Mentioned in the Book of Joshua, the town of Bnei Brak was well known in Talmudic days as home to the famous Rabbi Akiva (second century, CE). The town is also mentioned in the Passover Seder service as a meeting place for the leading rabbis of the Talmud.
Bnei Brak's synagogue, built in 1928 
Bnei Brak (circa 1930)
In 1922, in an area not far from the ruins of ancient Bnei Brak, a group of Orthodox Jews from Warsaw, Poland purchased land from an Arab village in order to establish a farming community. The town's cornerstone was laid in 1924.
Bnei Brak bank for "agri-
culture and business"
(circa 1928)
Situated between Tel Aviv, Petach Tikva, and Ramat Gan, the town attracted a large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The new town of Bnei Brak (circa 1928)
Today, Bnei Brak is one of Israel's most densely populated cities, with a population of 170,000.
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Click on captions to view original picture.
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This Is What Abraham Lincoln Would Have Seen. Rare Jerusalem Photos to Be Released -- Here's a Preview
"He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the Saviour. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem," Mary Todd Lincoln told the Springfield, Ill. pastor who presided at Abraham Lincoln's funeral. She explained that the 16th president told her of his desire moments before he was fatally shot in Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865.
Truth or myth? We can only speculate.*
Recently digitalized photos from the Library of Congress show in exceptional detail the Western Wall of the Temple Mount Lincoln would have seen in 1865.The photographs, released by the Library at our request, will appear with analyses in this spot and in the Jerusalem Post later this week.We thank the photo archive staff at the Library of Congress for their assistance.Meanwhile, we present here two small sections of the photographs to show why we are so excited about the minute detail of the photos taken 150 years ago.Even the memorial graffiti on the Western Wall, a practice common even into the early 20th century, can be read.
* Lincoln's Secretary of State William H. Seward visited Jerusalem in 1859, and Lincoln may have heard accounts from him. Seward returned to Palestine in 1871. Read Seward's fascinating account of his visit, his breakdown of Jerusalem's residents by religion, his visit to the "Wailing Place of the Jews," and his joining Friday night services at the Hurva Synagogue.Release date August 11. Editors and bloggers contact israel.dailypix@gmail.com
to receive further information.2View comments
The Arab revolt in Palestine (1936-1939) was almost a preview for the 1947-1949 hostilities after the UN partitioned Palestine, the British mandate ended, the British army withdrew from Palestine and the State of Israel was declared.
Ferry boat brings Har Zion passengers into Tel Aviv port.
The ship is identified in the caption as a "Jewish Agency ship."
The Har Zion could take 110 passengers
(Israel's National Maritime Museum)
The boat was sunk in 1940
The revolt was characterized by the Arab militias attacking Jewish communities and British government facilities, derailing trains, and halting commerce. While the British army eventually succeeded in restoring a semblance of order, the Arabs won a huge victory when the British responded to Arab demands and announced its "White Paper" in 1939 severely restricting Jewish immigration to and growth within Palestine.
Despite the revolt -- and in some cases in spite of the revolt -- the nascent Jewish state continued to develop the infrastructure for a state, such as the port of Tel Aviv and the international airport in Lod/Lydda.
Har Zion passengers arrive in Tel Aviv
The American Colony's photos from the mid-1930s show passengers from the ship Har Zion arriving on a ferry boat in the Tel Aviv port (Jaffa port was closed by an Arab strike).
Lod Airport construction (circa 1935)
The Har Zion (built in 1907) and its sister shipHar Carmel were owned by the Palestine Maritime Lloyd shipping company, formed in 1934. The company and its ships were Jewish owned and operated under these principles: "The Company [would] involve itself in the process of the building of the country; Company must be owned by Jewish interests; Ships will be under 'Hebrew' flag; Crews will be Jewish; Ships will be supplied by local products."
The Har Zion was mobilized by the British navy at the outbreak of World War II. In August 1940, on a voyage between England and Nova Scotia it was sunk by a German U-boat. Thirty-seven crewmen perished, including 17 Jews.
