The Denver Jewish news., 1921-02-02
"KAVISH"-A TEMPORARY INDUS
TRY.
BY GERSHON AGRONSKY,

"Kavish" is Hebrew word which
betokens regulated road covered with
mud or stone-a highway-but til"
word bids fair TO become information
al. Palestinian pioneers writing TO
their parents or folks in Poland and
Russia say: "Ya robotni you ma KAY
ish" q am employed mt "kavishing') }.
fhe work at "Kavish' is at the pres
rnt moment the industry par excel
lence." OF a large, perhaps the major
part of our male and female pioneers
who have come to Palestine within
the last four and five months due to
their determination. grit. the aid OF
the Lord and the transportation firm
Of "Ma-avirim.'
In Lower Galilee one can see the
pioneers cutting stones III the noun
tains. carrying stones down the road,
sitting on large stones belaboring them
with hammers, engaged in the simple
process of hewing one large stone into
many small ones. Otter one sees
groups carrying baskets full of dirt
which they empty into earth pits, and
lien go on the road again. filling up
iew baskets TO resume the work again.
AS to terms of employment, the
ioneers are piecc-workcr>, or perhaps
workers by the measure, and there are
ONE 1000 of them engaged in the un-
lertaking. They receive so many
min sfprS'' for ca rDnrb n rI pf
anal or millcd or ground stones. Their
minimum earnings are % piasters. or
.lbout one dollar II day, and II maxi
mum of 30 piasters. They live in
little huts near the place of their en-
ployment. eat in community kitchen.
where it costs them about 20 piasters
l day. and wear whatever God will
grant them. While the weather was
warm. they would be wearing almost
no clothing at all from the belt up,
leaving their upper bodies entirely
bare. so that after n few weeSs they
became brOnzed and their muscles like
iron. Both men and women. while 1t
was warmer We're going without shoes,
not to speak of stockings. But now
that it is raining and the air is chilly,
they begin to regret their old clothes
which the society of "Ma-avirim' ad-
vised them to leave in Vienna and
Trieste.
There are four principal "kavishim"
employing most of the pioneers. the
proposed highways between Samak
and Tiberias. Tiberias and Tivcha.
Apula to Nazareth and Haifa to
Djedu. n
What the workers lack in all of the
four "kavishim" may soon be sup
piled. The least that a pioneer must
have working where the sky is his
roof and the wet soil his bed, is n
pair of strong boots. woolen socks,
woOlen shirts. two or three wooden
blankets. Having those things he has
what the soldier in cnmp. the Indian
and the Egyption who work under sim
liar circumstances must have. In the
absence of those things he is subject
ed to any kind of cold and particu-
larly pneumonia. Our "kavish" work
ers or the most of them do not possess
all their needs. Nobody in particu-
lar is responsible, for this.
The government claims that it can
not do any more because it is limited
in its expenditures and to keep them
as low as possible it might be COM
PEELED to resort to cheap Arabian
labor. The pioneer himself cannot be
expected to save from his meager earn
ings to purchase the above necessar-
les.
The only organization attempting to
procure the necessary minimum for
the chaluzim which will amount to
some $4,000 for the 5000 men is the
Zionist Commission.
The "Kavish" industry is and must
remain a temporary one. This is
sort of emergency work of the Zion
ist organization preparatory to the
work of real colonization. which has
caused some 90 per cent of all cha
luzim" to come here. But the "Kav-