Next week, we’ll be exploring what it meant for hundreds of thousands of new immigrants to the equally new State of Israel to pitch their tents, an expression that usually refers to launching a new enterprise or starting anew – which rings very true in this case – but takes on added resonance when meant literally: living in tents, like their Biblical ancestors, was what awaited Israel’s newest citizens in the absence of durable housing.
To get a sense of worrisome, unstable conditions on the ground you’ll find a number of sharply detailed NYT articles.  Pay attention to those details, which make clear the ways in which it the good-will of the body politic, not just its economic resources, were increasingly strained, giving rise to a profound cultural divide, a rift, between those who hailed from the West and those who hailed from the East.
That divide is given voice and personalized in “You’re So Pretty, You Don’t Look Moroccan,” an article that’s found on Blackboard.  Immerse yourself in its perspective.
And, for good measure, a recently written piece on food scarcity in the biblical land of milk and honey also awaits on Blackboard under the title “The Austerity Diet.” It looks historically at a time when food rations were in place.
As you make your way through these disparate accounts, ask yourself:  what does it all add up to?  If you had to write up a profile of the early days of the State of Israel, what would it look like? Be sure to jot down some thoughts, along with some adjectives, as we put the pieces together.
Gene Currivan, “Tents to Ease Jam in Israel Housing,” New York Times, April 24, 1949
“Israel is Struck by a Record Cold:  At the Ras El Ain Transit Camp,” New YorkTimes, February 7, 1950
Gene Currivan, “Bitter Immigrants in Israel Ask Homes in Crowded Land,” New York Times, July 18, 1949
Henriette Dahan-Kalev, “You’re So Pretty – You Don’t Look Moroccan,” Israel Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2001, pp.1-14 (E-reserves)
Dana Kessler, “The Austerity Diet,” Tablet, May 18, 2023 (E-reserves)