I cannot conceive a greater act of provocation to Jewish soldiers than this, or a greater insult. The days during which they were prohibited from entering Jerusalem were the days of the Passover. Think of it! Jewish soldiers for the first time in their lives in Palestine and barred from the Temple Wall of Jerusalem during Passover! Only a Jew can really understand what it meant to these men, and the great strain it put on their discipline and loyalty.
How provocative and insulting this order was will be better understood when it is realized that the majority of the population of Jerusalem is Jewish, and, therefore, there could have been no possible reason for excluding Jewish troops belonging to a British unit, while other British troops were freely admitted, more especially as the conduct of the Jewish soldiers was, at all times, exemplary.
Not since the days of the Emperor Hadrian had such a humiliating decree been issued.
However, to make up somewhat for the action of the authorities, I made arrangements for the Passover to be observed at Rafa with all the joy and ceremony usually attending that great Feast of the Jewish People. At considerable cost we provided unleavened bread, as well as meat and wine—all strictly "Kosher." As we were nearly 2,000 strong at this time, the catering for the feast had to be most carefully gone into, and Lieut. Jabotinsky, Lieut. Lazarus, and the Rev. L. A. Falk did yeoman service in providing for all needs. It was a wonderful sight when we all sat down together and sang the Hagadah on the edge of the Sinai desert.
The Zionist Commission and Miss Berger, an American Zionist, helped us materially with funds, and our friends in England did likewise. The Acting Chairman of the Zionist Commission sent me the following letter for the occasion:—
Zionist Commission to Palestine,
c/o Chief Political Officer,
G.H.Q., Palestine.
Jerusalem, April 6, 1919.To the Colonel of the 38th Battalion,
Col. J. H. Patterson, D.S.O.My dear Colonel,
May I request, in the name of the Zionist Commission, that you have this letter read to the men of your battalion at their Seder Service.
The Commission is glad to be the means of aiding them in celebrating our Pesach, the Feast of Deliverance, and we trust that it will bring them all great joy. We have hopes now that our age-long prayers will soon be realized, and it should be a source of pride and happiness to them to know that they have contributed by their courage and their sacrifices toward its fulfilment. The Commission speaks in the name of the Zionist Organization in expressing to them the thanks of the nation for the devoted services they have rendered and are rendering, in the service of the liberty-loving nation, Great Britain, to which they have sworn fidelity, and to our people of Israel for whose future glory they have been willing to sacrifice their lives. The splendid part they have played, and will continue to play, will ever be remembered as a bright spot in the long history of our ancient people.
Very cordially yours,
(Signed) Harry Friedenwald,
Acting Chairman, Zionist Commission.
As Rafa was just over the border of Palestine, and therefore in the "Galuth," the Feast had to be kept for eight days. Many of the men thought that, as we were only a matter of yards from the boundary, I would on the eighth day issue leavened bread, which some of them were already hankering after, but this I would not hear of, and from that day forth I was considered the strictest Jew in the battalion!