Centenary of the Jaffa - Jerusalem Railway Line

Further to my post on 16th May 2013, Merja gave me another first day cover commemorating the Centenary of the Jaffa - Jerusalem Railway Line. This is an interesting FDC as it also has affixed to it a mini timetable written in English and one in Hebrew. The time table was effective from February 1926.

For more details about the stamps on the cover please refer to my post mentioned ibid. Thank you.

The new Zoo in Jerusalem

Zoo’s throughout the world serve three main purposes: conservation of animals, education and recreation. As far as animals and nature conservation is concerned, these activities are coordinated with those of the national and international organisations which work to preserve wild-life threatened with extinction and return them to nature.

The new Zoo in Jerusalem. The new zoo in Jerusalem is situated in Manahat Park, in an area south-west of the city, a special landscape in an open, hilly area. The zoo was built according to the latest thinking on zoos, which places emphasis on the quality of the conditions for the animals.

The mini sheet of Israeli stamps on this First Day Cover postmarked 17.9.1992 shows four of the prominent animals in the New Zoo. They are:

The Asian Lion which is a sub-species, different from the African Lion. It is known for its great mane which reaches right down to its under-belly. Hunting is done together in the pride, mainly by the females. They eat about 25kg of meat at a time and doze most of the day. The Asian Lion lives only in the forests of North West India and is in real danger of extinction - today there are only a few hundred left. In the past, this lion could be found in Israel, but became extinct here in the 12th century.

The Persian Leopard is similar to the Galilee sub-species which became extinct in 1965, but is different from the sub-species found today in Israel. It is active mainly at night, is an excellent climber and swimmer, and catches its prey by lying in wait and ambushing it. It mainly eats on the high branches of trees so as to avoid having to share its meal with other predators.

The Chimpanzee These social and intelligent apes can be seen in the zoo in a natural setting. Aggression and submission, care and rearing of young can all be seen in the group. As in the wild, chimpanzees also use tools to extract honey from specially drilled holes in logs the keepers have prepared for them. Captive breeding groups of chimpanzees in zoos are important in conserving this species which is becoming rare in nature.

The Asian Elephant Elephants are the largest of land mammals. Their huge size requires enormous amounts of food and water. A 4 1/2 ton elephant needs 200 kg food and 150 litres water daily. Because of their needs, they are among the first to suffer as man consumes the forests and grasslands of Africa and Asia. Both African and Asian elephants are fully protected by international law, and trade in ivory is strictly forbidden. Asian elephants are still used as working animals today. These highly intelligent animals can learn up to 100 commands. Breeding elephants is rare in captivity.  

Thank you Merja for this fantastic FDC.

Israel Tenth Anniversary exhibition in 1958

''And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them…'' Amos IX, 15 

– this is mentioned on the tab attached to the stamp. The FDC is postmarked on 2nd July 1958.

Some 600,000 persons visited the Israel Tenth Anniversary exhibition at the Binanei Haumah buildings (shown on the stamp) here during the 77 days it was open.
Thank you Dear Merja for this very nice FDC.

HAVIVAH REIK

HAVIVAH REIK (1914-1944) was one of the four members of the Hagana who were parachuted over Slovakia during World War II.

Havivah was born to working-class parents who lived in a small village near the town Banska Bystrica in Slovakia. She immigrated to Palestine in 1939 and joined the kibbutz Ma'anit of Ha-Shomer ha-Tza'ir. During the critical days of the war she volunteered to return to Slovakia. On September 15, 1944, parachutists from Eretz Israel were dropped over Slovakia into an area that was the scene of fighting between the Germans and the Slovakian anti-Nazi rebels. This was the start of "Operation Amsterdam" - which had been planned by the British army.

