The British Government's annual reports on Mandatory Palestine make for fascinating -- and often grim -- reading.
"An old Jew peeping out to see what is happening during
the Arab strike" May 14th, 1936
The annual reports detail social and political developments in Palestine, but large segments are also dedicated to detailing the violence between Arabs and Jews. One can also perceive in the reports the increasing pressure to shut the immigration doors to Jews fleeing the monstrous threats in Germany and Poland.
We are fortunate that the thousands of photographs taken by the American Colony photographers during this period provide a visual window into the events of Palestine.
The eyes that have seen it all before
The 1936-1939 British reports are particularly important for understanding the scope and threat of the Arab Revolt and the attacks perpetrated against the Jewish Yishuv. The warfare of the 1930s was a harbinger of the Arab attacks during Israel's War of Independence.
Jerusalem during this whole period was usually at the epicenter of the violent tremors. We present several pictures of Jewish residents of the Old City.
Excerpts from the 1936 report:REPORT BY HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT IN THEThe autumn of 1935 had been marked by considerable political disquiet and by demonstrations of Arab discontent over Jewish immigration and the sales of Arab lands to Jewish buyers....
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN
IRELAND TO THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF
PALESTINE AND TRANS-JORDAN FOR THE YEAR 1936
Jews fleeing the Old City, 1936
The year 1936 in Palestine was dominated by the disturbances which lasted throughout the country from the 19th April to the 12th October.
Evacuation of Jews, 1936
In Jerusalem a few assaults were made by Arabs on isolated Jews, while a large number of Jewish shops in the Old City were closed and Jewish residents in the Old City or in Arab quarters began to move.
In Hebron the Jewish community was concentrated in the local Jewish hospital and later transferred to Jerusalem....
During May and June a perceptibly increasing amount of lawlessness and disorder developed throughout the Jerusalem, Northern and Southern Districts in the form of attacks on public and private Jewish property, sabotage on railways, telegraph and telephone communications.
Jews fleeing the Old City
through the Jaffa Gate 1936
During the second fortnight of May three Jews were murdered and two others wounded in a crowd leaving a Jerusalem cinema on the night of the 16th May. Two more Jews were also murdered in the Old City, and one was shot at. As a result there followed a further exodus of Jewish householders to safer quarters in the suburbs, while curfew orders were successively imposed, first on the Old City, then on the mixed quarters, and finally over the whole of the Jerusalem Municipal Area....
View previous postings on the Arab Revolt:
Part 1 The Start of the Revolt;
Part 2 The Convoys;
Part 3 The Railroads- NOV22
The Start of Aviation in Eretz Yisrael Military Aircraft Became Part of the Palestine Campaign (a re-posting)
Bonnier lands in Jerusalem, 1913. The
man on the far right appears to be the
mayor of Jerusalem, Salim Hussein
el-Husseini. Note the unidentified
Jewish man on the left.
Just 10 years after the first Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk, the first aircraft landed in Jerusalem on December 31, 1913, flown by a Frenchman, Marc Bonnier. The flight was part of a seven-week tour of the Mediterranean that began and ended in France.
Turkish plane in Jerusalem, 1914
On May 1, 1914, Turkish aviators Salim Bey and Kemal Bey landed their aircraft in Jerusalem. And after that flight, it appears that military aircraft began to fill the skies over Palestine.
Aerial photo of Jerusalem taken by German pilot in 1917.
Click here for another view. By the end of 1917, Jerusalem was
in British hands.
German reconnaissance flight over
Ramla, 1915
The early aircrafts' biggest military advantage was its ability to provide reconnaissance data of enemy troops' deployment. In that regard, the plane's advantage was slightly more than the observation balloons used by armies two centuries earlier. But quickly machine guns and bombs were added to the planes, and air combat and ground support changed the nature of modern warfare.
Turkey utilized aircraft to provide intelligence during its 1916 attack on the Suez Canal and to observe British troops' two attempts to capture Gaza in early 1917. By the fall of 1917, German and Turkish aircraft had to be stopped from reporting back on British commanders' plan to unleash a flank attack against Be'er Sheva. The challenge was met by British and Australian planes, and the Turks were caught unprepared.
