Jordan River Water Was Shipped to the U.S. in 1906 and May Have Flushed an Anti-Semitic U.S. Diplomat Out of His Job
The water was "shipped in casks bearing the seals of the Turkish Government and the American Consul," according to The Bee. "The water will be bottled in the United States in bonded warehouses."
The American Consul granting his seal for the commercial venture may have cost the veteran diplomat his job. His departure was a blessing for the Jews of Palestine. The Consul-General was undoubtedly the nastiest anti-Semite to ever hold that post.
19th Century Paintings of Jerusalem Found in the Ottoman Imperial Archives
The first painting is by German artist Johann Martin Bernatz (1802-1878) who traveled in the Holy Land in 1836.
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Jews Praying at the Wailing Wall by Johann Martin Bernatz. The Ottoman Archives provided a date of 1868.
(Author's digital photograph collection)
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The second painting is by another German artist, Gustav Bauernfeind (1848-1904).
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| Jews Praying at the Wailing Wall by Gustav Bauernfeind. The Ottoman Archives provides a date of 1888. (Author's digital photograph collection) |
Bauernfeind moved to Jerusalem in 1898. He is buried in the German Templar Cemetery in Jerusalem. In 2007, his oil painting of the Wailing Wall sold for 4.5 million Euros at Sotheby.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
When President Calvin Coolidge Hosted the Chief Rabbi of Palestine in the White House, 1924
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| The caption reads "Rabbi Dr. Abraham I. Kook, 4/15/24" Where was this picture taken? |
September 6, 2016 corresponds with his yahrzeit (anniversary of his death) on the Hebrew date of the third of Elul.
Born in what is today Latvia, Rabbi Kook moved to Palestine in 1904 to take the post of the Chief Rabbi of Jaffa.
The picture above has appeared in various Israeli publications in recent years, but few know it was taken in Washington D.C. on the day Rabbi Kook met with President Calvin Coolidge in the White House. The picture was found in the Library of Congress archives.
What was Kook's mission, what messages were exchanged?
The details on Rabbi Kook's visit to Washington D.C. and the White House will be available in the forthcoming book, American Interests in the Holy Land Revealed in Early Photographs. Order it now here.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Who Was the 19th Century American Preacher Mendenhall John Dennis?
Actually, He Was a Jerusalem Watchmaker Named Mendel Deniss, Jerusalem's First Photographer
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| Mendenhall John Dennis in the center surrounded by his family in 1885. After 1860 he lived in Ohio, Massachusetts and Washington. Before 1860 he was Mendel Diness of Jerusalem (With permission of Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University) |
He had little idea that he had uncovered a historic treasure. Later, he viewed the plates and saw that they included old pictures of Jerusalem. He contacted the Harvard Semitic Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, known for its large collection of old photographs from the Middle East.
On some of the plates they found the initials MJD. Until then the name Mendel Diness was barely known by scholars. It was assumed that with the exception of one or two photos his collection ....
Thank you for your interest in Mendel Diness. The full article is available in the forthcoming book. Order it now here.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
July 22: Anniversary of the Bombing of the British Military Intel HQ in the King David Hotel 70 Years Ago
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| King David Hotel 1946 |
Those photographs pretty much marked the end of the Matson Photo Service's 65 years in Jerusalem. According to the Library, "In 1946, in the face of increasing violence in Palestine, the Matsons left Jerusalem for Southern California."
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| King David Hotel 1946 |
The following appeared in Myths and Facts, 1989, written by the publisher of Israel Daily Picture.
The King David Hotel was the site of the British military command and the British Criminal Investigation Division. Two events led the Irgun commanders to choose the British military headquarters as a legitimate target. On June 29, 1946, British troops invaded the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and confiscated large quantities of documents. Simultaneously, over 2,500 Jewish leaders from all over Palestine were placed under arrest. Not only were the documents of crucial importance to the Jewish liberation movement, but papers on Jewish agents in Arab countries were also confiscated, endangering vital intelligence activities. The information was taken to the King David Hotel.
