8 - The Canodian Jewish News, Fridoy, Feb. 10, 1961
a short story
By YEHOSHUA BARZIUf
SULTANA-A REMARKABtE SABRA
YehoshuQ Barzilai (Eisenstadt) -(1856 - 1918) settled in Palestine in 1887 and was active in the colonization ot the country, playing' 0 leading role in the loundolion of the villages of Hadera, Reho-Vot, Beertuvia, Metulla and Mish-mor Hayarden. His stories and es-loy«, collected in Kitvei Yehoshua Barzilai - from which Sultano is token • constitute on involuoble confribution towards the history r* the modern resettlement of Palestine.
NEW BROCHURE issued by Canadian Jewish Congress Central Region lists close to 150 distinguished lecturers and artists available to groups and communities through the recently-launched Community Lecture Bureau.
LECTURE BURiiU AT WORK
During the past few weeks, a number of speakers on a diversity of subject'; have been provided by the C!ommunity Lecture Bureau, a special service of the Canadian Jewish Congre.ss. to a number of communities in the Region as well as to orpanizations and congregations in Toronto. ' Niagara Falls:
Adult Education Study Group. Beth Jacob Congregation. Chair-tnan: D. Pullen; Speaker: Alan A. Borovoy; Subject: "Social Conscience of the Modem Jew". WeUand:
Joint  cultural evenings with communities of Niagara Falls and Port  Colbome.    1. Chairman: Bernard   Ennis;   Adult Educ. Chmn: Dr. Julius Ennis; Panel-Discussion:    "Changing Jewish Values in a Changing World"; Moderator: Alan A. Borovoy: Panelist:    David    Satok, Sidney Peck;  David   Lewis   Stein. 2.. Speaker: Victor Sefton; Subject: , "Jewish Values in the Contem-' porary World". j Peterborough:
B'nai B'rith Lodge No 1392,. with Jewish Welfare Council. I Panel Discussion: "Should We Censor The Bigot"; Moderator: i Alan A. Borovoy; Panelists: Joe Goldenberg, Sidney Peck, David j Lewis Stein.
LECTURES IN TORONTO
B'nai Israel Beth David Cong.. Dqwn.svii'w:
; Rabbi Albert Pappenheini. ^d\.ll\ Education Chairman: Max Ckiody; Speaker: Elliot Pepper Q.C; Subject: "Society and the Problem of Crime". Shaarei Shomayim Cong,
1. P.T.A. Chairman: Adult Educ. Victor Sefton; Speaker: M. ■ J. Nurenberger: Subject: "Jewish Education". 2. Brotherhood Break-fa.st Club. Chainnan: Ralph Eiig.-ion: Speaker: Juliu.s Soko-lofl: .'Subject :"Sholoni Aloicheni - Hi.s Life and Hi.'; Writings", Ora  Chapter of Hadassah
Chainnan: Lorraine Levine; Adult Educ. Chmn: Jeanette Stein and Tanya Hurowitz; Speaker: Samuel Kelner; Subject: "Jews Behind the Iron Curtain". Carmel Chapter of Hadassah
Chairman: Gilda Auerbach; Adult Educ. Chmn: Ruth Young; Speaker: Jerome Diamond: Subject: "Personality of the Jewish Family".
Queen City Chapter No 77t B'nai B'rith Women
Chairman: Lll Abrams; Adult Educ. Chmn: Laura Greenberg: Speaker: Peter Martin; Subject: "Your Mind Alive — Changes and Challenges". Violet Davis Study Group Nat. Coun. Jewish Women
, Chairman: Mrs. May Karp; Adult. Educ. Chmn: Mrs. Rosalie Shadlyn; Speaker: Dr. H. Fenig-stein; Subject: "European Jewry: 1918-1M9". Cluh Eilal.
Pioneer Women's Org.
Chairman: Etty Danzig; Adult Educ. Chmn: Etty Danzig and Tern Weiser; Speaker: Mrs. Abe Lpvii-'p; Subject: "Changing Values in a Changing Society ^ A \V\j:ii;i!is Point of View". Jewish Home for the Aged
Chainnan: Mrs.   Ivy ■ Krehm (Recreation Dept.K Speaker: Mr. Morris Stem; Subject: fin Yiddish)   "Jewish  Comnmnities in South America". Council's Good Age Qub at Stiaarei Shoma;.viin Cong: j   Chairman: Mrs. B. Thompson fGood Age Worker); Speaker; Mr. Kalman Berger; Subject; "Chas-sidism".