German and Turkish officers at the
funeral of a German pilot in Nazareth
Turkish anti-aircraft guns, 1917 
Memorial plaque in Jenin for
fallen German pilots
German planes near Gaza
German plane captured by Australian
soldiers, 1917. Pilot is behind
the plane's left wing.
Australian aircraft in Palestine, 1918
The Library of Congress and the Australian War Memorial provide many photographs of the combat aircraft, the men who flew them, and the graves of those who fell.
Click on the photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to see the originals.
Do you want to see every edition of the Israel Daily Picture? Enter your email address in the box in the right hand column and click on "submit."1View comments
- NOV20
The People of Damascus Revolt -- in 1895. Pardon the Diversion, But People Are Dying Again in Syria
In light of events taking place in Syria today, we depart from our normal presentation and publish an 1895 photo of a prison revolt in Damascus, Syria found in a Library of Congress collection we usually don't cite: the George Grantheim Bain collection.
Revolt in prison, Damascus, circa 1895. Crowd of people
outside of prison.
We encourage experts on Syrian history to provide details on the events portrayed here.0Add a comment
- NOV15
Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs Will Be Packed This Weekend. Photographs from the Cave 100 Years Ago
In synagogues around the world this Sabbath, congregations will read the Torah portion describing Sarah's death and burial. Abraham purchased the Mearat HaMachpela [literally the "double cave" -- so named either because it had two chambers or it would eventually contain pairs of husbands and their wives].
Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron (circa 1900)
Genesis 23: And these were the days of Sarah, 127 years. Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba which is Hebron....Abraham spoke to the Sons of Heth: grant me legal possession of land for a burial site... for its price in full ... 400 shekels of silver.... Thus it was established, the field and the cave that was in it, for Abraham as legally possessed for a burial site from the Sons of Heth."
In Israel, thousands of Jews will converge on Hebron and pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs during the Sabbath.
"Inner entrance to
Machpelah showing mammoth
stones in Herodian wall"
The massive building surrounding the gravesite was built by King Herod two thousand years ago. The actual graves are located in subterranean caverns beneath. Their locations are marked above ground by cenotaphs -- empty tombs that serve as monuments.
In the 11th and 12th century Jewish travelers documented visiting the caves. One of them, Binyamin of Tudela, described "two empty caves, and in the third ... six tombs, on which the names of the three Patriarchs and their wives are inscribed in Hebrew characters. The cave is filled with barrels containing bones of people, which are taken there as to a sacred place." 
Cenotaph above the Tomb of Sarah
(circa 1900)
Tomb of Abraham
The great Jewish scholar Maimonides visited the tombs in 1116 and declared it a personal holy day.From the 14th century, however, Jews were not permitted to pray at the shrine. The Mamluks (an Islamic army of slave soldiers) forbade Jews from visiting the site other than standing on stairs outside. The practice continued until 1948 when all Jews were banned from the Jordanian-occupied West Bank.
"Cenotaph of Isaac
showing distinctive
features of
Crusader Church"
When Israel captured the area in 1967 Jews were allowed to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs, but Israel allowed the Islamic Waqf authorities to maintain control of large portions of the site.Hebron today, where school boys recently celebrated
completion of the book of Genesis
Many Jewish families in Israel celebrate weddings, bar mitzvas and circumcisions at the shrine.0Add a comment
It's easy to be confused by the American Colony collection's pictures of Metulla, Israel's northern-most town. One caption calls it a British post; another labels it a French post. Nor are the listed dates of the pictures much help; they were taken sometime between 1920 and 1933.
Northern-most town
(Wikipedia,Ynhockey)
Actually, both versions may be correct.
Metulla was established as a Jewish settlement in 1896 on land purchased by Baron de Rothschild. But despite the Turkish control of the area and then the French sovereignty, the lawlessness of the region forced the residents of Metulla to occasionally flee their homes.
After World War I, the British and French divided the spoils of the Middle East in 1920, with Britain given the mandate over Palestine and Mesopotamia and France given the mandate for Syria and Lebanon. They drafted a "Convention on certain points connected with the mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed at Paris, December 23, 1920."
