa 1910, Library of Congress)
A woman named Hannah came to Shiloh to pray for a son and promised he would serve the Lord if he was born. Samuel was born to Hannah. He served in the Tabernacle and was the prophet who anointed Saul and then David as kings. David shifted his capital first to Hebron and then to Jerusalem.
Archaeologists today have little doubt that the area known as Sailun was the location of biblical Shiloh. Evidence
of early synagogues, churches and mosques can be found there.
Tourists/pilgrims at Shiloh (1891, with permission of the New Boston Fine and Rare Books)
In the Talmudic period and the Middle Ages Shiloh was a destination for pilgrims.
We recently discovered online an antique book, "A Month in Palestine and Syria, April 1891," posted by the New Boston Fine and Rare Books. The book includes a travelogue and several dozen photographs of tourists and pilgrims. They also visited Shiloh.
Unfortunately, the antique book shop does not know the name of the photographer or author. We would welcome suggestions from our readers.
Today, religious pilgrims are usually found in the south, in a place called Jerusalem.
Group from the American Colony visiting the
"sacred circle" in Shiloh (1937, Library of Congress)
Ancient Shiloh today (photo courtesy of Yisrael Medad)
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on caption to view the original picture.2View comments
The source of the 140 year old pictures of Jews from Turkestan and Samarkand (posted here and here) has been found.
Mulka (circa 1870)
An incredible collection in "The Turkestan Album" was purchased by the U.S. Library of Congress from a Jewish book dealer in New York City in 1938. Other copies are found in the National Library of Uzbekistan and the National Library of Russia.
According the Library of Congress, the album was assembled after "the Russian imperial government took control of the area in the 1850s and 1860s." The Album's "Ethnographical Part offers individual portraits and daily life scenes of [tribes] Uzbeks, Tadzhiks, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, [Jews[ and others."
The Library's introduction to the collection explains, "Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman (1818-1882), the first governor general of Russian Turkestan, commissioned the albums to acquaint Russians and Westerners with the region."
Among the 1,200 pictures in the albums are pictures of the Jewish life cycle -- marriage, circumcision, and death -- as well a pictures of Jewish synagogues, sukkot, and schools. The album includes a dozen portraits of Jewish women and girls, presented here. Many have variations of Jewish names such as Rachel, Malka, Leah, Sarah, Zippora, and Miriam.
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on the name in the caption to view original picture.
Banu ai 
Laula
Sara (and her nose ring) 
Mariam 
Sipara
Lia 
Ina 
Mazal
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Barely a week after Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av), the day of mourning among Jews for the calamities that befell them on that date throughout history, Jews celebrate Tu B'Av, the 15th day of the month. It is probably the most popular date in the year for Jewish weddings.
The groom Barukh and the bride Khanna, two
separate portraits joined (c 1870)
In Israel it's commemorated as a "Love Holiday" like today's commercial Valentines Day or, for aficionados of Al Capp's Li'l Abner comic strip, it's sort of like "Sadie Hawkins Day," a propitious day for matchmaking.
The wedding of Barukh and Khanna, circa 1870. The bride and
groom are beneath a tallit serving as the chuppa (canopy).
Channa is the tiny figure under a "burqua," according to the
original caption. The man in the center is extending a cup of wine
as part of the ceremony -- sheva brachot, according to the
caption. The two mothers, wearing turbans, are on the sides
of the bride and groom.To commemorate Tu B'Av on July 22 ...Last year we uncovered pictures in the Library of Congress files showing Bukhari Jewish life in Samarkand some 140 years ago. We posted pictures showing Jewish children in school, family life, a sukka, and more.Today, we re-post photos from another group of pictures, the wedding of Barukh and Khanna around 1870.Later this week we will present a gallery of young women in the community, and provide the background of the politicalchanges that resulted in this pictures being taken.
Signing the ketuba, the marriage contract. The bride (peaking
out from under her burqua) and the groom are already under the
tallit, with their mothers on either sideClick on the pictures to enlarge.
Click on the caption to view the original.
A party for the women and girls on the eve of the wedding. Click here
to see Barukh sitting with the menBukhari Jews, from what is today the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, may be one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. According to some researchers, the community may date back to the days of the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile. Over the centuries, the community suffered from forced conversion to Islam and from Genghis Khan's pillage and destruction of the region. Around the time these pictures were taken the Bukhari Jews began to move to Israel. They established an early settlement in the Bukharan quarter of Jerusalem.
The Bukhari Jewish families discuss the dowry prior to a wedding
(circa 1870). The caption identifies the two bundles
behind them as the dowry
Original caption: "A group of people escorting the bride and groom (the couple on the far left) to a house" Dedicated to M & S on the birth of their son, Ro'i Naveh
Monday, August 10, 2015
David the King of Israel Lives On -- Updated
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