On September 20, Havivah Reik was parachuted from an American plane over the heart of the fighting area. She was fourth of the group of parachutists. The four saw as their main aim the organization into a Jewish fighting unit of the Jewish youth who were still in Slovakia; but they discovered that these were already fighting either with the Slovakian army or with the partisans. Havivah returned, therefore, to Banska Bystrica where she had been an active member of Ha-Shomer ha-Tza'ir and of the local branch of the Jewish National Fund before she left for Palestine. On her arrival there, she found very few Jews whom she knew. Most of the community, including her parents and members of her family, had been sent to the German concentration camps in Poland. She then set about helping those who remained.

The Germans amassed strong forces to put down insurgents and, after heavy fighting, conquered their centre on October 28, 1944. The parachutists, together with a group Jewish Youth movement members from the capital made their way into the hills and set up camp in the mountains.

This was attacked by the Germans and many of the group were killed. Three of the parachutists, Havivah Reik, Rafael Reis, and Zvi Ben-Yakov, were captured and put to death; the fourth, Chaim Hermesh, was the only one to escape and return to Palestine after the war had ended.

Havivah Reik was executed in the village of Kremenicka and buried, together with hundreds of Jews and partisans, in a communal grave. In 1952 her body was brought to Israel and re-interred on Mt. Herzl in the special plot for parachutists.

The memory of Havivah Reik - kibbutznik and Palmahnik - hjas been honoured by several organizations. This commemorative stamp bears her portrait, the tab recording the name of the village in which she was born and died.

After the war, on September 1945, Reik's and Reiss' bodies were exhumed and buried in the Military Cemetery in Prague. On 10 September 1952, Haviva Reik's remains were buried in Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, along with those of Szenes and Reiss. Kibbutz Lahavot Haviva, the Givat Haviva institute, a small river, a gerbera flower, a big Water reservoir, an Aliyah Bet ship, and numerous streets in Israel are named after her.

Thank you very much Merja for this FDC.

Kupat Holim - Israel's leading health service organization

Clalit, also Klalit ( General Health Services) is one of Israel's leading health service organizations. Widely known as Kupat Holim Clalit, it was established in 1911 as a mutual aid society. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, Clalit was instrumental in providing medical care for the massive influx of new immigrants.

The Health Insurance Institution "Kupat Holim" came into being when, at a general workers' conference in 1912, it was decided to establish a sick fund for working class people. Later on, other separate sick funds were founded such as those for the workers of Galilee, Samaria and of the "Hashomer" Organisation. In 1920, during the founding conference of the Histadrut Trade Union, the unification of all sick funds was agreed upon. Since then, Kupat Holim has grown rapidly and, at the beginning of 1987 more than 3 million members 78% of the country's population, including Arab workers and new immigrants - were being served by it.

Kupat Holim operates throughout Israel; each district has its own administration, which consists of an administrative director, a medical director and a representative of the district controller. It encompasses all relevant matters, such as preventive medicine, general and specialised medicine, dentistry, hospital services, psychiatric medicine, geriatric medicine, rehabilitation, medical centres, research facilities, health care in schools, baby clinics, recreational centres, laboratories, publicity etc. Fourteen hospitals with more than 5000 beds belong to Kupat Holim; these also include nursing schools, two of them on an academic level. Training centres for a number of medical and paramedical occupations also come within the sphere of this large and vital organisation.

Thank you Dear Merja for this nice FDC.

Ayalon94 Hot Air Ballooning Championship.

On October 15, 1793 the first pilot in the world, Pilatre De Rozier, took to the air in France in a hot-air balloon, built by the brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. A huge cloth sack in the form of a balloon, open at the bottom, was filled with warm air that rose from an open fire, The sack swelled out as the hot air filled the big balloon and the ancient dream of man to fly through the air was realized.

Hot-air balloons can float in the air because the volume of air displaced by the balloon is heavier than the balloon itself. As long as the weight of the hot-air balloon is less than the weight of the volume of air which it displaces, the balloon will rise.
Today balloons filled with helium permit longer and higher flights than is possible in balloons filled with hot air.

