Israel Matzav

Israel's Chanuka miracle of 1949

The Israelis had $1 million to spend. The Levinsons recommended Levy to help them spend it wisely. Levy told them, "I want 10-gallon [a day] cows so in Israel, they could be milked three times a day. Purchase them six to eight weeks before they would calve so they would give milk as soon as possible." Throughout the Midwest and Northeast, the Israelis bought heavy milkers. Local vets tested the Holsteins for tuberculosis and brucellosis and shipped them by rail to Newport News, where they were tested again.

Meanwhile, workmen had fitted the freighter SS Columbia Heights with box stalls and maternity stalls. Passing the word along, the Levinsons recruited 42 Mennonite dairymen from Virginia and Pennsylvania to handle and milk the cattle. "They were overjoyed to be going to the land of Jesus," Levy said. "We promised to take them to the Sea of Galilee, have some 'St. Peter's fish' [tilapia] and have a baptizing in the River Jordan.

"We then filled the ship's hold with water. We knew water would be a problem." Tons of fertilizer to mask the odor and thousands of 60-pound bales of hay filled the hold. The Tidewater Jewish community contributed thousands of cans of condensed milk for Israel's children.

"How about you going?" Levy asked his wife, Diana. They had been married three years and had two children. "That was quite a decision; she was an ardent Zionist. Winter was coming on. Then we heard that in Israel the only milk available for children under 5 was adulterated [mixed with water]." Finally she said, "You do the mitzvah [good deed]."

A few days out, the Norwegian captain, whom Levy remembers for "two things he did: smoked a long pipe and drank whiskey -- and he knew how to drink," told Levy he was detouring into the South Atlantic to escape rough weather. The new course would mean two more days at sea. Levy reminded the captain that water and hay were in short supply, but the captain, as strong-willed as Levy, wouldn't change his decision.

Levy decided to intercede through the first mate. "Tell him," Levy said to the mate, "Israel wants live animals," and that the Holsteins were insured for $1 million by Lloyds of London. It wouldn't help the captain's record if they died on board. The captain gave in, and the ship steamed into rough water. "It was hitting over the deck in the middle of the Atlantic," Levy said.

After 18 days at sea, the Columbia Heights docked at Haifa. It was Friday evening -- Shabbat.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:40 AM