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| King David Hotel 1946 |
One week later, Palestinian Jewish anger against the British and their blockade of Palestine grew. Word arrived of the massacre of 40 Jews in a pogrom in Poland; 40 Jews who might have been saved had the doors to Palestine been opened for the survivors of Hitler's concentration camps.
On July 22, the Irgun planted bombs in the basement of the hotel. Several calls were placed warning the British to evacuate. They refused. For decades the British denied that they had been warned. In 1979, however a member of the British parliament introduced evidence that the Irgun had indeed issued the warning. He offered the testimony of a British officer who heard other officers in the King David Hotel bar joking about a Zionist threat to the headquarters. The officer who overheard the conversation immediately left the hotel and survived.Monday, June 27, 2016
The U.S. Navy Evacuated 6,000 Jews from Jaffa in 1914/1915
But, here are two never-before-seen pictures from the book showing Jews boarding and disembarking from the USS Tennessee after their expulsion by the Turks in 1915.
Stay tuned for information on the book's publication.
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| Jewish refugees boarding and registering in Jaffa. |
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| Jewish refugees disembarking in Alexandria Egypt. |
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Jewish Festivals - Shavuot
The Book of Ruth Recreated 100 Years Ago
This feature is one of our most popular posting
Reposting a popular feature
The Jewish holiday of Shavuot -Pentecost is celebrated this week. The holiday has several traditional names: Shavuot, the festival of weeks, marking seven weeks after Passover; Chag HaKatzir, the festival of reaping grains; and Chag HaBikkurim, the festival of first fruits. Shavuot, according to Jewish tradition, is the day the Children of Israel accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is also believed to be the day of King David's birth and death.
The reading of the Book of Ruth is one tradition of the holiday. Ruth, a Moabite and widow of a Jewish man (and a princess according to commentators), gave up her life in Moab to join her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, in the Land of Israel. She insisted on adopting Naomi's God, Torah and religion.
A central element of the story of Ruth is her going to the local fields where barley and wheat were being harvested so that she could collect charitable handouts. She gleans in the fields of Boaz, a judge and a relative of Ruth's dead husband (as such he had a levirate obligation to marry the widow). The union resulted in a child, Obed, the grandfather of King David.
The members of the American Colony were religious Christians who established their community in the Holy Land. They were steeped in the Bible and photographed countryside scenes that referred to biblical incidents and prohibitions.
We have matched the pictures with corresponding verses from the Book of Ruth.
We present a few of thedozens of "Ruth" photographs found in the Library of Congress' American Colony collection. See more of the pictures here.
A major effort was made by the photographers to re-enact the story of Ruth, probably in the fields near Bethlehem. "Ruth," we believe, was a young member of the American Colony community; the remaining "cast" were villagers from the Bethlehem area who were actually harvesting, threshing and winnowing their crops.
Unfortunately, we don't know when the "Ruth and Boaz series" was photographed, but we estimate approximately 100 years ago.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Click on the caption to view the original.
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| Photo portrait of "Ruth the Moabitess" (Library of Congress) |
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| Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to leave you, to return from following you, for wherever you go, I will go... Your people shall be my people, your God my God" |
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| And Naomi and Ruth both went on until they arrived at Bethlehem |
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| Ruth came to a field that belonged to Boaz who was of the family of Naomi's deceased husband |
A central element of the story of Ruth is her going to the local fields where barley and wheat were being harvested so that she could collect charitable handouts. She gleans in the fields of Boaz, a judge and a relative of Ruth's dead husband (as such he had a levirate obligation to marry the widow). The union resulted in a child, Obed, the grandfather of King David.
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| Boaz said to his servant, who stood over the reapers, "To whom does this maiden belong?" |
The members of the American Colony were religious Christians who established their community in the Holy Land. They were steeped in the Bible and photographed countryside scenes that referred to biblical incidents and prohibitions.
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| Boaz said to Ruth, "Do not go to glean in another field...here you shall stay with my maidens" |
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| Boaz said to her at mealtime, "Come here and partake of the bread..." He ordered his servants "Pretend to forget some of the bundles for her." |
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| Ruth carried it to the city and Naomi saw what she had gleaned |
We have matched the pictures with corresponding verses from the Book of Ruth.
