Hebrew

The English speak English, the French speak French and the Arabs speak Arabic but the Israelis don speak Israeli - They speak Hebrew. But don't worry, the Americans also speak English and not American..!!

    
     Hebrew is, at one and the same time, one of the oldest and the newest languages in the world. As long ago as 4,000 years. Hebrew was spoken. then, after the destruction of the Secound Temple, nearly 2,000 years ago, and the start of the exile, Hebrew went into a long hibernation and for hundreds of years it was a " Holy Language." to be used only for prayer and other sacred functions.

    
     It woke up at the end of the 19th century, and the prince who kissed it awake was a Jerusalem author, journalist and lexicographer called Eliezer Ben- Yehuda for which he was given the appellation. "The Father of Modern Hebrew."




     Ben-Yehuda found thousands of ancient Hebrew words and adjusted them to modern needs and, when he could not find a word in the classical sources, he created one. Thus he contributed many hundreds of new words to the awakening language for science, everyday needs and even children's games. His own children were forbidden to speak anything but Hebrew and for a long time they were the only Hebrew-speaking children in Jerusalem. But in time, their peers joined them.

     Hebrew - Modern and anicient - is a Semitic language, close to Arabic and, like it, is written from right to left. The letters are squarish in shape and basically the language is written with vowel signs which help in understanding the meaning. Nowadays, the vowels are used only for children or others learning the language.


     Adults whose mother tongue is a western language frequently find it difficult to learn Hebrew with its oriental ring and its strange accentuation (Which is the way the language was always pronounced by Sephardim, i.e., Eastern Jews). This fact is the cause of a few of the problems involved in absorbing new immigrants to the country, like that poor Yekkeh (immigrant from Germany) who was asked 50 years after his arrival if he was not ashmed of himself because he still could not speak Hebrew. "It if easier to be ashamed," sighed the old man, "than to Learn Hebrew."

Aliyah

Throughout the world, when a man changes his place of domicile to another country and becomes a citizen, he is called an immigrant. Israel accepts this term for movements between other countries but not for itself. When somebody comes to Israel to settle he is not an immigrant - hi is an Oleh, somebody who has ascended, and thus immigration to Israel is called Aliyah, ascension.
      The situation is similar with regard to people who leave Israel to live in other countries. They are called Yoredim, those who have gone down, and the act of leaving is Yeridah, going down. Both these terms, Aliyah and Yeridah, carry enormous emotional overtones, because Aliyah is the life"s blood of the nation and Yeridah is cnsidered by many to be synonymous with treachery.

     There has been Aliyah to Israel for more than a century. Aliyah means faith in the future of the country; it increases the population and even brings full employments. As opposed to other countries where immigrants are welcomed apprehensively because they may cause unemployment, it has been proven that in Israel there is a definite correlation between Aliyah and economic growth, due to the massive development of new residential areas, roads, industry and agriculture needed to absorb the new Olim.

     Until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Aliyah was at the mercy of foreign rulers who not infrequently closed the gates of the country and thus brought about the phenomenon known as " Aliyah B" i.e., illegal immigration, as opposed to "Aliyah A," which was official and legal but very limited in scope. Between 1934 amd 1948, more than 100,000 Olim entered the country "illegally," some of them on dark beaches by night and others by deceiving immigration officials at the borders.

     The herday of Aliyah was in the first years of the state. Within 3 years the 650,000 Jews who were in Israel when it was established absorbed 700,000 new Olim. In 1949 alone, approximately 250,000 arrived ! Later on, the rate stabilized to a few tens of thousand a year.

