Israel and the World- part 4

The fourth cover of Israel Joint issues 

1. Israel - Uruguay Joint Issue 

The South American and Israeli postal companies chose a drawing by the artist Jose Gurevich of the Matriarch Sarah when she was told by angels that she would have a son. The Jewish-Uruguayan artist had created a series of biblical drawings in honor of his mother who contracted cancer. The image on the NIS 2 stamp designed by Rinat Gilboa testifies to the deep cultural and religious roots of the Jewish People. Uruguay was the first country to recognise Israel and the stamp honours the 65 years of their friendship . 

2. Israel - Estonia Joint Issue 

Interestingly, the diplomatic ties between Estonia and the region of Palestine have a longer history. The Republic of Estonia appointed an Honorary Consul to the British Governor of Palestine in 1929 and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Estonia was located at Litwinsky House. Today, Estonia and the State of Israel consider themselves similar in many ways. Both countries are proud of being modern young states ready to accept the technological and security challenges of the 21st century. Both countries are recognized world leaders in the IT and cyber security realm  and both boast an impressive number of start-up companies. The contacts and cooperation between Estonia and Israel, in their private as well as public sectors, are expanding to include the whole realm of economic and technological innovation.

A Jewish presence in Estonia was first recorded in 1333, but their numbers remained small until the 18th century. The Republic of Estonia granted Jews cultural autonomy in 1926 – the first country in Europe to do so. This cultural autonomy was renounced in 1940 as a result of the Soviet occupation and restored after Estonia regained its independence in 1991.

Today there is a smaller, but very dynamic and active Jewish community in Estonia, numbering approximately 2000 members. There is a synagogue (reopened in 2010) and Jewish Cultural Center in Tallinn as well as a Jewish school, kindergarten and social center.

The Litwinsky House is an outstanding architectural building in Tel Aviv. It was built by Yaakov Elhanan Litwinsky (1852-1916), a well-known businessman who immigrated from Odessa. Before that he had purchased one of the original sixty-six lots in Ahuzat Bayit, the nucleus of the future Tel Aviv. The house he built with his family at 22 Achad Ha’am Street was one of the most impressive homes in the new neighborhood.

3. Israel - Russia Joint Issue 

Christian tradition calls the village of Ein Karem, located to the west of Jerusalem, the "City of Judea". The Virgin Mary visited Ein Karem while carrying her unborn child Jesus and according to the New Testament, she met her cousin St. Elizabeth there, while she was also pregnant with her son, John the Baptist. On the hillside above the village there is a large, magnificent gold-domed church which is part of the Russian convent complex that was built in honor of that visit. Construction of the convent and the church began in the 19th century, initiated by the head of the Russian religious mission to the Holy Land. These buildings reflect the deep Russian religious involvement in Eretz Israel toward the end of the Ottoman Period, when tens of thousands of devout Russians made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land every year.

 In 1871, Archimandrite Antonin Kapoustin, head of the Russian religious mission, purchased a large plot of land in Ein Karem with funds contributed by devout businessmen and noblemen. He planned and built a modest church at the center of the complex and invited wealthy women who wished to live out their lives in the Holy Land to build houses there. Those houses were subsequently inherited by the community, thus over time a few dozen buildings were incorporated into the Russian Gorny ("mountainous") Convent. In 1910, Leonid Sinzov, one of the heads of the Russian religious mission after Kapoustin, decided to build a new larger and grander church up on the hillside, which he planned to call "The Church of the Holy Trinity". In order to build the church, Sinzov borrowed large sums of money from various parties. He also expected to receive contributions to complete the construction. But these plans came to an abrupt halt when WWI broke out in 1914. Contact with Russia was severed and the Russian representatives, who were declared to be enemy subjects, were deported to Egypt and construction of the church stopped. After the war, it was impossible to continue the construction due to significant debts and the severance of ties with the anti-religious Soviet Union.

 The roofless church stood abandoned for decades, until the early 21st century, when construction recommenced. The church was completed in 2007 and named the "Cathedral of All Russian Saints". In recent years, this typical Russian-looking church is visited by increasing numbers of tourists and pilgrims and it represents Russia's deep religious bond to Jerusalem.

To be continued ...