Trees like children need care
Trees need care, like children until they reach adulthood and leave home. So do old trees, like old people. They too need a caring hand. This connection is written in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20, verse 19: "For man is a tree of the field," and so wrote the poet Nathan Zach and the composer and singer Shalom Hanoch.
This very issue is addressed in a document sent to the mayor of Haifa in October 1937. The photograph of the document does not indicate who wrote it. It reads, among other things: "In various places in Hadar Carmel along the streets, many trees are planted that, before the widening of the roads, were in private ownership and were cared for. Now, with the widening of the streets, it turns out that these trees are on the sides of the roads in public ownership. These trees ... are in central places that should be left on the sidewalks. However, they need a protective treatment that will protect them from human and animal damage (by) weeding and watering at the appropriate time.
"To our regret, we see these trees without any supervision whatsoever, and they are gradually degenerating and becoming tools for the lack of interest on the part of those who are charged with preserving public property." The authors of the document specifically mention an ancient tree in the Geula neighborhood. When the road was paved, the earth around it was dug up, and its roots are exposed to the sun. "It is appropriate to do something to save this tree. If it receives decent care, this tree could be a glory to the entire neighborhood." End quote. The document also includes a proposal to plant trees on various streets in the Hadar Carmel neighborhood. The document is in the archives of the Haifa History Association.
Want to eat well? Pay for the hospital!
An incident that occurred in February 1945. It took place at the government hospital in Haifa (under the responsibility of the British Mandate government; later Rambam). A few months earlier, a man suffering from tuberculosis had arrived at the office of the Social Welfare Bureau in serious condition. He lacked proper accommodation, and was living in a hotel with other people. The Social Welfare Bureau admitted him to the government hospital. Not only was his condition desperate (or as the social welfare language says: desperate), he was also admitted to a ward where the conditions were extremely difficult. It was called the third ward. Therefore, with the funding of the Social Welfare Bureau, and with financial assistance from the League to Combat Tuberculosis, this tuberculosis patient received food provided by another ward. It was called the "second ward." The financial funding for the food supply was 350 million per day. However, the amount was not enough, and thus the financial debt to the hospital swelled to eleven thousand and five hundred Israeli pounds. It should be noted that the hospital was at that time, As written, under the responsibility of the British Mandate government.
And what is the response to those who do not pay? They stop feeding him the good food in the second ward, and go back to feeding him the less good food in the third ward. And now the Social Welfare Bureau learned that the tuberculosis patient had passed away, but his burial arrangements had not yet been arranged. A message was immediately sent to Mr. Kaplan and the "Hevra Kadisha", and when the "Hevra Kadisha" came to the hospital to take the body for burial, they refused to give it to him on the pretext that details about the deceased were missing. This was despite the fact that these details were in the hospital office. According to the Social Welfare Bureau, the management of the government hospital agreed to hand over the tuberculosis patient's body for burial only after the bureau, against its will, paid the full amount that the hospital demanded. Here, 81 years ago, hardships accompanied the man not only in his life. The chilling document is in the Haifa city archives.
Serious situation!
Take the example of the city of Haifa's landlords. They really know what is more important and what is less important. Where else are there people like these people? They haven't even written a poem about them. And what is their entire desire? To enact bylaws that will improve the city. And so they write to the mayor: "In the Hadar Carmel neighborhood and the surrounding area, residents keep various animals: donkeys, cows, goats, and so on, without sufficient supervision. The animals are mostly unruly all day long, and they feed at the expense of the neighborhood. The main source of food for the animals are the garbage bins. Every morning you can meet entire herds spreading out in the yards" (yes, that's how it says: herds spreading out in the yards). They turn over the garbage bins and find good food for them in the leftovers, fruit peels, rotten fruit, etc., and they leave the waste scattered all over the yard, which causes an unsanitary situation, dirt, and stench. It often happens that as a 'dessert of a feast', the beast attacks every tree and garden and destroys every good piece of land."!!!
So far from a document found in the archives of the Haifa History Association. Date: 19 Mar-Chashon 3838, October 24, 1937.
A really interesting article that gives a glimpse into life in the past. We could do a series of articles like this.