St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-01-01
Jewish Refugees Near Jerusalem.


jewish Refugees Near Jerusalem.
Some months ago, in these columns,
we made mention Of the establishment
of an agricultural colony Of Jewish ref
ugees in the village of Artuf. near Je-
rusalem, managed by a London
society. a German traveller recently
origin and status of this somewhat re-
markable movement, and of his inter
esting account, just published, we re-
produce the substance. The affair
began in May, 1882 A large number
of Russian and Roumanian refugees
came tn Jerusalem with the hope that
their brethren in the sacred city, who
now number $1,000, would welcome
them as desirable addition to their
forces. In this they were bitterly dis
appointed. They were denied all sym
patty and aid, as they came with little
or no money. The refugees were in \
terrible plight, as there were many
families among them with eight or ten
children, and scarcely a penny in their
pockets. Finally, when almost at the
verge of starvation, they appealed to
the Protestant missionaries, who, in
their great surprise ut an appeal from
such a source, scarcely knew what to
do, but found the unfortunate willing
to listen to the truth of the Gospel.
The missionaries endeavorcd to secure
work for them, so that they would, not
lose their self-respect, as they had not
been beggars, but generally farmers of
some possessions. The mission had "A
piece of property, the sO-called SdnGtO-
rum, a short distance from the North
ern or Damascus gate. The land was
in bad condition, but soon few
sheds were put up, that oflered shelter.
These were made as habitable as pos
sible, and the strangers asked tn come
and work. They complied, in most
cases, quite willingly, much to the sur
prise of the missionaries, who were not
accustomed tn see Jews willing to en-
gage in field labor. But still this ar
rangement cOnld be only a temporary
one. In 1888, the Rev. FriedIauder,
one of the missionaries, FASTENED to
England and managed to effect the
tee for the Artuf movement, and organ
lied also a local committee at Jerusa-
lem. Artuf lies among the hills of
Jordan, some twelve or fifteen miles
west of Jerusalem, on an elevation be-
tween two wadis, and is probably the
place where Samson was born, and is
one of the oldest villages in Palestine.
The inhabitants are mostly Mohamme-
dan fellahs, who became SO poor that,
a few years ago, the dragoman of one
of the COusuls in Jerusalem bought the
whole village, and from him the mis-
siOnaries have just bought it. The
people of Artuf subsist mostly on their
herds, and live i'll twenty four misera-
bile huts. The mission thus bought
the land, and erected some temporary
sheds, in which the refugee Jews re-
side but the object is, as soon as pos
sible, 10 secure Il home for each family,
and also a separate section of land.
At present they all work together.
The overseer is converted jew, who
has some subordinates, to whom he as
signs the work for each day. Work
begins at a. M, preceded each morn
nv Iaxk lh
gelical service takes place in the even
ing. Some of the men watch the fields
during the day To protect them from
the devastation of robbers and wild
beasts; others watch the herds, others
work in the fields, others engage in
either work for the common good. No
wages are paid for this work and the
results of the labor are afterward di-
vided among them. The whole colony
is regarded as one large family, en-
gagged in one work, and enjoying the
fruits of their labor together. The
head steward is also proselyte; his
daughter has commenced an evangel-
zeal school. The mission compels these
people to send their children to school,
but does not force them to take part in
the religious instruction. But one
father has refused to permit his chill
dren to attend their instruction. These
people speak mostly a corrupt German,
the Jewish .jaTgOn; two of the emf
grants speak Arabic, one being from
MOsal, the other from Egypt. Accord
ing to the present plan, it is the en-
deavOr of those who have the matter
in hand to ave it develop itself and
soOD to put it upon an independent
footing A Jewish missionary is also
soon To be sent there. The present
Overseer was formerly engaged in mis-
sion work in AbyssiDia, and is friend
of Missionary Flad. The new colony
consists, for the most part, of peacable
men, and Christians have no trouble in
dealing with them. These Jews no
longer look upon the Gospel as some
thing that pOllutes them, but as
means of Instruction. In Palesti ne
they feel themselves more as being in
their fatherland and for this reason