MURRAY BLOOM

Mount Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

A ten-day field trip with Neot Hakikar through the entire Sinai Peninsula one year after the 1967 Six Day War brought my group of fifteen travelers from the Suez Canal to the foot of Mount Sinai, where we camped for the night. As the sun set, the evening meal finished, we lay in our sleeping bags watching the stars slowly appear in the unpolluted night sky in their thousands. • April 15, 2019

Beit Guvrin . July 1973

Located Southwest of Jerusalem, in the Judean foothills, Beit Guvrin was a prominent city in the period of the Second Temple. The region abounds in caves which were originally quarries for a special type of chalk much used in Byzantine building activity. The town of Beit Guvrin replaced the city of Maresha, one of the Judean cities mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 15:44 and Chronicles 2, 11:5-8) as a city fortified by Rehoboam so it could withstand Egyptian attack. In 112 BCE Maresha was conquered by the Hasmonean King John Hyracanus I, who destroyed the city. This cavern known as the bell cave had openings from above that admitted air and light. My three year-old daughter, Yael, wandered quite by chance into a sunbeam (as befit her) while I was photographing the interior. In today’s age of digital photography, Photoshop, enhancement and generally accepted computer legerdemain, many are convinced at this is a composite, a double exposure, a super imposition, a retouched negative and not one of those infrequent “magic moments”. Henri Cartier-Bresson a French photojournalist who pioneered street photography during the 1930s using a hand-held 35mm camera, said, “There is one moment at which the elements in motion are in balance. Photography must seize upon this moment. “ He realized photography could reach eternity through this moment. The short form of that insight is the English title of his best known book, “The Decisive Moment,” (1952). In French it is “Images ‘a la sauvette” - roughly “images on the fly.” History has now brought us to modern day Israel; it is now possible to rent the bell cave shown in the photograph for weddings, bar mitzvahs and other memorable occasions. • November 11, 2008

Church of the Dormition • Tower of David • Dome of The Rock

Church of the Dormition . December 1977

The Roman Catholic Church of the Dormition on Mt. Zion stands, according to Christian tradition, on the spot where the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, lived and fell into an eternal sleep “(dormitio)”. The monastery stands on the remains of previous churches built during the Byzantine and Crusader periods. The present monastery was consecrated in 1906 on ground presented by the Turkish Sultan to the German Emperor. It belongs to the Benedictine Fathers. Jerusalem dwellers possess the required boots and umbrellas to cope with the few days a year when snow falls. Tel Avivians have no need for this equipment. • Nov. 21, 2008

Dome of The Rock, Old City . January 1973

The most eye – catching structure on Haram al-Sharif (The Temple Mount) is The Dome of the Rock. It is a shrine, not a mosque, built over a sacred stone or boulder called the Kubbet es-Sakhra. This is the sacred stone on which Abraham was said to have prepared the sacrifice of Isaac; Muslims maintain it was Ishmael, son of Hagar. It is also the spot on which the prophet Muhammad is said to have mounted his steed and ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. The night journey was one of the defining episodes in the life of the prophet. He was carried during the night from Mecca to Jerusalem and from there made the ascent through the heavens to God’s presence, returning to the holy city of Mecca in the morning. In Islam he is seen as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammed. The outside of the edifice is a fantasia of marble, mosaics, stained glass, painted tiles and quotations from the Koran, all capped by the gold plated aluminum dome. From the curved pillars arched colonnade at the top of the steps, according to tradition, the scales used to weigh souls on judgment day will hang from these free standing arches (shown here at the Southwest Qanatir). Every guide book on the Holy Land shows the golden dome glinting in the summer sun, but not dusted with snow like confectioner sugar on a Hanukkah jelly doughnut. Black and white photography can work that magic and easily exceed the strength of color. • Nov. 20, 2008

Tower of David, Old City . December 1974

Jerusalem’s Citadel or Tower of David stands on the site over which Herod the Great built his palace at the turn of the first century BCE. The tower and walls have been repeatedly built and destroyed over the past 2,100 years. The cylindrical tower, built during the sixteenth century, was nicknamed the “Tower of David” after the city’s founder king; according to tradition he used to pray here. • Nov. 20, 2008

Sderot . October 2004

This resident of Sderot continues to smile despite frequent rockets from Gaza, a mere three kilometers from the border with Israel. The town is notable for having been the major target of Qassam rocket attacks launched by Hamas. Between 2001 and 2008 13 people were killed, dozens wounded, millions of dollars in damages were caused and daily life was profoundly disrupted. Notable for its many bomb shelters, some of which are built in the form of children’s play areas. The town’s shelters are where its residents retire for rest and protection during rocket attacks. Sderot is infamously referred to as the “bomb shelter capital of the world”. • April 15, 2019

Jenin, West Bank . September 2012

Access to The West Bank in 2010 was restricted but could be arranged privately through intermediaries. My wife and I traveled to Jenin with two guides so she could conduct her “Bead for Peace” workshop for a select group of interested women. Their rapt attention testifies to the quality and meaningfulness of her presentation. Jenin was known in ancient times as the Canaanite village of Ein Ganim or Tel Jenin. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the city of the Levites of the tribe of Issachar. Located in the northern West Bank, it is administered today by the Palestinian Authority.