Y. M. & Y. W. H. A.
Good Age Club
Chairman: Mrs. B. Thompson (Good  Age Worker); Speaker: I Rabbi Immanuel Schochet; Subject : "Cha.ssidism". Beth El Sisterhood
Chairman: Mrs. H. Hershom; Adult Educ. Chnm: Mrs. M, Agies; Speaker: Jack Burke; Subject: "The Shtetl — Ideal and Reality."
1 was very weary for I had been climbing "over the crumb ling ruins of Arbel, so I paid no heed to the warnings of the soldier who was accompanying me, nor to the gathering darkne.ss oFlTpproaching night. I sal with thli! soldier of mine on the jnai, whifih the landlord of ^the Be'er Yosef inn had spread for us with true Eastern cordiality, and thirsty as I was I greedily sipped the boiling coffee from the tiny glass.
"Hurry, sir. hurry! The world ii dark, the road is not good, we mu.st fear!" my soldier urged me in Arabic once more.
With all my heart I desired lo hearken to his warning, for I was familiar with this road and its terrors, and all the mi.shaps lurking in wait for the night traveller,  e.specially  at  a time when the Druze were beginning to be seen along it once more. But my tired limbs refused to obey me. Come what might. I had to restore my strength with several hours of sleep, i   It was in the last third of the i month of lyar. 565-(189-), at a I time    when    travellers were 'I abroad on the usually deserted roads of Galilee, and the hope crept into my heart that some caravan of belated Zoharim (pilgrims) would chance my way.
It was already the second watch; big bright stars rested ' on the tops of the Mountain.s of Naphtali, their broken rays hghting the rocky, narrow path up which our horses climbed. Even that dim light .showed that we wese proceeding along the brink of dried-up chasms, and that one false step would .suffice to scatter our bones even before they reached the dreadful, sharp rocks, which we could see as if ready and waiting.below.
Apparently our. good horses sen.sed the full extent of their re.spon.sibiliiy. for they moved on j sure-foot edly. ascending with | amazing caution. Now we were approaching the crest of the steep slope. Our horses' heads were lifted high, as if they were:
BRITISH - ISRAELI TALKS ON MAGNESIUM
Jerusalem, (JCNS) Talks bet-i ween a British finn and the Israeli Government about the production of magnesium com-poimds by a cheap process invented by an Israeli scientist ; began here.
Representatives of the London firm, Nordac Limited, are negotiating with officials of the Israel Development Industrj' for the extension of their licence rights in the U.K. and Belgium, which ■ had been acquired for the exploitation of the invention of the late Dr. David Amman, a fonner lecturer in physical chemistry at the Hebrew University.
i pursuing the two stars resting
■ on  the  mountain-top; but the
■ stars were- .very warj', and, as i we drew but a~^little nearer to ] them.^they mischievously fled, I and were now settled on the : ridge which blocked our~path.
But pur horses, too, did not tire ' of the  pursuit.  These Arabian [ steeds damberecf^^e wild beasts over the ridge that rose almost perpendicular like a wall. We , reached the top at last, but alas! i We had not caught them. The stars were already fixed in the blue  vault enclosing the range, of mountains and looked down mo.st innocently as if they had never moved from their places Now our horses hung their hrads; ' even they now realised they would never reach the stars.
We halted on a wide road paved with huge slabs of stone. By this road we must yet descend to the valley, and then we would again climb up another precipitous hill towering ahead of us.
I breathed deeply, relieved, for now we would ride for a while on a broad, straight highway. I struck my horse and galloped along this good road. I
"Be careful sir, this road pav-. ed with stone is like glass!" my; soldier called out.
My horse's feet, which slipped several times, soon proved that the soldier was right. ;
A  question  began to occupy me. "Was this the remnant of a road made by my ancestors or by the Romans who laid my country waste?" But I could not i pursue this thought further, for ■ I was compelled to imitate my; .soldier who was riding ahead of me. and to shorten my horse's rein .so as to force is to rai.se its head. All my thoughts were con-; centrated on   guarding against the   slipperiness  of   the. road, which   had  already  been the cau.se of many broken lees.
