Israel Beat

In the 1950s, the pioneers at the Weizmann Institute of Science built WEIZAC, a groundbreaking computer that launched Israel’s high-tech industry. Learn about Dr. Chaim Pekeris who had to convince Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer of the idea, the immigrant-run bicycle repair shop that supplied the material, and how Shimon Peres found a way to have the computer run seven days a week without breaking Shabbat. Plus, Israel’s second computer, the Golem, the powerful, silent machine that revolutionized the field. Hear from engineers Gerald and Thelma Estrin, Prof. Aviezri Fraenkel and how the writer Gershom Scholem poetically compared the dawn of computers to the Kabbalists of yore.

NOTES:

* Video interview with Prof. Aviezri Fraenkel by Asher Tlalim

* Biography of Chaim Leib Perekis - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

* WEIZAC and GOLEM: The Start-Up Nation’s Earliest Computers

* The Weizac Days - Weizmann Institute

* Fifty Years Later, the Builder of First Israeli Computer Reminisces - Gerald Estrin interview

* Israel's first computer to be celebrated in Rehovot - Jerusalem Post

* WEIZAC: An Israeli pioneering adventure in electronic computing (1945-1963)

* The first Hebrew computer - Weizmann Institute (Hebrew)

* The WEIZAC - Early photos

* The Maharal’s Robot: The High-Tech Golem of Rehovot - National Library of Israel

* The Golem of Prague & The Golem of Rehovoth by Gershom Scholem, 1966

* The Computer Pioneers, Weizmann Institute, interviews with Chaim Pekeris, Thelma & Gerald Estrin, Aviezri Fraenkel

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The Golem is a legendary creature made of clay who comes to life through holy Hebrew words to protect the persecuted Jewish villagers. Learn the true history of Rabbi Yehuda Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague who befriended Emperor Rudolph II, Johannes Kepler and whose Kabbalistic spiritual teachings are still studied 400 years later.

Plus learn about Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem, credited with creating the first Golem, silent, lumbering and super-strong, who turns on his master.

Also, the dramatic true story of the Israeli community of Kerem Maharal, named after the famed rabbi and created by Czech Holocaust survivors who fought in Israel’s War of Independence.

And, the Golem of Rehovot, one of Israel’s first computers created in the 1960s at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

NOTES:

* The Czech Brigade

* Biography of Shimshon Clara Shecht, the Czech Brigade and Kerem Marahal

* Can a Golem be counted as part of a minyan?

* Molded from Clay: The Portrayal of Jews through the Golem

* Biography of Rabbi Yehudah Leib ben Betsal’el (The Maharal)

* Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem and the Original Golem

* Golem - from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia

* The Golem in the Attic - Moment Magazine

* The Enigmatic Golem of Prague: Revealing a Legendary Mystery - Prague.org

* Golem: Mythical Creature or Historical Fact? - Chabad.org

* The Golem of Old Prague by Michael Rosen - full text

* The Golem: Legends of the Ghetto of Prague by Chajim Bloch - full text, translated from 1919 German edition

* Altneuschul (Old New Synagogue) - official website

* Moshav Kerem Maharal - official website

* Golem - Israel’s first computer from 1963 at Weizmann Institute

* The Maharal’s Robot: The High-Tech Golem of Rehovot

* WEIZAC and GOLEM: The Start-Up Nation’s Earliest Computers

* The Golem of Tel Aviv - Kerem House musical

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Learn about the thriving Jewish community in Rafah during the Byzantine era, the attempt to establish a modern community and the detention of over 1,000 Jews by the British during Black Sabbath (Operation Agatha). Plus, the success of Kfar Darom, a kibbutz in Gaza populated by Holocaust refugees in the 1940s and Moshe Smilansky, the peace activist who purchased the land. Hear about their idealistic life, a dramatic Gazan Passover seder under Egyptian gunfire and their eventual evacuation.