Netanya . July 1973

Muslim women are forbidden to bare their extremities in public, but these visitors to the beach at Netanya from the West Bank city of Tulkarem do not often have the opportunity to enjoy the Mediterranean. Their exuberance is clear! A mere 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Netanya lies the West Bank border, with Tulkarem at the foot of the Samarian mountains and astride the main road to Nablus. This narrow bottleneck poses a major military threat to Israel, as the potential exists here for invading armies to cut the country in half. Israelis take the seashore for granted. With the 1973 Yom Kippur war less than three months away when this photograph was taken, West Bank inhabitants enjoyed access to Israel with few restrictions. Today, they have only the upper Dead Sea (which is shrinking) and the Jordan River in which to bathe, a poor substitute for what they once had. Mark Twain in “The Innocents Abroad” described the Jordan River as “So crooked that a man does not know which side of it he is on half the time. In going ninety miles it does not get over more than fifty miles of ground. It is not any wider than Broadway in New York City.” Henry Kissinger, on seeing the West Bank of the Jordan River in 1980, was quoted as saying, “What public relations can do for a river!” • July 25, 2009

Mount Sinai . August 1968 • Safed . April 1970 (low resolution)

Mount Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

In the Judeo-Christian region of the Middle East, Mount Sinai is revered according to Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition as the peak where Moses received the Ten Commandments. The most famous pilgrims of the early Christian era were Helena, a 4th century Byzantine empress, and the Emperor Justinian I, who built present-day St. Catherine’s Monastery. After the Empress Helena, the famous pilgrim to Jebel Musa (Mt. Sinai) and the monastery was the prophet Muhammad. Treated well by the Orthodox Christian monks, Muhammad gave his personal pledge of protection; to the monastery this ensured the monastery’s continued existence to this day. The climb to the 7,500 ft. summit, even when accompanied by a Bedouin guide, is best accomplished without cigarette breaks. • November 2015

Safed . April 1970 (low resolution)

The Galilee, a mountainous region in Israel’s north, is a multi-cultural area: it is home to different Arab denominations such as Druze, Muslim and Bedouin in addition to Christians. According to Jewish tradition two of the four sacred cities are situated in the Galilee. Safed, is where the philosophy of the Kabbalah originated; Tiberius on Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), is known as the site of the compilation of the Jerusalem Talmud. Much of the ministry of Jesus occurred near and around this region. This area, the highest in Israel, has throughout history been a magnet for conquering armies, including the Crusaders and Saracens. Safed today is a major art center.

Old City walls • Western Wall & Dome of The Rock • Jerusalem, January 1973 

Old City . January 1973

Snow touches the ramparts walkway atop the Southeastern wall of the Old City between the Zion and Dung gates. Construction of the city walls was began in the mid-sixteenth century, commissioned by the Turkish Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. Walls five hundred years of age in the Middle East are barely even considered old, let alone ancient. The history of the USA, really only begins in 1620, when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, just one hundred years after the construction of these walls began. One must compare the major gap between the global outlook of the Pilgrims and that of the people of the Middle East, who see their respective histories as starting thousands of years ago. • November 15, 2011

Western Wall & Dome of The Rock, Old City . January 1973 

One’s first glimpse of Jerusalem’s Old City whitening under the year’s first snowfall is a moment filled with powerful contrasts. One thinks of the city under a perpetual summer sun, brilliant with light and shadow, not snow. There is no substitute for being a witness to the winter magic slowly unfolding. There is a serious history here. Massive construction work by the Mamluks in the 14th and 15th centuries established the Muslim character of the Old City. The al-Ghawanima minaret, built in 1297 CE is one of the highest structures in the Old City. The word “minaret” in Arabic, “manara,” means lighthouse; in Hebrew it is “migdalor”. Minarets are distinctive features of mosques – they are used for calling the faithful to prayer and as a visual landmarks. The Al-Ghawanimah Minaret can be seen in the far distance, to the left of The Dome of The Rock; on the right, Al-Aqsa mosque. Below is the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount, which has remained intact since the destruction of The Second Temple (70 CE).  When snow falls on Jerusalem, one begins to understand the Talmudic saying (Kiddushim 49BC... “Ten measures of beauty came down to earth and nine were taken by Jerusalem...” 

I was once told by the former director of the Jerusalem Theater Art Gallery, Maya Belin, when viewing this image, that Jerusalem in the snow “had been done to death” by photographers the world over. I refuse to believe viewers can become jaded. The beauty and serenity this city are eternal. The wonder of the snow-covered “City of David” will never dim. • May 18, 2010 

Old City . January 1973

An almond tree peeks from behind the Old City wall of the Armenian Quarter, a symbol of watchfulness and promise due to its early flowering, heralding the beginning of spring. Almonds are mentioned in Scripture, most notably Aaron’s rod that flowered, budded and fruited (Numbers 17:23). Christian symbolism uses the almond as a symbol of the Virgin Mary’s purity. The almond-shaped motif used in Medieval and Romanesque art surrounding Christ or the Virgin is known as a Mandorla, Italian for almond.

Peki’in . September 2006 • Kibbutz Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Peki’in . September 2006 (low resolution)

Aristotle wrote over 2,300 years ago, “Unlike the young, the old have lived long. They have often been deceived. They have made many mistakes of their own. They have seen the pain caused by positive men, and so they are positive about nothing.” Jewish literature predates Aristotle and is far more positive in its outlook, and even more relevant, as a reflection of values for today’s rapidly growing population of older people. Throughout are statements and excoriations to honor and respect the aged, to value their wisdom and experience, to recognize that which is important to them, e.g., “Children’s children are the crown of old men” (Psalms 17:16), and, “Old age to the unlearned is winter, to the learned it is harvest time.” Psalm 92-14 states, in defense of the aged, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.” A subsequent visit to Hurfeish two years later revealed the fact that both the Grandfather and the Granddaughter pictured here had passed away, the child from a known fatal ailment. This photograph, along with others in the files had to be shared. I asked my daughter to send copies from New York as soon as possible. My wife and I visited the family again and gave them the copies. To say that they were overwhelmed would be an understatement. The Father of the child wept. Like many Druze he was a professional soldier, held the rank of Sargeant-Major General and commanded the IDF forces on the Lebanese border. A promise made to me “Whatever you want, whenever you want it – it shall be yours!”

Kibbutz Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Gaza . August 1968 (low resolution)

Years before Gaza became an area that one did not just casually visit, like New York’s Central Park at night I felt a distinct sense of unease as I strolled the streets. I did not belong there. Once part of The Ottoman Empire my visit took place one year after Israel captured The Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War. That same summer saw me working as a volunteer at Tel Ashdod, the site of one of seven Philistine cities mentioned in The Old Testament, a major archaeological excavation headed by Moshe Dayan.

