Along the west coast of Israel is the ancient port city of Jaffa. Jaffa was the commercial center of the area for about four thousand years and thus predates Jerusalem by about two thousand years. Around the turn of the twentieth century, Jews were immigrating in larger numbers to Palestine. Jaffa was becoming very crowded and living conditions were increasingly difficult. A group of early Zionists, lead by Meir Dizengoff, decided to build suburb outside the city of Jaffa, about two miles to the north, but there was one major obstacle. The Ottoman Turks ruled the land, and Jews were not allowed to own property. But anything can be purchased if the price is right, and in 1909 this group of Jewish pioneers was able to purchase from the Turks 40 acres of sand dunes along the Mediterranean coast just north of Jaffa. The land was subdivided and assigned by lottery among the sixty-six families who became the first residents of Tel Aviv. What started out to be a suburb of Jaffa developed into a self sufficient community and eventually a new city.
The name of the city is derived from the German title of Theodore Herzl’s book, “Altneuland,” meaning “old new land.” Herzl was the founder of the modern Zionist movement. Nahum Sokolow translated Herzl’s work into Hebrew and gave it the title “Tel Aviv” which in English means Spring Hill; Aviv is Spring, and Tel is an archaeological term for a hill or mound of accumulated ruins. (In Hebrew, the noun precedes the adjective.) The name thus alludes to the destruction of the ancient Jewish nation and its hoped-for redemption.
In addition to homes, the settlers of Tel Aviv built a school, and a water tower. Many of these original structures are still standing today. They also set out to give this community all of the latest modern amenities such as indoor plumbing and electric lights. In the office tower that now stands at the site of the original school building, and elsewhere in the city, there are beautiful tile mosaics by famous Israeli artists decorating the walls and depicting the various stages in the development of Tel Aviv, along with the city’s very first street lamp. The city’s founders envisioned Tel Aviv as the gateway to Israel, much as New York is the gateway to the United States.
We visited one of the first homes built in Tel Aviv. It belonged to Meir Dizengoff, the leader of the community who eventually became the first Tel Aviv’s first Mayor. Today a famous street in the city bears his name. Dizengoff’s home was the focal point of civic activity and was later expanded to better serve that purpose. At the end of the British Mandate, the State of Israel was declared in this very place. The capital of the new nation was to be Jerusalem, but fighting between the Jews and Arabs of Palestine was already escalating to the point of war. Jerusalem was under siege and cut off from the rest of the Jewish controlled area of Palestine. Since Jerusalem was inaccessible Dizengoff’s former home was hastily prepared as the site of the declaration.
On Friday, 14 May 1948, at 4:00pm, as the last of the British forces were leaving, the State of Israel was declared by the head of the interim government, David Ben-Gurion, who soon became the nation’s first Prime Minister. Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel to an audience of about 350 people crowded into the room. The Declaration was also broadcast over the air, and the entire city was still… everyone was glued to a radio. After the Declaration was read, the Chief Rabbi recited the Shehechyanu blessing (for joyous occasions), and an orchestra on the second floor played Hatikva (The Hope), which became the National Anthem of Israel.
The room where the State of Israel was born has been preserved as it was on that very day. The museum’s guide did a wonderful job of setting the scene and the mood, and describing the events leading up to the reading of the Declaration. A recording was played of Ben-Gurion’s speech, the blessing by the Chief Rabbi, and the playing of Hatikva. We could hear in the recording of the Rabbi’s voice as he recited Shehechyanu that he was crying. When the Anthem was played everyone stood, and many sang along. I tried to sing with them, but I couldn’t. I was crying, too…
Two hours after the Declaration was read, Tel Aviv was bombed by Egyptian Air Forces, and the armies of five Arab nations invaded Israel. In a nutshell, many would say by the grace of God, Israel survived, but the conflict continues to this day.
-Wayne
Here are some pictures of Jaffa as seen from the original site of Tel Aviv, Independence Hall, the view to the north, and Mosaics depecting the history of Tel Aviv.