NOTES;

* 222: The Days of Kfar Darom 1948 : The Height of Bravery in Israel’s Wars by

Aryeh Itzhaki

* The Forgotten Kibbutz - Kfar Darom - Israel HaYom news

* The youth who stood in front of the Egyptian army for 222 days - Maariv news

* Rafah land purchase - Ha-Tsfira news, 1910

* Kfar Darom rebuilds outside Gaza - JTA news, 1949

* The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs by Jacob Mann (discusses Jewish life in Rafah)

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In his most personal podcast reveal ever, Ben Bresky shares the shocking truth about his dislike for the traditional Jewish Shavuot delicacy of cheesecake. He interviews Jewish and Israeli food connoisseur Joel Haber, licensed tour guide and host of the 18 Jewish Foods podcast about how cheesecake and dairy food came to be associated with the Shavuot holiday. Learn about Arnold Reuben, the New York deli owner sometimes credited with creating “Jewish cheesecake,” frozen cheesecake by Sara Lee, and the Bikkuim (First Fruit) parades that used to be held on Shavuot by the kibbutz and moshav Zionist pioneers to celebrate the harvest from the newly revived agricultural societies in the Land of Israel.

For more on Joel Haber visit https://www.tasteofjew.com/

Cheesecake photo credit: Nicole Lin, Flickr.

NOTES:

* Shavuot Foods – Deeper Than Dairy by Joel Haber

* Cheesecake, dairy, coffee and the evolution of a holiday - JNS News

* Why Eat Dairy on Shavuot - Chabad

* First Fruits (Bikkurim) - My Jewish Learning

* Shavuot Bikkurim Celebrations In Pre-State Eretz Yisrael by Saul Singer

* Shavuot Marked in Israel by Ancient Ceremony of Offering ‘First Fruit’ - JTA, 1960

* Reuben’s Deli, Sara Lee and the creation of New York Cheesecake

* History of Reuben’s Restaurant and Delicatessen

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Shuly Nathan and a young amateur singer in the Israel Defense Forces was almost rejected from performing at the Israel Song Festival, but songwriter Naomi Shemer insisted that this young IDF soldier be the one to debut her now classic anthem, performed just weeks before the dramatic victory of the Six Day War in 1967. Hear Shuly in her own words describe her life and learn the back-story of how the song became one of the most well known modern Hebrew anthems. Plus, authentic audio from the battlefield as soldiers recite Jewish prayers and spontaneously sing Jerusalem of Gold as the Western Wall is being liberated.

NOTES:

* Shuly Nathan official website

* Naomi Shemer official website

* Jerusalem of Gold - Songs of the Six Day War album

* The Six Day War - Radio Documentary (Vinyl Release)

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Learn about the “fiery and passionate merriment” of the Jewish festival of Lag BaOmer in Meron as described by Rabbi Hayyim Vital in the 16th century, Haym Zvi Sneersohn in the 19th century and today in the 21st century State of Israel. Not much has changed. Plus, the biography of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the Kabbalist who hid from the Romans and inspired generations of Torah scholars. Also, the history of modern Meron, which was liberated in the War of Independence after being used to shoot rockets into Tzfat.

Notes:

* Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'omer brings music, smiles and bonfires - Jerusalem Post

* Lag B'Omer In Meron - 1935 - video

* Lag B'Omer in Meron - Join the biggest Jewish party on Earth - video

* Rabbi Shimon in the Cave

* Later Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions by Edward Robinson

* The Jerusalem Rabbi Who Met President Ulysses S. Grant

* Palestine and Roumania, a description of the Holy Land by Chaim Tzvi Schneerson

* Meron Niggun by Hilik Frank

* Medley for the pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Yohanan ha-sandlar by Moshe “Mousa” Berlin

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Israeli civilian aviation had humble beginnings as the Flying Camel Club, to the respected El Al airline of today. Learn about the French daredevil who became the first person to land in Israel, the tragedy of moshav Atarot, and how an American Jewish WWII vet snuck airplanes into beleaguered Israel during the War of Independence.

NOTES:

* From Flying Camels to Flying Stars: Israel Reborn - Israel Airline Museum

* Shir El Al - music, Hanan Yovel, words, Zev Jabotinsky

* A Wing and a Prayer - Putting Nazi Weapons in Jewish Hands

* Civil Aviation in Mandate Palestine

* 100 years of civil aviation in Israel

* First Plane to Land in Israel - Ynet News

* The History Of Aviation In Pre-State Eretz Yisrael - by Saul Singer

* EL AL Israel Airline History - Official El Al website

* Jabotinsky Aviation School - Betarim in North America

* Spielberg Jewish Film Archive - Jabotinsky Aviation School

* Jabotinsky Flying School Enrolls 25 in Presence of Allied Diplomats - JTA 1941

* Al Schwimmer, father of Israel’s Air Force

* American Jewish Youths Return from Israel to Answer Charges of Sending Planes - JTA, 1949

* How a WWII hero sent planes to Israel - Business Insider

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The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra started as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra when violinist Bronisław Huberman took Jewish musicians fired from their jobs by the Nazis and brought them to the Land of Israel. Learn about classical music during wartime including the dramatic Isaac Stern performance during a Gulf War Iraqi missile attack as the audience donned gas masks.