In the last 20 years, flying hot-air balloons has developed into a keen sport and the experience of flying in balloons has created many enthusiasts, so that there are now thousands of amateur hot-air balloonists, and annual international competitions. In Israel, two such international contests, have already taken place, and in 1994 a third international contest took place in the Ayalon Valley close to the Latrun Monastery. It came to be known as the Ayalon94 Ballooning Championship.

One hundred and thirty balloons from 20 countries filled the skies of the Valley between the 5th and 8th of July 1994. This series of stamps describes a hot-air balloon competition, starting with the filling of the balloon with hot air, through navigation to the target, and finishing with throwing the marker at its centre, from the balloon. The winning pilot is not the one who travels fastest but the one whose marker finishes closest to the center the target, and successfully executes a number of maneuvers. On the tabs of the stamps are depicted the burner, the basket, thermometer and altimeter. 

Thank you Dear Merja for this lovely FDC.

PALMAH

This stamp and cover was issued on 18.2.1992 to commemorate the Israeli PALMAH movement. Now, what was the Palmah? A brief description of the Palmah is given below.

I n May 1941, the Palmah, striking units of the "Haganah", was mobilized as a national force under the high command of the "Haganah" and subject to decisions taken by the leaders of the Zionist movement. During the years 1941-1942 the force numbered 1,000 men and women who fought alongside the allied forces against the Axis powers. Palmah's first commander was General Yitzhak Sadeh, who was succeeded by General Yigal Allon.

The Palmah's members were highly motivated by the cultural and social values of the Kibbutz Movement in Eretz Israel.These values contributed to the high ethical standards of those units in battle.

In 1947, now numbering 2,100 fighters and recognized as the main underground force, the Palmah took upon itself a great part of the burden of fighting against the British. Illegal immigrants from Europe and North Africa were brought to shore by 65 "Haganah" ships which were often less than seaworthy. Syrian and Lebanese Jews were smuggled out and brought to Eretz Israel by hazardous land routes, Radar stations, railways and bridges were sabotaged in combat operations.

When the War of Independence broke out, the three Palmah brigades, the Negev, Iftach and Harel, numbered 6,000 men and women, of whom 1,000 fell in action, The contribution of the Palmah during the War of Independence, all across the country, was crucial and at times proved to be the decisive factor in the victory.

After the 1948 War, veterans of the Palmah established 40 new kibbutzim around the country and many others joined and reinforced existing communities.

Many of the Palmah commanders were appointed to key positions in the high command of the Israel Defense Forces, among themChiefs of Staff Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Chaim Bar-Lev, Dado Elazar, Motta Gur and Rafael Eitan. These commanders carried with them the tradition of Palmah and inspired all Zahal.

The emblem of the Palmah is depicted on the stamp and a verse from "The Palmah Song" on the tab.

Thank you Merja for this interesting stamp and cover.

ISRAEL - 40TH ANNIVERSARY STAMP EXHIBITION

Further to my post yesterday(6th July 2013), ie regarding the 40th Israeli Independence Day this FDC with the special Sovenir sheet on it is about the Memorial Day Stamp Exhibition and the Memorial Day itself. Every year the Israel Ministry of Defence sends messages to the families of soldiers who fell in Israel's wars. These letters go out on Memorial Day and carry a special Memorial Day stamp. The postmark on this cover is of the Opening Day of the Exhibition.

The Memorial Day and Independence Day in 1988 were both of particular significance because it was Israel's 40th year of Independence. The Hebrew letter "Mem" (M) which is one of the letters that form the Hebrew year (5748), which is what the stamp shows, means 40 in the group of Hebrew figures.

In addition to this stamp the Philatelic Service also issued a Souvenir Sheet which includes the stamp and the colorful regimental emblems of the Israel Defense Forces. Please see the previous post to see this souvenir sheet on the FDC.

The State of Israel, which longs for peace shows its appreciation in this way, on this Independence Day, to the Army and Security Forces who guard the State at all times. The tab inscription is: "Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel's Battles - 1988".

