ly that represented, in the city of Bagdad alone, well over 500 million dollars. The second requirement was that each Jew had to promise, on threat of death, that he would never come back to Bagdad. With these conditions accepted, the Jewish people in Bagdad began to leave. A giant airlift was carefully planned. Planes were secured by lease and loan from different countries. The problem was, however, that the Arabs of Bagdad wouldn’t allow the Israeli planes to land in their city, so great was their contempt for the Jewish people. It was necessary, therefore, for the refugees from Bagdad to be flown first to Cypress and from there on to Israel. This was, of course, more costly and time-con suming. It is interesting to pause here to inject a little section of a verse from Isaiah 11:14 to the effect that they would even fly west from the east! Before the children of Is rael in Bagdad ever left the airport for Cypress, they were carefully and methodically searched by Arab police. Any rings, jewelry, cash and excess clothing were stripped from them. Only that clothing which they actual-
ly had on their backs was allowed to remain. When they arrived in Israel, they were absolutely penniless, com pletely poverty-stricken. It was then that Dr. Chaim Weisman declared triumphantly, “Now we see the end of the Babylonian captivity.” The next is the statement in the Word of God from Isaiah 43:5, “I will gather thee from the west.” The significant aspect of this revolves around the fact that in the Hebrew gather means to collect or to assem ble. The thing to keep in mind is that there is a great deal more of selec tivity which is maintained. The in gathering is not the same as the East where great numbers have come. When we think of the west, immedi ately it brings to mind the United States. Do you know that here in our beloved land there is the largest set tlement of Jewish people to be found anywhere ? More than five mil lion Jews live in our country. In Israel today, conservative estimates place the population anywhere from two and a half to three millions of people. In actuality, very few Jewish peo ple in our country have gone to the Holy Land to set up residence. Statis tically, the last figures we saw would place about 0.6% having gone from the United States, while 23 to 28% from the eastern part of the world have returned. There are several specific reasons for this. One is quite obvious while the other perhaps is more important. The standard of liv ing enjoyed here in the United States by the Jewish people is higher than any place they could possibly find in the world. There are many opportunities which are afforded the energetic and industrious. The sec ond reason is that God has had a purpose for few to go from America, for He has real use for them here. Keep in mind that in America, as well as many other free nations, mil lions of dollars have been raised through such efforts as the United
Campus development has been carried on by the Maintenance Department of the school. Landscaping was recently put in around several of the major buildings. Here Gary Hunter, one of the employees, prepares the ground for the actual work of lawn- seeding.
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