Segula - The Jewish Journey Through History

18/12/2024

“Once again, I ask you—not to feel sorry about my hand.
First, even if you do, it won’t help in the slightest. Second, many people have lost both their right and left hands—and they live with it. Besides, I hope that even my one remaining right hand, with which I write this letter, will serve me well enough in life to make even those with two hands envy me.”

Thus wrote Joseph Trumpeldor to his family after a shell shattered his left hand, forcing doctors to amputate it above the elbow.

Trumpeldor recovered from his injury, requested a pistol and sword, and asked to return to his comrades in the Russian army to continue fighting against Japan. His unusual request earned him a promotion, a commendation from his commanders, and the deep admiration of the soldiers he led.

In one of the battles he fought, the Russians were defeated and Trumpeldor was taken prisoner by the Japanese. During the long months of captivity, he realized that leadership and courage were needed not only on the battlefield. He devoted himself to supporting his fellow Jewish soldiers in captivity and strengthened his commitment to Zionism, eventually creating a broad vision from which we still draw strength today.

On this National Day of Appreciation for Israel’s Wounded Soldiers and Victims of Terror (commemorated annually on 17 Kislev), we salute our heroes with gratitude and pride. They shape our future, adding more links to the powerful chain of brave Jewish heroes from Trumpeldor’s time to our own. 🫡❤

Read more about Trumpeldor’s life and impact, in an issue devoted to the Jewish struggle for independence >>
https://www.calameo.com/read/00466378210dd2cf2375c

Photos, at right: Trumpeldor’s prosthetic hand, Central Zionist Archives
At left: Trumpeldor in Russian military uniform, with his prosthetic hand resting on his sword.
-----
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

12/12/2024

100 Years Since the Birth of Eli Cohen

A century ago today, Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to parents who had emigrated from Aleppo, Syria. At home, they spoke Arabic and French. Eli received a Jewish-Zionist education and was active in the Maccabi youth movement. He studied electrical engineering and, at age 28, attempted to join Israel’s intelligence service.

Abraham Dar, founder of Israel’s intelligence network in Egypt, interviewed Cohen, but ultimately rejected his application thanks to Eli's distinctive personality: "He stood out socially—charismatic, funny, sharp—someone you wouldn’t forget after meeting him. Exactly the opposite of what I was looking for. At the end of the interview, I told him we wouldn’t be working together and that the best thing he could do was move to Israel."

A few years later, Eli indeed emigrated to Israel with his family, adjusting well but never giving up his dream of serving in intelligence. He eventually joined the Mossad, undergoing extensive training for a mission in Syria. His cover story was carefully crafted: he boarded with a Syrian-born Arab woman in Argentina while posing as an Arab businessman, and finally settled in Damascus, portraying himself as a successful Syrian returning to his homeland.

Eli ingratiated himself with top Syrian military and political officials, earning the trust of senior regime figures, including then-President Amin al-Hafiz. His influence grew so much that he was even considered for the position of Syria's Deputy Defense Minister.

For three years, Eli Cohen transmitted invaluable intelligence to the Mossad from within Syria’s military and political elite, until eventually his leaks aroused suspicion and he was captured.

Cohen was executed in May 1965, never knowing that within two years, the intelligence information he’d gathered and supplied would play a crucial role in Israel’s military success in the Golan Heights. As Prime Minister Levi Eshkol later stated: "Eli Cohen’s actions saved Israel many army divisions. The information he provided before the Six-Day War was priceless and contributed significantly to Israel’s great victory."

Could current circumstances finally allow Eli Cohen’s family to bring his remains home to Israel for burial?

Photo: Eli Cohen at his Damascus residence, with the Indian Embassy in the background
--------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

04/12/2024

On this day, 33 years ago, the remains of Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever were brought to their final resting place in Israel.

Rabbi Mohilever had passed away a century earlier, in 1898, at the age of 74. He was originally buried in Białystok, where a dignified tomb worthy of one of Zionism’s founding fathers was built over his grave.

As the president of the Hovevei Zion movement, Rabbi Mohilever played a pivotal role in engaging Baron Edmond de Rothschild to support the funding of Jewish agricultural settlements. His vision and leadership were behind the establishment of the early Zionist colony of Ekron — later renamed Mazkeret Batya. Throughout his life, he tirelessly championed Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, supporting pioneers and fostering unity among Jews of diverse backgrounds.

