July 21
Bob Surprises Elaine
Bob shows up outside of Elaine’s dorm at 2:30 am.
Sunday morning 9:15 am Israel time, 2:15 am US time
Bob surprises Elaine in Israel
Dear Mom Dad & Alan,
I had a most wonderful & enjoyable trip. The ride was smooth & swift. The service was excellent with the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten in my life. It was simply great. We landed first in Gander, then London, Paris, Athens & finally Israel at midnight Saturday Israel time. It thrilled me no end flying over Tel Aviv & landing.
The Israeli customs agents were very nice & we were finished in about 1/2 hour, just as a T.W.A. plane was about to land. (No hot meals were served on Shabbos) In Lydda I was met at the airport and we went by taxi to Jerusalem where we arrived at about 2:30 A.M.
On the way I conversed with the driver in Hebrew & (to be modest) he and everyone else was amazed at my knowledge of the country and the battles that were fought along the Jerusalem corridor. My ability to speak Hebrew made me very proud.
In Jerusalem they took me to Bet Hakerem where all the groups are staying. Guess who I met? Right. Elaine at 2:30 AM. Somehow she had an idea I was coming and although still terribly surprised, it wasn’t as big a shock as I expected. It seems Elaine recognized someone from the ZOA group & when the other girls asked how Elaine knew her, my name was mentioned. The other girl said ok that’s the boy that’s joining our group. That was last week but she still wasn’t sure.
This morning at 5:30 I dovened and went for a walk in Jerusalem. Buildings are going up all over the place. Soldiers by the hundreds were evident, although I didn’t see any carrying weapons as of yet.
Love Bob
David’s Comments:
Sunday July 21, 1957 9:15 AM Israel Time 2:15 AM US time
Bob flies to Israel and surprises Elaine.
“Sunday July 21, 1957 9:15 AM Israel Time 2:15 AM US time”
I don’t know of anyone else who dated a letter showing both the US time and the Israel time.
“I had a most wonderful & enjoyable trip. The ride was smooth and swift. The service was excellent with the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
I have eaten El Al’s food many times. It may have been very good for airline food, but it is hard to believe it was the best food he ate in his entire life. I have eaten my grandmother’s food many times and I could hardly believe the food on El Al could have been better than my hers. (On a separate note, my grandpa William Jacobs was also a great cook.)
“We landed first in Gander Newfoundland, London, Paris, Athens and finally Israel at Midnight Saturday.”
There were no direct flights to Israel from New York in July 1957. The flight with the stopovers was 27 hours.
The first direct flights from NY to Israel were in December 1961. (The flight took 9 hours 35 minutes which was a world record. The flight from NY to Tel Aviv is the same 9 hours 35 minute in 2019 as it was in 1957.)
It is amazing how someone could only have good things to say after flying for more than 27 hours with multiple stopovers.
“The Israeli customs agents were nice and we were finished in about ½ hour, just as a TWA plane was about to land.”
TWA was the other US airline that flew to Israel from the United States in 1957. Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline that existed from 1930 until it stopped operating in 2001.
“In Lydda I was met at the airport and we went by taxi to Jerusalem…”
Bob arrived at Lod airport which was also known as “Lydda” since it was located on the outskirts of the Israeli town, Lydda. In 1948, Lydda changed it’s name to Lod but many people still referred to it as “Lydda”. In 1973 Lod Airport became “Ben Gurion” after Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion passed away.
“On the way I conversed with the driver in Hebrew. My ability to speak Hebrew made me proud”
Bob had learned Hebrew in Yeshiva of Flatbush as a child in Brooklyn. He was the only kid on tour who knew Hebrew.
“I and everyone else was amazed at my knowledge of the country and the battles that were fought along the Jerusalem Corridor. “
The Jerusalem Corridor was an area between Jerusalem toward Tel Aviv where some of the largest battles in the War of Independence took place.
“We arrived (in Jerusalem) at 2:30 am. Guess who I met? Right, Elaine”
Bob arrived in Jerusalem at 2:30 AM to try to surprise Elaine who was staying with the girls’ Young Hadassah group at the David Yellin School in Beit Hakerem, Jerusalem.
According to my father, the guard tried to stop him from going inside. My father answered that “the only way to stop me is to shoot me.” The guard obviously did not want to shoot my dad, so he let him into the girls’ dorm.
My dad found one of the girls. Her name was Doris and she woke up Elaine.
Elaine woke up and was surprised to see Bob. They started to talk. They stayed up all night and walked down Jaffa Road. They have taken many walks since and Elaine eventually became my mom.
“This morning at 5:30 I ‘davened’ and went for a walk in Jerusalem”
The letter states that my father davened at 5:30 AM. (“daven” is the Jewish word for pray) My dad always tried to daven (pray) first thing in the morning with “kavanah” (the proper intention and feeling). For him, it was more important to say less with the proper kavanah than to say more without the proper kavanah.
“No hot meals were served on Shabbas”
In 1957 EL AL flew on Shabbas. It was not until 1982 when Prime Menachem Begin passed a cabinet resolution preventing El Al from flying on Shabbat.