During the 1930s the Lod (Lydda) airport was built to receive international flights. Arab saboteurs attacked the airport in October 1938.
Polish Airlines plane's arrival at Lod 
"Building at the Lod airport, which was burned in an attack on
the night of Oct. 15-16, 1937 during the Arab rebellion"Dedicated in honor of the 30th Anniversary of our "Coming Home" -- S & L1View comments
Rishon LeZion, "the first to Zion" (a phrase from the book of Isaiah) was actually the second -- the second Jewish agricultural community formed by the Jewish Zionist movement in the late 19th century. Rishon was founded on July 31, 1882 by Russian settlers who had purchased 835 acres from the Arab village of Ayun Kara.
Rishon LeZion kindergarten (1898)
credit: Rishon LeZion Museum
Rishon's synagogue, built in
1889. It looks very similar to
Zichron Ya'akov's synagogue
built in 1886. (circa 1898)
The Jewish settlement struggled at first until aided by Baron Edmund de Rothschild, a munificent philanthropist. Rothschild, who also helped establish the communities of Zichron Ya'akov and Rosh Pina, dispatched town planners and agricultural experts to help the new community. He planted vineyards and established the Carmel winery in Rishon in 1886.
Carmel Steet in Rishon, the
winery is the large building
on the left, built around 1890
Rishon's architect and his home
View Rishon's Administration
building here (circa 1898)
Rishon LeZion claims many "firsts." According to the Rishon municipality, the school in Rishon was the first to use the Hebrew language in its curriculum in 1886. The Jewish national anthem Hatikva was written in Rishon by Naftali Hertz Amber in 1883.
The winery's cellar (circa 1898) 
Rishon (circa 1920)
The American Colony photograph collection in the Library of Congress contains scores of photographs of the wineries in Rishon and Zichron as well as the work in the vineyards.
Visit of British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel 1920
View visit of Lord Balfour in 1925 here
According to the Library of Congress captions, the American Colony photos on this page were taken between 1898 and 1934. We suggest that many were taken closer to to 1898 because of the photographic methods (glass, stereograph) and the style of dress.
In 1917, World War I swirled around the residents of Rishon LeZion as dug-in Turkish troops in Ayun Kara fought New Zealand forces moving up the coast with the British army. Kiwi veterans of the battle of Ayun Kara left behind moving descriptions of the battle and photographs of Rishon residents.
"Children of Zion 1917" photo taken by a New Zealand
soldier, Charles Bloomfield. "Jewish children and their
teachers assemble for a photograph in front of the
schoolhouse." Donated by Bloomfield's family in
2008 to the "New Zealand Mounted Rifles"The following morning the village of Ayun Kara was reported clear of the enemy, and, with a company of “Camels” on the left and the 1st Light Horse on the right, the brigade moved forward towards Jaffa, meeting with no resistance.
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to view the original pictures.
On the way they passed through the village of Richon le Zion, where for the first time they met Jews. One member of the community was a brother of Rabbi Goldstein, of Auckland. The joy of these people at being freed from the tyranny of the Turks was unbounded. They treated the New Zealanders most hospitably—an exceedingly pleasant experience after the tremendous effort they had just made, and the harsh hungry times spent in the south with its hostile Bedouins.1View comments
The city of Aleppo is one of the oldest in the Middle East. Over the centuries it was captured and ruled by the Egyptians, Hittites, Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Umayyads, Abbasids, Mamluks and Ottomans. 
The Aleppo Citadel (circa 1870) by French photographer
Félix Bonfils (1831-1885)
"Poor Jewish family in Aleppo" (circa 1912)
See also hereFull of ancient archaeological sites, including the famous Citadel, Aleppo was named a World Heritage Site 25 years. The Citadel is one of the world's largest castles, with parts dating back 1,000 years.A Jewish community existed in Aleppo for almost two millennia. The "Great Synagogue" dated back to the fifth century and stored one of the most important Jewish Biblical texts, the Aleppo Codex.