     In its first 30 years, some 2,000,000 Olim have come to Israel which fact is, without doubt, one of its major achievements. At the same time, Aliyah is not without its problems which stem, mainly, from the difficulties involved in absorbing the Olim. Israel, unlike other countries, continues to look after its immigrants after they have arrived; it promises them housing and employment and makes every effort to integrate them into Israeli society as quickly as possible. In the past it was thought that some of the difficulties stem from the fact that each wave of Olim relates to the next wave with indifference and even contempt. Another problem is the integration of different ethnic groups. Since 1948, Israel has absorbed Olim from more than 100 different countries, each with its own mentality and distinctive traditions developed over generations. The objective of fusing these different groups into one homogeneous nation is taking longer than most Israelis expected 10 or 20 years ago. Yeridah also poses a problem for there is no more negative an influence on Aliyah than Olim (and even worse,native born Israelis) who leave the country.

     Aliyah is the apple of Israel"s eye. Perhaps the best expression of this is the popular slogan: "From Oleh to Oleh our strength increases (= Oley in Hebrew)."

Jews

There was once a German who never ceased to be impressed with the Israelis' achievements - particularly their military success. After the six-day war in 1967, he just could not stop singing the praises of the "wonderful Israelis" In 1973, after the Yom-Kippur-War, he was even more impressed: "Its unbelievable how these Israeli heroes gained such a victory after being taken by surprise !" His friends were, therefore,  amazed to see his glum face after the Entebbe Operation in 1976 when israel rescued the passengers on the highjacked plane. " What happened, Fritz? " they asked in concern. "It's terrible ! It's terrible!" answered Fritz, " I have just found out that these Israelis are Jews.!"
     And that is how it is. The majority of Israelis are also Jews ! 6 out of every 7; and the 7th is of Israel's minorities - an Arab or a Druze. At the present time there are more than 3,300,000 descendants of the Partriarch Jacob in Israel who were either born here or coame here from 127 countries of exile - from China to Chile and from Siberia to New Zealand. Israel today constitutes the second largest ( After the U.S.A.) concentration of Jews in the world and if we remember that when the state of Israel was established in 1948 there were only 6,50,000 Jews in the country, we will have to admit that the Jews - both the native Jews and those who have joined them - have not done such a bad job..!!
     In Israel the Jews perform nearly all functions, even the most difficult. It's a fact that thegovenment is all Kewish and most of the members of the knesset - israel's parliament - are also of jews.  While the Jews excel at the typical "Jewish occupations " such as medicine, dentistry, diamond polishing and silver - and gold-dmithery, they also do other jobs at which a traditional "Yiddishe Mamma" of 50 years ago would have been horrified.
     " The Jewish brain is always figuring out new tricks" goes as well-known Israeli song and its does seem that in Israel the Jewish genius (if there is suc a thing) is working overtime - and many claim that there is still room for improvement. The Israeli secret-service ( The Mossad) is recognized as the most efficient in the world and Israeli agriculture has achieved incredible results in growing wheat, in the milk yield of its cows and in other areas too. These are only a couple out of many more examples. And please remember, the secret agents and the farmers have names like Moshe, Israel or Chaim and they were born here or their parents came here from Morocco, Polan, India or Germany, to mantion only a few.

     If so - it seems reasonable to ask - why is Israel plagued with so many "Jewish Problems" such as "Who is a Jew?" and the difficulty of integrating the two main cultural traditions, the Sephardi and the Ashkenazi? A story,attributed to Israel's first president, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, provides a partial answer. When Weizmann was elected to the presidency, Harry S. Truman, the president of the U.S.A. sent him letter of congratulation and wished him success in presiding over the 1,000,000 Israelis the country then contained. Waizmann answered him that that was precisely the problem. In the U.S.A. there is 1 President and 150,000,000 citizens but in Israel the president has to contend with another 1,000,000 presidents....

     The Jews in Israel can rightly claim many achievements but there are still many problems and difficulties to be resolved. At least one problem has already been solved. As the famous comic, Danny Kaye, put it: Israel is the only place on earth where, when someone call you " A dirty Jew." You know you need a bath...!!

Meet Israel...!!