The 40th Year Exhibition, which took place at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, was the central event of Israel's 40th anniversary celebrations. Its theme was the achievements, problems and future plans of the state.

The centrepiece was the scroll of the Declaration of Independence, and the exhibition reflected the vision of the Declaration and its influence on life in Israel. In the booth where the scroll was displayed, visitors saw a reconstruction of the special session of the Provisional State Council, and heard Ben-Gurion as he read the Declaration.

The exhibition included a faithful reconstruction of a transit camp to which immigrants were brought in the first years of Israel's statehood, as a contrast to the massive achievement in housing and development in the 40 years after 1948.

An authentic reproduction of a 1948 cafe served visitors the dishes and drinks of the period. The "Museum of voices", a unique presentation, allowed its visitors the chance to hear the original recordings of the historic events of four decades. A specially designed pavilion devoted to the Israel Defence Forces presented a Light and Sound Show on the IDF - past, present and future - by the latest technologies. The sports pavilion brought to life the great moments of national sports. Humor and Satire were represented, in their own pavilion, by an exhibition of the Cartoons, Skits and Satirical shows that escorted the nation through 40 years.

Light and Sound shows and other exhibits displayed the activities and future programs of Israel industry The 40th Anniversary Exhibition gave its many thousand visitors a rich and colourful picture of Israel in the year 1988.

The souvenir sheet on the cover depicts Israel Defense Forces insignias with the inscription: "Israel - 40 Years of Independence".

Thank you Dear Merja for this very interesting and rare philatelic item.

40th Anniversary of Israel's Independence

Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut in Hebrew) commemorates the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948, celebrating the declaration of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, and the end of the British Mandate of Palestine.

The possibility of a Jewish homeland in Palestine had been a goal of Zionist organizations since the late 19th century. The British Foreign Secretary stated in the Balfour Declaration of 1917:

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.

After World War I, the United Kingdom was given a mandate over the area known as Palestine, which it had conquered from the Ottomans during the war. In 1937 the Peel Commission suggested partitioning Mandate Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, though it was rejected as unworkable by the government and was at least partially to blame for the renewal of the 1936–39 Arab revolt.

The miniature or sovenir sheet on the cover was issued on 19.4.1988 to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Israel's Independence. On the sheet are shown 18 insignias of the the various units of Israeli Armed Forces. The Armed Forces of Israel have served the country very well, and are greatly respected. 

Thank you Merja for this impressive FDC.

The Jewish Legion for Palestine

The remarkable episode of the Jewish Legion in World War I, within the framework of the British Army, is a milestone in the history of Zionism. For the first time, a military unit was created with Jewish soldiers, Jewish volunteer youth from the Diaspora (mainly from England, the USA and Canada) and Eretz Israel. As Jews, they were all guided by the same spirit, making them want to take part in the liberation of the country from the Turkish rule and secure it for the Jewish people. The movement started with the creation of the "Zion Mule Corps" in Alexandria, Egypt, which was initiated by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Yosef Trumpeldor and manned by volunteers who had been expelled from Eretz-Israel by the Turks. The battalion took part in the war on the Gallipoli front in 1915 and was disbanded after the British evacuation from there.

In 1917, the British Government agreed to establish Jewish units which would fight on the Eretz Israel front. The 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and 39th Battalion were created with volunteers from England, USA and Canada. Serving in them were David Ben-Gurion and Itzhak Ben Zvi. The battalions were trained in England and Egypt and succeeded in participating in the final attack of the British army against the Turks. The 40th Battalion was set up with volunteers from the small Jewish population in Eretz-Israel and included E. Golomb, D. Hoz and M. Smilanski.