"Your pistol, .sir!" my soldier suddenly called out to me, as he , quickly  lowered his rine from his shoulder and gripped it in his right hand across the saddle. i
"There are riders," he said to' me softly.  Indeed,^ behind  me | I heard a sound like that of galloping horses.
"Don't be afraid, those are our friends from the settlement," I reassured my soldier. But I was doubly afraid. Horses cour.yng ^ along such a road were sufficient; to arouse my   suspicions, buti there was also  my soldier, a j stranger to me whom I had taken i with me from Nazareth only the j day before (even though it was: on the recommendation of the innkeeper from whom I had hired my horse). "God alone knows j what this fellow is. plotting," Ij brooded.
"At night there are no friends!" muttered my soldier, as If in reply.
The sound of the riders behind us came closer; their galloping along such a dangerous road con-finned our surmise' that they were pursuing us. We could not escape them:—they would easily overtake us, while any display of fear would make naught of a'l our hopes of resisting them. So we rode on slowly, as carefully a,s before.
"By God. one of them is a wo-! man!" .said my soldier.
Now the riders were visible. T'hree of them wore black aqalim round their   heads   and were ^wrapped  in~ black abayas; the ,-feurth was wra:pped in an abaya white as .sufjw, which also covered the head.   Apparently jaj:. soldier had been right—the movements  were gentle  and aristo-: cratic like those of a woman.
"Good. people! Is this the way to 'le settlement?" The rider's , apparel and weapons reassured us. We reali.sed that they were Government troops—the best e'curts on the road. .
"A little fa.ster!" si!d one of the riders to my soldier, spurring on his horse.
' The rider dres.sed in a white abaya approached us. The abaya had .'^lipped back revealing a veil, which was also raised, over the face. I could now .see that it was the face of a young maiden •bedecked in rich Arab dre.ss. From her neck hung a dagger in a fine scabbard of gleaming silver, ant there was a pi.stol on either side of her saddle.
Were our horses getting used to the slippery .surface, or was it, possibly the company that was affecting them? Now they galloped in step with our new escorts; , their ankles did not give, and | they snorted with joy. • j I raised my hat as a sign of' greeting and respect to the woman rider. j "Salaam aleikum!" she answer-; ed in Arabic, and asked whether I was from Rosh Pinah.
She told me that she was from 1 Damascus and   had   t)een in Meiron for the Lag Be'Omer festival. Now she was on her way i back from Tiberias, where she i had been visiting her old father. She intended to stay for several days in the local administration biiilding at Rosh Pinah, where she would find her betrothed, the ; Government Officer of the Her- [ rnon district. And the troops were I accompanying her at the order i of her father, the Governor. !
Never had I so regretted my Inadequate, knowledge of Arabic. It is.trlie I understood quite well most of what she said, but I could not properly reply or indeed utter anything sensible. As though to spite me, she spoke only Arabic- and a little Spanish, while her voice was very sweet and inspired conversation.
In our short talk I had already exhausted my fund of Arabic. \ but in the course of it had nol
girls, too, were learning, and that this was a duty which wa« essential for the existence of our people.