During the Holocaust, the memorial structure over Rabbi Mohilever's grave was desecrated and destroyed.

The residents of Mazkeret Batya, the settlement he founded and cherished, worked to have his remains brought to Israel for a proper burial. On the 3rd of Kislev 5752 (1991), Rabbi Mohilever was reinterred in a grand and solemn ceremony.

At the funeral, Education Minister Zevulun Hammer declared to the large crowd gathered to pay their respects: "On this day, the nation expresses its gratitude to one of its finest sons and leaders, who devoted his life and strength for the benefit of the Jewish people in guiding them toward Zion. Local council head and Knesset member Rafi Elul added: "As of today, Mazkeret Batya is no longer the same. It is now something greater, more sacred."

The new burial site features a striking red-stone tomb based on pictures of the original tomb, inscribed with the biblical verse: "Behold, I will open your graves and raise you up from your graves, My people, and I will bring you to the Land of Israel" (Ezekiel 37:12).

Pictured above: Members of the religious Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hadati visiting Rabbi Mohilever’s grave in Białystok, 1929 (photo: The Rabbi Mohilever Museum, Mazkeret Batya). Pictured below: Rabbi Mohilever’s grave in Mazkeret Batya (photo: Israel Zeller).
--------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts – link in the comments below.

02/12/2024

Ninety-two years ago today (Hebrew date) the inaugural issue of the Palestine Post – British Mandate Palestine’s first daily newspaper in English – was published in Jerusalem.

The paper hit the stands on December 1, 1932, coinciding with the first of Kislev 5783. Its publisher was Jacob Landau, an American Jewish Zionist. The first editor, journalist Gershon Agron (Agronsky), would later become mayor of Jerusalem.

The paper's editorial aims were twofold: to provide the Yishuv’s Western-oriented Hebrew-speaking population with an English-language paper and to expose British officials to Zionist Jewish content and perspective on current events.

The pre-state Jewish community already had a well-established daily Hebrew newspaper – Haaretz – with a Zionist outlook. The Palestine Post now proudly staked its claim as the only English daily in Palestine, Transjordan, and Syria.

The paper advocated for the establishment of a Jewish state while critiquing British limitations on Jewish land purchases and immigration. Its editorial offices in Jerusalem came to symbolize the Zionist presence in the city and was thus specifically targeted for Arab attack during the War of Independence. After a booby-trapped truck exploded outside its headquarters, the paper responded with resilience, publishing next day despite casualties and damage. Its headline was defiant: "No amount of explosives will silence our voice."

In 1950, the newspaper was renamed The Jerusalem Post, under which title it continues to publish today.

Photo: A soldier from the American consulate in Jerusalem engrossed in the paper, and the front page headline announcing the declaration of the State of Israel
--------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

28/11/2024

So it's Black Friday and everybody's shopping - but why Friday? And why does it have to be black?
Just a few thoughts from a history magazine's perspective:
⬛️BLACK – thanks to shoppers causing delays at store checkouts and congestion on the roads
⬛️BLACK – in the bank balance of businesses raking in record profits (as opposed to shoppers' accounts tipping heavily into the red)
⬛️ BLACK – for the Walmart employee trampled to death by over-eager shoppers crowding into the store when it opened on November 28, 2008
Avoid all the above with a historic offering from Segula Jewish History Magazine…

Join us on a journey through time to bring the people and places of Jewish history to life!
Meet figures who shaped the history of our people, discover stories never told before.
Superbly written, meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated with maps, timelines and more.

Black Friday Special: Discounted six-month subscription PLUS one gift issue - for just 129 NIS (price includes delivery in Israel)
Purchase it here: https://segula.vp4.me/Black-Friday

28/11/2024

The war Israel is currently still waging is the most similar to its War of Independence than any other conflict the state has experienced since. Particularly outstanding similarities are the war’s multiple fronts and prolonged duration. All of Israel’s other wars were relatively short. This one has already lasted over a year.

The War of Independence dragged on for some 20 months — more than a year and a half — but not continuously. Two ceasefires were brokered by the UN envoy, Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte.

The first ceasefire, lasting a month, began on June 11, 1948, less than a month after the establishment of the state and its invasion by hostile Arab armies. The IDF, which had hastily coalesced ad hoc out of previously existing Zionist militias, used the ceasefire to reorganize and hold a mass swearing-in ceremony for its soldiers.