When the UN voted for the 1947 partition plan establishing a Jewish state, anti-Jewish pograms were launched against the Jewish community. Some 6,000 Jews emigrated.
The city of Aleppo seen from the Citadel
(circa 1912)A commercial center and home to two million inhabitants, Aleppo today is ablaze, suffering under the Syrian regime's savage attack. According to the UN, 200,000 residents fled the city in recent days.See a tribute to the people of Damascus here.The Library of Congress archives contain dozens of antique photographs of Aleppo, many of them dated between "1898 and 1946," the years the American Colony photographers were active. More likely, the pictures were taken during 1903 or 1912 expeditions to Syria by the American Colony photographers.
The photograph at the top of the page was taken approximately 140 years ago by the French photographer Félix Bonfils (1831- 1885). Several of his pictures can also be found in the Library of Congress archives.
"One of the finest mosques
and the citadel in Aleppo"
(circa 1912) See also here
Aleppo this week (VOA News) 0Add a comment
"The Jews' Wailing Place" (circa 1860) A version of this article appears in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, July 27, 2012
This high-resolution photo of the Kotel was taken by Peter Bergheim (1813-1875), one of the first resident photographers in the Holy Land. He set up a photography studio in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem; his family owned a bank inside the Jaffa Gate.A converted Jew, Bergheim was well aware of the holy sites of Jerusalem. Three of his pictures were reproduced by the British Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Charles Wilson, who, in 1864, was one of the first surveyors of Jerusalem -- above and below the surface of the ground.
To put the photograph in chronological perspective, the picture was taken when Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States, Queen Victoria was in the middle of her reign, and disciples of the Gaon of Vilna had finished building the "Hurva" synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City.Besides the massive American Colony Photographers’ collection of more than 20,000 photos (taken between 1898 and 1946), the Library of Congress archives also contain ancient photos by 19th century photographers Bonfils, Bergheim, Frith, and Good.
Until now, the Library has not opened these photos to online viewers, citing copyright restrictions. At the request of this writer, the Library has assured that within days several of these historic photos will go online with no restrictions and with truly unusual resolution. They will, of course, also appear on these pages.
A similar perspective of the Kotel taken by the
American Colony photographers 80 years later
(circa 1940)
Photograph (1869) by French photographer Félix
Bonfils (1831-1885) who opened a studio in
Beirut in 1867. Might this be a self-portrait?
(Ken and Jenny Jacobson Oriental Collection,
Library, Getty Research Institute)
Click on photographs to enlarge.
Click on caption to view the original photograph in the Library of Congress archives.0Add a comment
A version of this article appears in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, July 27, 2012
Jewish men sitting on the ground at the "Wailing Wall" (circa 1935)
The ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av -- Tisha B'Av -- is the day in the Hebrew calendar when great calamities befell the Jewish people, including the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, the fall of the fortress Beitar in the Jewish rebellion against Rome in 136 CE, and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. The day is commemorated with fasting, prayers and the reading of Lamentations. In Jerusalem, thousands pray at the Kotel, the Western Wall.
"Devout Jewish women" at the Wall (circa
1900). One of the two women on the left
is wearing a traditional Arab embroidered
dress. We suggest that the two women
in the black cloaks were companions
or care-givers to the Jewish women.
View another photo of devout women here
The American Colony photographers frequently focused their cameras on the worshipers at the "Wailing Place of the Jews." The Colony founders who came to Jerusalem in 1881 were devout Christians who saw the return of the Jews to the Holy Land as a sign of messianic times.
Of the dozens of pictures at the Kotel there are several of elderly men and women sitting on the ground or on low stools, customs of mourning practiced onTisha B'Av.
"A Jewish beggar reading at the Wailing Wall" (circa 1920).
