American girls are flocking into Palestine at an unprecedented number these days. In fact, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv are beginning to resemble our own centers with so many of our smartly-dressed young women on the main streets.
Palestine has, of course, always been a magnet for women who wanted to take part in the building of the Holy Land. They, together with the men, made up the ranks of the Chalutzim, the young pioneers of the Holy Land. For the most part, though, these women came from countries where they were restricted or oppressed and they could not lead the life they wanted to. To them Palestine meant open doors to freedom and opportunity.
But the young American girls who now come to Palestine are of an entirely different type. They have been accustomed to luxuries and pleasures and they have enjoyed advantages of all sorts. They don’t come to Palestine just as tourists—they come to stay a year, or two years, to study and to drink deeply from the sources of Jewish life.
THE DEBUTANTE STUDIES HEBREW
In Jerusalem I met a Park Avenue debutante whose people are among the most prominent, socially, of New York. Most of the girls who knew her rather envied her. Her days were a round of dances, parties and proms, of bridge-playing and of spending a large allowance. I used to see her at the Ritz and the Ambassador wearing the swankiest clothes.
Last winter, a series of Hadassab meetings she attended fired her with the desire to go to Palestine. She talked about it so much that her family finally decided to let her go.
When I came to Jerusalem I found her busily studying Hebrew and taking courses at the Hebrew University. She had visited many of the institutions and settlements and now wanted to go to the Emek to live with the colonists. She knew what the conditions were and that her life would be anything but a bed of roses. But she would not think of leaving Palestine without having spent some time in the Emek. From Park Avenue to the Emek! I couldn’t believe she would really do it. But off she went.
BACK TO PALESTINE
Another girl I met there, a slight pretty blonde, had left a comfortable home in California to settle permanently in Palestine. She had visited the country a few years ago and had wanted to remain then, but her parents had objected. She went home, determined that some day she would return to Palestine. She didn’t count on her allowance alone, but got a job and saved her money. Now she was back and her bubbling enthusiasm for her new homeland was so great that one couldn’t venture a criticism without running the risk of having one’s hair pulled.
On the boat going over, there was an attractive, charming girl from Boston. She was lots of fun and extremely popular with all the passengers. Every day she would put in an hour of Hebrew and an hour of stenography. No matter what the activities were, nothing would tempt her to skip those lessons. She wanted to get a job as soon as she arrived in Palestine. “My family would give me the money I need”, she said. “But I want to show them that I can do this on my own. That I’m really serious about it. They think I’m only out on a lark. But I want to stay.”
These three American girls are typical of the great numbers that I met. While most of them do not expect to remain permanently, nevertheless they are writing an interesting page in the history of Palestine.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