Fureidis . August 2007 • Rechov Yaffo, Mahane Yehuda Market . June 2007

Fureidis . August 2007

A house-warming in Fureidis, an Israeli Arab town south of Haifa, adjacent to Zikhron-Ya’Acov. The name is believed to come from the Arabic word “firdawsi,” meaning “Little Garden of Eden”. A long-time friendship with Ibtisam Mahmid, a peace activist awarded the Dalai Lama’s “Unsung Heros of Compassion” prize for her efforts to promote dialogue between Jewish and Arab women’s circles, provided me access to and acceptance by the Muslim community for many years. Ibtisam became an activist in 1995, after she was removed from an Egged bus because she was an Arab. My wife and I were fortunate to be invited to the house-warming. • November 2014

Rechov Yaffo, Mahane Yehuda Market . June 2007

Baby carriages, baby strollers, back-packs and shoppers fill Jerusalem’s main streets on a Friday afternoon. Flowers to grace the Shabbat table sell briskly in the Mahane Yehuda Market, which dates back to the Ottoman period. The frenzy increases as the day wanes and Shabbat approaches; Triple-parked cars; snarling buses spewing exhaust; scampering children; American teenagers sitting in the center of the main thoroughfare singing and playing cheap guitars badly, convinced they are the height of Jewish chic, arrogant enough to display an upturned cap on the floor in front of them, hoping to collect a few coins from passers-by; tourists from around the world; Orthodox couples trailing children behind them like a kite’s tail...all comprise this mosaic of Shabbat preparations. It grows late. The frugal and the poor emerge, seeking bargains, as vendors discard damaged or unsellable fruits and vegetables prior to shutting their stores or stalls. What is not salvageable is promptly swept up by municipal workers as they begin to clean the market. This is a show place, the pride and center of the city. It will be spotless before dark. What captivated me most about these two young women chatting in the middle of the sidewalk, oblivious to passing foot traffic, were their noses (classic Roman/Jewish) silhouetted by the reflected setting sun. • June 23, 2013

Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

Daliyat al-Karmel . June 2007 (low resolution)

An inter-faith peace conference held in Israel’s Northern district town of Daliyat al-Karmel, 20 km Southwest of Haifa, brought together many participants, including Ibtisam Mahameed (right) and friend. One can sense the serenity and optimism that seem to radiate from their faces, the friendship and unity of purpose in their clasped hands.

Kisra-Sumei . June 2007 (low resolution)

(Left Photo): One does not often meet a Sheikh, but I was fortunate to be granted an audience. This gentleman is the titular leader of an area of the Galilee including Kisra-Sumei and Peki’in. (Right Photo): Druze leaders and elders listen and nap, during a local conference.

Kisra-Sumei . June 2007 (low resolution)

(Left Photo): Druze are similar to Jews: Everything revolves around food. (Right Photo): An assistant to the Sheikh – just as worldly (and a penetrating glance at the camera).

Mea Shearim . July 1974

Mea Shearim . July 1974

You enter into a world apart. A venerable corner of Jerusalem, the name was chosen due the founder’s devotion to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. The numerical value of the words “Mea Shearim” equals 666, which has esoteric and Kabbalistic meaning in Judaism, as indicated by the Vilna Gaon in his commentary on the Torah. The name “Mea Shearim,” which literally means “100 gates” is also be said to be derived from a verse in Genesis which happened to be part of the weekly Torah portion read the week the settlement was founded. “Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold; God had blessed him.” Genesis 26:12 • March 2019

Mea Shearim . July 1974

Israel is as good a place for children to live in as any in the world, and they are, in a way, the only privileged class in the country. Even now, when Israelis look at their children, they are reminded of a dark past. PLO attacks on children were common prior to the 1970s. Schools and school buses were considered legitimate targets. Overshadowing even these strategies, one is inevitably drawn towards the Holocaust. A quarter of all Jews killed in the gas chambers were children. For Israelis today, it is a joy to see children, both Arabs and Jews, alive and enjoying their liberty. • October 2, 2013

Ancient Synagogue, Peki’in . April 1970 (low resolution)

Now mainly Druze, the village of Peki’in in the Northern Galilee claims an impressive Jewish history. The Druze coexistence with their Christian Arab neighbors and the Jewish community who have lived there since the Second Temple times, guarding their sacred shrines constitutes, to this day. Peki’in, known in Arabic as Buqeia “little valley” has existed for centuries. The synagogue, dating from the Second century, was restored in 1873. It is said it has in it’s walls two stones, reputedly taken from the walls of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. A cave nearby, it is believed, sheltered Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, also known by his acronym as “Rashbi”, and his son, Eleazar, when they fled from Roman soldiers of Emperor Hadrian. Tradition has it that during the thirteen years they hid in a cave in the village of Peki’in, where Elijah visited him, the Rashbi compiled the Zohar – “The brightness”, the standard book of the Kabbalists. The synagogue is cared for by the Jewish families living there. When my wife and I visited during our honeymoon in 1970, one of the younger members, Margalite Zinati, admitted us. This is her in the doorway. On a subsequent visit 35 years later we met the family again. Little had changed in the interim, just new generations, same responsibilities. This image was the first of my photographs to be published in Israel. It appeared on the front cover of The Jerusalem Post weekend supplement in 1972. • November 21, 2008

Beth El . March 1974 (low resolution)

The Israel Defense Forces, Tzahal, one of the most highly trained and battle-experienced armies in the world, having endured seven wars and two Intifadas since its birth in 1948. The name “Israel Defense Forces” was chosen for two reasons. It emphasizes the army’s primary role is for defense only, and it incorporated the name “Haganah.” The paramilitary organization upon which it was founded. Organized by Yitzchak Sadeh, the Palmach was the Kibbutz wing of the Haganah. Israeli’s small population means the country has never enjoyed the security of a large standing army. Unlike armies of the surrounding Arab countries, Tzahal is largely based on reserve forces; only some 140,000 men and women are on active duty at any given time. With forty-eight hours of warning time, however, Tzahal can complete its reserve call-up and become an army of over 600,000 men. For that reason, soldiers continue serving as reservists into their mid fifties. These reservists constitute the backbone of the army’s manpower. Israeli males are called up for reserve duty for thirty-to-sixty days minimum per year. It is this constant training and retraining of its reserve army that helps explain Israel’s military achievements. This system of reserves means army officers and soldiers many times have considerable life experiences and managerial expertise. It is believed that reserve soldiers are more mature and can be expected to handle difficult situations more diplomatically and calmly. This is not a photograph of a teenager who dreams of performing valiant deeds and being heroic. Reserve duty, however, wreaks considerable havoc on the country’s economy. At any given time, all things being equal, more than five percent of the country’s work force is in the army. A heavy social and emotional price is paid as well. Wives and children must cope with the shock and trauma of “abbas” (fathers) annual one-to-two months’ disappearance.