"Metulla. British frontier post." Note the British
flag on the building.They even wrote "the frontier will be drawn westwards as far as Metullah, which will remain in [British controlled] Palestinian territory."But the exact boundaries were still not defined and agreed upon until 1923. The residents of Metulla actually voted in French-led elections in Lebanon in the interim. They looked to the French to protect them from marauding Bedouins and Druse. Only in the next year were new boundaries finally demarcated, placing the border between British and French controlled regions some 30 meters north of Metulla. Britain established a military outpost in the town.It is very possible that the American Colony photographers were filming the changing soveignty over Metulla.
"Hasbany Valley and Hermon looking
down from French Metulla post"Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.
Metulla today. Lebanon is beyond the town. (Wikipedia,
public domain)
Today, Metulla is a popular vacation town for Israelis and home to 2,000 residents. The town's Canada Centre is a massive winter sport facility, complete with an olympic-size skating rink where Israel's skating champions practice.
Situated on the Lebanese border and close to the Syrian border, Metulla over the years has been a target for the rockets and artillery bombardments from Hizbullah and Fatah.0Add a comment
Israel Daily Picture (IDP) is publishing its 100th photo essay this week. After discovering the American Colony photo collection in the Library of Congress five months ago, we wondered if there are enough photographs and topics to sustain this blog.The answer is clear: YES! There are hundreds of pictures left to be analyzed and puzzles left to be solved. Hundreds of pictures showing Jewish life in the Holy Land 100 years ago need to be publicized.The Israel Daily Picture has now been reprinted in many newspapers, blogs and social media sites.At this stage, the IDP is initiating a short-term development project so that we can continue publication, research, translation, and even publication of a book. We seek:- Organizational Sponsors
- Publications interested in syndicating the IDP
- Patrons
- Subscribers (who voluntarily pay, the subscription is still free)
- Individuals interested in dedicating a daily picture
Interested parties contact Israel.dailypix@gmail.com0Add a comment
The date: July 7, 1920
Guests at the High Commissioner's reception (1920)
The place: The Government House, Jerusalem
The Occasion: The High Commissioner's Reception
Those are the details we know from the photograph's caption. But what brought together these ultra-Orthodox rabbis, British officers, Arab dignitaries and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the founder of modern Hebrew, who appears to be standing behind the rabbis? [Both the men -- the one in the light suit and his partner with the hat -- look like the man on the stamp.] And what are all the men holding?
On June 30, just a week earlier, the first British High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, arrived in Palestine. The British army captured all of Palestine in 1917-1918 and imposed military rule. Samuel invited the leaders of Jerusalem's society to hear and receive a proclamation marking the new civilian rule over Palestine.
Samuel's arrival by rowboat, Jaffa
Port, June 30, 1920
Samuel read the proclamation and presented a copy to all of his guests.
As for the identity of the rabbis, the man on the left has been identified as Rabbi Moshe Leib Bernstein, a wealthy Jerusalem businessman; second from the left is the venerated Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community; next, Rabbi Yerucham Diskin, the son of a revered rabbi who set up the Diskin Orphanage in 1881 (which still helps needy children); and Rabbi Baruch Reuven Jungreis of the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate.
Samuel reading his
proclamation again two
days later.
Rabbi Sonnenfeld joined other rabbis a year later to meet with Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill at Samuel's Government House. See the posting and video here describing the meeting. Also attending the meeting with Churchill was Emir Abdullah who would become King Abdullah of Jordan. Sonnenfeld, Bernstein and Jungreis met with Abdullah in Jordan in 1924.0Add a comment
- A version of this posting first appeared on October 4
Tell Pioth on the Plain of Rephaim is actually
Talpiot in southern Jerusalem
This pastoral picture from the Library of Congress collection bears the date 1925 and the caption, "Jewish colony of Tell Pioth on the Plain of Rephaim."
Where's Tell Pioth?
It may take a few seconds for anyone who knows Jerusalem to realize that the picture is of the Talpiot neighborhood in southern Jerusalem. The "Plain of Rephaim" is the continuation of "Emek Refaim" Road in Jerusalem's German Colony.
Israel Daily Picture discovered another picture of Talpiot dating back to the same period as the Library of Congress picture in Stephanie Comfort's amazing Jewish Postcard Collection.
Postcard showing the new Jerusalem suburb "Talpioth"
(with permission of the Jewish Postcard Collection)
The land for Talpiot was purchased in 1911 from German Templers of the German Colony of Jerusalem. Standing on the land and looking northeast toward Jerusalem's Old City and the Tower of David, the Jewish founders saw themselves as guardians of the Holy City, specifically the "talpiyot (turrets)" as expressed in the Bible's Song of Songs, 4:4 "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets."
