Testament: At the Creation of the State of Israel - Hardcover

Levin, Aaron; Peres, Shimon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885183941 ISBN 13: 9781885183941

Publisher: Artisan, 1998

Synopsis

Look at the faces. Listen to the words. These are people who helped form the state of Israel. Shalom Masswari speaks nonchalantly of self-induced starvation, undertaken to make himself small enough to be smuggled out of prison in a suitcase. Zelig Gonen stands beside the bicycle he used to traffic a basket of Molotov cocktails across an Arab war zone. Eliahu Shavit crouches above the Jerusalem sewer holes he once crawled through as a saboteur, planting bombs. Munio Brandwein gazes at the olive trees he planted where three friends lost their lives.

In Testament, American photographer and journalist Aaron Levin heralds the men and women behind the founding of Israel on its 50th anniversary. Transcribed from interviews, sometimes translated from Hebrew, the essays that accompany each portrait in Testament tell of the extraordinary events that transformed everyday lives.

Along with the soldiers, civilians, and kibbutzniks who contributed to the independence movement, there are photos and first-person recollections of such prominent Israelis as former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shimon Peres, and the former president of Israel and ambassador to the United Nations Chaim Herzog, now deceased.

About this title

About the Authors

Aaron Levin's relationship with the landscape and people of Israel dates to 1969, when he lived and worked in a farming village while studying Hebrew. A professional photographer and writer who specializes in archaeological sites and artifacts, his work has appeared in several books about Roman and Near Eastern archaeology, and in such publications as The New York Times and Geo. A graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Baltimore, he lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Shimon Peres was director of manpower and later of arms procurement for the Haganah in 1947. During the War of Independence, he headed the naval department in the Ministry of Defense. He went on to serve as defense minister, foreign minister, and prime minister. Instrumental in Israel's struggle for autonomy, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1994.

Shimon Peres was director of manpower and later of arms procurement for the Haganah in 1947. During the War of Independence, he headed the naval department in the Ministry of Defense. He went on to serve as defense minister, foreign minister, and prime minister. Instrumental in Israel's struggle for autonomy, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1994.

From the Back Cover

In voices as plain as day, with memories as clear as dawn, the people of Israel offer their stories as TESTAMENT to the struggle to establish the Jewish state. Photographed on location in black and white, each face is a map, etched with the effort of fifty years. Each face is evidence, of the honor of battle, the horror of bloodshed, the heartbreak of loss. Each face is a witness to history.

American photographer and journalist Aaron Levin creates a TESTAMENT to the men and women behind the founding of Israel on its 50th anniversary. Transcribed from interviews, sometimes translated from Hebrew, the essays that accompany each portrait tell of the extraordinary events that transformed everyday lives. Shalom Massvari speaks nonchalantly of self-induced starvation, undertaken to make himself small enough to be smuggled out of prison in a suitcase. Eliahu Shavit crouches above the Jerusalem sewer holes he once crawled through as a saboteur, planting bombs. Munio Brandwein gazes at the olive trees he planted where three friends lost their lives.

Along with the ordinary soldiers, civilians, and kibbutzniks who contributed to the independence movement, notable dignitaries share their most personal anecdotes about this remarkable moment in history. Standing warily on the very street corner where he was arrested in 1946, former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir recalls disguising himself as a rabbi in an attempt to elude the British, only to be caught by an officer who recognized him by his eyebrows. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres sits surrounded by books in the library of David Ben-Gurion's house in Tel Aviv, once the center of so much military planning. Chaim Herzog, the former president and ambassador to the United Nations, pauses by the rough road he helped carve through the Judean hills to relieve the siege of Jerusalem. And the last two surviving signers of Israel's Declaration of Independence, Zerach Warhaftig and Meir Vilner, revel in the memory of dancing in the streets.

American photographer and journalist Aaron Levin creates a TESTAMENT to the men and women behind the founding of Israel on its 50th anniversary. Transcribed from interviews, sometimes translated from Hebrew, the essays that accompany each portrait tell of the extraordinary events that transformed everyday lives. Shalom Massvari speaks nonchalantly of self-induced starvation, undertaken to make himself small enough to be smuggled out of prison in a suitcase. Eliahu Shavit crouches above the Jerusalem sewer holes he once crawled through as a saboteur, planting bombs. Munio Brandwein gazes at the olive trees he planted where three friends lost their lives.

Along with the ordinary soldiers, civilians, and kibbutzniks who contributed to the independence movement, notable dignitaries share their most personal anecdotes about this remarkable moment in history. Standing warily on the very street corner where he was arrested in 1946, former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir recalls disguising himself as a rabbi in an attempt to elude the British, only to be caught by an officer who recognized him by his eyebrows. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres sits surrounded by books in the library of David Ben-Gurion's house in Tel Aviv, once the center of so much military planning. Chaim Herzog, the former president and ambassador to the United Nations, pauses by the rough road he helped carve through the Judean hills to relieve the siege of Jerusalem. And the last two surviving signers of Israel's Declaration of Independence, Zerach Warhaftig and Meir Vilner, revel in the memory of dancing in the streets.

Reviews

Testament is a book of portraits and personal stories of 83 men and women who played a part in the struggle to establish the state of Israel. Some of the individuals are well known, including former prime ministers Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, authors Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua, former president Chaim Herzog, and former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek. But most of the people are ordinary folk whose lives encompassed an extraordinary moment in Jewish history, as soldiers, spies, saboteurs, and kibbutz workers in the fight to form a Jewish state in Palestine. Each narrative is accompanied by a black-and-white photograph, and some have a photo of the interviewee as a young man or woman. This moving tribute to those daring pioneers, which includes an introduction by Peres, comes on the eve of Israel's fiftieth anniversary. George Cohen

Edition details

• Publisher: Artisan
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1885183941
• ISBN 13: 9781885183941
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192