Jordan Valley . August 1976 (low resolution)

Jordan Valley . August 1976 (low resolution)

Jordan Valley . August 1976 (low resolution)

Sinai, Bir Haseneh, former Egyptian munitions base . April 1974 (low resolution)

“Lust and loot are the soldier’s pay,” Napoleon supposedly to remarked, “But Ennui is his lot.” I saw neither of those very attractive “perks” while serving as a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces. This promise of sexual and financial compensation was difficult for me to discern. After all, the IDF is dedicated to defending Israel. The ennui, however, was served in large portions. A month spent close to the geographical center of the Sinai desert, northeast of the Mitla Pass, on reserve duty guarding an eternity of monotonous sand, a waste stretching into nowhere, was sufficient to provide world-class tedium. For that reason, troops must be kept occupied! While stationed at this former Egyptian munitions base, I mapped the various caches, revetments and contents by day, engaged in the interior decoration of the bunkers by night and stood guard duty in between. My commanding officer felt I was qualified to perform these artistic tasks by virtue of my art training.Thus, this mural on the wall of his room was in effect a command performance reflecting his artistic preferences I was at least permitted to date and sign it. Beneath his bed is a primus stove used for Turkish coffee at any hour of the day or night, yet another of my responsibilities. The keys to success in the military are: never volunteer: always stand in the middle of the formation, never at the ends, and always follow your last order. The landscape can be boring. Sun and sand seem one, yet there is a primal beauty here. At night the stars are uncountable, each separate, each growing. In the Sinai, nature may be seen in the nude, sand and the sky becoming one; subliminal inspiration, perhaps for my boss. The buildings have long been torn down. The Sinai Peninsula was turned over to Egypt in 1979 and my mural is no more! The only testament to its existence is a single frame of 35mm Kodak Tri-X film. Perhaps in the distant future fragments of this wall will be found and excavated, to be studied by archaeologists and egyptologists in search of the culture and the meaning of life in the second half of the 20th century. • October 26, 2009

Kiryat Arbah, Hebron . July 2012 (low resolution)

Kiryat Arbah, Hebron . July 2012 (low resolution)

“Breaking the Silence” is an organization of Israeli military veterans who have served in the Occupied Territories since the start of the second Intifada, also called the “Oslo War” (September 2000) by those who consider it the result of concessions made by Israel following the Oslo Accords, which were never fully realized. These veterans have taken upon themselves the imperative to expose the Israeli public to everyday life in the Occupied Territories, a reality barely reflected in the media. Their aim is to provide a platform for military veterans and serving soldiers to describe what they say are disturbing aspects of their service in operations in the West Bank and wars in the Gaza Strip. One way this is accomplished is by offering bus tours to Israelis to Hebron and meeting with those Arab residents seeking peace. My wife and I took such a tour in 2012 originating from Jerusalem. The first stop was Kiryat Arba, the Jewish settlements on the outskirts of Hebron. The name may refer to the four couples buried in the Machpelah Cave: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah and, according to the Zohar, Adam and Eve. Descending from the bus only after being vetted by the border patrol, a branch of the police, the group entered Kahane Park, named for Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of “kach,” a right wing political party, Kahane was assassinated in New York by an Arab gunman. It was Baruch Goldstein, buried alongside Rabbi Kahane, who perpetrated the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, machine-gunning to death 29 Arabs at prayer before he himself was beaten to death by survivors. On his tombstone is engraved, “Hero of Israel,” an epitaph I found offensive in the extreme. Life here is far from simple. Israeli civilian law administered by the police applies to the settlers who are there because it was ordained by God, or so they maintain, thus permitting them to justify acts sometimes malicious, ugly and even unlawful. The Palestinian residents were governed by martial law, under the strict supervision of the army. To blur jurisdiction even further, the border police held overlapping responsibility for everything, including the security and well-being of Hebron’s Jewish community. The oppressive midday July heat. The utter stillness of street after deserted street where Palestinians are forbidden to walk or drive any vehicle. The abandoned main market where all the storefronts had been welded closed as a reaction to Arab attacks on Jews. The teenaged soldiers in full battle dress armed with fully loaded Tavor-21 assault rifles at the ready stationed every two hundred yards...all contributed to numb the senses. I had permission to photograph the soldiers. This is considered front line duty, but a permit was issued because I was part of a tour composed exclusively of and guided by Israelis. • June 19, 2013

Kiryat Arbah, Hebron . July 2012 (low resolution)

Jerusalem . June 2007 (low resolution)

In 1950 the Law of Return was passed granting any person of Jewish descent a welcome to the country and immediate citizenship upon request. Immigrants arrived in waves from Eastern Europe, North America, The Gulf States and the former Soviet Union. Although every Jew has this right to choose to live in Israel, in practice many immigrants have been refugees driven from their homes by force or under pressure of persecution or discrimination. One example of “Kibbutz Galuyot” (intergathering of the exiles) was “Operation Magic Carpet,” the airborne evacuation of over fifty thousand Yemenite Jews to Israel in 1949 from Aden, the tip of the Arabian peninsula. Another was Israel’s airlift of thirty thousand Ethiopian Jews in two phases in the mid 1980s and early 1990s “Operation Moses.” Among the immigrant generation, some groups, like the Ethiopians, have found it difficult to adapt to the Israeli lifestyle, and it very well may be that full integration is only now being achieved by the next generation. This young police woman exhibits a smile and aura of competence I found quite charming. The professional standard of the Israeli police and its excellent relations with the public were not simple to achieve. The public with which the police interact with are and have been mainly immigrants drawn from many countries speaking a Babel of languages and holding widely different ideas of good and bad behavior. The police themselves have been recruited largely from immigrant groups. In modern times, the concept of the in gathering of the exiles has been divested of its messianic character and has been applied to the phenomenon of the immigration of over one million Jews from over one hundred countries to Israel. When I first arrived in Israel as a new immigrant I applied to the Jerusalem Police Department for a staff position, as a sketch artists. This was not to be, as I did not have a sufficient understanding of Hebrew, obviously a key requirement for such a job. Deuteronomy (30:3-5) Ezekiel (20:34) and Jeremiah (16:15, 23:8) all prophecy that God will “...bring and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered.” My police woman friend seems to have taken her historical place in the legacy. • December 10, 2008