The Turkish army's parade ground was located on the "Rephaim Plain," according to the Library of Congress photo captions. With the Old City turrets and the Church of the Dormition in the background of this picture of the Turkish and German commanders reviewing their troops, it appears that this is the area where Talpiot was built.
Army parade ground. Is this the land
that would become Talpiot?
By 1924 the first 40 homes were built, but the community suffered from deadly Arab attacks in 1929 and again in 1936.
Among the early settlers in Talpiot was the writer S.Y. Agnon who wrote about the neighborhood in his book, The Fire and the Trees. "I stood among the small trees that surround gardens... and on the path that I love the small houses and the refreshing gardens..."
Trees, gardens and small houses such as those in the first picture.0Add a comment
A shorter version of this essay first appeared in July 2011.
Rachel's Tomb/ Photo is an ink-based photolithograph (1890)
Tens of thousands of Jews -- mostly women -- are expected to visit Rachel's Tomb tonight and tomorrow. The burial site, located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, has been venerated by Jews for centuries.
"And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." Genesis35:19-20
Tuesday, the 11th of Cheshvan in the Hebrew calendar, is traditionally observed as Rachel's yahrzeit -- anniversary of her death. Buried on the side of the road by her husband, Rachel, according to tradition, later wept as "her children" were exiled from the land of Israel. Rachel is considered a special figure for prayers and entreaties.
"30 men ('3 minyans') from a Jerusalem old age home praying for
the well-being of friends and donors and other brethren from the
House of Israel in the Diaspora next to the gravestone of Mother
Rachel of blessed memory." (Stephanie Comfort -- Jewish
Postcard Collection)
In 1622 the Ottoman governor of Jerusalem permitted Jews to build walls and a dome over the grave. [For historical background on Rachel's grave see Nadav Shragai.]
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.
All photos are from the American Colony collection unless otherwise credited.
Visitors to Rachel's Tomb (circa 1910). Note the carriages in
the background and Jewish pilgrims under the tree (see
enlargement below). (Oregon State University collection)
For several hundred years a local Bedouin tribe, the Ta'amra, and local Arabs demanded protection money from Jews going to Rachel's grave. In the 18th and 19th century the Arabs built a cemetery around three sides of the shrine in the belief that the proximity of the deceased to the grave of a holy person -- even a Jew -- would bestow blessings on the deceased in the world to come. Muslims even prepared bodies for burial at Rachel's grave.
In the 1830s, Jews received a firman [decree] from Ottoman authorities recognizing the Jewish character of the site and ordering a stop to the abuse of Jews there. In 1841, Sir Moses Montefiore secured permission from the Ottoman authority to build an anteroom for Jewish worshippers. During the 1929 Muslim attacks on the Jews of Palestine, the Muslim religious council, the Waqf, demanded the site.
Jewish pilgrim
in picture aboveFor 19 years of Jordanian rule on the West Bank (1948-1967), Rachel's Tomb was off limits to Jews. After the 1967 war, Israel reclaimed control of the site. In 1996 and during the Palestinian intifada in 2000-2001 Rachel's Tomb was the target of numerous attacks. The Israeli army built walls to protect worshippers and their access to the site.
Rachel's Tomb 1895
Rachel's Tomb 1898 
Aerial photograph of Rachel's Tomb (1931) 
British (Scot) soldiers stopping Arab in
weapons search, Rachel's Tomb 1936In October 2010, UNESCO declared that the holy site was also the Bilal bin Rabah mosque and objected to Israeli "unilateral actions" at the shrine. Bilal bin Rabah was Mohammed's Ethiopian slave and muzzein who died and was buried in Damascus. The claim that the site was a mosque was first made in 1996.4View comments
- NOV6
New Photos Added to the "Gates of Jerusalem" Essays Damascus, Golden, Lions Gates & a Preview of Jaffa Gate
Israel Daily Picture uncovered "new old" pictures of the gates of Jerusalem's Old City, dating back to the 1890s.
Jaffa Gate (circa 1890) -- a preview of a future feature. Before
the emperor of Germany arrived in 1898, the Turks razed the
shops, filled the moat to the right and built a road
so he could ride into the Old City in his carriage.
