Israel watched Apollo 11 soar towards the moon this morning through the eyes of its Ambassador to Washington, Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin. Ambassador Rabin was among the diplomatic guests invited to watch the historic launching of the vehicle that, if all goes well, will land two American astronauts on the moon’s surface next Sunday. The Israeli envoy was accompanied by Jeruham Kafkafi, the scientific attache at the Israel Embassy in Washington.
(Scholarly sources said today that Judaism takes note of the moon. Religious Jews chant special prayers on the occasion of the new moon which they deem symbolic of the Jewish people whose history, like earth’s satellite, goes through various phases. “Like the moon, they reappeared after being eclipsed,” one said. The Old Testament decrees death by stoning for anyone worshiping the ancient moon goddess, Ishtar. Moses exhorted the Israelites to scorn her.)
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.
