PASSOVER IN JERUSALEM

Evening Star, Issue 16824, 28 August 1918, Page 2

PASSOVER IN JERUSALEM

1918. ("From the Journal of a Jewish Officer, Attached to General Headquarters, Palestine.] I _ON THE ROAD. March 27th. . . . The car arrived, and at 8.45 we skidded bravely through ■the toft fap.d en to the wire road. Hie day was c;uite glorious. The sky just a pale water-blue, studded with cotton-wool i-louds; a-smiling sun, hot, but tempered bv the hroesoe ... "Dvo east fox a while on t'ne wire road, winding slightly, between the orchards and almond gardens, grey-green and irosh. Everywhere- were vineyards, tho low gnarfed branches just beginning to leaf. Up av 4 down, foDcwing tho road Ull til comes into sight, its two towers silhouettted grey and whit* against tho sky. Round oai to the hard road, past the old ruined Mosquo tower, a squat littlo khaki-clad Algerian, with a rod "pillbox" cap. on guard. Many soldiers, horses, lorries, and forage waggons were on the move j little Arab children cleaning the roads, women with water-jars and petrol tine oil tliair beads, walking to the well;---everywhere «n early morning stir «nd bustle.

Now out on to tho flat open road, across the gently rising plain, straight for Jerusalem. The. country is flat and open; occasional flat, moulds, but in the distance tho highlands of Judea, their big curved sides and slopes falling swiftly, interseamed by innumerable wadis and folds. To tho south they rise, while to tho north they grow smaller, until they vanish in the hazv distance . . .

On and on at a. good speed, but pulling up here and there when, tho road is bumpy. ... On the right is B on a mound, a close-huddled group of mud brick huts, the thatch grass-covered and a brilliant green. 0)i and on, past strings of Arab-owned arses on the road edges, laden heavily with double sacks of oranges, men and boys trudging behind with yet more sacks on fiieiv heads. Soon K is reached, surrounded by cactus hedges, a little collection of nvtd-plastered huts, with brown Arab children playing in the dust. As we go on, still more Arab_ villages appear, Tel-cl-Jes-er on tho right, on the low mound where formerly stood Gezer, the "Royal City." We rist> now more sharply., until by a zigzag road we reach the summit of tho hill, the valo of Ajalon below. Down a second " hairpin " road—a. wonderful piece of engineering—but an excited native mshes out, stops us for a moment until a powder charge has lilt, blasting some limestone rock into a shower of stone and debris for the roaci, which, here is embanked with heavy boulders. Aoros'3 Ajalon towards Latnm, on the way meeting much traffic—a dust-caked howitzer battery coming out of action, the gumsvrs,

as brown as the earth, already with sun helmets, although they come from tho hill>. On the left of the road, in tho churned and furrowed earth, horse transport is moving; while further on an ugly tractor clangs' merrily along, its huge engine clattering a:;d fretting, the caterpillar belts jingling, but it makes good headwny.

Nov/ we come to the hills; the entrance, through the Wacly Ali, watched by a charming Italian villa, balconied and partly ruined. . . . Here and there caves and pools by tho roadside, half-filled with muddy water. Iu the grass a few ass and camel skeletons lie, picked clean by the jackals. The road, rising in the narrow defile, turns and twists in the Wadi bed, here cut into the rock, heTe banked and buttressed. Suddenly a littlo pop, a flapping clatter, and we pull up with a burst tyre. While changing the cover and tube two Rolls-Royce swing past, the Comman-der-in-chief ensconced in the first on his way east. After an impatient 20 minutes we set in again and off, but tho road here 13 bad, and" wo make little speed. The hills are wonderful—big, curved, bald, grey slopes, studded with rocks and boulders by the ten / thousand, and interspersed by rock strata, now horizontal, now sloping, like a layer-contour relief map, covered sparsely with coarse greygreen grass and occasional stunted Bushes. . . . I'p to tho north, peering like a small detached eye, an observation balloon hangs, spotting for some battery still further north. Another aeroplane drones as it wends its way south,, the aluminium engine casing gleaming in the sun, tho roar coming and going with the windgusts. ... In tho cool, clear distance, as we rise again, the sea is seen, shining far, far away in the distance framed between two hill-tops. . ... Up and up, the air cooler and fresher. ... At last tho flat tableland is reached, and the bold limestone suburbs stand out, well built and substantial, in the clear sunlight. Down the hill—between these big isolated buildings—but soon after passing the Jewish colonies to the north-west the houses merge into streets, and then with a turn up to the loft we pass down a narrow and steep hill and pull up at tho Military Governor's by the Damascus Gate. lI.—IN JERUSALEM:. . . . . J. sent us in on foot with an old, old man, Jewish, with greasy sido locks, old and bent, a high, quavering voice. He took us along, showering blessings on us in Hebrew, until wo came to H.*s house to the north-west of the town, beyond a rocky waste, strewn with ledges and boulders. The house, with a garden in front, belonged to a rich Bokharan Jew, now in America, and -was tho "rest" of the Jewish soldiers in Jerusalem for Passover. A gigantic placo of stone, many big rooms, all off a wide corridor like ;'i hotel. Very big and bare and airy. After a queer little dinner there . . . into the city, when suddenly we go back 2,000 years, between those 'high cliff-like walls, between the dingy, dark cellar shops, and winding round and round, lost in tho maze of interlacing alleys, full of a crowd of jostling Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, French; asses driven by dirty boys, through all its squalor and filth, yet picturesque and bizarre beyond comparison, every view and vista a priceless picture, a fresh surprise in every bend and corner.