The day before the ceasefire ended, the Egyptians attacked Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. The IDF retaliated, embarking on ten days of intensive fighting on all fronts — land, air, and sea. The 'Ten Days of Battle' brought significant gains for the IDF in the Galilee, the Carmel Mountains and the Coastal Plain as well as Jerusalem, as it pushed back against the divided and disorganized Arab armies.

When the UN pushed for another ceasefire, IDF commanders resisted and urged the continuation of hostilities. The Israeli government caved under international pressure however, agreeing to a second ceasefire which came into effect on July 19, 1948.

What did the IDF accomplish during that second hiatus in hostilities?
* Four central command headquarters were established, one for each of the country’s four regional fronts: North, Central, Jerusalem, and South.
* Operation Betser set out to capture deserters and draft dodgers from the IDF.
* Military administration was implemented in Jerusalem, which was placed under military rule under the command of General Dov Yosef.
* Jerusalem’s water supply was reinstated by laying a new pipeline - the "Shiloach Line.”
* Operation Avak airlifted supplies to the besieged Negev settlements and reinforcements from the Yiftach Brigade replaced the embattled Negev Brigade.
* A daring series of clandestine flights dubbed Operation Velvetta procured fighter planes from Czechoslovakia to expand the minuscule Israeli Air Force.
* Mass recruitment and training of 30,000 young immigrants who arrived in Israel once the British Mandate restrictions ended and the gates of immigration opened.

The second ceasefire effectively ended after three months, on October 15, with Operation Yoav, which marked a shift in the nature of the war. Continuous battles gave way to large-scale military operations pursuing specific goals, interspersed with long periods of relative calm.

The ceasefire that Israel would have preferred to avoid later proved crucial for the IDF. It allowed the forces time to regroup, reorganize and rearm, contributing significantly to later major successes achieved in the war’s final phases.

Photo: An IDF outpost at Kibbutz Manara on the Lebanon border, June 1948; Beno Rothenberg, Israel National Library Collection
--------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

19/11/2024

Happy Birthday, Sir Moses Montefiore! 🎂🎈🎉 But why do they all look so serious?

The 100th birthday celebrations for Moses Montefiore in November 1884 (18 Heshvan 5645) were just a clever cover for a much more significant event. On this day, exactly 140 years ago, 36 bearded Jewish delegates gathered for the Katowice Conference, organized by Yehuda Leib Pinsker, author of Auto-Emancipation, and Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever, founder of Hovevei Zion (the Society for the Lovers of Zion). Representatives of Hovevei Zion branches from across Europe gathered together to chart a course for Jewish national renewal.

Dozens of such societies had sprouted throughout Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the pogroms of 1881, fostering the idea of a Jewish revival in the Land of Israel. However, in Russia – where most of these groups were based – political and Zionist activity was strictly prohibited under the czar's regime, making communication between members of the different groups almost impossible. To avoid unpleasant consequences for Russian participants, the organizers chose to meet in Katowice, Silesia (southern Poland), and disguised the conference as a birthday celebration for the elderly Montefiore.

This wasn’t the first attempt at uniting these groups. In 1882, Romanian Jews, disillusioned by their lack of civil rights, convened the Focșani Congress, which resolved to promote settlement in the Land of Israel. The Katowice Conference built on this vision, and its resolutions became a driving force behind the First Aliyah and the establishment of early agricultural settlements in the region.

A commemorative plaque at the site of the conference calls it the starting point of the modern State of Israel:
"A gathering of the Hovevei Zion movement was held here, an event recorded in history as the Katowice Conference, marking the beginning of the process that led to the establishment of Israel in 1948."

The photograph is from the archive of Dr. Yosef Hazanovich, a Hovevei Zion representative from Bialystok who was also among the founders of the National Library of Israel.
------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

17/11/2024

Since the onset of modernity, there have only been a few short texts that can be said to have changed the world. The Communist Manifesto was one. But the Zionists have another.

Russian-Jewish doctor Yehuda Leib (Leon) Pinsker published a modest pamphlet in German titled Auto-Emancipation – 142 years ago! Finally reaching its intended audience in Russian translation in Heshvan 5643, October 1882, it was the author’s response to the horrific pogroms that had ravaged Jewish communities in Russia that year.