In 1919, the Legion soldiers who remained after the liberation were organized into one battalion which was given the name the "First Judeans ". In 1921, they took an active part in the defense of Tel Aviv against the Arab rioters, without any official authorization. The battalion was then disbanded. The Jewish Legion members, with and without uniform, took an active part in the defense of the Jewish population. They served in key posts in the underground Jewish force, the "Haganah", which later became the Israel Defense Forces.

The stamp depicts the emblem of the Jewish Legion on a background of horsemen of the Legion. The tab inscription is "Jewish Legion for Palestine" in Hebrew and in English accompanied by a Star of David.

Thank you Merja for this nice FDC.

Enzo Sereni

Enzo Sereni (17 April 1905–18 November 1944) was an Italian Zionist, co-founder of kibbutz Givat Brenner, scholar, advocate of Jewish-Arab co-existence and a resistance fighter who was parachuted into Nazi-occupied Italy in World War II, captured by the Germans and executed in Dachau concentration camp.

Sereni was born in Rome. His father was physician to the King of Italy. He grew up in an assimilated household but became a Zionist as a teenager and was one of the first Italian Zionists. After obtaining his PhD. from the University of Rome, he emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1927. He worked in orange groves in Rehovot and soon helped found kibbutz Givat Brenner. As an enthusiastic socialist, Sereni was also active in the Histadrut trade union. He was a pacifist who advocated co-existence with the Arabs and integration of Jewish and Arab society.

Sereni was sent to Europe in 1931-1934 to help bring people to Palestine through the Youth Aliyah, and was arrested briefly by the Gestapo. He helped to organize the Hechalutz movement in Nazi Germany and was also involved in helping to smuggle money and people out of Germany. Sereni was also sent to the United States to help organize the Zionist movement there. During World War II, he joined the British Army, and was involved in disseminating anti-fascist propaganda in Egypt. The British sent him to Iraq, and Sereni spent part of his time organizing clandestine aliyah. Sereni got in trouble with his British superior officers for his Zionist views and was imprisoned briefly for forging passports.

Sereni then helped organize the Jewish parachute unit of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) that sent agents into occupied Europe. Of about 250 volunteer trainees, about 110 were selected for training, and 33 were actually parachuted into Europe, including Sereni, despite his relatively advanced age. On 15 May 1944 he was parachuted into Northern Italy but was captured immediately. According to records, he was shot in Dachau concentration camp on 18 November 1944. Other famous martyrs who parachuted into Europe with this unit include Hannah Szenes and Haviva Reik. Kibbutz Netzer Sereni is named after him, as are many streets throughout Israel. Sereni wrote several books and numerous articles.

Thank you Merja for this nice card.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah in Modern Hebrew; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah, Chanukkah or Chanuka, also known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Greeks of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical Menorah consists of eight branches with an additional raised branch. The extra light is called a shamash ("attendant") and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the shamash is to have a light available for practical use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves for purposes other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah is forbidden.

The stamps on this FDC postmarked 9.12.1993 were issued during the Stamp Week celebrating the Festival of Hanukkah from 9^th to 16^th December 1993. I have given below a few details of the stamps on the cover. Seen from Left to Right.

The Rothschild Miscellany. Northern Italy, 1470. Vellum, handwritten, pen and ink, tempera and gold leaf; gift of James A.  de Rothschild, London, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Coll. No. 180/51. The Rothschild Miscellany is one of the finest Hebrew illuminated manuscripts.  Almost every one of its 948 pages is richly decorated with colourful  paintings and gold leaf. The book which comprises about forty different compositions, includes biblical books, a prayer book for the whole year, halakhic books (Jewish law) and historical and scientific books. The manuscript, which belonged to the Rothschild family library in Paris, disappeared during the Second World War and reappeared after the war, which it was offered for sale in New York. This series of Hanukka issues comprises 8 stamps representing the 8 days of the festival.The stamps depict objects connected with Hanukka and on the right side of each stamp is an illustration of a Hanukka lamp with candles – from the first candle to the eighth candle.