We present a few of thedozens of "Ruth" photographs found in the Library of Congress' American Colony collection. See more of the pictures here.
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| Ruth came to the threshing floor and Boaz said, "Ready the shawl you are wearing and hold it," and she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley.... |
Unfortunately, we don't know when the "Ruth and Boaz series" was photographed, but we estimate approximately 100 years ago.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Click on the caption to view the original.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
The Long History of Jewish/Israeli Ties with Jordan
History books provide glimpses of nearly a century of ties between Hashemite rulers and Jewish leaders, starting with the pre-state of Israel. Dr. Chaim Weizman of the Zionist Organization met with Emir Faisal in January 1919 and signed an agreement of understanding. T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) was the interpreter for the meeting, but it is not certain to this day just how much of an "agreement" it was. Nevertheless the acts of meeting and dialogue were monumental.
Days before Israel's declaration of independence in May 1948, Golda Meir travelled to Jordan disguised as an Arab peasant to meet with King Abdullah to urge him to stay out of the pending Arab attack on the soon-to-be state. (He didn't.)
On September 25, 1973, Abdullah's grandson, King Hussein of Jordan, secretly visited Israel to warn Prime Minister Golda Meir of imminent attacks on Israel by Egypt and Syria. (Tragically, his warnings were not given their due seriousness.)
These two photographs, however, fill in some of the years. The first shows Emir Abdullah's personal bodyguards in 1922 -- armed Jewish Yemenite warriors from the Habani tribe. The three men were brothers -- Sayeed, Salaah, and Saadia Sofer. Notice their traditional side curls (peyot). The men of the Habani tribe were known as tall, muscular and fierce warriors.
Hashemites also used Circassian bodyguards.
In 1932, King Abdullah was again in close relations with the Jewish Yishuv when he inaugurated the major hydro-electric power plant in Naharayim located on the Transjordan side of the Jordan-Yarmuk Rivers confluence. The Jewish project was headed by Pinhas Ruttenberg, the founder of the Palestine Electric Company. The joint project required security cooperation between the two sides to protect the plant and power lines.
More information on the power plant can be found here, The Great and Electrifying Pinchas Ruttenberg.
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| Weizmann - Faisal meeting, 1919 (Syrian Times) |
On September 25, 1973, Abdullah's grandson, King Hussein of Jordan, secretly visited Israel to warn Prime Minister Golda Meir of imminent attacks on Israel by Egypt and Syria. (Tragically, his warnings were not given their due seriousness.)
These two photographs, however, fill in some of the years. The first shows Emir Abdullah's personal bodyguards in 1922 -- armed Jewish Yemenite warriors from the Habani tribe. The three men were brothers -- Sayeed, Salaah, and Saadia Sofer. Notice their traditional side curls (peyot). The men of the Habani tribe were known as tall, muscular and fierce warriors.
Hashemites also used Circassian bodyguards.
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| Emir Abdullah with his Jewish bodyguards (1922, Bible Discovered) |
More information on the power plant can be found here, The Great and Electrifying Pinchas Ruttenberg.
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| Ruttenberg watches Emir Abdullah start the turbines at the Naharayim power plant. (1932, Library of Congress) Is that one of Abdullah's bodyguards watching on the right? |
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Passover: Whoever Is Hungry, Come and Partake of this Yemenite Seder
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The Temple Institute's depiction of a Passover seder at
the time of the Temple. Note the pascal lamb on the table.
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The Library of Congress photographic collection includes a series of photographs of Yemenite residents of Jerusalem celebrating their Passover seder in 1939. Note their low table and compare it to the painting of a Seder during the time of the Temple, taken from the Passover Seder Haggadah of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem.
In 1882, the Christians of the American Colony adopted a wave of Yemenite Jews who arrived in Jerusalem penniless, hungry and sick. The Colony believed the Jews were from the lost tribe of Gad. For decades the American Colony photographers continued to take pictures of the Yemenite community.
