July 23

— “This place is like a storybook dream coming true”
— Jerusalem Corridor – 1948 War of Liberation memorials
— Beer Sheva looking like a western “boom town”
— Israeli soldier’s knowledge of political & foreign affairs
— Dead Sea potash and bromide factories
— Floating in Dead Sea
— Israel’s iron, copper & magnesium mines

“…we went through the Jerusalem Corridor where we saw burned armed trucks that were left as monuments from the War of Liberation in 1948.“

Tuesday July 23, 1957, 2PM
Dear Folks,

This is the first chance I’ve had to write since Sunday night. This place is like a story book dream coming true.

Here goes. Monday morning, I woke up at 5 AM. We boarded the buses. First we went through the Jerusalem Corridor where we saw burned armed trucks that were left as monuments from the War of Liberation in 1948. Along the way you see small new forests & camps for newcomers. They have a new system now where they take them right from the boat & put them in this new village which is already prepared with waiting jobs.

I’m thrilled how easily I understand Hebrew. From Jerusalem we turned south along lush farmlands of what had been desert. Everything was booming. We hit Beer Sheva. It looked like a Western Boom town, except along the edge of town, were some huge industrial concerns for various industries. New buildings were going up all over the place, including beautiful parks. Near the middle of town was an army camp. It was conspicuous because you didn’t see a single gun anyplace. Each and every soldier was very friendly. I was amazed at the intense political knowledge of world & Israeli foreign affairs, on the part of almost every Israeli, & every single soldier I spoke to. The people are extremely confident & fearless. They would if necessary take on all the Arab countries & the can defeat them in 2 weeks.

Things are extremely quiet now along the borders. From Be’er Sheva we moved south along the Dead Sea. The land was desert, but the soil was extremely fertile having a layer of about 4 feet of topsoil. Wherever the irrigation lines reached the land it was green with stalks of corn 12 & 15 feet high.

We saw the homes of the new immigrants who were settling in the South. We stopped at the Dead Sea and saw the potash & bromide factories. They have huge salt drying ponds. Loads of trucks carry out the Potash & Bromide for use as exports, fertilizers & of course explosives. I then went for a swim into the Dead Sea. You could stay on top of the water and can’t drown even if you wanted to. I swam almost a third of the way and paddled back on my back. It felt great.

On the way back we stopped at the goat crater which is about 13 miles & completely surrounded by mountains. It is here that huge mined resources have been found, including, iron, copper, magnesium, etc.

No More Space so….Love to Everyone,
Bob

Comments:

Tuesday, July 23 1957, 2pm
Dear Folks,

“This place is like a storybook dream coming true”
July 23rd was the first day of actual touring and seeing Israel for the first time was like a “storybook dream coming true.” My father had learned Bible stories as a young boy, and now he was seeing the stories coming to life.

The number of places he saw in one day is a story in itself. I have read many books on Israel but I have not read any book that gives detailed descriptions about the Negev, the Dead Sea, Beer Sheva, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, kibbutzim and the northern part of the country etc., as my father did in his letters. He also described the factories and natural resources in each place.

“Here goes. Monday morning, I woke up at 5 AM. We boarded the buses.”
My dad wrote two letters on July 23rd. The first letter was at 2:00 PM, and the second letter was written late that night. He mentions that he woke up at 5:00 AM to board the buses. In the second letter he mentions the buses returning back to Jerusalem at 2:00 AM. That is a lot of touring – twenty-one hours of traveling in one day.

“First we went through the Jerusalem Corridor…where we saw burned armed trucks that were left as monuments from the War of Liberation in 1948.”
As a youngster, I remember visiting Israel for the first time with my family in 1970. He stopped our rented car and showed us the burned trucks from the 1948 War of Independence. He also described the battles to capture the road to Jerusalem and mentioned that when the British left Palestine, their weapons were deliberately left behind for the Arabs in their war against the Jews. Israel suffered many casualties, and it was a miracle they survived and established the Jewish State.

“I’m thrilled how easily I understand Hebrew.”
My dad learned his Hebrew in Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn as a child. I am fortunate that he also sent me to Yeshiva of Flatbush since it gave me a foundation of Hebrew at an early age. This helped me when I joined the Israeli Army and moved to Israel.

“We hit Beer Sheva. It looked like a western boom town, except along the edge of town, were some huge industrial concerns for various industries. New buildings were going up all over the place, including beautiful parks. “
My father was excited seeing Beer Sheva’s expanding industry since he understood its importance to the Israeli economy and its role in creating jobs.
I remember my parents praising Gidon Patt, of blessed memory, who headed their 1957 summer program and later became Israel’s Minister of Industry and Trade.
Gidon was the person who arranged the group’s itinerary which included bringing the youth to see Israel’s developing industrial sites.

“From Jerusalem……We hit Beer Sheva… stopped at the Dead Sea”
There was no direct route from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea in 1957 and one could only access the southern part of the Dead Sea. The northern Dead Sea was controlled by Jordan and not accessible to Jews and Israelis.(Judea and Samaria – also known as the West Bank – was controlled by Jordan and one could not travel directly east from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.)

The only way to get to the Dead Sea then was via a very long, round-about route. It meant traveling from Jerusalem west to Latrun, and then going south to Beer Sheva and then east, passing what is now known as Arad, until finally reaching the southern Dead Sea.

In total, the ride from Jerusalem to the southern Dead Sea took approximately four hours on mostly unmaintained and windy roads. Today, it takes about thirty minutes to reach the northern Dead Sea and one and a half hours to reach the southern Dead Sea when traveling directly east from Jerusalem. (for more on the Dead Sea, see “Dead Sea Region” topic.)

”We stopped at the Dead Sea and saw the potash & bromide factories. They have huge salt drying ponds. Loads of trucks carry out the potash & bromide for use as exports, fertilizers & of course explosives. “

“I then went for a swim into the Dead Sea. You could stay on top of the water and can’t drown even if you wanted to. I swam almost a third of the way and paddled back on my back. It felt great.”

Ein Gedi
When my father returned to Israel in 1970 as a married man with four children, he would always take us to the Dead Sea, and then to Ein Gedi. The contrast between these two sites, so close to one another, always amazed me. We went from a place where the water was totally undrinkable, to an oasis of delicious spring water. Only in Israel!