The American Jewish world. [volume] (Minneapolis ;) 1915-current, 1920-09-10
Page TaOenty-taVo
1. THE PIONEERS.
Correspondence of Israel Cohen.)

AIuOIIS lily IO1JOW- PclooOlSSAo VIA
board the "Helovan," which brought
poorest were apparently a band of
young Jews who Travelled steerage
Their luggage was so slight that they
could carry it in one hand, and it be.
came slighter still in the course OF
the voyage, for it consisted largely OF
cheap provisions which they had
bought for the journey. They ranged
in age from twenty to thirty; they
were sturdy and muscular, most OF
them with tanned faces, and all with
straight backs. But one of the group,
although tall enough for twenty. was
only sixteen; retiring, bashful lad
in a Cossack-like garO-high boots,
shirt buttoned close round the throat,
and wide breaches with a thin red
stripe down the side. And another
member of the group was girl
short, robust, and with sunburnt face.
They sought no comforts on board the
vessel, nor did they study the relative
merits of cabins with port holes or
without. They sat where they could
during the day, and at night they
stretched themselves out on deck, be-
meath the star-lit sky, where they
slept as soundly as on bed OF down.
But one of them in turn was always
awake for an hour, to watch over his
comrades and over their common pos
sessions, though their appearance GER
tainly offered little temptation to any
potential pilferer. The rota of watch
men, with their names all in Hebrew,
and the hours of duty fixed, was post
ed on one of the tunnels.
Outwardly the poorest of all the
passengers, they were inwardly the
richest and happiest, for they had left
behind them the lands in which they
had suffered and were sailing to the
land of their dreams. They came most
ly from Poland and Galicia, where,
ever since the end of the war, they
had found no peace, and had thus re-
solved to shake off the dust of their
unnatural mother country. From
The Glorious Red-Letter Day
when they had first heard of England's
historic promise concerning their an
cestral land, they had patiently await
ed the signal for their return, and
meanwhile they had prepared them
selves for the new life before them by
working in small groups on different
farms.
But we cOulu Wall ITO louSeI, Sdlu
a sturdy youth to me, as we stood in
the rear of the vessel, gazing across
the blue, ripping waters of the Me-
diterranean. eve got tired of wait
ing, and decided to get to Palestine
tAs best and as soon as we could-as
sChaluzim, pioneers. Our journey was
sanything but easy, but we were deter
mined. We were warned of the diff
ficulties and privations we should un-
dergo if we came unexpected, but
nothing could be so bad as the condi-
lions we have left behind. Several
of us have come from Lenberg, where
the daily persecution of Jews still
goes on, though not so violently as in
the days of the pogroms. We are stu
dents, but the university is closed to
us. So we went to work on a Jewish
farm some miles away, and our hands
that were formerly used only to pen
or a test tube can now handle spade
and a scythe with the utmose ease.
Our labor was good enough to be re-
warded, and so, with frugal living,
we were able to save something for
the cost of our journey. Our en-
nIover was sorry when we left, for he