Pinsker, a highly educated Jew from Odessa, initially believed that anti-Semitism could be overcome through emancipation - granting Jews equal rights and encouraging their integration into society, as had been done in Germany and France. The violent uprisings in Russia shattered this illusion, however.

“The Jews,” he wrote, “comprise a distinctive element among the nations under which they dwell, and as such can neither assimilate nor be readily digested by any nation.”

Pinsker realized that salvation for the Jews could not come from external forces but must arise from within. What they needed was not emancipation, but auto-emancipation! He proposed that Jews establish a national homeland of their own, with a Jewish assembly deciding its location - whether in the Land of Israel, the United States, or elsewhere. As the pamphlet’s guiding principle, Pinsker quoted Hillel the Elder from the Mishnaic text Ethics of the Fathers: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

Originally published in German to avoid the Russian censor, Pinsker’s pamphlet met with harsh criticism in Western Europe: Why should Jews isolate themselves in a new ghetto? Wouldn’t this only undermine their hard-won progress toward assimilation? Pinsker was seen as jeopardizing the gains of emancipation.

In Eastern Europe, however, Pinsker’s ideas met with overwhelming enthusiasm, resonating deeply with members of the budding Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement. Widely circulated in Russian translation, Auto-Emancipation earned Pinsker not only adulation, but eventually chairmanship of the Hovevei Zion movement.

The pamphlet ended by paraphrasing another verse from Ethics of the Fathers, coupled with a prophetic warning:
Let “Now or never” be our watchword. Woe to our descendants, woe to the memory of our Jewish contemporaries, if we let this moment of opportunity pass by!

Pinsker passed away in 1891, six years before the First Zionist Congress, never witnessing how his program of action became a path trodden by Herzl and others to real achievement. In 1934, his remains were brought to the Land of Israel and laid to rest on Mount Scopus.
------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

12/11/2024

“No son can pass by his mother’s grave without stopping to pay his respects.” This pilgrim’s note in the visitors’ book at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem was signed: Hayim Nahman Bialik.

Today, the 11th of Cheshvan, is traditionally observed as the anniversary of Rachel the Matriarch’s passing. The ongoing connection between Rachel’s Tomb and her exiled children epitomizes the bond between the people of Israel and the land of their forefathers.

In 1841, Sir Moses Montefiore obtained a special Ottoman permit to carry out renovations at the tomb. He had iron gates installed which could be locked with a key, entrusted to four Jewish families tasked with safeguarding the site. This marked the first official recognition of Jewish ownership of Rachel’s Tomb.

As battles raged in the Holy Land during World War I, the tomb was included in a list of holy sites British soldiers were instructed to respect and protect as much as possible from damage as a result of the conflict. Once their conquest was completed however, the British restricted access to the tomb.

For almost thirty years, the Ashkenazi caretaker of the site was Shlomo Eliyahu Freiman. In addition to regular maintenance, Freiman was responsible for opening the tomb for High Holy Day prayers. After the 1929 riots, he expanded these opening hours to include Rosh Chodesh (the first of each month) and later nearly every day of the year. On especially busy days, like the 11th of Marheshvan, additional buses were arranged by a Jewish bus company to bring pilgrims back and forth.

Freiman meticulously documented the history of the tomb in a series of visitors’ books known as the “Rachel’s Tomb Journals.” They detailed renovations and repairs, visitor numbers, and prominent guests, as well as the signatures of thousands of pilgrims, each with the date. Many added their prayers and requests next to their names, creating an emotional and spiritual record of the state of the Mandate Palestine traditional Jewish community.

The Shoah features prominently in the journal: prayers for the ascent of the souls of murdered relatives, and survivors who signed not only their names but the names of the obliterated communities they’d come from. On Rosh Chodesh Nisan in 1943, as horrifying reports emerged regarding the fate of Europe’s Jewish communities, Freiman wrote of thousands converging on the tomb, so that overcrowding blocked the entrance for hours.

On the day following Simhat Torah in 1946, a large memorial oil lamp was installed in honor of Holocaust victims. The initiative of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, it helped consolidate the status of Rachel’s Tomb as a national holy site. Chief Rabbi Herzog also lit the first flame in the lamp.

