Haifa – A Taste of the Past • Customs and Events from the Past

The mother-in-law worried about her son-in-law's disappearance

A problem from the month of Cheshon, 1923: How do you prevent a man from abandoning his wife and disappearing? The help of the "City Committee for the Jews of Haifa" is requested. Thus, a resident of Jaffa writes: "Since I suspect my son-in-law, Mr. B.S., of using this opportunity that his wife, my daughter, is not in Jaffa at the moment - because she has gone to Vienna to be cured - to leave the country and his wife - I have the honor, therefore, to ask the honor of the committee, in the event that the above-mentioned man goes to Haifa to do
He has a travel document there – not to approve his request to travel, so that he will not leave Bat Yisrael stranded. "With respect" – and here the woman's name appears. What happened to the request – is unknown.

And here's an explanation: Those traveling abroad were required in that distant period to receive a "travel document," without which they could not leave the country. Fearing that her son-in-law would abandon her sick daughter, the mother-in-law called out and asked for the help of the Jewish leadership in Haifa, which she called: "The City Committee for the Jews of Haifa." What happened to the appeal is unknown.

On the sidelines

Speaking of the woman, who literally addressed the "City Committee for the Jews of Haifa" in 1923: she probably meant the "Community Committee." Haifa history researcher Yigal Graeber, of the Haifa History Association, notes:
Since the end of the Ottoman period, in 1917, two committees for public affairs operated in Haifa: a committee for the Sephardic community and a committee for the Ashkenazi community. In 1919, a joint community committee for both communities was established in Haifa.

"Your pain is our pain and your suffering is our suffering"

Late 1942: News of the extermination of Jews in Europe began to reach Israel. The Jewish community ordered three days of mourning. The Hebrew Community Committee in Haifa announced this in a leaflet it distributed among the residents:
"In Hebrew Haifa, too, a strong and faithful expression was given to grief and rage and feelings of reaction and revenge, on the occasion of the Nazi campaign of extermination, and the memory of the three days of reaction in the month of Kislev 5792 is deeply engraved in the heart of everyone in the community."
"On the first day of mourning, black-wrapped flags were flown over national institutions and other buildings. Large advertisements in black frames from the Hebrew Community Committee were hung above the bulletin boards. All amusement parks were closed and all parties, plays, and lectures scheduled for these days were postponed on the occasion of the national mourning."

"The mourning was also noted at a plenary meeting of the community committee held in the Technion hall. It was attended by, among others, Mayor Shabtai Levy, rabbis, representatives of the neighborhoods, as well as the city governor, and the consuls of free countries.
The Greek consul, for example, said moving things: 'Your pain is our pain, and your suffering is our suffering. The hearts of Jews and Greeks yearn for one thing. We have great respect for the Jewish people. Wherever you have gone, you have brought culture and economic prosperity with you.'

And he added: "Today you are here in the land of the only hope for the help of your people. In addition to material weapons, the Jews have another important weapon: a great will to live. With this power you will succeed in helping your people escape from the terrible situation, and you will be able to pay the Nazi criminals their due. To this end, all the forces of the people must be mobilized." The meeting dispersed with a resolution according to which: The Jewish community in Haifa joins the oath of allegiance of the entire community: not to be silent and not to allow the world to be silent until the resident of the evil arm and innocent blood is avenged and a world of justice is built and the people of Israel are redeemed."

The Rabbinate declared a public fast and memorial services were held in all synagogues for the saints. A particularly moving event occurred during the mourning prayer in the central synagogue in the Hadar Carmel neighborhood. The bulletin read: "The synagogue was packed from mouth to mouth – men and women, youth and students, soldiers and priests and members of the Coast Guard religious unit. When the sound of the shofar was heard, the people burst into tears and heart-rending sobs were heard from the women's choir. When a group of women burst into the open Ark with a cry of grief – the entire house became one mournful congregation,
The bitter cry over the loss of sons and brothers, parents and relatives in the lands of horror.

"From the synagogue, the crowd marched in a large demonstration to the response meeting in the 'Armon' hall. Many joined along the way, and at the head of the tens of thousands of demonstrators marched the rabbis and dignitaries of the community, with national flags and mourning flags flying in front of them. They were accompanied by a guard of honor from the Coast Guard Company. A low-flying airplane flew over the procession, as if symbolizing the elimination of distances and the approaching of the bloody spectacle in accelerating Europe." In another protest march, led by youth, they called for revenge on the Nazi oppressor. So much for this from the Haifa City Archives.