Plus the stories of composer Paul Ben-Haim, pianist Pnina Salzman, conductor Zubin Mehta and a young Leonard Bernstein.

NOTES:

* The Palestine Orchestra - Central Zionist Archives rare photos

* The Israel Symphony Orchestra - Jewish Virtual Library

* Music conductor Zubin Mehta retires after 50 years, takes final bow with Israeli orchestra - Economic Times, India

* Zubin Mehta talks about his ‘lasting marriage’ to the Israel Philharmonic - Chicago Tribune

* As Isaac Stern Fiddles, Another Missile Fizzles - Gulf War performance - JTA, 1991

* War didn’t Silence Israel Philharmonic - Gulf War, 1991 - Chicago Tribune

* Isaac Stern plays at the Jerusalem Theater in the Gulf War - video

* How Isaac Stern elevated beauty over fear - Baltimore Sun

* Mehta’s Detour to Israel--to Show Support : Gulf War: Conductor unexpectedly went to Tel Aviv because ‘the urgency of what was happening compelled’ him to do so - LA Times, 1991

* Shining a light on the Holocaust saga of Bronislaw Huberman - JTA

* Toscanini to Lead Palestine Symphony Orchestra - JTA, 1936

* Palestine Symphony Orchestra Mapes 1,000th Concert; 200 Given Before Armed Forces - JTA, 1944

* Biography of Israeli Pianist Pnina Salzman - Playbill

* Bridging Germany and Israel, Paul Ben-Haim

* Paul Ben-Haim biography - Milken Archive

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The Israel Electric Corporation didn’t just build itself, it was the brainchild of the scowling ex-Socialist Pinhas Rutenberg. After almost getting shot in the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905, he gravitated to Zionism, Zev Jabotinsky, and eventually building a hydro-electric station on the banks of the Jordan river. Learn about the humble beginnings of Palestine Electric Company and the First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House in Naharayim.

NOTES:

* Hydro-electric development of Palestine : the Rutenberg project : detailed prospectus - 1922. Full text

* History of the Israel Electric Corporation - IEC website

* Forgotten Biography of the uncompromising Pinchas Rutenberg - The Jewish Chronicle

* Pinhas Rutenberg bio - Jewish Virtual Library

* The Rutenberg Institute

* The National Revival of the Jewish People by Pinhas Ben-Ami (Rutenberg) - Yiddish, 1915. Full Text

* Palestine Electric Company Ltd. - Center for Israel Education

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Mendel Beilis was falsely accused of murder in a sensational 1913 Russian blood libel trial. After his not-guilty verdict he moved to the land of Israel and visited the Western Wall and Temple Mount. “I saw for the first time a race of proud, uncringing Jews, who lived life openly and unafraid,” wrote Beilis. Learn about his dramatic murder trial in which the matzah, afikoman and other Passover traditions were successfully defended against the slander of the Czarist Empire and the Black Hundreds and hear about the simple Russian peasants who refused to condemn an innocent man.

NOTES:

* Blood Libel: The Life and Memory of Mendel Beilis, edited by Jay Beilis

* The Story Of My Sufferings by Mendel Beilis, 1926 - full text, archive.org

* The Czar on Trial - New York Times, 1913

* Interview with Mendel Beilis on trial, Israel and New York - JTA, 1933

* Thousands Mourn at Funeral As Martyr Beilis is Laid to Rest - JTA, 1934

* Grandson Jay Beilis interview on 100th anniversary of trial - Jerusalem Post

* Rare photo album of Mendel Beilis blood libel - National Library of Israel

* A Century Later, New Discoveries About the Trial of Mendel Beilis - Chabad

* The Beilis Case – The Last Blood Libel - ANU Museum of the Jewish People

* Pope Gregory X: Letter on Jews Against the Blood Libel - Jewish Virtual Library

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