Incredibly, the pictures were produced in color in an early color process.
We also present a preview of a future feature on Jaffa Gate.
See previous photo essays on the Zion Gate, Damascus Gate, Golden Gate, Dung Gate and Lions Gate.
Lions Gate (1890) 
Damascus Gate (circa 1890) 
Golden Gate (1890) 1View comments
- NOV3
The Balfour Declaration Was Issued 94 Years Ago In 1925 Balfour Arrived to See the Jewish State in Formation
Balfour's reception in Tel Aviv (April 1925) The government of Great Britain issued the Balfour Declaration 94 years ago this week, on November 2, 1917. The document in effect served as the birth certificate for a Jewish national home.British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour's declaration was in the form of a letter to a leader of the British Jewish community. It stated:His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
Balfour speaking at the founding of Hebrew University.
Behind him sit Chaim Weizmann and Chief
Rabbi Avraham KookThe British Army had just captured Be’er Sheva (October 31) after months of trying to break through the Ottoman army’s Gaza-Be’er Sheva defense line. The British goal was to push north and capture Jerusalem by Christmas.In April 1925, Lord Balfour arrived in Palestine to lay the cornerstone for Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus. He was received as a hero in Tel Aviv and Rishon LeZion.
Balfour about to lay the Hebrew
University cornerstone[Unfortunately, many of the pictures were already in stages of disintegration when they were digitalized by the Library of Congress. They are presented without cropping the damaged sections.]In the Arab community his visit was marked with black flags.
Balfour welcomed at the Rishon LeZion Jewish community 
Black flags flying on Arab house 1View comments
Looking through the 22,000 American Colony pictures in theLibrary of Congress collection, it's easy to conclude that many of the photos are miscaptioned -- if they're captioned at all. And those that are captioned often do not provide an accurate date or enough information to identify the subjects, time and place.
Jews or Christians? "Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem aboard
vessel in Beirut harbor" (1903)
That's an important mission of Israel Daily Picture -- to uncover as much information as possible about Jewish life and communities in Eretz Yisrael more than 100 years ago.
Presented here are two examples. The first, a 1903 picture of "Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem aboard vessel in Beirut harbor" and a second 1903 photo of "Peasant women near Joppa [Jaffa] Gate, Jerusalem."
Are these women Jewish? "Peasant women near Joppa
Gate, Jerusalem" (1903)The Library of Congress photo collection includes pictures of Russian Christian pilgrims visiting churches and baptism sites, such as the photo below of Russian pilgrims gathered at Jericho.Click on the photos to enlarge.Click on the captions to see the originals.Note the headgear. All of the women in Jericho are wearing kerchiefs on their heads. But one of the passengers on the boat is not. Is she Jewish perhaps?Bearded men appear in both pictures, and "cossack"-style hats appear in both. But none of the men at Jericho are wearing the "hamburg"-style hats worn by some men on the ship, a style popular with Jewish men.
(See enlargement.)
Russian pilgrims (circa 1900) 
A Jewish passenger? So the Russian Christians were sailing on a religious pilgrimage, but what of the Jews?
It is likely that they were part of the 35,000 Jews who left Russia after pogroms and anti-Jewish Czarist degrees. They were part of what is called the "First Aliya," a wave of Jewish immigration, dated 1880-1903.
Standing behind the "peasant" women:
Jewish men wearing fur "streimel" hats,
normally worn on the Sabbath
What can you make out of the picture of the peasants outside Jaffa Gate? The Library of Congress website allows for enlarging the photos, and who is in the background of the picture? Jewish men.
Women praying at the Kotel The women are not wearing the black scarves worn by Muslim women, nor are their faces veiled. Indeed, compare the shawls and fabrics the "peasant" women are wearing with this picture of Jewish women praying at the Western Wall. In many cases the fabrics are identical.1View comments
The wall of Jerusalem's Old City and many of the gates that we see today were built in 1540 during the days of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. The Dung Gate is one of eight gates in the Old City Wall. , 
Dung Gate interior (circa 1900) 
Dung Gate interior (circa
1940)
The original Dung Gate is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah 3:13. Close to the Temple Mount and facing the ancient City of David and the Shiloach spring, the original gate was probably well traversed. The gate is at the lowest point of the walls, and indeed it was probably used for removing refuse and possibly ashes from the Temple. A major drainage tunnel near the gate, more than 600 meters long and dating back at least to Herod's days, has recently been discovered and cleared and opened for tourists.
