FROM OUR ARCHIVES

50 YEARS AGO

January 16, 1968

Jerusalem’s heaviest snowfall in 18 years sealed the city off and virtually paralyzed government and business life. Snow, storms, and driving rain hit Israel widely. The blizzard cut off the capital from the lowlands, disrupted communications in the Galilee, Judea and Samaria. It left snow from Mount Hermon and Kiryat Shmona, and from Mount Carmel in the through Jerusalem and down to Beersheba, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon. With the roads impassable to buses, most people were unable to get to work. Children all over the city frolicked in the unaccustomed 50-cm.-deep snow. On Agron Street a man was seen trying rather unsuccessfully to ski. Angel’s Bakery in Kiryat Moshe, whose 20 delivery vans were snowbound, reported that “thousands” of people came on foot from the surrounding areas to buy fresh bread. Petrol stations ran out of anti-freeze. Some drivers used denatured alcohol, glycerin or just plain cognac in their radiators. The snowfall caught the municipality off guard. They did not have a single vehicle capable of driving in snow, nor a single piece of heavy equipment to move snow, fallen trees or debris. Neither snow nor storm could keep five tourists from England and France from climbing Masada despite drifts of snow 40 to 50 cm. deep. Some Jerusalemites downplayed the severity of the situation, noting that a meter of snow fell in Jerusalem in 1918, the year General Allenby captured Jerusalem from the Turks.

15 YEARS AGO

January 16, 2003

Israel Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon was scheduled to become the first Israeli citizen in space, after NASA resolved several safety concerns and cleared the space shuttle Columbia for liftoff. NASA kept the launch time a secret until the day before, in keeping with post-September 11 security measures. This flight was surrounded by even more security than usual because of Ramon’s presence. Prime minister Ariel Sharon spoke to Ramon, saying how proud he was of the pilot. “I wish you well and that you enjoy yourself and all return safely,” Sharon said. Ramon said earlier that he would take Jewish symbols or ritual objects with him that corresponded to the timing of his particular mission. “I’m going to carry special things and try to express something about the unity of the Israeli people and the Jewish community. I have some ideas,” Ramon said, “but for the time being, I will keep them deep inside of me. It will be a surprise.” One of the items Ramon was carrying into space was a pencil drawing titled “Moon Landscape.” Created by a 14-yearold boy named Peter Ginz, it showed how Earth might look if you were on the moon and looking back at our home world. What made the drawing so important to Ramon was that it was created while Ginz was in a Nazi concentration camp, before the boy died in 1944. Ramon, 48, was the son of Holocaust survivors. “I know my flight is very symbolic for the people of Israel, especially the survivors,” said Ramon. “Because I was born in Israel, many people will see this as a dream that is come true.” – Daniel Kra