Mahatma Gandhi's 80-year-old letter wishing Jews "era of peace" unveiled in Israel
Jerusalem, Sep 27: A short handwritten letter by Mahatma Gandhi 80-years-ago on the same day the World War II broke out, wishing the "afflicted (Jewish) people" an "era of peace", has been unveiled for the first time by the National Library of Israel.
Gandhi wrote the letter to Head of the Bombay Zionist Association (BZA) A E Shohet, who was trying to enlist support of Indian leaders in favour of the movement to establish a national home for the Jewish people.
Written on the occasion of Rosh Hashana (Jewish new year) on September 1, 1939, the letter also marked the beginning of the World War II when Germany invaded Poland, setting the stage for the despicable atrocities of the Holocaust.
"The timing of the greeting reflects the extent to which Nazi persecution of Jews was of concern to global citizenry at the time. In hindsight, it also presents a chilling portent of the horrors to come," said Zach Rothbart, in charge of communications at National Library of Israel (NLI).
Gandhi's greetings came to light as part of a major initiative launched by the NLI, with support from the Leir Foundation, to review and describe millions of items in its archival collections, including personal papers, photographs and documents from many of the 20th century's most prominent cultural figures.
The letter, for the first time, has been posted online by the NLI.
"Dear Shohet, You have my good wishes for your new year. How I wish the new year may mean an era of peace for your afflicted people. Yours sincerely, M K Gandhi," the letter reads.
This photo made available by the Abraham Schwadron Collection, National Library of Israel, shows a Jewish New Year greeting written on Sept. 1, 1939 by Mahatma Gandhi to a Jewish official upon the outbreak of World War II. The greeting reads, "Dear Shohet, You have my good wishes for your new year. How I wish the new year may mean an era of peace for your afflicted people. Yours sincerely, MK Gandhi." | Photo Credit: AP
Shohet was an Indian Jew from the Baghdadi community in Bombay. He headed BZA and served as the editor of 'The Jewish Advocate'.
A firm believer in the Zionist cause, the Indian-Jewish community leader saw the movement as the only way to unify the diverse Jewish population of Bombay, which included the long-established wealthy Baghdadi Jewish community, the Bene Israel Indian Jewish community and the local European Jewish community.
Perturbed by Gandhi's perceived silence on the question of persecution of the German Jewry and the Indian National Congress' neutral attitude on the matter, Shohet had been pursuing Indian leader to win him over on his side.
Gandhi, who often came under criticism for his reluctance to declare his views on the Arab-Jewish question in Palestine and the persecution of German Jews, in an article 'The Jews' published on November 26, 1938 in the 'Harijan' newspaper suggested "satyagraha" or non-violent resistance as his solution to both the problems.
He suggested that the Jews in Mandatory Palestine ought to "offer satyagraha in front of the Arabs and offer themselves to be shot or thrown into the Dead Sea without raising a little finger against them," Rothbart quoted him as saying in a press release.
Regarding German Jewry, he implored resisting Nazism solely through non-confrontational means, the release said.
"My sympathies are all with the Jews... If there ever could be a justifiable war, in the name of and for humanity, war against Germany to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war...," Gandhi is quoted as saying.
The article in the Harijan was harshly criticised by leading intellectuals of the time including Martin Buber and Judah Magnes, who viewed Gandhi's statements as unfavourable to Zionism and not satisfactory vis-a-vis the situation of the German Jewry.
Shohet in his response to the Harijan article in 'The Jewish Advocate' pointed out that there was one fundamental difference between the Jews in Europe and the Harijans in India, the former had no home.
He also argued that Jews had practised non-violence for two millennia, and yet their persecution persisted.
The Jewish community in India is also said to have been disturbed by the attitude of the Indian National Congress leaders.
Shohet is said to have reached out to Hermann Kallenbach, a wealthy Jewish Zionist architect and carpenter who Gandhi referred to as his "soulmate".
A recently published book by Shimon Lev titled 'Soulmates: The Story of Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach' brings out the close association between the two friends.
Kallenbach had funded the establishment of Tolstoy Farm, the South African prototype for the Gandhian ashram, where he and Gandhi lived together sharing a kitchen and seemingly endless conversations about the proper path and meaning of life.
"Your portrait (the only one) stands on the mantelpiece in my room... even if I wanted to dismiss you from my thoughts, I could not do it," Gandhi once wrote to Kallenbach as per the book.
In March 1939, Kallenbach arranged for Shohet to interview Gandhi, which he did over the course of four days at Gandhi's ashram in Wardha.
According to a letter Shohet wrote to Eliahu Epstein (who later became known as Eliahu Elath and served as Israel's first Ambassador to the United States), the "interview was discouraging because although Gandhi to a certain extent understood the idealism of the Jews' wish to return to Palestine, he still saw the Palestine question from the Muslim point of view".
Kallenbach and Shohet never convinced Gandhi to become an active defender of European Jewry nor a Zionist, and he remained steadfast in his belief that non-violence and passivity could solve all problems.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
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Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
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Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