Beth El training base, West Bank . March 1974 (low resolution)

Beth El training base, West Bank . March 1974 (low resolution)

Beth El training base, West Bank . March 1974 (low resolution)

A traditional rabbinic conundrum asks, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” A more modern one, through politically incorrect, and ethnically insulting, queries, “How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb?” In Israel in the 1970s, we ask “How many Georgians does it take to load an Uzi submachine gun?” Holding a press card from The Jerusalem Post, I was permitted by the army to record the basic training of recent immigrants from the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia. Experience had shown extra diligence was called for when live ammunition and explosives were finally issued. The Georgian recruits were supervised with great trepidation by the training cadre. The training facility was located near the West Bank city of Ramallah at Bethel – the house of God, which was also known as “Bat Arbah.” “The Fourth Daughter.” Sleeping here, with his head on a stone, Jacob had his dream of angels coming up and down a ladder (Genesis 28: 12-18). The British believe this is the same stone which, today, is beneath the seat of the “Coronation chair” preserved in Westminster Abbey, “Jacob’s Pillow,” which was brought from Bethel. Jacob had “set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it,” either to consecrate it or so he might recognize it on his return. Archeology has proven Bethel to be the modern village of Baytin. • November 8, 2008

Jordan Valley . August 1976 • Sharm Al Sheikh, Straits of Tiran . August 1977 (low resolution)

(Right photo): In May 1967, Egypt expelled UN peacekeepers stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since the 1956 Suez conflict and announced a partial blockade of Israel’s access to the Dead Sea. On May 23rd, President Gamal Abdel Nasser blockaded The Straits of Tiran, making the Six-Day War inevitable. Fourteen months later, while on a ten-day field trip through the Sinai, I took this photograph of the actual cannon that participated in the blockades. This was the prime artillery position for Egypt; nothing could move through the Strait and not be a target, since the passage was a mere 6 kilometers wide. This is quintessential history. Ten years were to elapse before I found myself actually sitting on the Island of Tiran as a very minor part of a reserve army unit assigned to monitor Saudi Arabia, eight kilometers northeast of where I had taken the 1968 photograph. Initially assigned to Sharm Al-Sheikh, I participated in landing exercises on a WWII LST (landing ship tanks) that resupplied the Tiran base. • April 2019

Sinai . August 1968 (low resolution)

Beth El, West Bank . March 1974 • Jerusalem . January 1973 (low resolution)

Beth El, West Bank . March 1974

The helmet comes from England. Known as the “Brodie helmet,” named for its designer. It was worn by British army troops and by United States armed forces in both world wars. They are still in use today by tribal Levies in Pakistan and, up until just recently, by the Israeli Civil Defense Forces. Basic trainees were also once favored with protection from shrapnel in the 1970s by these “tin hats;” most likely they were Second World War era British surplus. The rifle comes from Czechoslovakia and is referred to disdainfully in Israel as a “Czech.” Designed and produced from 1924 to 1942, it was developed from the German Mauser after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1936. The Germans also used this weapon. The most famous deployment of these rifles was purchased by Haganah arms buyers and smuggled into Palestine before the British mandate expired on May 14th, 1948 for use in the Israeli War of Independence. Shipments by Czech arms dealers continued. Between 1947 and 1949 The Jewish Agency made additional weapons purchases, including 35,500 of these #P18 rifles. Further shipments ended with the communist rise to power. It was also the standard infantry weapon of the Iranian Army during the Reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi. The smile comes from the Republic of Georgia. This military trainee seems quite content with his new role as a Jewish man-at-arms. The question to ultimately be asked is, “would you trust this man with a live hand grenade?” I was tasked by The Jerusalem Post with photographing the basic training of a unit comprised of new immigrants from various countries with little or no military experience. In a country the size of New Jersey, it is not difficult for any soldier to go home for the Sabbath. When this happened, these warriors-in-training were issued one bullet, to be kept, not in the rifle, but in their shirt pocket, to be used only in the direst of events. Basic training with this unit was an amalgam of the United Nations and a Barnum & Bailey three-ring circus. Add to this a touch of paranoia sprinkled with a feeling of foreboding whenever automatic weapons, live ammunition and explosives were issued. The coat also came from Czechoslovakia. Just recently an old friend a former US Marine who fought in Korea, on seeing the photograph positively identified the coat. My friend had a flamethrower in combat, which caused his marine-issued winter coat to ride up in the back, exposing him to the sub-zero weather at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. He maintained war is less heroism than survival and, as such, removed a similar coat from a dead North Korean for protection and wore it without a qualm. • September 22, 2009