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| Yemenite Passover Seder: Drinking wine in the Kiddush ceremony. Note the table is covered at that point, and all men are leaning to their left as prescribed. (Library of Congress) |
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| Yemenite Passover Seder, eating the bitter herbs (1939) |
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| Washing hands during the Seder. Note the children's involvement and wonderment. A major theme of the Seder is to teach the children about the Exodus from Egypt. |
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| Passover meal. Note the square matza |
The Yemenite community has a tradition of a soft matza, similar to Middle East pita or laffa bread, which they bake daily during Passover.
The traveler reported, "I enjoyed their special kind of matza -- it was warm, soft and didn't have the usual burnt sections which was present in every matza I had ever eaten until then."
Friday, April 8, 2016
Time to Get Ready for Passover.
The Matza Factories Are Hard at Work
A reprint of a special Passover feature
With Passover just weeks away, Jewish households around the world are purchasing or making their matzot (unleavened bread) for the festival.One of Judaism's oldest customs, the baking of matza goes back to the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Ever since, Jews often went to great trouble to bake their cracker-like bread. Jewish communities in Europe and the Arab world faced "blood libels" for making their matza. Ancient synagogues in France built matza bakeries under their synagogues. Jews in Nazi concentration camps risked being shot to bake their Passover "bread." In the former Soviet Union, Jews baked their matza in secret, lest they be discovered and sent to the Gulag. During major wars, armies made sure to provide matza to their Jewish soldiers.
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| A matza factory in Haifa. The signs on the left read "For the purpose of the commandment of matza" -- a reminder to the workers to keep their intentions on the commandment. The signs on the right, in Hebrew and French, read "No smoking" and "No Spitting" (from the "Cigarbox Collection" provided by Othniel Seiden, circa 1925) |
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| "No smoking or spitting" |
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| 'Keep in mind the matza commandment" |
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| Children baking matza in kindergarten in the Holy Land. The teacher is in the center, and it appears there is a tiny oven in front of her. (Harvard/Central Zionist Archives, circa 1920) |
Matza baking in the "New World" 150 years ago
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| Caption: "General view of preparations and baking matzot, the unleavened bread for the Passover" (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, New York, April 18, 1858, Library of Congress) Note the rabbi watching. |
The Library of Congress Archives has preserved several 150-year old engravings of Jewish customs in New York from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. [See Purim celebration]
The story we bring today is unusual because of the writer's attempt to describe the New York Jewish community and the Passover holiday. The first element, rich in Faginesque imageries, would be considered anti-Semitic by today's standards. The second element, a description of the holiday customs, is woefully full of mistakes. Excerpts below:
The Israelitish race preserve to this day their peculiar characteristics as strongly marked, and their national prejudices is as full force as in the days of Darius, King of Persia. They exist among us, a distinct race, preserving an identity of their own... but whilst constantly intermingling in trade and business with the Gentiles, keeping themselves as separate from the uncircumcised dogs in all social and religious intercourse....They could not keep themselves more apart if they were walled out from the Christian world....
Any one taking a morning walk through Chatham street will meet enough men whose low stature, shining black eyes, crisp laky hair, stooping shoulders, and eager movements proclaim them of the Hebrew race, to convince him that Jews are prevalent in our city in large numbers. Exactly how many thousands of the Hebraic people have their present sojourning in New York we have no means of ascertaining, but the number is very considerable, and is on the rapid increase.
Weighing and kneading of the flour with the rabbi
The eating of the unleavened bread for the seven days of the Passover is obligatory on all of the Jewish faith, and it is observed with the most punctilious exactitude by all, old and young, and no matter how poor or rich. During the seven days this unleavened bread is the only sort permitted to be used, no meat is allowed, and no drop of wine or spirits or fermented liquors. Fish and some kinds of vegetables are eaten sparingly....
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.
