Report on Israel, by Captain Louis Barish, Jewish Chaplain for the United States Army. Heidelberg: United States Army – Office of Adviser on Jewish Affairs, December 1949. English.
Lengthy report, printed and stereographed, by Jewish Chaplain Louis Barish (1912-2012), authored after his visit to the nascent State of Israel.
The report is written plainly and succinctly, and surveys various general aspects of the new State's condition: politics, political parties (the Communists allied with the USSR, and Mapam, wary of the superpowers – the USSR and the West), the right (Herut, the General Zionists and the Radical Revisionists) and the center (the parties of the coalition – Mapai and the religious parties); the economy, problems and challenges with postwar stabilization and large waves of immigration (trade deficit, few natural resources, lack of foreign investment, unskilled workforce, lack of means of heavy production and more), the economic plan prepared by Ben Gurion's government; the security situation and the army's preparation for future wars, and various aspects of integrating large waves of immigration, which naturally produced many challenges (dedicated chapters discuss the role of kibbutzim and moshavim in the integration of immigrants).
The conclusion chapter strays from the matter-of-fact tone adopted throughout the report, segueing into a pathos that exhibits the warmth his visit to Israel inspired in him:
"Israel is a new country lacking somewhat in experience, but rich in vision, conscious of an important purpose. It is a country of dedicated and hard working people… Its strongest weapon is its spirit, a passionate determination to succeed because it has no alternative. If it does not lose its spirit it will win. Israel is intensely democratic. Because its people hungered for freedom in lands where human rights were denied to them, they have a keen appreciation of the meaning of liberty. They will not readily give it up. Israel is an ally of our country" (p. 39).
On the wrapper of the booklet is a schematic map of Israel and its neighbors.
The present booklet is accompanied by a letter from R. Barish, addressed to his friend Al Blum in Baltimore, dated 9 January 1950. In the letter, R. Barish expresses his hope that the report would interest Blum. He goes on to advise him that he and a friend would soon return to the United States and reunite with friends and relatives; he asks him to "immediately start cornering the market on salami, herring and blinzes. We will return from our great experience in Germany, spiritually enriched, but most unusually hungry".
Rabbi Captain Dr. Louis Barish (1912-2012), a Conservative rabbi, scholar and author. Served as chaplain in the United States Army for some 23 years – during World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. During 1946-1950 he served as assistant to the Office of Adviser on Jewish Affairs of the US Army in Europe, and was involved in many issues relating to the welfare of Holocaust survivors in DP camps. He authored several books, including a popular book on halachah and custom, and edited a historical work on rabbis in the US Army (Rabbis in Uniform: the Story of the American Jewish Military Chaplain, 1962).
Rare. Not recorded in OCLC.
Booklet: 40 leaves. 28 cm. Good condition. Wear and minor creases. Minor marginal tears to paper wrapper; tear to inside of wrapper, near one of the staples. Letter: 26.5 cm. Good condition. Folding mark widthwise. Open tear to upper left corner.