Old City, Jerusalem . January 1973

How winsome! What grace! How enchanting! What magnetism! The slight enigmatic smile belies that this maiden is a soldier. She carries a gun! Perhaps she even crawls stealthily through the desert night with a commando knife clasped between her teeth! Not very likely, however, in 1972, when this photograph was taken in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market. Back military units were divided into “Chen”- “Chial Nashim” or “Woman’s Force.” In Hebrew, “Chen” also means “charm,” a trait clearly evident on the face of this young soldier. In the past an oft-commented upon feature of the IDF was it’s wide-spread use of female soldiers. They had not been permitted in fighting units since 1949, largely out of fear were they would be captured. Since 1994, many additional combat roles were opened for women, and the The Women’s Corp command was abolished. Today women are found in infantry and armored divisions as well as in the border patrol, a part of the Israeli police. They also pilot F-16 fighter bombers and gunships. The 2006 Lebanon War was the first time since 1948 that women were involved in field operations alongside men. This style cap is no longer in use. A relic of the past! Today, she would be wearing a beret, color -coded by corps and worn on formal occasions or under the left shoulder strap while wearing the service uniform. Her cap pin or insignia is still in use today. It is the symbol of the General Corps, two crossed swords and a fig leaf. Why a fig leaf? Israel is fraught with symbolism. The first named plant in the Bible, other than the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, is the fig tree. Need we mention Adam and Eve’s tailor? It was one of the seven kinds of food produced by the Promised Land, as listed in Deuteronomy. We can find the fig tree in One Kings, Two Kings, Proverbs, The Book of Jeremiah, The Songs of Solomon, The New Testament, Jesus, The Sistine Chapel frescoes, etc. The graffiti on the market wall indicates the direction to the “miklat,” Hebrew for “bomb shelter.” • September 26, 2009

Galilee . September 2007 (low resolution)

Misconception: A Sabra, symbol of a native-born Israeli, is indigenous to the desert area of Israel. Fact: The sabra is native to the desert areas of Mexico and the southwestern United States. This is a case of fruit as a national identity. Sabra became a term to refer to those born and raised in the Zionist settlements in Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s and, eventually, to any native-born Israeli. The sabra was used as a metaphor for the Israeli - someone with a rough exterior but a sweet, sensitive soul. The metaphor further articulated the transformation of the “Old Jew” - rootless, disconnected from the land, vulnerable, overly cerebral, unhealthy - to the “New Jew” as envisioned by Zionism: healthy, assertive, productive, physically strong and firmly rooted in the land. Thus, in time, the term changed from a derogatory term to one of endearment. There was an additional symbolic element - just as the sabra grew wild on the land, so were native Israelis said to be growing physically and mentally strong in their homeland. The thorns of the sabra plant enable it to be used as a fence, to keep intruders out or livestock in. My wife delights in eating the fruit, but I cannot get past the spines. One of the most amazing sights I saw on a visit to Spain was a woman in a Toledo restaurant lunching on a sea urchin - spines and all. I was of course reminded of the sabra. • April 14, 2019

Bat Galim Naval base, Haifa . August 2006 (low resolution)

Bat Galim Naval base, Haifa . August 2006 (low resolution)

Bat Galim Naval base, Haifa . August 2006 (low resolution)

Orde Wingate, a British Officer who served in Palestine from 1936 to 1939, helped to train Haganah fighters, including such leaders as Zvi Brenner and Moshe Dayan. He reputedly carried a Bible with him, with which he continually reinforced the Jews’ knowledge of their land through appropriately quoted passages. The high point of this swearing in ceremony at the Bat Galim Naval training base, just South of Haifa, is the simultaneous issuance of both a weapon and a copy of the Holy Scriptures. This “Tanach” becomes an integral part of the new recruit’s kit. It tells each of them who, where and why they are, as did Wingate. The symbolism at this rite is appropriate in its elegance and simplicity. Within a very short period of the time, these “first-issued” uniforms provided without regard to size or reality (too big, too small – take your pick!) Will be tailored to meet the physical challenges these women face, while still conforming to the military dress code. The Rav-Turai (corporal) saucily shows, how navy dress white trousers and custom-tailored blouse should fit; the shadow of the M-16A2 flash suppressor on the young inductee’s cheek seems to echo the solemnity of the occasion. In English, Bat Galim means “daughter of the waves”, a fitting name, as all boats and ships are feminine. A boat rides on a ship. This naval base contains the submarine operations school, the missile boat operations center and the naval command school. The emblem of the base is an owl, symbolizing wisdom and hard learning, and its unit tag can be seen hanging from the corporal’s left epaulet beneath the braided cord or fourragère which formally denotes a member of the training cadre. Major General Orde Wingate is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. • September 25, 2009

Jordan River, Damia Bridge . September 1976 (low resolution)

Jordan River, Damia Bridge . September 1976 (low resolution)

Historians write of war. Armed conflicts permeate recorded history and appear, aside from sex, to be a man’s chief obsession. The concept of war is abstract, a dead zone between what you read in books and what you live through. At its core, war is the province of the individual soldier – cold, sweltering, wet, incredibly bored much of the time but not without moments of terror. Loneliness, even as part of a cohesive unit, remains a constant. Only the technology of killing changes, improving over the ages. Uzi replaced by Galil, replaced by M-16, replaced by the current state of the art - the Tavor Tar-21. A sunrise of beauty once again reaffirming life. As shared by sentinels at opposite ends of the Damia Bridge; the bridge spans the Jordan River, connecting the road to Amman with that leading to the West Bank city of Nablus. The bridge was constructed in 1967 by Jordan. Located on an ancient trade route, this site was the oldest crossing in the Jordan Valley. Near the bridge is the ancient city of Adam, the place where the Israelites crossed the Joradan River after returning from exile in Egypt (Joshua 3:16). “Damiya” is the Arabic name of the bridge. It is also known as “Adam Bridge,” named after the city. The mission of these sentries was not to safeguard their borders but to monitor the constant traffic between Israel and Jordan, an exchange not public knowledge at that time. Empty trucks entered Israel in the morning, their external gasoline tanks fitted with clear, lucite panels to facilitate the search for hidden weapons, the truck returned in the evening filled with building materials and supplies. Overcrowded buses also traveled in peace at this border crossing, carrying workers to and from their jobs in Israel. • November 12, 2008

Jordan River, Damia Bridge . September 1976 (low resolution)

Jerusalem . March 1973

Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony,” Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” Borodin’s symphonic poem, “In The Steppes of Central Asia,” overtones of Klezmer and even a few Spanish chords came together for me one afternoon while wandering through Jerusalem’s Bukharan Quarter. Bukharan Jews have a distinct musical tradition called “Shashmaqam” an ensemble of stringed instruments that reaches back many centuries. This impromptu street performance demonstrated the uniqueness of the “City of David” in its ability to effortlessly link Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Soviet Russia and Vienna on a sunny spring day. • November 2009

