"The State of Israel is Born" – Autograph Postcard, Signed...
"The State of Israel is Born" – Autograph Postcard, Signed by David Ben-Gurion – Written a Day after Ben-Gurion's Declaration of Israel's Independence – May 15, 1948
Postcard bearing a message handwritten and personally signed by David Ben-Gurion. Tel Aviv, 6th Iyar [May 15], 1948.
The postcard is addressed to Ben-Gurion's lifelong friend, Shlomo Lavi; written the day following the establishment of the state of Israel:
"When we first arrived here in Palestine, you as Levkovich and I as Grün, holding the banner of labor in our hands, we discovered malaria, swamps, and an Ottoman regime rife with corruption. But now, though the roar of artillery has yet to be silenced, and our sons fight on the front, our heart is joyful at the sight of such great progress" (Hebrew).
The postcard is signed off with something of a personal declaration regarding the establishment of the new state: "The Jewish people have attained the epitome, the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born, D. Ben-Gurion".
Shlomo Lavi (Levkovich; 1882-1963), among the foremost visionaries behind the original concept of the kibbutz, close, lifelong friend of David Ben-Gurion, described by Ben-Gurion as "the most extraordinary individual of the Second Aliyah". Like Ben-Gurion, Lavi was born in the Polish town of Plonsk, and was a member of "Ezra", the Zionist youth group founded by Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach. Lavi immigrated to Palestine in 1905, worked as a laborer in the Sejera agricultural colony, at the Atid Company’s vegetable oil factory, and at the Kinneret Farm, and was one of the founding fathers of the HaShomer Jewish civil defense organization. As a member of Kvutzat Kinneret (Kinneret Group), he conceived the idea of "HaKvutzah HaGedolah" (the "Large Group") – a concept that would soon develop into what became known as the "kibbutz". In 1921, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he served as a member of the First and Second Knesset.
9X14 cm. Postmark and "Doar Ivri" postage stamp. Good condition. Stains, mostly to bottom right corner. Punch hole in left margin, causing slight damage to text.
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"The State of Israel is Born" – Autograph Postcard, Signed by David Ben-Gurion – Written a Day after Ben-Gurion's Declaration of Israel's Independence – May 15, 1948
Postcard bearing a message handwritten and personally signed by David Ben-Gurion. Tel Aviv, 6th Iyar [May 15], 1948.
The postcard is addressed to Ben-Gurion's lifelong friend, Shlomo Lavi; written the day following the establishment of the state of Israel:
"When we first arrived here in Palestine, you as Levkovich and I as Grün, holding the banner of labor in our hands, we discovered malaria, swamps, and an Ottoman regime rife with corruption. But now, though the roar of artillery has yet to be silenced, and our sons fight on the front, our heart is joyful at the sight of such great progress" (Hebrew).
The postcard is signed off with something of a personal declaration regarding the establishment of the new state: "The Jewish people have attained the epitome, the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born, D. Ben-Gurion".
Shlomo Lavi (Levkovich; 1882-1963), among the foremost visionaries behind the original concept of the kibbutz, close, lifelong friend of David Ben-Gurion, described by Ben-Gurion as "the most extraordinary individual of the Second Aliyah". Like Ben-Gurion, Lavi was born in the Polish town of Plonsk, and was a member of "Ezra", the Zionist youth group founded by Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach. Lavi immigrated to Palestine in 1905, worked as a laborer in the Sejera agricultural colony, at the Atid Company’s vegetable oil factory, and at the Kinneret Farm, and was one of the founding fathers of the HaShomer Jewish civil defense organization. As a member of Kvutzat Kinneret (Kinneret Group), he conceived the idea of "HaKvutzah HaGedolah" (the "Large Group") – a concept that would soon develop into what became known as the "kibbutz". In 1921, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he served as a member of the First and Second Knesset.
9X14 cm. Postmark and "Doar Ivri" postage stamp. Good condition. Stains, mostly to bottom right corner. Punch hole in left margin, causing slight damage to text.
