He was the greatest diplomat the State of Israel ever produced, and perhaps the greatest in Jewish history. He became the articulate and devoted voice of big ideas, some of which he did not always accept privately, yet he believed wholeheartedly in the clear and undeniable right of the Jews to political independence in their historic homeland. This is the story of a man born at the southern tip of Africa, raised and educated in Britain between the two world wars, who became the official spokesman of the young State of Israel at its most critical moments.
Hauser’s List: The Man Who Saved Hundreds of Jewish Musicians from Europe
The story you are about to read has remained hidden for 85 years. It is a story of music, beauty, and compassion – through which hundreds of lives were saved from the clutches of the Nazis, right under the watchful eye of the British Mandate authorities. This is the story of Emil Hauser, a gifted musician and a national hero.
A Young Yitzhak Rabin Gives His First Interview
He was “level-headed, moderate, coolly analytical, with the lowest bass voice ever heard over the IDF’s combat radio,” and his “number of operations was as great as the number of freckles that once covered his face.” Lt. Col. Yitzhak Rabin gave his first interview to an army newspaper at the age of 27.
Mystery Solved: Uncovering the “Lost Mona Lisa” of Israeli Botanical Art
The posters of the historic “Don’t Pick Wild Flowers!” campaign were part of the childhood landscape of countless Israelis in the 1960s and changed the country’s relationship with nature itself. Yet the original illustrations, painted by Mary Grierson and Heather Wood, disappeared and were long forgotten, until they were found quite by accident.
“They were witnesses to everything that happened”: Preserving Objects from October 7
After October 7, five women, three of them childhood friends, came together to found “Comfort Object”, an initiative that gives new life to items rescued from the destroyed homes of residents of Israel’s western Negev. Along the way, it has managed to offer a measure of hope to people who lost nearly everything. Among the salvaged items are a bench that survived a fire, a bullet-riddled armchair that served as a silent witness to the horrors, and the only object that remained from the home of the late Yossi Sharabi.
Louis Armstrong’s Star of David
He was one of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, and to this day is considered the most iconic trumpeter in history. Although he wasn’t Jewish, he wore a Star of David necklace around his neck for most of his life. The necklace was a tribute to the Jewish family who helped raise him, and even helped him purchase his very first instrument. This is the story of the legendary musician whose soul became entwined with that of the Karnofsky family, and the scandal that broke out when he visited Israel.
Bringing Medical Care to the Desert: Wilhelmina Cohen and the Early Years of Soroka Hospital
She was the only pediatrician in all of Be’er Sheva, devoting herself 24 hours a day to her young patients, both in the hospital and on house calls across the Negev Desert on her Vespa. This is the remarkable story of Dr. Wilhelmina Cohen and the pioneering generation of medical professionals who together founded Soroka Hospital.
Remembering Jawad Amer: The War’s First Fallen Druze Soldier
On the third day of the ongoing war, Jawad, 23, was killed in battle, the first of 14 Druze-Israeli soldiers to fall. His family and his hometown of Hurfeish remember him with pride.
When Meyer Lansky Walked His Dog in Tel Aviv
The American-Jewish gangster lived in Israel for two years and wanted to stay, but was forced out in 1972 when Israel’s interior minister declared him an unsavory character.
Saved From the Rubble: The Story of Israel’s PhotoHouse
The historic “PhotoHouse” shop on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv was severely damaged in a recent Iranian missile attack. But what exactly was the life’s work of photographer Rudi Weissenstein, and why does it hold a special place in so many hearts?