Note others sitting on the ground. The day is almost
certainly Tisha B'Av and he is probably reading the
book of Lamentations.
Jews straining to see the Western Wall
(circa 1929)
"Jews' wailing place without mourners.
Deserted during 1929 riots."
See another view hereOther pictures presented here show the very narrow and confined area of the Kotel over the ages until Israel's army captured the Old City in 1967 and enlarged the Kotel plaza.
The tragedies that occured to the Jewish nation are also evident in the pictures of the deserted plaza after Arab pogroms in 1929. The area was deserted, of course, during the 19 years of Jordanian rule of the Old City when Jews were forbidden to pray at the site.A story is told of Napoleon passing a synagogue and hearing congregants inside mourning. To his question who they are mourning, he was told they were weeping over the destruction of the Jewish Temple 1,800 years earlier. Napoleon responded, according to the legend, "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt."Dedicated in memory of Chaim Menachem ben Levi0Add a comment
Clarity of words and terminology is often the first casualty in political conflict. That is certainly the case in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Using the geographic terms "Judea and Samaria" today is often mistakenly attributed exclusively to Jewish residents of the "West Bank" or their advocates.
"A [Arab] wedding procession in Judea. Palestine" (1903)
The Library of Congress' photo archives prove otherwise.
"A [Arab] wedding procession in Samaria" (1903)
These 1903 pictures of an Arab "wedding procession in Judea, Palestine" and an Arab "wedding procession in Samaria" use the correct geographic names of the region -- well before the British Mandate, before the political division of the west and east banks of the Jordan River, and before the Arab-Israeli conflict.2View comments
Pre-Tisha B'Av feature
Jewish Quarter Street (1934-1939)
We found this picture to be an incredibly engaging portrait of an old Jewish man with his cane and tallit(prayer shawl) leaving prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem, most likely coming from the Western Wall. The subject, light and lines make it a beautiful composition.
The picture was taken between 1934 and 1939, according to the Library of Congress caption.
Jewish men in Hassidic Sabbath garb
in the Jewish Quarter
Researching the picture in the Library of Congress online archives, we then discovered a series of pictures taken in the Jewish Quarter alleyways. Some of the pictures are of the same man with the cane, a photographic study, apparently, of a Yemenite Jew.
The same Yemenite Jew
with his tallit walking down
the stairs. Also here
The American Colony maintained a special relationship with Jerusalem's Yemenite community starting in 1882.
Other pictures in the American Colony collection show Hassidic Jews (of European origins) walking on the steps of the Jewish Quarter in the 1930s.0Add a comment
- JUL23
A Digression: With Sympathy for the People of Syria, We Present Antique Pictures of the Shelling of Damascus in 1925
After World War I and the defeat of the Ottomans, the Kingdom of Syria was placed under a French mandate in 1920.
Destruction in Damascus, 1925 
French troops and their machine guns
in Damascus
An ambulance cart moves across a
public square covered with barbed wireThe mandate was divided into six fiefdoms -- the Jebel Druze, Greater Lebanon, the Sanjak of Alexandretta (Iskenderun today), an Alawite State, the State of Damascus and the State of Aleppo. Eventually, Lebanon was granted its independence in 1943 and Alexandretta was ceded to Turkey in 1939.In the early summer of 1925, a Druze leader named Sheikh Sultan al-Atrash led a full scale revolt against the French across Syria. The French brought in reinforcements and heavy weapons and by October 1925 were shelling the city of Damascus. The American Colony photographers took pictures of the aftermath.
"Al-Atrash and his warriors" in Transjordan (circa 1926)
Al-Atrash was defeated and fled with his rebels south to Transjordan. The photographers followed him and took portraits of him and his fighters.
Statue of al-Atrash in Druze town of
Masedeh on the Golan Heights
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Bnei Brak, 2,000 Years Ago Home to Talmudic Scholars, Reborn in 1924 as an Agricultural Village, Today, an Ultra-Orthodox City - picture a day
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