Hanukka Lamp, Eretz Israel. 20th Century Carved Stone, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Israel Museum Collection No. 118/373 Measurements: Height 16.2 cm. Width 37.5 cm. Depth: 20.6 cm. The stamp shows a Hanukka Lamp, the work of a Yemenite artist who lived in Jerusalem at the beginning of this century.  The Hanukka Lamp is carved from Jerusalem stone in the shape of a building with nine triangular pans for oil wicks: eight for the sacred lights and one for the “Shammash” – the extra light from which the Hanukka lights are kindled.  The building, which has a crenellated roof, recalls architecture in the Yemen.

Oil Lamp, Talmudic Period. Reuben and Edith Hecht. Museum, University of Haifa. The oil lamp was used to light both private houses and public buildings.  The lamps were also placed in tombs, as memorial lights and to protect against the “Evil Eye”.  In Israel olive oil was generally used as fuelsince it was the only oil which was acceptable under the laws of the Torah. The lamp from the Talmudic Period, depicted on the stamp, is made of clay using a press mould.  The lamp is decorated with a seven-branched menorah and a shovel.  The menorah is decorated with squares each with a circle in the middle, a design which emphasizes the parts or bulbs which make up the menorah.

Thank you Dear Merja for this lovely FDC.

"No to Violence"

It is clear then that the society in which the individual is educated is vested with immense responsibility for prevention and restraint of violence. Adoption of non-violent solutions to interpersonal conflicts and prevention of over-exposure to violent scenes are likely to make a positive contribution to shaping an enlightened society, one which is pleasant to live in.

The stamp designer, Yael Arad, writes:

"I tried to investigate the consequences of violence as well as its victims, and I chose to focus on battered children. Usually these children do not tell what happened to them at home either because they are afraid or because they do not know that these things 'are not good'. One of the ways of discerning their true situation is through examining their drawings.

"The design is based on motifs of drawing by battered children: missing limbs and limbs out of proportion, or thick lines and strong colors.

"Even though I have used motifs that were designed to express feelings of violence and sadness, I have tried to maintain an ambience of naivete and hope".

Thank you Merja for this FDC which really makes one think about ones behaviour towards others.

Graphic Design Through High Technology

Although there has always been considerable artistic activity in Israel, as is evident from the fact that Boris Schatz founded the Bezalel Academy in 1906, the era of modern graphic design only really started in the1930s with the influx of professionals from Central Europe.

Among these immigrants were capitalists, graphic designers, publicists and printers. The ports of Haifa (1930) and Tel Aviv (1936) were opened. Haifa's oil refineries were built. Ata, Shemen, Nesher, Phoenicia and many other factories were established. The advertising and printing industries developed to match this developing industrial infrastructure. Some companies, mainly Dubek and Shemen, embarked on systematic advertising campaigns for their products. Their achievements in production, packaging and advertising were displayed in the "Yerid Hamizrach" Fair Grounds in Tel Aviv. Advertising agencies, staffed by experienced professionals, opened their doors.

The need for professional organizations led to the creation of three associations catering to professional advertising people: The Association of Jewish Commercial Artists in Palestine (1935), The Palestine Advertising Association (1937), and The Jewish Decorators Association of Palestine (1937).

The Graphic Artists Association's logo accompanied the Association from the beginning. The first members of the Association, most of them experienced graphic designers, had to fight on many fronts, in particular for the recognition of graphic design as a profession.

In 1963, the Graphic Designers Association of Israel (GDAI) joined "Icograda", the International Council of Graphic Design Associations, which held its 13th international congress in Israel in August 1989. The congress theme was: "Graphic Design Through High Technology?". The Philatelic Service of the Israel Postal Authority issued this special stamp in honor of this congress. The stamp was chosen by the New Stamps Jury following a competition open to members of the Graphic Designers Association of Israel. It expresses the integration of technology (an enlarged photograph of a printed circuit) and the designer's inspiration (a pencil). The strip of colors at the bottom of the stamp symbolizes the translation of the designer's creation to print. The colored squares also allude to the International Congress of Design Associations (Icograda - symbolized by the point of the pencil) which was held in the summer of 1989 in Israel. On the tab is the inscription: "International Council of Graphic Design Associations".