"I know a little!" she admitted with some pride, and recited the Shema to me in a good Sephardi accent,
Did the night breeze of spring, which bears on its wings the myrrh of Lebanon, the scents of Hermon and the perfumes of the Jordan,  breathe   another spirit
: .said the half of what I. ought into me, and loo.sen my tongue I have said, even out of mere po : that my lips could .speak~ a I lilene.<s.        _ j jmiguage which wa.s strange to
The stone highway came to ui; ' me, or did my iiiiagi-nation ,de-' end. as though cut off by ao,;^ ceive' me? But this I remember i invi.>;ible hand. Now. again, we j well ^veii now: Throughout the ; climbed up a sleep mountain by ' hour that we rode on the plateau a narrow path be.strewn    with : which leads  to Rosh  Pinah I boulders. The troopers went ahead spoke to Sultana and explained i of jjg. My new acquaintance, who ' to her everything that had hap-' had already told me that  her pened in these places long ago. , name was Sultana, consented to nnd that the duty pf her father, ride alongside' ine. The path she  (he Governor, and her bethroth-
left to my horse, and all my rehionstrance whs of no .ivail:
ed. the Government Officer, was to extend the ;irta   of Jewish
her noble horse leapt Ii'-:" ii ivnci  ro'oni.'-iitiou u.".d help our di.spers-
Civer the sltarp nick> and bo;i; ders. Had it not been for hi'
ed brelhren tn settle heie.- A. nod of her lovely head and the sparkle
soft,   pleasant   voice  I   would of her burning eyes testified thai
have thought   that Reuma  hud .she understood what I had
been  restored to life and wa.' and when I told her that these
eager to display her prowes.---. A desolate  spots   would   yet be
large, silvery ball appeared abovr revived and    beautiful Jewish
the mountains on my righ:, and villages like Rosh Pinah would
as it  went on rising  it   grew rover   all   these . wastes, she
continually .smaller. After .som-' exclaimed with great enthusiasm:
minutes we could .see the shape "Oh. Ctod grant it I"
of the moon in the blue dome arched over us. Now we were
At the cros.sroads I held out mv hand to her and turned my
on a plateau, from which we horse to the right, to the road could see the white top of Hermon .(^,j,ich leads to Mi.shmar Ha-reaching tip to the blue dome, | yarden.
and the silvery winding .serpent going forth from Lake Meiron. and hurrying on to Lake Kin-neret.
"Wait  a moment!"  said-Sultana, and with the swiftness of a deer she sprang   from her horse, gathered some of the wild Twinkling lights   announced , flowers growing around and tied
them in a bunch which she presented to me. "A rose of the
the proximity of a .settlement. "On the mountain." said Sul
tana, pointing to Hermon. "will'Jordan! Let this remind us of
be my home. We already live on our pleasant meeting!" she said.
It;  from my father's house in raising her crop to   her horse
Dama.r^us we can .see the snow which  sped away swift as an
which covers it, until often it eagle.
seems that you can touch it with Eight years later I happened
your hand though it is more than be in one of-the small towns
a whole day's journey away from of Hermon. My business brought
us." me to the house of   the local
To my.question as to whether Government Officer, and while I
she  knew Hebrew she  replied was still sitting in the hall walt^
with a little giggle, "That is the ing for him to come out, I heard
language of the Rabbis." (behind me a sweet voice saying.
She listened to my broken Arabic, in which I endeavoured to explain to her that Hebrew was now a living language which
"A rose of the Jordan!" There stood Sultana and, pointing to her husband, she said to, me in Hebrew: "This is my lord!"
'COMPUTER FOR CULTURE' OFFERS MAJOR AID OF CONGRESS TO ONTARIO JEWISH LIFE
What the electronic computer imans to the business world, what the railway schedule mieans the traveller — this may, well be what a newly-expanded service offered by the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Regipn, is going to mean to Ontario's Jewish ciommimities.
Organization of the Comniunity Lecture Bureau,  with a wide-
ranging roster of speakers and artist-lecturers specializing in all nianner of subjects, is expected to ease considerably the problems of program chairmen and organization leaders throughout the province's 30 Jewish communities.
RANGE FROM 'A' TO 'Z'
A 56-page printed brochure has been made available as the first
; major step in the expansion of I what has always been a service offered by the Congress offices, but never before in   such an organized fashion.
The brochure, lists a total of 14S lecturers, men and women who by profession, sholarship and interest are making important contributions in various areas of Jewish and general Canadian life.
I I I I I
• Your week-end adventure info the fascinating circle of Jewish fhinkers and w<ifers
• Your week end trip around the Jewish world.
The news weekly for pecDpIe whose .time'is  .      . — limited,.but whose interests are not .
Use this coupon to enter or renew your Canadian Jewish New^s S(jbscripfidni 1 Year $5.00.    ,   (□ 3;Years $10.00    - □.Foreign: iYe^
Lj Bill me     ;~lNew;Subscriplion     q Renewaf
They literally range from A to Z, and brief biographic sketches as well as possible lecture topics are given with the name of each speaker; The lecturers, who will charge no fee, include well-known Jews and nOn-Jews. many of them from the communities outside Toronto.
