A bound volume with about 360 greetings, written by hand and printed, sent to Heinrich Loewe on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and elsewhere, 1939. Hebrew and German.
Most of the greetings are written on letterhead stationery or on calling cards, and some are telegrams sent to him. The volume includes greetings from Menachem Ussishkin, Alexander Zueskind Rabinovich, Asher Barash, Hemda Ben-Yehudah, Joseph Budko, Avraham Kahana, Emnauel Harussi, Dov Hoz, "Keren HaYessod" and JNF representatives, the staff of the Tel-Aviv zoo, as well as greetings from industrialists, physicians, engineers and acquaintances who immigrated from Germany.
Bound at the end of the volume are about 60 printed paper items related to Loewe's birthday: invitation to an evening led by Loewe, booklets printed in his honor and newspaper clippings with articles about him.
Pasted on the spine is a leather strip, gilt lettered: Heinrich Loewe, Eliakim Ben Yehudah, 70 Geburtstag, 11.7.39.
Enclosed: thirteen paper items, printed and written by hand, related to Heinrich Loewe (some from later periods).
Approx. 360 greetings. Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition. Bound volume: approx. 30.5 cm. Binding slightly worn.

A postcard handwritten and signed by Joseph Trumpeldor. St. Petersburg, 1918. Russian.
In 1917, after seeing his vision of establishing Jewish Legions coming to life, Joseph Trumpeldor was informed that he would not be able to enlist due to his handicap. Trumpeldor returned to St. Petersburg and in the following months lobbied to establish "Russian Jewish Legions", which were meant to have a historic role: join the World War, fight in the Caucasus front and participate in the conquest of Palestine. The plan drew the interest of the Russian authorities, but the October Revolution and the outbreak of the civil war buried it. Eventually, a single volunteer battalion, unaffiliated with the Russian Army, was established in St. Petersburg, drawing about 150 Jewish fighters and acting in self-defense only. After several months, the Soviet authorities dismantled the battalion and it was mostly forgotten.
Following the dismantling of the battalion, Trumpeldor invested his efforts in another Zionist enterprise – providing agricultural training to Jewish youth while still abroad and facilitating their immigration to Palestine. The training camps were organized by the "HeChalutz" organization in Russia, headed by Trumpeldor (with others), who established its central office. Many of the Third Aliyah pioneers were trained in these camps.
In this postcard, sent shortly after the battalion was dismantled, Trumpeldor announces he had abandoned the Russian Jewish legions plan, and refers to the early stages of the establishment of "HeChalutz" training camps. Trumpeldor writes: "I remember my promise, I haven't written to you since in the field that interests you – the establishments of battalions for Palestine – nothing has been done yet, and cannot be done under current circumstances. The 'HeChalutz' agricultural group is preparing to work not far from Petrograd. If you want to take part in these works, write to me… I still do not have permission for self-defense, but of course I have not abandoned this thought … with the greeting of Zion, Trumpeldor".
Approx. 14X9 cm. Good condition. Stains. Abrasion to verso (from removing the postage stamp?), not affecting the text.

A letter handwritten and signed by David Ben-Gurion, addressed to Yitzchak Ben-Zvi. Buffalo (USA), July 1915.
Ben-Gurion wrote this letter after a prolonged illness that interrupted his activities for several weeks. The letter opens with a description of his illness, the time he spent in hospital and his plans for the future: "Today I got out of prison – the hospital – after a stay of two weeks there. I couldn't believe my ears when I suddenly heard my physician telling me two weeks ago that I must hurry to the hospital since I caught diphtheria […] for ten days they wouldn't let me see anyone – and only on the eleventh day they permitted it – and even then, only through a grille, like in prison, but different! […] none of the physicians or nurses know anything but English – and their accent is so strange that it was hard for me to understand even a single word of what they were saying […] I will presumably have to rest at least another week until I am able to continue my trip. And anyway, my 'round' will have to be changed and shortened" (Hebrew).
At the end of the letter, Ben-Gurion writes: "Yesterday I read… that a special committee was established at the initiative of P.R. [?] to run a campaign for the congress and they plan to publish a special newspaper for this purpose. This doesn't make much sense to me. Why do we need a new newspaper when we can utilize the popular press…". Presumably, Ben-Gurion is referring to the establishment of the organization committee of the American Jewish Congress – a Jewish American association aiming to defend Jewish interests – and to the weekly "Der Yidisher Congress", one of the founders of which was Pinchas Rutenberg.
[1] leaf, folded in half (three and a half written pages), approx. 16 cm. Good condition. Fold lines.
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David Ben-Gurion and Yitzchak Ben-Zvi's friendship was forged in Jerusalem, in 1910, during their joint work as members of the editorial staff of "HaAchdut", the official journal of the Poalei Zion party in Palestine. During the years 1912-1914, they studied law in Istanbul in order to be able to represent the Jewish Yishuv before the Ottoman government when time comes. When the Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers, all the subjects of the Entente Powers in Palestine became enemy subjects and were required to accept Ottoman citizenship or leave the country. Ben-Gurion and Ben-Zvi, who returned from Istanbul, supported the idea of Ottomanization and together with the other members of the Poalei Zion Movement accepted Ottoman citizenship. Nevertheless, in 1915, when it was decided to deport anyone related to Zionist activity, they received a 'permanent' deportation order and were sent by ship to Alexandria. In Alexandria, they were arrested by the British as enemy citizens; however, after the intervention of the USA consul, they were released and sailed to New York.
After their arrival in New York, Ben-Gurion and Ben-Zvi became involved in Zionist activity as members of Poalei Zion. They wrote for the local press, gave lectures and published the books "Yizkor" and "Eretz Yisrael BaAvar UVaHoveh" (Palestine in the Past and in the Present). After the Balfour Declaration, they were among the initiators of the establishment of the 39th battalion of the Royal Fusiliers of the British army (a Jewish-American battalion) and encouraged Jewish youth to join the Jewish Legion. With the conquest of Palestine by the British, the two returned to the country.