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Heart to Heart
My Own Exodus
San Diego Jewish Times, Sept. 30, 2005, page 14.
By Gert Thaler
Intrigued
by the visit last May of Israeli Commander Yossie Harel who was in charge of the
illegal immigration operations for
the transportation of Europe’s survivors into what was then called
“Palestine," I bought a newly printed copy of Leon Uris’ Exodus and
from the opening page 1 until page 626 I found myself reliving the blood and
guts story of what it took to bring Israel to where it is today. From my
early beginnings I had been raised in a home where “Zionism” was an oft used
word. Had my mother not come to
America as a young girl I am convinced that she would have been one of
Israel’s pioneers. Throughout her
lifetime she was an inveterate fund raiser for Zionist causes.
We had no family connections in Palestine, and when I first journeyed
there I knew only one person my
brother-in-law’s cousin, Yehuda Chamiel , who greeted me as I deplaned in
1968, ten years after Exodus was first published.
I know
that I read the book those many years ago, but I know too that not until now,
September, 2005, have I been so affected by its contents.
Israel
has become an important part of my life and my commitment to my Jewish cultural
and religious involvements.
Now on
the brink of paying my 82nd visit there next month I will have
reached a point in that life when I will dedicate a kindergarten building in Tel
Aviv along with my daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Harvey Neiman and my
friend, Jaime Brener. The structure
will bear our names and the inscription from Proverbs:
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it” which best depicts the path which Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai
has led us on through The Tel Aviv Foundation to which my volunteer time is
channeled. Huldai, a former
educator, invests municipal funds heavily in support of early educational
advantages for children from all economic levels with emphasis on low income
families.
Most of
the Jews I know today are well versed in Israel’s modern politics as I have
been. My mother’s crowd, most of
whom have left us now, were the ardent Labor Zionists of San Diego (Poale Zion).
George Olsher’s father,
Joe, and Hadara Chemnick’s father, I. Domnitz, were both part of that group,
as were so many others.
I am
not sure how much of the little country’s early beginnings are remembered by
today’s activists. While Uris
used fictitious names for his characters I fitted his description to early
pioneer leaders. Included are
actual people whose names are all familiar to us, which lent even more credence
to the tale. Interwoven was the
fictitious story of the books’ main characters, Ari Ben Canaan, Kitty Fremont,
Karen Clement, Dov Landau, numerous
British military and Arab friends and foes along with the compelling
Rabinsky brothers, the two
Russians who traveled by foot to reach The Promised Land in 1884..
Following
the early life of Yakov (adopted
Israeli name “Akiva”) and Jossi
(Barak Ben Canaan), dropping the
family name of Rabinsky, they
cleared swamplands in order to establish the first of the kibbutzim.
It reminded me of my friend, Amos Degani, former chairman of the Emek
Hefer District. I have an e mail
now telling me that Amos wants to see me at his home in Kfar Vitkin during my
visit. An elder statesman, Amos
served as a “right hand” to David Ben Gurion and
served in Israel’s Knesset for 12 years representing the Labor Party.
Untold
doors have been opened for me throughout the country by my association with
numerous Israelis who held the keys to those doors either through personal
friendships or government contacts. In
2005 I am proud of the fact that I no longer say I know only one person in
Israel and a lot of them will be on hand November 3rd when the
kindergarten dedication is celebrated in one of Tel Aviv’s most disadvantaged
areas.
My
heart is warmed by the new “Zionists” in our community who have assumed the
mantle of responsibility in promoting
strong support between San Diego and various institutions in Israel.
Long ago the word “Zionist” was stretched out to describe even those
of us who did not emigrate but who chose to remain within our own boundaries
strongly supporting projects. Past
community leaders can look with pride on having become involved with Israel
Tennis Centers, Technion, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion and Hebrew Universities,
Hadassah, Na’amat, Jewish National Fund, AIPAC, Magen David Adom, Friends of
the IDF. The mantle has been passed
to younger leaders, with particular recognition to Gary
and Gerri-Ann Jacobs and
to Rod and Gloria Stone for establishing youth oriented exchanges between
Israeli and San Diego children.
This is
a wonderful period in which to be involved in various facets of Israeli life.
Were it not for the establishment of the State of Israel part of whatever
it is that makes me a better Jewish woman would not have come into full blossom.
This
October’s journey will add another jewel in my crown, the invisible crown I
place on my head because from the moment I land I am given such a royal welcome
by some of the nearest and dearest friends I have.
Though
the thoughts are ever present we do not talk of fears of mothers of sons and
daughters on army duty. Nor of
parental anxieties that are constant companions.
Unsaid words may fill our minds, but our days are filled with social
visiting.
This
return will be somewhat different, however.
Now I will call upon those Israelis who will allow me to relive parts of
their lives that are related to much of what Uris wrote about.
It will be an important part of this year’s journey “home” and
probably a visit down memory lane recalling my first step on Israeli soil.
The
start of a New Year brings also a beginning of new adventure to me.
Shona tovah.