EVEN  'ORGANIZATION JEW
Included also are 13 professional "artist-lecturers", comprising some of the top talent in their respective fields. The bureau even offers suggestions for the "line-up" of panels dealing with at least 10 different topics.
Speech topics offered by the di.stingtushed group of lecturers cover a. lot of territorj'. Jewish commimities can pick and choose from such suggested subjects as "The Teenager as He Sees Him, self", ''Jewish Existentialism" "Experiences as a Prison Chaplain", "Should Jews Seek Converts", "Organized :Religious Life in the Diaspora", "A   Jew in
Politics", "An Analysis of Anti-Semitism", "Jews and Alcoholism", "Backstage on TV", Jewish Women hi Many Lands". "The Eichmarm Case", "The Theatre Today". "The Role of a Jewish Press". "The Great Books That Shaped Jewish Life",, and many, many more.
Panel presentations range from "The Arts in Canada" to "Africa, Asia and Israel" to "The 'Organization' Jew—An Evaluation". .
Congress leaders have expres-, sed the hope that this lecture bureau service will be found especially useful for programming for Jewish MtLslc Month, Jewish Book Month and. other adult education programs and general cultural activities. .
In the forewad to the brochure, Mrs. Esther M. Cooper,' Bureau chairman., voices the hope that this '-intensified .ser\'ice will be of signiiticant assistance to the Jewish coiiimimity, its organizations' and groups, in the interest of a better iiiformed and more dynamic Jewish life."
United Appedl awards were presented to three people ot.o meeting of the Inter-Ethnic Executive Gom-mittee of the United Community Fund of Greater Toronto dt their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, Jonuory 25th. They were for successfully 3ublicizing the cduse of United Appeal, both before and ofter the 1960 Campaign, Signed by. Dr. Harvey Gruickshonk, Chairman of the I960 United Appear Campaign, the awords were presented by Mr. Williom H. Risley, Chairman of the Ihter-Etlinic Executive Committee. From left to righf, those in the picture ore: Mr, W.iliiom Weis, who received the bward on behalf. of the .German-Canadian Business and Professipnol Associates Inc., Toronto, for the booth donated to United Appedl at their annual Christmas Fair at Gosa Lome; Mr. Frqri!< Glogowski, editor of the semi-weekly Polish "Zwiazkowiec",' for publicity given in his newspdper; and Mr. Mike Janecek, formerly editor of "Novy Domov", who gained considerable support for United Appeal through the ethnic Press club and ethnic newspapers. At the extreme,right is Mr. Risley, Ghairmon of the Committee.
H
1 J
EI
The annual dinner of ti>e Beth Yitshak congregation was held at the Synagogue at 119 Barse St. on Sunday January J5th. -
The congregation which , la comprised of Toronto Hungarian
Jews is led by the eminent Rab--Klein's immense Talmudic bacfc;. Mr. Arthur.MindenQ.C._^pres> Guest artists were Mr.. E. bi Ernest Klein. Ajpecial guest i ground as well as Jo his mohu-j ident of the Toronto branch of Bosner former tenor of the Hun-was Rabbi Yaacob . Duschinsky, j'mentaljvorks whicTh'he lias-just; the Hebrew University spoke on ^ garian State Opera House iru.Bu.
Director of the ; Ally ah .World |ico^ namely ;=the Etyiriblor
Federation "of Hungarian Jews, He paid high tribute to Rabbi
gical Dictionary__of the English Language.
the   accomplishments of University and :its place in world. ■ —
the i dapest and Miss' Liine-MaiigelS::, thejdorf^who rendered some classical I selections on the piano. -
I J PoynienI ehcloscc'
PLEASE PRINT
-ZONE
, PROV.
('he Canadian Jev/ish NevVs, 1396 l^flintoif Ave. W;, Toronto (10), Ontario ; A MbSt APRRECIATEb GIFT FOR A BAR MITZVAH, OR/NEWLY-WED COUPLE i
Those shown (f/otVt leftto right)^ Mrs. J. Borgido - Dr. J.. Bdrg'ida - Rabbi Yaacob Di!|schinsky - Mr. M. Baker. - Rabbt, D\. Erne$t Klein.-Mrs
Arthur Mindert - Mr. Arthur Minden Q.C. - Mrs. P. Horvath - Mr. P. Horvath. j