11.25.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 07:48 by Oded Ambar
The synagogue in Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem is transformed by the light of the sun. This is because of the famous stained glass windows of Marc Chagall that adorn the walls of the synagogue like flashing jewels. The 12 windows, which Chagall gave as a personal gift to Israel in 1962, each represent one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Their radiant colors reflect a mood of optimism, joy and hope for the future of the Jewish people.
Marc Chagall the Artist
Marc Chagall’s long and eventful life carried him through some the most turbulent times of the Jewish people. A Russian-born Jew, Chagall participated in the Russian revolution in 1917. He later moved with his wife to France. With the outbreak of World War II, Chagall and his wife escaped into hiding in Marseilles.
Throughout Chagall’s life, he built a reputation for himself as a painter and stained-glass artist. The vibrant colors of his work drew attention, as well as the dreamlike quality of the symbolism he employed. In many of Chagall’s works, a seemingly unrelated tapestry of people, animals and other representations dance in unlikely harmony.
Gift of the Chagall Windows
Having experienced the full weight of anti-Semitism, Chagall was ardently supportive of the State of Israel. For two years, he and his assistant Charles Marq worked on the windows together.
Marq developed a special technique whereby Chagall was able to use up to three colors on a single pane of glass, rather than being limited to the traditional technique of dividing each color with a strip. Marq also journeyed to Jerusalem to test the area where the windows would be placed, to ensure that they would be exposed properly to the light.
When at last the windows were dedicated to the university in 1962, the artist was present for the dedication ceremony. At the ceremony, Chagall spoke of giving “my modest gift to the Jewish people, who have always dreamt of biblical love, of friendship and peace among all people; to that people who lived here, thousands of years ago, among other Semitic people. My hope is that I hereby extend my hand to seekers of culture, to poets and to artists among the neighboring people.”
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11.23.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 03:41 by Oded Ambar
A fateful battle on June 6, 1967 would forever determine the fate of Jerusalem. The battle of Ammunition Hill—a fierce confrontation between Israeli and Jordanian soldiers that left 36 Israeli soldiers dead after just four hours of fighting—has been memorialized as the iconic moment of the Six Day War. It was by winning the battle of Ammunition Hill that Israel’s army could capture Mount Scopus and gain access to Jerusalem’s Old city. Now the site is a museum and memorial to the Six Day War, a battle that irrevocably changed the face of Jerusalem.
Visiting Ammunition Hill
First built by the British Mandate and then later turned over to the Jordanians, Ammunition Hill is a slope surrounded by pine trenches. These trenches as well as the Jordanians’ concrete bunker were among the obstacles that made the hill difficult to capture. In the end, the Israeli paratroopers could only win the day by blowing up the bunker, which has been reconstructed for the purpose of the museum.
While it may seem like a place of historical interest, Ammunition Hill is also a place that can evoke intense and complicated emotions. It was in this spot that 36 men brutally lost their lives in combat. Yet the end result was a triumph whose reverberations were felt throughout the Jewish community worldwide. The ability to pray at the Western Wall once again was a gift beyond price to many Jews, as is the ability to once again live in Jerusalem. For those reasons and more, Ammunition Hill is more than a place of remembrance: it is also a place where the dream of Jerusalem was at last realized.
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11.11.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 15:58 by Oded Ambar
A kibbutz is an Israeli commune, or intentional community. The first kibbutz was founded during the Second Aliyah, the second wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine, in 1909, and kibbutzim remain a viable Israeli institution today. Though kibbutzim have undergone many transformations over the years and have never accounted for more than seven percent of the Israeli population, the kibbutz has immense cultural significance.
The first kibbutz, “Degania,” was founded by Joseph Baratz and eleven other members, including two women, with the goal of bringing Jewish Zionst ideals to Israel. Zionists, who became active in late 19th century Russia as a result of anti-Semitic persecution, sought a homeland in Palestine in which Jews would work the land. After the First Aliyah in the 1880s, Jewish immigrants in Palestine had begun hiring Arabs to work their farms. Baratz opposed this practice and started the first kibbutz as a result.
In the early days, kibbutzim held fast to socialist ideals. There was no private property, not even tools or clothing, all work was shared, and land was owned communally. The bulk of the work was agricultural.
Kibbutzim attempted to build a self-sufficient economy, but this proved unfeasible. Instead, they were supported by subsidies from charities and later from the Israeli government. Today, most kibbutzim are no longer strictly socialist, though they do retain many communal aspects. All kibbutzim, for example, are democratic.
Over time, it became clear that agricultural work was not enough to sustain the institution of the kibbutz. Kibbutzim began to industrialize, with a large surge in that direction during the 1960s. Some kibbutzim focused on military efforts. Today, some kibbutzim have even turned to the tourism industry. The kibbutz has a long history of political and cultural contributions to Israel as well. A disproportionate amount of Israeli government and military leaders, artists, and intellectuals have come from kibbutzim.
There are many differences among kibbutzim, though they are outweighed by the similarities. The first kibbutzim were socialist, secular, and agriculturalist, whereas later kibbutzim either retained these ideals or became variously religious or militaristic, spanning different points on the political spectrum. Some kibbutzim became quite large, with as many as 1,500 members, while others remained small.
The kibbutz system has met with controversy over the years. Some groups have been criticized for elitism, while others have been accused of straying from their ideals. Nevertheless, Israeli culture would not be the same without the kibbutz. It is a specifically Israeli institution that has made invaluable contributions to the nation’s political, economic, and intellectual lie.
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