The Library of Congress collection includes one picture, incredibly captioned, "Ash heaps from the Temple sacrifices." The location of the photo is unclear but it does not appear to match the terrain below the Dung Gate.
"Ash heaps from the Temple
sacrifices" 1898
Dung Gate today. Note the small arch of
the original Ottoman gate on top of
the larger opening
The Ottoman-built gate was small and narrow, the upper arch of which is still visible above today's gate. In 1952, during Jordan's occupation of the Old City, the gate was widened to permit vehicles to enter. The opening was reinforced with cement posts. The gate was renovated by Israel after 1967 to match the Ottoman stone and design.
See previous photo essays on the Zion Gate, Damascus Gate, Golden Gate andLions Gate.2View comments
- OCT27
The Kaiser Arrives, and the Rabbis Turn Out. How Jerusalem's Jews Greeted the German Emperor in 1898
The German Emperor's visit to Jerusalem on October 29, 1898 was a major historic event, reflecting the geopolitical competition between the German Empire, Russia, France and the British Empire. Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife were received with open arms by the Ottomans collapsing under the weight of centuries of corruption and still reeling from the aftermath of the costly Crimean War of the 1850s.
The welcome arch constructed by Jerusalem's Jews in honor
of the German Emperor Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II and Augusta Viktoria
Preparations were undertaken throughout Turkish-controlled Palestine: roads were paved, waterworks installed, electrical and telegraph lines laid, and sanitation measures -- seen today as basic -- were implemented. The Turks even breached the Old City walls near Jaffa Gate to construct a road for the Emperor's carriages.
Interior of the arch. Note the curtains hanging.
The visit was photographed extensively by the American Colony photographers. The popularity of the Emperor's pictures led to the establishment of the Colony's photographic enterprise and eventually the 22,000 pictures that were donated to the Library of Congress.
The Jews of Jerusalem were caught up in the excitement. Some of the Jews with ties to Europe were actually under the Emperor's protection. Others expected to benefit from the Emperor's largesse. And still others wanted the opportunity to recite a rarely said blessing upon seeing a king, according to David Yellin, a Jerusalem intellectual who described the visit in his diary.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi,
Yaakov Shaul Elissar
The Jewish community constructed a large and richly adorned welcome arch to receive the Emperor. The arch was located on Jaffa Road (near today's Clal Building) and bore the Hebrew and German title, "Welcome in the name of the Lord."
The Library of Congress collection offers viewers the ability to enlarge the photos, and once enlarged, the details under the arch are amazing. The chief rabbis of the time are easily recognizable, the arch is decorated along the top by Torah crowns, and it is clear that the arch is lined by the curtains from Torah arks, parochot.
Torah crowns and breastplate
on top of the arch
Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem,
Shmuel Salant
The enlargements show that one curtain came from the Istanbuli synagogue in the Old City, another was donated by the Bukhari community, and a third belonged to Avraham Shlomo Zalman Hatzoref, a student of the Gaon of Vilna and a builder of Jerusalem who arrived in Eretz Yisrael exactly 200 years ago. We can deduce that the thirdparochet came from the Hurva synagogue which Hatzoref helped to fund (actually arranged for the cancellation of the Ashkenazi community's large debt to local Arabs). For his efforts he was killed by the Arabs in 1851. Hatzoref is recognized by the State of Israel as the first victim of modern Arab terrorism.
Curtain from the Bukhari community 
Curtain from the
Istanbuli synagogue
The curtain lists several names besides Hatzoref. Their names are followed by the Hebrew initials Z'L -- of blessed memory. The fact that Hatzoref's name is not followed by Z'L suggests that the curtain was made prior to his death in 1851.
Hatzoref's parochet, suggesting it came
from the Hurva SynagogueAccording to the New York Times account of the visit, two Torah scrolls were also on display in the Jewish arch, but they are not visible in the photographs.
Two individuals who should have been under the arch were not there. The first was Theodore Herzl who came to Palestine in order to meet with the Emperor and encourage him to express his support for a Jewish homeland to his Turkish allies. Yellin reported that Herzl was not invited by the local Jewish leadership, some of whom were opposed to the Zionist movement on religious grounds. Others were fearful that Herzl's message would anger the Turkish government. Herzl met the Emperor later at his compound on November 2 and at the Mikveh Yisrael agricultural school.
