On July 28, 1953, the first hospital for southern Israel was opened south of Rehovot. The hospital received the name "Kaplan", after the first Minister of Finance, Eliezer Kaplan, who passed away a year earlier, at the age of 61.
The cornerstone of the hospital was laid in June 1950, and the intention of the health fund, which established it, was to serve from Kaplan the entire south of the country, which was still empty of every medical institution - up to Eilat. However, a month later, in July 1950, jurist Haim Cohen, who served as Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against the Kupat Cholim Center, the architect Ze'ev Rechter, and the building company, Solel Boneh, for building without a license.
The lawsuit comes against the backdrop of the desire of the first Minister of Health, Moshe Shapira, to impose state control over the health system at the expense of the health funds. Shapiro, however, left office in 1951, and construction of Kaplan continued.
When the hospital was opened to the general public, it included 11 one-story pavilions, five of which were designated for maternity, surgical, internal medicine (two) and pediatric wards. Six additional pavilions were allocated for sorting, kitchen and maintenance.
Over the past decade, it has served more than a million residents from Rishon LeZion and Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut in the north to Kiryat Gat in the south.
In 1959, another hospital was opened in the south, this time in Be'er Sheva, funded by a health fund and the American Women's Clothing Seamstress Association. The Jewish president of the union, David Dubinsky, succeeded in persuading the union's management, which consisted mostly of Jewish industrialists, to donate a million dollars to establish a hospital in the Negev that would perpetuate the union's name. However, in 1972, with the death of former HMO CEO Moshe Soroka, the hospital was renamed Soroka University Medical Center.
Two other hospitals were established in southern Israel in the 60s: Barzilai in Ashkelon in 1961, and Yoseftal in Eilat in 1968.
* Thanks to Prof. Chezy Levy for their assistance
First international boxing competition in Israel
Boxer Haim Shafir (left), winner of the semi-heavyweight fight, photo: Asher Visfish
More than 1,500 boxing enthusiasts in Israel crowded out on Thursday, July 30, 1953, at Tel Aviv's Rina Park (now Isrotel Tower) to watch boxing test matches. The tests were conducted in order to determine the composition of the Israeli team that will participate in a boxing competition against Yugoslavia, which was scheduled to take place in Israel a week later.
The competitions at Gan Rina were held in ten weight categories, from "fly" to "heavy", and most of them excited the audience. The competition featured Haim Shafir, a boxer from the Maccabi Haifa Association, who became one of Israel's top boxers in the 50s and 60s in the 17s and <>s, after winning the title of Israeli half-middleweight champion <> times.
Boxing was considered a very popular sport in Israel in the early 50s, and the 10,000 tickets for the competition against Yugoslavia, held at the Hapoel Stadium in Jaffa (later Bloomfield), were snatched almost immediately. However, when the competition began, the differences in level between the two countries were noticeable, and most of the battles ended in victory for the Yugoslavs. Two fights ended in draws, and only boxer Haim Shafir won the semi-heavyweight fight.
In the years that followed, boxing declined in Israel, but with the great immigration from the Soviet Union, from the end of the 80s, this sport was revived and renewed in Israel.
There are currently about 40 boxing clubs operating in Israel with about 1,000 boxers in 13 weight categories," explains the CEO of the Israel Boxing Association, Yaakov Wallach. According to him, most of the boxers today are members of the second generation of immigrants from Russia, alongside boxers from the Arab sector.
"Book Club" resumes its activities
"Book Club" poster of Hotch Masada, 1954, photo: according to section 27A of the Copyright Law-2008
Bracha Pelay, the founder and owner of the Masada publishing house, announced at the end of July 1953 the renewal of the activities of the "Book Club".
Pelay, who immigrated to Eretz Israel from Kiev, Ukraine in 1921 at the age of 29, quickly became the living spirit in the field of publishing in Israel. She founded Masada in her home in 1930, and at the same time established Miracle Printing and quickly introduced significant innovations in book marketing, including door-to-door agents, installment book purchases and the Book Club.
The book market in Israel suffered due to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, as the general economic situation deteriorated greatly. In 1941, Pelay conceived the idea of establishing a book club under the banner of "A Book for Every Soul", in which each participant chose from several lists of books the one that best suited him in the variety and price of books.
The success of the club was great, and during 1941 tens of thousands of families signed up throughout the country. "I was able to prove what was clear to me – that book lovers would not give up their enjoyment," Pelay explained at the founding event of the Book Club.
