Israel's History - a Picture a Day - The Holy Land Revealed

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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A Post-Script to American Interests in the Holy Land An Incredible Picture from the Rijksmuseum Posted: 13 Apr 2017 08:01 PM PDT The world's great libraries and archives continue to digitize and post photographic treasures.  We publish this photo from the archives of the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam. With its amazing resolution, this photo from the Bonfils studio reveals fascinating details, including the American Consulate inside the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City. Inside the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem, See "Bonfils" signature on the bottom right. The Rijksmuseum dates the picture as "circa 1895-1915." Several historical facts dictate it was taken prior to 1898. Here are some of the interesting details in the photo: 1. The moat on the right side of the photo behind the shops was filled in in 1898 so that German Emperor Wilhelm's carriage could ride into the city through a breach in the wall. The picture, therefore, was taken before 1898. 2. While attempts were made to appoint an American Consul already in the 1830s, the American Consulate was established in the Old City in the latter half of the 1800s. Centered in Bonfils' photo is the American Consulate building, obtained in 1857, with the U.S. seal on the second story window.  Note the American seal (eagle) on the building. A drawing and blueprint of the building can be found in Ruth Kark's American Consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914. Kark's book states that this picture was drawn by an American traveler and cites a report in the U.S. National Archives by U.S. Consul Frank deHass on April 28, 1877. Note the U.S. flag. Bonfils photographs for sale 3. Other oddities in the Bonfils photo include an advertisement for Bonfil's own photographs. Pictures and postcards were major tourist souvenirs. 4. Note the advertisement for the Thomas Cook Tourist Agency.  Many of the major visits and expeditions to the Holy Land were outfitted by Cook's. 5.  Also note the advertisement for "Valero." The Jewish Valero family arrived in the 1840s and opened the first private bank in the land.  Their office was inside the Old City. A detailed feature on the Valeros appeared in these pages in July 2012. The family also held valuable areas of Jerusalem real estate outside of the Old City. Chaim Aharon Valero (1845-1923)

Israel's History - a Picture a Day - Tu B'Shvat Special: The Trees of the Land of Israel

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Tu B'Shvat Special: The Trees of the Land of Israel Posted: 10 Feb 2017 04:32 AM PST Pomegranate tree, hand-colored photo (circa 1900-1920) The photographers of the American Colony Photographic Department traveled the length and breadth of the Holy Land and the Middle East, from Damascus to Cairo, Malta to Iraq.  Date palm tree (circa 1900-1920) Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the originals.  Olive trees. Click here for more. Click here to see original black and white Almond tree. See original in black and white They were also fond of photographing the flora of the land of the Bible and providing the botanical genus name. Facing the 1915 plague of locusts that hit with Biblical proportions, the photographers documented the life cycle and devastating results of the swarms. "Cactus figs," called today cactus pears or "sabras" Carob tree On the eve of Tu B'Shvat, the traditional New Year for trees, we present this collection of photos of trees taken between 1900 and 1920. Some of the pictures were hand-colored 25-30 years later. Acacia (Shetim) tree in the desert Gnarled trunk of a sycamore tree   Pine trees (circa 1900)

Israel's History - a Picture a Day - For Tu B'Shvat (Jewish New Year for Trees), a Picture of Jewish Soldiers in the British Army, WWI

Original caption: "A group from the 39th Battalion with workers and children from Ben-Shemen. 15th (of Shvat)." The sign quotes from Leviticus: "When you come to the Land, you shall plant...” Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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• For Tu B'Shvat (Jewish New Year for Trees), a Picture of Jewish Soldiers in the British Army, WWI
• On Tu B'Shvat, Give Credit to the Jewish National Fund, the "Yoni Appleseed" of the Land of Israel
• Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, Is Celebrated on Saturday

For Tu B'Shvat (Jewish New Year for Trees), a Picture of Jewish Soldiers in the British Army, WWI Posted: 08 Feb 2017  Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, is a date assigned thousands of years ago in the Mishna for the purposes of determining the age of a tree and its tithing requirements.   Indeed, the date usually coincides with the first blossoms on the almond trees in Israel.  Today, Tu B'Shvat is commemorated as a combination of Arbor Day, environment-protection day, a kibbutz agricultural holiday, and, of course, a day for school outings and plantings. The above picture of Jewish soldiers of the British Army who fought in Palestine in World War I was taken on Tu B'Shvatin 1919.  One Legionnaire, Leon Cheifetz from Montreal who enlisted before the age of 18,  assembled an album with dozens of pictures and biographies of many of the Canadians who fought with him.

On Tu B'Shvat, Give Credit to the Jewish National Fund, the "Yoni Appleseed" of the Land of Israel Posted: 08 Feb 2017 09:11 AM PST In 1901, the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet LeYisrael) was formed to develop the Land of Israel.  The Turks ruled Palestine, and the Jewish leadership sought a way to buy land for the Jewish people. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land were purchased, and to reclaim barren land, more than 250 million trees were planted.  Metal worker making collection boxes for the Jewish National Fund (Seidon collection, circa 1925) For more than 100 years, Jewish families around the world kept a blue metal charity box in their homes to collect pennies to buy trees in the Holy Land.  School children would bring to school dimes to buy leaf stickers in order to pay for a tree. A photographic collection sent to this author by Dr. Othniel Seiden of Denver -- theCigarbox Collection -- was featured here in 2013. Among the pictures was this one of the production of the Jewish National Fund's pushkes.

Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, Is Celebrated on Saturday Posted: 08 Feb 2017 08:33 AM PST Reforested hills along the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, near Bab el-Wad, or Sha'ar HaGuy (circa 1930) Reposting Tu B'Shvat features from February 1912. The Jewish National Fund was established in 1901 to purchase and develop land in the Holy Land.  Planting trees on the barren hills on the way to Jerusalem (circa 1930) A government tree nursery on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem (circa 1930) One major activity of the JNF, or in Hebrew the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, was the planting of trees on Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Many a Jewish home had the iconic JNF blue charity box, or pushke, in order to buy trees.  In its history, the JNF is responsible for planting almost a quarter of a billion trees. The photographers of the American Colony recorded the JNF's efforts. "Afforestation sponsored by Keren Kayemeth" (circa 1935) Reforested hillside along the road to Jerusalem. "Demonstrating reforestation possibilities" (circa 1930) The day chosen for school children and volunteers to go out to the fields and barren hilltops to plant trees was Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, a date assigned thousands of years ago in the Mishna for the purposes of determining the age of a tree and its tithing requirements.  Indeed, the date usually coincides with the first blossoms on the almond trees in Israel.  Today, Tu B'Shvat is commemorated as a combination of Arbor Day, environment-protection day, a kibbutz agricultural holiday, and, of course, a day for school outings and plantings. Postscript Ceremony of planting the King's tree (1935) at Nahalal In 1935, the Jews of Britain and the JNF established a "Jubilee Forest" near Nazareth.  According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency's account at the time, an "oriental cypress tree presented by King George V of England to the Jubilee Forest in the hills of Nazareth will be formally planted by High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope on December 19." "The Jubilee Forest is British Jewry's mark of loyalty and devotion to the throne, expressed on the occasion of the royal couple's twenty-fifth jubilee. It will cover a large area of desolate and barren land on the hills of Nazareth which in ancient times were famed for their forest beauty. The forest constitutes the most important effort in reforestation of the Holy Land." Next, the trees of Eretz Yisrael "The tree shipped by King George was removed from Windsor Great Park in London, where it was the only one of its kind. It is the first ever to have been shipped from England to Palestine." Next feature: 100 year old pictures of the trees of the Land of Israel

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, Is Celebrated on Saturday Posted: 06 Feb 2017 Reforested hills along the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, near Bab el-Wad, or Sha'ar HaGuy (circa 1930) Reposting Tu B'Shvat features from February 1912. The Jewish National Fund was established in 1901 to purchase and develop land in the Holy Land.   Planting trees on the barren hills on the way to Jerusalem (circa 1930) A government tree nursery on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem (circa 1930) One major activity of the JNF, or in Hebrew the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, was the planting of trees on Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Many a Jewish home had the iconic JNF blue charity box, or pushke, in order to buy trees.  In its history, the JNF is responsible for planting almost a quarter of a billion trees. The photographers of the American Colony recorded the JNF's efforts. "Afforestation sponsored by Keren Kayemeth" (circa 1935) Reforested hillside along the road to Jerusalem. "Demonstrating reforestation possibilities" (circa 1930) The day chosen for school children and volunteers to go out to the fields and barren hilltops to plant trees was Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, a date assigned thousands of years ago in the Mishna for the purposes of determining the age of a tree and its tithing requirements.  Indeed, the date usually coincides with the first blossoms on the almond trees in Israel.  Today, Tu B'Shvat is commemorated as a combination of Arbor Day, environment-protection day, a kibbutz agricultural holiday, and, of course, a day for school outings and plantings. Postscript Ceremony of planting the King's tree (1935) at Nahalal In 1935, the Jews of Britain and the JNF established a "Jubilee Forest" near Nazareth.  According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency's account at the time, an "oriental cypress tree presented by King George V of England to the Jubilee Forest in the hills of Nazareth will be formally planted by High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope on December 19." "The Jubilee Forest is British Jewry's mark of loyalty and devotion to the throne, expressed on the occasion of the royal couple's twenty-fifth jubilee. It will cover a large area of desolate and barren land on the hills of Nazareth which in ancient times were famed for their forest beauty. The forest constitutes the most important effort in reforestation of the Holy Land." Next, the trees of Eretz Yisrael

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) In the Hebrew Calendar on the Eve of Hanukkah 99 Years Ago, the British Captured Jerusalem

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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In the Hebrew Calendar on the Eve of Hanukkah 99 Years Ago, the British Captured Jerusalem Posted: 18 Dec 2016 08:39 PM PST How incredibly fitting: the British army captured Jerusalem on the 24th day of Kislev, in December 1917, on the eve of the Holiday of Lights commemorating the re-establishment of the Jewish Temple. How the Jews of Jerusalem responded can be seen in this flyer distributed on the first anniversary in 1918. Screen shot of a Jerusalem flyer in a video about the capture of Jerusalem In honor of Liberation Day From the Ashkenazi City Council  [a precursor to today's ultra-Orthodox Eida Chareidit] In the holy city Jerusalem may it be rebuilt soon, Amen. The Council announces to our brethren in the congregations of the God’s people to honor Thursday, the 24th day of Kislev [Hanukkah eve], the first anniversary of the capture of Holy Jerusalem by the government of Britain – on this honored day, all synagogues and study halls should thank the Lord for the redemption and salvation and pray after the Torah reading the prayer “Who givest salvation unto the King of Great Britain …” [based on the Psalms 144: “Who givest salvation unto kings, who rescuest David Thy servant from the hurtful sword.”] British Commander Edmund Allenby is greeted by Sephardic Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel on arriving in Jerusalem's Old City, December 11, 1917.