761
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
December 1926
to act as instructors in various lines of industry.” Industry along all lines has made rapid progress in Pelestine since the war, Mr. Ben-Zevie said. "Many fac tories of different kinds h a v e sprung up during the last year or two and it is for this reason that power development on the Jordan has been undertaken,” he commented. “Con struction work on this project is already under way and it is probable that before the end of the present year, the factories of Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Tiberius, located on the Sea of Gennesaret, will all be operating with power from the sacred waters of the Jordan.” “There is now a Jewish population of about 150,000 in Palestine, of wbom some 30,000 are engaged in farming. They are using modern methods.” Palestine proper is capable of sup porting a population of nearly 3,000,- 000, Mr. Ben-Zevie said. It now has a population of about 850,000, of whom 700,000 are Arabs. “The Arabs are selling their lands to the incoming Jews and thus far no clashes have occurred between the natives and the newcomers,” he observed. “The movement to create a national home for the Jews in Palestine is re ceiving support in many quarters, par ticularly from the British government, now exercising mandatory powers over the country under the League of Na tions pact. "The Jews are permitted full lib erty in the matter of religion and in the development of their own type of culture.” É | PALESTINE LETTER Below are given extracts from a let ter from Palestine which gives us a little glimpse of some of the develop ments that are going on in Palestine at the present time and of the fruitfulness and beauty of some portions of the maritime plain near Jaffa and Lydda. Truly some day according to the sure word of prophecy Palestine shall blos som as a rose, and the land of Israel shall sustain a great Jewish popula tion, according to the prediction of such passages as Ezek. 36. The letter follows: Spring began shyly this year. It had been a bumper rainy season and the coolness which the showers brought extended right up to Pesach, when usually we have changed into light raiment. So it was pleasant to leave the chilly heights of Jerusalem for the Jaffa plain, which we found appreci ably warmer. As tbe scene, with its grey boulders, familiar sight of the hilly country, changed into barley and corn fields, and later into grape and orange orchards, the sun brightened the landscape and I remembered the Song of Songs, “For the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.”
perial Company will be established at Gaza, which will be the first halt in the Cairo-Karachl air route, according to an official announcement in London, states a despatch to the Jewish Tele graphic Agency. The Palestine Gov ernment will be enabled to expropriate land (or establishing the station since the status o( the Imperial Airway Com pany as a public undertaking brings it under the Palestine Expropriation Ordinance. The station will be opened next year.—New Palestine. — o— Rabbi Saul Silber, of the Anshe Ernes Congregation, recently returned from Palestine, where he spent several weeks. Rabbi Silber spoke readily, and with unbounded enthusiasm, a b o u t the wonders which are being performed in the rebuilding of Palestine. He said, «1 visited all the Jewish cities and set tlements in Erets Israel, thirty colon ies in all, and I can hardly find words adequate to express the emotion these scenes aroused in me.” The rabbi declared that Palestine has this year a bumper crop, and that the crisis in Tel Aviv and other of the larger centers is a mere transitory thing, which is already passing away. —Chicago Chronicle. ipf JEWISH MASS MOVEMENT TOWARD CHRISTIANITY According to the “Jewish Era” many Jews in Europe are turning to Chris tianity, as is seen in the following ar ticle: Already we begin to see the middle wall of partition beginning to give'way in Eastern Europe. There has been something like a mass movement of the Jews towards Christianity. In the city of Vienna, since 1918, many thou sands of Jews have entered the church, among them Hans Hersl, son of the founder of the Zionist movement. In Hungary, 40,000 Jews have been admitted to churches of that land; in Budapest alone 2,500 Jewish converts have been added to the Presbyterian church, and half as many to other Protestant churches. In Ukrainia, whole congregations of Hebrew Christians have been formed. In America it has been estimated that 20,000 have connected themselves with evangelical churches in the past gen eration. HEBREW UNIVERSITY According to the “Scribe” of recent date the University of Jerusalem is en joying a phenomenal growth, and bids fair to become a dominant factor in determining Jewish culture, not only of Palestine, b u t throughout t h e world:
itary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall re joice, and blossom as the rose. “I t shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory o f Lebar non shall be given unto it, the excellency o f C a r m e l and Sharon, they shall see the glory o f the Lord, and the e x c e l l e n c y of our God” ( I saiah 35:1, 2)
national Conference of the World Zionist Organization. These students and scholars, states Dr. Kaliski, see in -the University a spiritual force which elevates Jewry to new Intellectual achievements. It will tend to regenerate the Jewish spirit and make Palestine again a cen ter of learning. Dr. Kaliski reports that the De partment of Jewish Studies in the Uni versity is constantly being expanded and that similar progress has taken place in the Chemical and Micro-bio- logical Institutes as well as in the Balfour-Elnstein Institute of Mathe matics and Physics. The Agricultural Experiment Station of the University is carrying on important experiments, the results of which are calculated to be of the greatest value to the agricul tural development of the country. The University Library, according to the chairman of the Hebrew University, has reached the stage of growth when it can favorably compare both in the rare quality and in the number of books and documents in its possession, with the libraries of the leading Euro pean and American universities.—The Scribe. __ Alfe. m JORDAN POWER USE NEAR From the Los Angeles Times we quote the following impressive item concerning development in Palestine. To all who are keeping their eyes upon movements among the Jews, it is quite evident that a new era in Jewry is dawning. We quote as folows: Development of hydroelectric power from the historic River Jordan is one of the enterprises in which the re turned Jews of Palestine are now much Interested, according to I. Ben- Zevle of Jerusalem, a member of the Jewish National Assembly of Pales tine. Mr. Ben-Zevie, who has been a resi dent of Jerusalem for the last nine teen years, is making a tour of this country in the interests of the move ment to encourage Jewish emigration to the Holy Land.
Jewish scholars and students in European countries r e g a r d with heightened interest and anticipation the growth of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, according to a statement Just issued by Dr. David J. Kaliski, the chairman of the Hebrew University Fund, who has Just returned from London after participating in the Inter“The wilderness and the sol “More than 80,000 Jews last year emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe to take up their abode in the land of their fathers,” said Ben-Zevie. “There are very few American Jews coming in, except such as are invited From the moment we approached Lydda the air was heavy with the se ductive scent of orange blossoms; it pervaded and perfumed the atmosphere redolent of the languor of the Oriental Garden. Sometimes the fragrance grew overpowering, the aroma intoxi cating, conjuring up all the wonders and charms of a thousand Arabian
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