Photo montage of Herzl
and the Emperor at
Mikve Yisrael school
Also absent was the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, Rabbi Chaim Yosef Zonnenfeld. According to some accounts, Zonnenfeld believed that the German nation was the embodiment of Israel's Bibilical arch-enemy Amalek, and he ruled that no blessing should be recited upon seeing an Amalekite king.
Another astonishing element of the picture is the finery worn by the Orthodox Jews lining the streets, including silk caftans and fur shtreimels. Did they dress up for the German Emperor?
Ultra-Orthodox Jews in their Sabbath finery, standing along the
Emperor's parade route
Actually no, this is how they dressed on Shabbat.
Yes, the German Emperor arrived on Saturday, and the Jewish community turned out for him and displayed their synagogue treasures in his honor.
A version of this article appeared in the Jerusalem Post Magazine today.1View comments
The American Colony Photographers' collection (1880-1946] in the U.S. Library of Congress contains hundreds of pictures of World War I battles in Palestine. The photographers had access to both of the warring sides. To put the capture of Be'er Sheva on October 31, 1917 into context, we also present photo essays on Be'er Sheva before the war and the war in Gaza.
Australian light horsemen riding in north Jerusalem in this badly
damaged photo from the Library of Congress collection
The third British attack against the Turkish defense lines in Gaza would be unleashed in the Fall of 1917, the German and Turkish military leadership strongly believed. Already in March and April 1917 the British had smashed up against the Turkish army in Gaza, the western edge of a 40-mile front, with heavy losses. And the British forces, now under the command of General Edmund Allenby, gave their enemy ample signs that Gaza was again the target.
An attack on Be'er Sheva was impossible, the Turks believed. The British forces consisted largely of light-horse soldiers, mobile on their horses to move to the front where they would normally dismount and fight as infantrymen. Horses require massive amounts of water, grain and forage, and there was none within two days of the Be'er Sheva oasis. No cavalry could go so long without water.
Turkish mounted lancers, Be'er Sheva
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.
But Allenby secretly moved some 40,000 troops and their horses to confront the Turkish army at the eastern edge of the front, in Be'er Sheva. Small amounts of water were pre-positioned along the route, but after a 48-hour march, the horses would have to be watered at the wells inside Be'er Sheva, Allenby planned. That required capturing the garrison village in less than a day and before the Turks could destroy the wells.
Turkish defenders at Be'er Sheva awaiting the British attack 1917
Funeral of Turkish army officer
killed in action, Be'er Sheva, 1917
The battle began in the morning of October 31 with artillery barrages and infantry attacks against Turkish artillery, machine guns, and extentive trench defenses. Only in the afternoon did New Zealand troops capture a strategic hill, Tel Saba, that had provided the Turks a clear field of fire against troops crossing the plain on the approach to Be'er Sheva.The British commanders realized that with the sun setting they had to act quickly. They dispatched 800 Australian light-horsemen across the plain against the Turkish lines. The Turkish artillery and riflemen waited for the Australians to dismount, but instead they rode on and charged, in many cases jumping their horses over the trenches. With bayonets and rifles, the Australian soldiers were able to overrun the Turks and secure most of the wells within an hour of the command to saddle up.
The commander of the Turkish forces in Be'er Sheva was German General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein. In his account of the battle, he described his troops' surprise at the cavalry charge and added, "Unfortunately the destruction of the wells at Be'er Sheva arranged by [Turkish officer] Ismed was only partially accomplished."
Australian Light Horsemen guarding 600 prisoners of war -German officers and Turkish soldiers
captured in the battle of Jericho, 1918
From Be'er Sheva, Allenby's troops were able to roll up the Turkish forces to their west and to move north up the Hebron road. Within two months, Allenby marched into the Old City of Jerusalem.
View an account of the Battle for Be'er Sheva in the Australian movie "The Lighthorsemen."
*Cobber - Austral., Slang a close companion; comrade. Origin: prob. Heb. chaver, comrade1View comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
The 1936 Arab Revolt and the Jews of Jerusalem - Part IV - picture a day
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