In 1957, the popular mode of international communication from Israel was through wirtten letters, aerogrammes and postcards.
International phone calls were mostly limited to government officials. Of course, cellphones, email, Whatsapp and Instagram did not exist.
September 1, 1957 Sunday
Dear Mom, Dad and Alan,
I just finished supper in my hotel in Jerusalem. Tomorrow I am leaving with Paul (the one I am going to Europe with) and another American and an Israeli for a trip to Tel Aviv and Haifa for few days. For this purpose we have rented jeep. Of course, my travel dates in Europe are as yet indefinite.
The way it looks now, I will leave Israel this Thursday and get home to New York sometime between (?) and 19th of September. It will depend on flights around and from Europe. I realize how indefinite it is and will make you wonder where I am, but as you can see, I have no choice. When I get to New York at the airport, I will call you and ask you to pick me up, okay?
I know you can’t answer my mail since I won’t be there then. Mail from you is hard to find since the Jewish Agency mixes things up. Before I leave Jerusalem, I will try to find it.
I hope everyone is ok and that we will be together soon. Time to close,
Love,
Bob
September 1, 1957 Sunday
“Of course, my travel dates in Europe are as yet indefinite.”
We know he went to Europe as we have a picture of him in Paris. My dad never talked about Paris. The only time I remember him talking about the French was when he organized a boycott against Charles DeGaulle and Georges Pompidou following their arms embargo against Israel.
”When I get to New York at the airport, I will call you”
In 1957 it was almost impossible to give a clear time when to be picked up from the airport. There was no internet and Bob had no access to a phone.
“Mail from you is hard to find since the Jewish Agency mixes things up.”
I do not know exactly what the role of the Jewish Agency was in the distribution of mail. It is possible that they held the mail for the different youth groups and would sometimes mix up the mail, since the groups slept in different locations. This made it difficult to know where to forward the mail to.
The only one who probably knew how the mail was sorted, was Gideon Patt who headed the ZOA summer tour group in 1957. Sadly, he passed away in April, 2020, before I had a chance to ask him.