Thank you Dear Merja for this delightful FDC.

A Century of Books - Jewish National Library

The theme of these three stamps on the FDC is ‘A century of books’ - Jewish National Library.

The National Library of Israel, formerly: Jewish National and University Library - JNUL, is the national library of Israel. The library holds more than 5 million books, and is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The National Library owns the world's largest collections of Hebraica and Judaica, and is the repository of many rare and unique manuscripts, books and artifacts.

The B'nai Brith library, founded in Jerusalem in 1892, was the first public library in Palestine to serve the Jewish community.   
Thank you Merja for this interesting FDC. 

Rabbi Joseph Hayyim

Rabbi Joseph Hayyim was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the Baghdad Jewish community in recent generations and made his mark on its cultural and spiritual life. He was esteemed not only by the community of his native Baghdad but by Jewish communities all over the world.

Like his father, Rabbi Elijah, and his grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Hayyim, he was a leader of the Rabbis of Babylon and was unique in his influence and the widespread admiration he acquired.

Already from his youth, Rabbi Joseph Hayyim excelled in his studies and showed brilliance. He studied at the Bet Zilkha Yeshiva where he was the special student of the head and founder of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Abdallah Somekh. He became extremely learned both in Torah and in Kabbalah and was also a gifted preacher who could always keep his audience enthralled. He held a very great love for the Land of Israel, and in 1869 made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he printed most of his books.

His book Ben Ish Hal on Jewish law, among the most famous of his works, became very popular with the Oriental Jewish communities and was published in many editions.

Among his other well-known works are Ben Yehoyada in five volumes, including commentaries on the legends of the Babylonian Talmud and Ray Pealim which is a work of responsi and Jewish legal research.

Thank you Dear Merja for this FDC.

Giulio (Yoel) Racah & Aharon Katzir

Giulio (Yoel) Racah (February 9, 1909 – August 28, 1965) was an Italian –Israeli physicist and mathematician.

Born in Florence, Italy, he took his degree from the University there in 1930, and later studied in Rome with Enrico Fermi. In 1937 he was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of Pisa. In 1939, due to application of Anti-Jewish laws in Italy, Racah immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, and was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was later Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, and finally Rector and acting President. The physics institute at the Hebrew University is named "The Racah Institute of Physics".

In the Israeli War of Independence, Racah served as deputy commander of the Israeli forces defending Mount Scopus.

Racah's research was mainly in the fields of quantum physics and atomic spectroscopy. He first devised a systematic general procedure for classifying the energy levels of open shell atoms, which remains to this day the accepted technique for practical calculations of atomic structure. This formalism was described in a monograph coauthored by his cousin: Ugo Fano (Irreducible Tensorial Sets, 1959).

In 1958, Racah was awarded the Israel Prize in exact sciences.

Aharon Katzir (Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky) (September 15, 1914 - May 30, 1972) was an Israeli pioneer in the study of the electrochemistry of biopolymers. He was killed in the Lod Airport Massacre in 1972.

Born 1914 in Lodz, Poland, he moved to Palestine in 1925, where he taught at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. There, he adopted his Hebrew surname Katzir.

He was murdered in a terrorist attack at Ben Gurion International Airport in 1972 in which 26 people were killed and 80 injured. His younger brother, Ephraim Katzir, became the President of Israel in 1973.

European Unification

Merja gave me this very interesting FDC. Israel is a neighbouring and associated state of the European Union. The relations between the two are framed in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, and the Union for the Mediterranean. The main legal ties between Israel and the EU are set by the 1995 Association Agreement. Several other agreement cover sectoral issues. Relations between Israel and the European Union are generally positive on the economic level, though affected by the Israeli–Palestinian conflict on the political level.