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Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The "Other" Passover Commemoration --
The Samaritans Still Sacrifice the Pascal Lamb
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| Samarian high priest Yitzhak ben Amram ben Shalma ben Tabia (circa 1900). View other pictures of priests here and here |
Updated from a 2012 Passover feature
The Samaritan population in the Land of Israel numbered more than a million people 1,500 years ago, according to some estimates. This ancient people lived in northern Israel and claimed to have been descendants of those tribes of Israel which were not sent out into the Babylonian exile. One line of Samaritans traces their lineage back to Aaron the priest, and they consider their "holy mountain" to be Mt. Gerizim outside of Nablus (Shechem) -- not Jerusalem.
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| Samaritan family (1899) |
The Samaritans worship the God of Abraham, revere a scroll comparable to the five books of Moses, and maintain Passover customs, including the sacrifice of the Pascal Lamb. The photographers of the American Colonyphotographed dozens of pictures of the Samaritans' sacrificial service.
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| Samaritan synagogue in Shechem (1899). Also view here |
Already in Talmudic days, Jewish authorities rejected the Samaritans' claims to be part of the Jewish people. TheCutim, according to rabbinic authorities, arrived in the Land of Israel around 720 BCE with the Assyrians from Cuth, believed to be located in today's Iraq.
Over the millennia, the Samaritans almost disappeared. Persecuted, massacred and forcibly converted by Byzantine Christians and by Islamic authorities, the Samaritans' community today numbers fewer than 1,000 who are located on Mount Gerizim near Nablus (Shechem) and in Holon, Israel.
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| Baking matza on Mt. Gerizim (circa 1900) |
This year, the Samaritans will celebrate their Passover on April 20, 2016.
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| Preparing a lamb (1900) |
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| "The prepared carcasses ready for the oven" (1900) |
According to Samaritan officials, on January 1, 2015, the Samaritans number 777 souls.
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| Praying on Mt. Gerizim (1900) |
In 1919, there were only 141 individuals. ( Source: Benyamim Tsedaka, A.B. - Institute of Samaritan Studies, Holon, Israel)
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Israel Radio -- Kol Yisrael -- Commemorates 80 years of Broadcasting Today
We found in the Library of Congress a picture of the inaugural broadcast.
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| Library of Congress caption: Photograph shows radio engineer Moshe Rubin transmitting the special broadcast during the opening of the Palestine Broadcasting Service, Ramallah, March 30, 1936 |
Monday, March 21, 2016
Purim Celebrated this Week
Tales of Disguise, Mirth and the Threat of Haman
This week Jews around the world celebrate the joyous holiday of Purim. The Purim holiday commemorates the victory of Queen Esther and Mordechai over the evil Haman of Persia, saving the lives of the Jewish people.
Below are several Purim-related pictures we discovered in the archives of the Library of Congress.
This picture appeared in an American newspaper on April 1, 1865. The wood engraving is captioned, "The Hebrew Purim Ball at the Academy of Music, March 14." The picture contains a large sign, "Merry Purim," another sign listing the "Order of Dancing," and merrymakers wearing costumes and masks.
The picture was published in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, printed in New York, NY. The Academy of Music was built in 1854 and was located in Manhattan at Irving Place and East 14th Street.
View Yaakov Gross' film of the Tel Aviv celebrations in the 1930s here and visit his wonderful collection of films here.
We wanted to know more about the store on the left with the sign "A Fast. Restauranteur." Was this a tourist establishment of Abraham Fast, who in 1907 took over a large hotel several hundred meters to the west of the building pictured above and renamed it "Hotel Fast?"
It was a leading hotel with 100 rooms, built around a court yard with Ionic, Corinthian and Doric columns.
Hotel Fast and its kosher restaurant was a well-known establishment in Jerusalem for decades, and was probably considered by many to be a Jewish-owned establishment because of its Jewish clientele.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Fasts were German Templers.
They lived in Jerusalem's German Colony and were exiled by the British after World War I and during World War II because of their support for Germany.
We recently uncovered pictures of German troops marching in Jerusalem streets on Good Friday 1917. Readers were able to identify the building on the left as the Fast Hotel.
Our biggest surprise was finding this picture of the German consulate in the Hotel Fast with the German Swastika flag flying from the building.