In 1950, the club was closed due to a drastic reduction in the allocation of paper for printing (books and newspapers) announced by the austerity authorities in young Israel. When the paper shortage ended in early 1953, Plai quickly re-established the Book Club, and by the first two months of its reoperation, more than 10,000 families had registered as members. In addition to books, club members enjoyed benefits such as monthly raffles with prizes, free invitations to entertainment events and interest initiated by the club, and more.
The U.S. Refuses to Help
On the eve of Tisha B'Av 20, July 1953, 75, it was reported in Israel that "the U.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the United States will not comply with Israel's recent request for emergency aid in the amount of $1953 million." The U.S. also declined to respond to a State Department question about the reason for the refusal. Already from the beginning of July <>, there was a strong feeling in the government, when it became clear that the treasury was almost completely empty, and there was no foreign exchange reserve left to order raw materials from abroad, which were urgently needed by Israeli industry.
Finance Minister Levi Eshkol's attempts to obtain credit lines abroad during the month failed, as Israel failed to repay tens of millions of dollars in loans it took out in the previous year, whose repayment date has already passed.
At the end of an emergency meeting held by Eshkol in his office, and before the team dispersed for the Tisha B'Av fast, the minister uttered with a stern face: "America is giving us Tisha B'Av on Tisha B'Av."
Changes in craft studies
Students in craft class, 50s, photo: according to section 27A of the Copyright Law-2008
Towards the end of July 1953, the Ministry of Education and Culture, together with the Ministry of Labor, announced the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee to determine nationally the nature, organization, hours and budget of craft studies in elementary schools throughout the country.
The reason for the changes that were required was the fact that at the same time, the State Education Law, 1953 was passed in Israel, abolishing the system of party streams in education, which were influenced by political trends, and replaced it with a state education program with two tracks – "one religious and one other."
The festive opening session of the inter-ministerial committee was attended by many personalities. Labor Minister Golda Mayerson (Meir) said in her opening speech: "We are required to standardize (uniformity) in craft studies in schools on the one hand, and on the other hand to ensure an adequate level, since the young people currently studying in elementary schools will constitute our reserves of technicians, engineers and planners in the not too distant future."
Education and Culture Minister Ben-Zion Dinur said at the meeting: "Learning the craft profession is becoming extremely important, and it is no less important than the history, Bible, Hebrew and mathematics taught in elementary schools."
The Vanished / Sanatoriums that were
a respite for the worker
Photo of the "Employee Relaxation" complex,
"Relax for the Worker" was a popular sanatorium established in Ashkelon in 1955 and was one of the first sanatoriums opened by the Histadrut. At its peak, the Histadrut controlled 17 sanatoriums throughout the country, with more than 2,000 guest beds. "Relaxation for the Worker" included a complex of low-rise residential buildings in the heart of an area of green vegetation, as well as a dining room, swimming pool, lecture halls and large grassy areas, where films were screened in the evening. The place was abandoned about two decades ago, and it stands abandoned to this day.
Consumer / Things We Bought for a Flea Killer House
Photo: Courtesy of collector Avi Nizri,
In those days, when the scourge of bedbugs struck everywhere in the country, "meltok" was one of the products with which they fought against the common Palestine bedbug. It was a disinfectant with a terrible smell, which they poured from a can into a container that would attach to a handle-bearing device. Activating the handle would have produced spray sprayed on the sources of the hazard. The housewives, as they were called in those days, were ashamed to say that bedbugs came to their homes, so the advertisement said: "Bedbugs in your house? Don't be shy. The shame is to suffer them."
A campaign to rehabilitate work villages in Israel has begun
Photo: Shturman Collection, "Biphoto" Archive,
From 1949 to the end of 1951, 53 labor villages were established in mountainous areas of Israel, settling some 5,000 people who had left immigrant camps. In the villages, homes were prepared for the immigrants, and large agricultural development work was carried out to ensure that each village had agricultural land – along with auxiliary farms near each house. Until the end of the development, the immigrants were required to embark on public works, mainly planting, but many refused and abandoned. The Jewish Agency and the JNF left 168 families in the villages and quickly located alternative settlers. Over the years, the work villages became moshavim, most of them successful and prosperous. Photo: Members of the Nurit Gilboa Labor Village in 1958 (today an eco-tourism settlement)
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