In March 1947, as Arab-Jewish tensions escalated, Freiman recorded his own prayer for the salvation of Jerusalem in the journal. The British army eventually denied Jews entry to Bethlehem and to the tomb to avoid friction with the town’s Arab population, and Freiman had to leave the site before the UN’s partition resolution that November. From that moment on, Rachel’s Tomb became a distant aspiration. In the 1950s and 1960s, its distinctive domed image could be found in many Jewish homes on postcards and oil paintings or sculpted in bronze.

Twenty years later, with the conclusion of the Six-Day War, crowds flocked to visit the newly liberated matriarch’s tomb in joyous celebration. Shmulik Rosen’s poem, written soon after the war, echoes the biblical verses from Jeremiah in which God reassured Rachel that her children would some day return home from exile. In Rosen’s version, the Jewish soldiers promise Rachel:

“Restrain your voice, Rachel, restrain your voice from tears
We’re all here, Rachel, with packs upon our shoulders
We’ll leave no more, Rachel, and you will go no more
We’ll leave no more, Rachel, the fields of Bethlehem.
Look, Rachel, look,
Look, Master of the World
Look, Rachel, look,
They’ve come back to their borders.”

Photo: The Tamir family visiting Rachel’s Tomb after the Six-Day War, July 1967. (From the Yosef Tamir Photograph Collection, PikiWiki)
-------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

10/11/2024

Kristallnacht – The Day After

The sun rose as usual on November 10, 1938. Horrifying reports of the night’s violence in Germany flooded the world’s newspapers: the looting, burning and destruction, and the brutality that claimed hundreds of lives sparked shock and intense condemnation from a variety of national leaders.

But in Germany – not a voice was raised in protest. There was no official condemnation of the rioting, no criticism of the raging mobs. Instead, the Third Reich blamed the Jews. Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels declared that the first shot had been fired in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan, a German-Jewish refugee who assassinated German diplomat Ernst vom Rath at the German embassy in revenge for his family’s deportation to Poland: “Thus, in Paris, Jewry shot at the German people.”

As if the Jewish community hadn’t suffered enough on that dark night, the government set forth further punishment. Jews would bear the full costs of repairing their own businesses. The Reich would confiscate any payments received from German insurance companies, and a heavy indemnity payment to the German Reich would be imposed on every Jewish citizen.

Meanwhile, Mariane Vogel, who had emigrated from Germany when Hi**er rose to power, was living quietly in Bnei Brak. Three months after Kristallnacht, in February 1939, she received an official letter from the German government at her address in Palestine, demanding 8,600 marks for her “share” of the damages to the synagogue in her hometown.

Who would have thought that in Amsterdam in 2024, eighty-six years to the week after Kristallnacht, another premeditated pogrom would be blamed on the Jews – this time Israeli football fans being the focus?

Photos: Synagogues in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden set alight on Kristallnacht, Wikipedia.
Letter courtesy of the Library and Information Division, Bar-Ilan University.
-------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

10/11/2024

Our 8-session lecture series on Lessons of 1948 starts tomorrow - on Zoom and live in Jerusalem. You can still register for this fascinating course: https://segula.vp4.me/Segula-Course

Join us for a special 8-session course: Lessons of 1948
Option to join us live in Jerusalem or via Zoom (recordings available).

The lectures will take place on Mondays, starting Nov. 11, at 6pm Israel time, 11am Eastern time.
Lecturer: Sara Jo Ben Zvi, editor of Segula Jewish Magazine

Cost: 380 NIS
Cost per couple (in person): 700 NIS

Register here: https://segula.vp4.me/Segula-Course

07/11/2024

Notice:
In light of the bloodshed endured,
After all requirements for religious observance have been assured,
The central office of Agudat Israel calls upon all young men of our nation from within the various circles of the ultra-Orthodox community,
Aged 17 to 25,
To present themselves for registration at the national draft office.
Each and every one of us is to stand at his post to defend life and property.
“Let us be strong and brave for our people and for the cities of our God,
And may God do that which is good in His sight."

This message was posted in Jerusalem in 1948... Could such a call ever be heard in our day?
______________
Seventy-seven years ago this week, the Council of Torah Sages convened and issued a groundbreaking resolution: not to oppose the establishment of a Jewish state. Additionally, the council decided to send representatives to the Jewish Agency’s national security committee, purely for safety and security purposes.

The council convened in Tel Aviv on November 4, 1947 (21st of Cheshvan 5708), about three weeks before the UN vote on partition of Mandate Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.