New York . October 1970 / 3rd Jerusalem Post cover (low resolution)

I formally entered Israel as a new immigrant in August 1972, one day before the massacre at the Munich Olympics. After three months of study at the standard Hebrew language Ulpan for “Olim” I unexpectedly found myself the recipient of a double blessing – not only an offer of employment, but work in English, as a newly-minted staff artist and photographer for The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s English-language daily newspaper. I was thoroughly delighted to earn my living this early in my new country surrounded in my native tongue, spared the drudgery of having to burden my life with the struggle to learn Hebrew grammar. As if all this were not enough, I illustrated feature stories and was issued a press pass as an accredited photographer. The photo editor at that time was David Rubinger, who held press credentials from Time/Life and served as their Middle East correspondent or “stringer”. It was Rubinger who took the iconic photograph seen around the world, of young soldiers in full battle dress, at the Western Wall just after liberating Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War. He called me into his office one morning to ask my opinion regarding a suitable image for the weekend magazine cover. The feature story was on breast feeding. I was not impressed with his options. I told him so and offered to show him contact prints of my wife nursing our first-born daughter, Yael. He chose this image instantly, rushed my negative to his darkroom, printed it, and I had my third Jerusalem Post cover. • June 21, 2013

Jerusalem . Israel’s 25th Independence Day Parade . May 1973 (low resolution)

Jerusalem . Israel’s 25th Independence Day Parade . May 1973 (low resolution)

Israel is unique in that military service is compulsory for both males and females. This continues the tradition of female fighters begun during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. There is a difference in the Israeli Army’s recognition of women’s special characteristics: They do not fight. Written in 2009, this statement is no longer true. Women have qualified to pilot combat aircraft (F-15 and F-16 fighter bombers, as well as helicopter gunships), and they have joined elite combat units within Zahal. Most perform clerical, medical housekeeping and communications duties. Some are in intelligence, some in training cadres; some pack parachutes, teach or do cultural work in developmental areas. Exceptions are granted to married women and those requesting deferment on religious grounds. The religious exemptions are not because of Jewish opposition to all warfare; indeed, there is no significant pacifist tradition in Judaism. It is rather that many Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox parents fear a girl who leaves her home to live on an army base will soon be practicing a much looser form of sexual morality; it’s a slanderous generalization at best, and one that is totally inaccurate. Granted, the hemlines on these marchers passing Jerusalem’s Old City walls in Israel’s 25th Anniversary parade would seem inappropriate to a religious girl; ankle-length skirts are also available. • July 25, 2009

Old City . April 1976 (low resolution)

Jerusalem, spanning the ages and three faiths, is unique in the world, truly at home with history. Pilgrims follow in the footsteps of Christ along the Via Dolorosa, held to be the traditional route where Jesus was lead in agony carrying the crucifixion cross. Marked since the Middle Ages by the stations of the cross, now numbering fourteen, the “Way of Grief” is built upon on centuries of rubble. Since the first century, Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt time and again, so present streets may be 20 feet higher than they were in Jesus’ day. Easter followed the crucifixion and turned Black Friday into Good Friday because, the Gospels assert, Jesus had risen. One sees pilgrims from around the world, the sorrow and anguish that seem to blend in a blur of emotion. The photograph was taken at station eight, where Jesus spoke to the women of Jerusalem (Luke 23,27). • November 11, 2008

Bethlehem . December 1972 (low resolution)

Bethlehem . December 1972 (low resolution)

Bethlehem, a well-known city in biblical times, was a way station where caravaners traveling between Jerusalem and Hebron could stop for provisions. The Hebrew name means “house of bread,” and its Arabic equivalent, “Beit Lahm,” also means “house of bread.” “Bedlam” is a shortened form of the word Bethlehem. England’s first institution devoted to the care of the mentally ill, The Bethlehem Royal Hospital was founded in 1247 in Bishopsgate as the priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem and given over to the City of London as an insane asylum by Henry VIII in 1547. The Church of the Nativity is built over the cave where, according to tradition Jesus was born. In the fourth century the emperor Constantine erected a great basilica here, and Justinian enlarged it two centuries later. It is the oldest active church in Christendom. From atop an adjoining roof, the view lacks the grandeur due the city by virtue of its history. The onslaught of communication technology seems to dilute the purity of faith and belief one would expect here, the cross somehow mocked by the variant echoes of the TV antennas. • November 11, 2008

Bethlehem . December 1972 (low resolution)

Manger Square is the focal point of all Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem. The Mosque of Omar, seen in the background and the object of this border ward’s security, religious coexistence, the only Muslim shrine of worship in The Old City of Bethlehem. Built in 1860, it is today also The Palestinian Peace Center. The mosque is named after Omar (Umar) Ibn Al-Khattab. Having conquered Jerusalem, Omar traveled to Bethlehem in 637 CE as an envoy of the Prophet Muhammed to issue a law that would guarantee safety for Christians and clergy. He prayed where the mosque now stands. Responsible for Christmas Eve security, Mishmar HaG’vul, the combat branch of the Israeli border police, is recognized by its green berets and emblem - a watchtower, or “migdalor,” topped by a projector. On this officer’s sleeve and beret is another emblem, the Hebrew letter “mem,” for Mishtarah, meaning “police,” at the center of the shield of David. It was a time less fraught with terrorism, when an accredited press photographer was permitted access to the roof. Today, of course, to insure security, only police snipers occupy the upper levels.