Down and down, over the broad, flat, cobbled steps, getting further and further into the heart of the city, then underground in the evil, damp and dark, smelling bazaars, the light filtering through in patches, the little shop booths with their small, cheap stocks, the carpenters, tho shoemakers, the alleys crowded. Suddenly, after further descent, into a small courtyard, with high, beautiful stone walls, with a lovely wall fountain of stone, a gem in so much decay and destruction. Til en through a huge stone doorway into a great open courtyard, on two levels, the outer one some twenty feet lower. Up some broad, flat steps into the main court, under a beautiful triple arch, and in front was tho Dome of the Rock (the Mosque of '. Omar, on the site of tho Temple). The most exquisite harmony of colors was blended in tho lower halls—octagonal, of glazed porcelain—while above a huge leaden brown dome. Around, stretching on all sides, the broad, cool, paved court, dotted with little shrines and fountains, the three minarets to the west while on the beyond tho "wall" the Mount'of, Olives in the sunshine—all so lovely ! j lII.—PASSOVER. I

As we went back to H.'s great houso we passed throngs of Bokharan Jews, with their holiday robes of ma-gnifieeiit-colored silk and plush fur-edged gowns, completed by fur-brimmed felt hats—a most picturesque and old-world vesture —all going up to the reception. We arrived to find all the "men " outside. We walked round, climbed up a wall, and found- ourselves in a very representative gathering of officers and •'notabilities." . . . Introduced to

the rabbi, a venerable old man with a long white beard. . . . Soon, heralded by all the Maccabees (of whom many lined the garden), came the Jewish soldiers on leave for the occasion, with great applause, and drew up on the grass below us. Behind, a. glorious panova-n/a of Jerusalem, a fitting background for such an occasion. ■ . . We jumped down from the wall and joined" the men. Then speeches in Hebrew by the rabbi, by tho local leader of the volunteer movement, by and and many others. All were much moved by the tremendous significance of

the occasion—the first Passover in a free Jerusalem. . . . Then a young soldier, I think from England, got up tho steps, and in excellent, vivacious, and impassioned Hebrew thanked our hosts—a most wonderful spoeh. Then N. spoke n few words, and we dissolved for the time being in cheers, after Habikvah (the Zionist hymn) and " Tho King " —a most moving ceremony. . . . Then fell in the men outside, and took them up into tho house along the corridor in the gloaming, to tho little open sort of winter garden—a skylight, four pillars, and tiled floor—bare and cool. Here, standing, we had the evening service, one soldier holding a lamp, while in the half-light wo all gathered round and said prayers, each of as reading the Englioh in turn. It was all so friendly ■ana simplo, and the surroundings so real, that the war was forgotten and one lived again at peace. Then wo led into the big dining hall, with the little, high table for tho chaplains and N., who helped to officiate, and many lone tables for us and the men. Tho Seder service (the family service for the firrt sight of S&is-soveri was read, all the full ritual and ceremony being observed. There followed an immense and magnificent supper, provided by the community, and -waited on by the lady r Maccabees. They wore hospitable that day. Everything went so well, and everyone singing Hebrew catches or songs, and wo finished dinner very hilariously. A few children cam© .and sa-t with us, and talked and added to the gaiety. Then grace aqd the rest of tho service. Then, as it was early, M. and I slipped off and wandered out. As we passed through the narrow, muddy streets, atevery Jewish house little family parties were all at the service still, and through the open windows, as it was very hot, wo could see them—most charming pictures. And occasionally in the darkness snatches of song or bursts of laughter signified something indefinable and indescribable, something of liberty, of joy, -and of pence. . . .

Thursday, 28th.—Up at 7. and round in the fresh air to the house, where we had a charming informal service before breakfast, each of us do-iv: some part. . . . A little readme: desk had bean prepared, and, with two scrolls of the Law, we had the full service—quite simple, but verv, very real. Then breakfast, and afterwards we assembled outside, fell in, and divided up into pa-ti-'S of 12. ( ne of us officers in charge of each. Thus crrouped. wo swung, sit-cn'mr. throuah the streets, down to the J-ffa, Gate. All th- Bnkharans, Yemenites, and everyone turned out to meet- us, and, surrounded bv the Maccabees to keep cb:K the crowd, it was more lih-e a triumphant entry than a march.. Here and ther-< old men wera crying with ioy at tho symbols of freedom. . . . Tho. whole population marched with us. Through tho Jaffa Gate, sing-inn Jewish marchbig songs, past the wirds, and clattering down the worn, shelvinc, staireaso streets, once more into the heart of tho city. _ A halt—and then down to tho Wailing Wall. We found an immense crowd, com. pi te'y blockine the narrow '' blind alley." With great difficulty we mannyed to clear a portion, and the 150 or so of us came in against the wall. A wonderful wall is was, too—very 'ib-h and sturdy, built of enormous bloi-ks of stone, part of the old temple. . . .

Here for countless ages the Jewish population had wept and mourned. Tho rock face, pitted and scarred, was covered with. Hebrew writing, and between the cracknails had ben driven; while hare and there in the crcvieeo and ridges moss and we"ds blossomed. . . . Then a shortservice, partly in Hebrew and partly in English, hymns, and "The King" finished a most wonderful and strange ceremony.

Then we marched out, amidst the blessinc; and cheers of the people present.— 'New Statesman.'