The decision marked a shift in Agudat Israel’s policy, which had previously boycotted the Zionist movement and opposed any cooperation with its institutions in the Land of Israel. However, as it became clear that a Jewish state would indeed be established, the ultra-Orthodox community realized they’d be better off cooperating with it, at least giving them the chance to help shape the new state’s characteristics.

When Israel was attacked in 1948 and the War of Independence broke out, Agudat Israel rabbis set three conditions for ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the army: (1) exemption from enlistment for women and yeshiva students; (2) no training on the Sabbath and festivals; and (3) separate units for religious soldiers where all religious boundaries were meticulously maintained.

The enlistment committee accepted these conditions, and Agudat Israel soon began posting notices on the streets and in the press calling for registration at enlistment stations in preparation for recruitment. Members of Agudat Israel and Poalei Agudat Israel quickly responded, lining up for medical examinations, and many were indeed enlisted.

While the call for enlistment was not directed at yeshiva students, negotiations continued regarding their enlistment terms in parallel with discussions about exemptions for university students. As the war continued, an agreement was reached on the percentage of yeshiva students required for enlistment, and a special battalion – the Tuvia Battalion – was established for them.

Agudat Israel’s newspapers carried descriptions of what went on in the religious training camps and army units. The papers praised and encouraged those who’d enlisted, adding: “Our aim is not just to take care of Jewish dietary issues, but a much higher purpose: to return to the ancient and original form of warfare we once practiced against our enemies. These young men’s bravery and actions will sanctify the name of Heaven.” (“Hayoman,” 19 Adar I 5708/February 29, 1948)

Read about the ultra-Orthodox community’s involvement in the War of Independence here: https://www.calameo.com/read/00466378262e0ddf56f36

Photo: Agudat Israel newspaper clipping showing an ultra-Orthodox soldier in uniform
----------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets

30/10/2024

Join us for a special 8-session course: Lessons of 1948
Option to join us live in Jerusalem or via Zoom (recordings available).

The lectures will take place on Mondays, starting Nov. 11, at 6pm Israel time, 11am Eastern time.
Lecturer: Sara Jo Ben Zvi, editor of Segula Jewish Magazine

Cost: 380 NIS
Cost per couple (in person): 700 NIS

Register here: https://segula.vp4.me/Segula-Course

27/10/2024

Today, 119 years ago, the world’s first Hebrew high school opened its doors.

The school year began straight after the holidays, on the 25th of Tishrei 5666, October 25, 1905. There was as yet no school building, so the few students gathered in the home of Dr. Yehuda Leib and Fania Metman Cohen in Jaffa, on a street still called Hebrew High School Street.

Four years later, the institution moved to an impressive building on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv, known as Herzliya Gymnasium in honor of Theodor Herzl. The building was designed by architect Yosef Berski in collaboration with Bezalel Academy director, Boris Schatz.

The architecture was a gem, reflecting a style only then emerging in Tel Aviv, later known as the “Eretz-Israel Style.” This eclectic school drew on local building traditions for its distinctly Middle Eastern character, combining classical, Moorish (Islamic), and even French Art Deco elements.

Eclecticism dominated Tel Aviv’s architecture in the early 20th century, embodying the idea that Zionism was a cultural synthesis of East and West. But by the early 1930s, the architectural scene had shifted. The Fifth Aliyah brought German-Jewish architects, many of whom had studied or taught at the Bauhaus School of Architecture and Design in Germany or other European institutions. Their influence quickly transformed Tel Aviv’s architectural landscape, introducing the International Style, known as Bauhaus, which stripped away historical references. Tel Aviv became a “White City,” featuring clean lines and a cosmopolitan feel, leaning away from nostalgia and tradition.

Fifty years after it was built, in 1959, the historic Herzliya High School building was demolished to make way for the Shalom Meir Tower. The demolition sparked outrage among alumni, architects, and cultural figures. In response to the outcry, the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel was established, choosing the gymnasium’s iconic structure as its emblem.

Today, Herzliya High School occupies a new, modern building in a different location. In 2006, a cast-iron gate depicting the facade of the original historic building was installed at its entrance.

Above: The original Herzliya High School building
Below: The current building with the iron replica of the original facade. Photo: Avishai Teicher
------------
Join the Segula Snippets quiet WhatsApp group for more interesting Jewish history posts: https://bit.ly/Segula-Snippets