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

It is only natural that in a country where the open carrying of firearms is a common sight, more than a passing interest is taken in them by much of the male populace (and that includes myself). Ignoring the Freudian implications, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” there existed in the 1970s and probably still exists today, a distinct pecking order of small arms, i.e., rifles and handguns which are recognized and confer status upon the owners in varying degrees. Lowest on this ‘status” totem pole was the humble, five-shot bolt action, magazine-fed rifle known as the ‘Czechi” because it came to Israel from Czechoslovakia in the thousands prior to the 1948 War of Independence. A bolt action, it fires one antiquated bullet at a time with astonishing accuracy. How exciting can that be? Yet its accuracy made it suitable as a sniper’s weapon. The Uzi once standard military fare as a personal defense weapon, was everywhere. Pictured in the photograph is the paratrooper version with folding stock and extra 20-round magazine, very much preferred over the fixed, wooden stock which was both heavy and cumbersome. Named after its designer, captain Uziel Gal, it was in service in the Israel Defense Forces from 1956 to 2003. It is still in production and has been joined in the past decade by two smaller, more easily concealed models, the Mini-Uzi and the Micro-Uzi. The M-16 entered U.S. Army service in 1963, replacing the M-15 and was deployed for jungle warfare in Southeast Asia, becoming the standard infantry rifle of the Vietnam War. It replaced the Uzi as standard issue in Israel. Moving upwards on our totem pole, we come to the Galil assault rifle. Longer range, greater firepower and accuracy, it was designed for the Israeli soldier. Early designs, for example, included a bottle opener attached to the bi-pod, intended to discourage the use of ammunition magazines to open soda or water bottles, a practice which distorted the lips and causing bullets to jam when feeding, a dangerous and unacceptable condition. Little need be said about the Remington 700P sniper rifle, an accessorized US M40A1 with a ten power telescopic sight. Used by both army and police, this weapon is rarely seen in public and is not permitted to be taken from its area of operations. Our ascent in status continues. We come to the Carl Gustav, a Swedish machine gun used by the Swedish, Irish and Indonesian armies and made under license in Egypt as the “Port Said.” Many of these were captured in the Yom Kippur War. When my reservist unit was sent to Bir Hassana in the Sinai desert, we all got to play with this exotic little toy. It can be seen, along with Uzis, in this Druze wedding procession near the Lebanese border, ejected shell casings in mid-air. It was the most bizarre gun I had been issued until that time, but you couldn’t hit anything with it! For the ultimate in military chic in the 1970s, the AK-47 Kalashnikov could not be beat. The number signifies the year it went into service, with the Red Army in 1942. Today, it is the most widely used assault rifle in the world. The Soviet Union was the principle arms supplier to Middle Eastern nations, including Syria and Egypt. When an Israeli officer carried one, it was clear he was not only a combat veteran, but that he also had access to the spoils of war. Today, everyone seems to have one! An AK-47 appears on the flag of Hezbollah, which says something for their agenda. Today Israel Weapons Industries manufacture the “Tavor-21” (21 standing for 21st century), a state of the art bull pup assault rifle designed for combat. It has become the standard-issue weapon for all infantry and armored units in the IDF, replacing the US M-16. • September 23, 2009

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Invited to a Druze wedding at Adamit on the Lebanese border in 1974, I was attracted by the simple dignity of this line dance. This is a favorite image of mine, as I feel it mirrors the shared joy and community cohesion that so much in evidence that day. I thought little of the dance itself until 36 years later. I stood in a photography and video store specializing in weddings located in downtown Daliyat al-Karmel, the major Druze city 20 kilometers southeast of Haifa. I watched a color video showing the exact same dance and learned this was the classic “Dabke,” the most popular Arab dance in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon; it is also danced in parts of Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. I was a classic example of an American truly blissful in his ignorance of Middle-Eastern culture, and customs. The weddings I watched on the TV monitor were all similar. The brides were beautiful, as all brides are, glowing as all brides do. The same emotions were present, the music the same – only the photo and video technology had changed. They had become risk-free. At one time film was used, and the participants had to wait days, even weeks for development, proofs and print selection. No instant gratification in those days. As digital photography reduced the demand for all varieties of film, the icon of color film, Kodak Kodachromes’ was discontinued in 2009. Nevertheless, what is recorded, regardless of the technology, is that which is eternal - the love between man and woman. • November 16, 2013

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Adamit . September 1974 (low resolution)

Israeli laws granting women equal rights have helped to liberalize attitudes towards women in Arab society and yet, it is said, “Man proposeth, God disposeth and the women get what’s left.” Women of the Wall, a feminist group campaigning for the right to pray on equal terms as men at the Western Wall for the past 25 years, have finally been successful. In May 2013, a judge ruled the gatherings, with women wearing prayer shawls and phylacteries, “shall not be deemed illegal.” Progress is being made. A year earlier, during the Summer of 2012, my wife and I had our apartment in Jerusalem painted. Based upon contacts and references, we hired three Palestinians from Bethlehem to do the work. As they were forbidden to drive in Israel I agreed to pick them up and return then to the border crossing each day, thus saving them the expense of having to take taxis. This consideration on my part ultimately led to both a higher quality of workmanship and a better working relationship between us. During the four days it took to complete the job, my wife prepared lunch and we would all sit together for the meal. The Palestinians would return to work while I would blithely begin washing the dishes, an act no self-respecting Arab male would even consider, much less approve of. My obvious loss of status and machismo in their eyes did not disturb me; It was understood that we were products of a different culture with different mores. Even though they experienced a negative visceral reaction, they still respected me, smiling in amusement at my seeming servitude. Knowing they were also puzzled at how I could dare to demean myself on a daily basis in such a fashion, I couldn’t help but think of this photograph taken forty years ago at a Druze wedding, close to the Lebanese border. It seems to say much about the place Arab women were expected to occupy in their male-dominated society at that time. I would have helped by volunteering with the dishes then, just as I would have today. I always do a good job, and I take pains to use a minimum of water. There is not much difference in the roles assigned women in both the Jewish and Muslim Ultra Orthodox world today. The month of Ramadan had begun and, at the conclusion of the contract, the work having been completed to our satisfaction, my wife and I were invited home by the foreman to break the fast with his family – a signal honor. Crossing the border in a rental car was forbidden, as this act would void all insurance coverage, but I felt the risk was minimal, and we enjoyed a meaningful evening, a unique gift to be remembered. But I distinctly remember the stares of some of the people hanging around the village center, where our host awaited us. His presence and influential standing in the community evidently protected us from what I perceived to be a feeling of resentment, of having trespassed an unwelcome invasion of their turf. • June 21, 2013

Mea Shearim . April 1975 (low resolution)