This week Jews around the world celebrate the joyous holiday of Purim. The Purim holiday commemorates the victory of Queen Esther and Mordechai over the evil Haman of Persia, saving the lives of the Jewish people.
Below are several Purim-related pictures we discovered in the archives of the Library of Congress.
This picture appeared in an American newspaper on April 1, 1865. The wood engraving is captioned, "The Hebrew Purim Ball at the Academy of Music, March 14." The picture contains a large sign, "Merry Purim," another sign listing the "Order of Dancing," and merrymakers wearing costumes and masks.
The picture was published in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, printed in New York, NY. The Academy of Music was built in 1854 and was located in Manhattan at Irving Place and East 14th Street.
And in Tel Aviv --
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| Purim celebration in Tel Aviv (Library of Congress, 1934) |
The Jews of Palestine used to celebrate heartily at the PurimAdloyada ["until they don't know"] festival and parade held in Tel Aviv in the 1920s and 30's. Some commentators make a crude
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| The "Queen Esther" of the carnival in 1934 (Library of Congress) |
comparison to Marde Gras partying, but the merriment is based on an ancient rabbinic tradition of Jews imbibing on Purim to the point where they do not know the difference between sobriety and drunkenness, between Mordechai and Haman -- but without losing their wits.
But the threats to the Jewish people were also apparent to the photographers of the American Colony who photographed Purim celebrations in Tel Aviv in the early 1930s. They photographed parade floats showing the Nazi threats.
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| Purim parade in Tel Aviv with a float of a dangerous 3-headed Nazi dragon (Library of Congress 1934) |
View Yaakov Gross' film of the Tel Aviv celebrations in the 1930s here and visit his wonderful collection of films here.
Why Was a Nazi Flag Flying from a Jerusalem Hotel FAST in the 1930's? - Jerusalem Pearl Hotel - Draiman
It was replaced by The Jerusalem Pearl Hotel in 1995 by the Draiman family. See picture at the bottom.
Posted: 30 Aug 2015 11:11 AM PDT
We recently published pictures from the British Library's Endangered Archives Program, including this incredible picture of Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City which we have dated to the mid-1890s. Only in 1898 was the wall near Jaffa Gate breached so that carriages could drive into the city.
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| Jaffa Gate and A(braham) Fast's restaurant. (Debbas Collection, British Library) |
We wanted to know more about the store on the left with the sign "A Fast. Restauranteur." Was this a tourist establishment of Abraham Fast, who in 1907 took over a large hotel several hundred meters to the west of the building pictured above and renamed it "Hotel Fast?"
 | |
| German troops marching in Jerusalem on Good Friday, April 6, 1917. The building on the left is the Fast Hotel. (Imperial War Museum, UK) |
Hotel Fast and its kosher restaurant was a well-known establishment in Jerusalem for decades, and was probably considered by many to be a Jewish-owned establishment because of its Jewish clientele.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Fasts were German Templers.
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The German consulate in the Fast Hotel, 1933. (Wikimedia, Tamar Hayardeni) |
They lived in Jerusalem's German Colony and were exiled by the British after World War I and during World War II because of their support for Germany.
We recently uncovered pictures of German troops marching in Jerusalem streets on Good Friday 1917. Readers were able to identify the building on the left as the Fast Hotel.
Our biggest surprise was finding this picture of the German consulate in the Hotel Fast with the German Swastika flag flying from the building.
During World War II, the hotel was taken over by the British army command and turned into the Australian army club.
The Hotel Fast building was abandoned in 1967 and torn down in 1976 to make way for the Dan Pearl Hotel - Built by the Draiman family in 1995.
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The Hotel Fast housed Australian soldiers in World War II. Here they are greeting the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the commander of the Australian troops in Australia, Lt. Gen. Thomas Blamey in February 1941. The Matson Photo Service, shown on the ground floor, was run by Eric Matson, originally from the American Colony Photographic Department. Matson left Palestine in 1946 for the United States. His collection of photos were bequeathed to the Library of Congress where many of the pictures in this website were found. (Library of Congress) |
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