The concept of the unification of Europe arose after the Second World War. Those behind the idea sought to bring the countries of Western Europe to work together in unity. The model on which they based themselves was that of the greatest power in the world: the United States of America. Cooperation between the Western European countries and bringing them closer together would yield a number of fruits: it would facilitate the rehabilitation of Europe and ensure its economic revival; in the opinion of all the experts, it would most likely prevent another world war.

The cornerstone for the unification was set by the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schumann. In 1950 he called on Germany to sign an agreement with France on the joint production and marketing of coal and steel. There was nothing more auspicious than Germany and France - two states which had been hostile to each other since 1870 - signing, six years after the end of the Second World War, an agreement which would lead to the unification of Europe. In 1951 the agreement for the setting up of a European Community on Coal and Atomic Energy was signed, which incorporated six slates: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.

In 1957 these six states signed the Rome Treaty, which was an agreement to set up the European Economic Community (the EEC) and to establish a common market between them. In 1975 Eire, Denmark and Great Britain joined the EEC. In 1981, Greece joined the Community: Spain and Portugal n 1985. So the number of countries of the EEC had now doubled from six to twelve.

Each one of the twelve states was asked to ratify the agreement on the unification programme in ts own parliament. Some of them did this through a referendum. So far the Danish people are the only ones to have said no to unification. Just the same, it seems that the process of unification is inevitable. The European Community will ultimately become the largest economic power in the world, with some 380 millIon citizens.

The artists description of the stamp:
The stamp conveys hope for economic growth in Israel as a result of the economic unification of Europe. The use of the economic mofif of a graph, combined with rich co/ours of the upward slanted lines on the graph appearing as the different national flags waving in the wind, together create an optimistic and vital picture.

Saul Adler

This FDC given to me by Merja commemoratesSaul Adler FRS (born 17 May 1895; died - 25 January 1966), who was an Israeli expert on Parasitology. Adler was born in 1895 in Kerelits (Karelichy), then in the Russian Empire, now in Belarus. In 1900, he and his family moved to England and they settled in Leeds. He studied at University of Leeds and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. One of his brothers was Solomon Adler, the economist.

From 1917 until 1920, Adler served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, attaining the rank of Captain, serving in the Middle East, where he developed his first taste into research into tropical medicine, which he commenced studying after his military service, initially in Liverpool. In 1921, Adler went to Sierra Leone to conduct research into Malaria.

In 1924, Chaim Weizmann offered him a job in Jerusalem to develop the new Institute of Microbiology. Later that year, he emigrated to Mandate Palestine and started working in Hadassah Hospital, becoming director of the department of parasitology in 1927. In 1924, he become Assistant Professor of the Department of Parasitology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, serving as Professor from 1928 to 1955.

In 1930, in conjunction with Israel Aharoni, Adler had three golden hamsters brought back from Syria and successfully bred them as laboratory animals. Every domestic hamster that exists today is descended from the three brought back from Syria

First World Congress of The Jewish Youth

On July 2nd 1958 Israel issued a special commemorative stamp to mark the First World Jewish Youth Convention, which took place in Jerusalem between 28 July -1August 1958. 

The stamp was designed by Studio ROLI (Rothschild-Lippman) of Tel Aviv, who also designed the imprinted stamp with the running stag on Israel's postcards and letter sheets (see U.P.U.U.P.U.)

The two groups of dancing children on the stamp are forming the figure ten, similar to the figure incorporated in Israel's Tenth Independence symbol.

The organisers of the World Jewish Youth Convention were the Youth and Hechalutz (Pioneers) Department of the World Zionist Organisation whose task is to increase immigration to Israel by bringing Jewish Youth closer to Jewish values and Zionism. Representatives of all sections of Jewish youth from Israel and the Diaspora took part in the Convention.

Thank you Dear Merja for this lovely cover.