One upon a time, the United States of America was "the Land of unlimited Possibilities." But no more..! Israel has replaced it..! Perhaps not as far as economic life is concerned but in many other areas. Read on and be convinced..!!
     Where is the lowest spot on the face of the earth..??  Only in Israel.
     Where is there a concentration of the places most sacred to Judaism,Christianity and Islam..?? Only in Israel.
     In Which Country has the population in creased 5-fold within a generation..? Only in Israel.
    In Which country are gathered 2 million immigrants from more than 100 countries.? Only In Israel.
Where do all the men do active reserve duty up till the age of 55 and the fellow who is not called up feels he is not a complete man ? only in Israel.
     Where do children, who have recently immigrated, teach their mothers their mother tongue.? Only in Israel.
     The list is long and all the details in it come together to from a mosaic of people, deeds, landscapes, dreams ( most of which have been realized ) and... miracles. David Ben-Gurion, the country's first prime minister, used to say that in Israel if you do not believe in miracles, you are not a realist.
     All these things and more are Israel. A tiny country which is enormous. Only 4 million inhabitants but a country which has everything - cities, villages and kibbutzim; highly cultivated areas and virgin deser; the most famous oranges in the world and evern more sophisticated technology; short winters and long summers. Israel is also the only true democracy in this part of the world. At its head stands a president, but executive authority is in the hands oth the elected governments. We call the parliament, Knesset - 1 house of 120 members.
     Israel is one of the world's youngest states - it only started in 1948. But at the same time is has existed more than 3,000 years. It is a state with an impressive past (Proof ??.. Just read the Bible), an interesting present and all its future is before it..!!
That is what we meant - Unlimited Possibilities...!!

4,000 Years - A Bird's Eye view of Israel

There are few countries where nearly every mountain,road,city and river has historical or religioous significance as they do in Israel. In the days when the stone age was at its height in most countries,great events were taking place in Israel - the Bible was written and faiths that were to shape the history of the world were created. Israel's story has been going 4,000 years and if you have not got the time to delve into history books, the following table is for you.

The Patriarch, Abraham                                                                  c.2,000 B.C.E.
The Exodus from Egypt                                                                  c.1,250 B.C.E.
King David                                                                                      1006-968 B.C.E.
King Solomon                                                                                    968-928 B.C.E.
Building of 1st Temple                                                                      964-956  B.C.E.
Destruction of 1st Temple and the start of the Babylonian Exile             587 B.C.E.
The Return of Zion                                                                                   538  B.C.E.
The Consecration of 2nd Temple                                                             515  B.C.E.
The Hasmonean Revolt                                                                            167  B.C.E.
The Birth of Jesus                                                                                        5  B.C.E.
The Destruction of 2nd Temple                                                                  70 C.E
The Bar-Kokhba Revolt                                                                              132-135
The Arab Conquest of Eretz Israel                                                              634-638
The Crusades                                                                                             1096-1291
The Turkish Conquest of Eretz Israel                                                        1516-1517
Nopoleon's Campaign in Eretz Israel                                                                  1799
First Jewish Quarter outside the walls of Jerusalem                                            1860 
The Establishment of the first jewish Agricultural Settelement in
Modern Times - Petah Tikvah                                                                              1878
The Beginning of Organized Jewish Immigration                                               1882
The First Zionist Congress                                                                                   1897
The Foundation - Laying of Tel-Aviv                                                                  1909
The Establishment of the 1st Kibbutz - Deganiah                                               1910
The Balfour Declaration Calling for a Jewish National Home in Eretz Israel    1917
The End of Turkish Period and the Conquest of Eretz Israel by the British        1917-1918
The British Mandate                                                                                             1918-1948
Organized Arab Pogroms against Jews of Eretz Israel                      1920,1921,1929,1936-1939
The Struggle for the Jewish State                                                                         1945-1948
The U.N. Resolution to Create a Jewish State                                                                1947
Israel's War of Independence                                                                                 1947-1949
The Sinai Campaign                                                                                               1948-1951
The Six-day war                                                                                                               1956
The Liberation of the Old city of Jerusalem                                                                     1967
The Yom-Kippur war                                                                                                        1973
The Signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty                                                                  1979
Peace for Galilee war                                                                                                        1982