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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
New Year Greetings
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Seasons Greetings
FROM
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IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA
HENDERSON BROS.
PHONES 8139-8130
PRIVATE AMBULANCE SERVICE
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May the New Year
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^ Health
\
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Savannah Electric & Power Co.
SAVANNAH GEORGIA
“Those Poor 99 Arabs
(Continued from page 15)
stand by the dozen in the street be
fore the hotel are pure Cairo. Every
human variety of Northeastern Africa
is represented—-Negroes, paler half-
breeds, tanned Caucasians. The vari
ous heads wear coverings of manifold
sorts; turbans, white or brown, the
red tarbush, a brown felt cap, or
simply some bright colored rag. Their
bodies, too, are clothed in this fash
ion, in robes, coats or shawls, whose
folds—yellow, green, white, light blue
or dark—reach the ground. Loud col
ors seem to be the principal aim of
the masculine costume. Woman, how
ever, always is cloaked entirely in
black on the street—quite otherwise
than in the West, where she glitters
and allures like a gaudy flower.
The law-giver of the past, who hid
woman behind walls, surrounded her
with eunuchs, permitted her to look
at the sky only through narrow grat
ings and disfigured her charming fig
ure with shapeless dark garments—he
evidently had as his claim the training
of a nation of stern warriors. Woman
should not be permitted to distract
man’s attention from his great tasks.
And lo, the Orient, where woman
plays no public role, is asleep none
the less. The East is much more ef
feminate than the West. Might the
position of woman possibly share the
blame for this?
In the bazaar I watched an Arabian
merchant as he ate. He squatted on
the wooden floor of his shop, between
holts of cotton and lengths of cloth,
and before him he had a little bowl
containing more greens than meat. He
picked the food from the bowl with
his fingers—the very sight could
make one lose one’s appetite. And the
things that lay or floated about in
his dish aroused no hunger.
Not only the dinner-bowls, but all
the goings-on in the bazaar are open
to the inspection of him who strolls
through it. The bazaar itself re
sembles that of Constantinople, except
that this one is even narrower, filthier
and more Oriental. The main street,
called Muski, is a little broader and
more European; but this has robbed
it of its character, and its shops re
call those of a small provincial town.
Only the -human stream in this
thoroughfare retains its aboriginal
colorfulness. The little alleys behind
the main streets have more of the
picturesque.
Some of the different trades have
their own districts. Competitors sit
side by side, almost on top of one
another, one would expect that in
such close proximity economic rivalry
would consume them. But no; their
legs are crossed peaceful as they sit
in their open booths, smoking their
hookahs and amiably chatting and
spitting whenever no customer is in
sight. Among these little streets is
one dedicated to the sale of oil of
roses, one or more sacred to the gold
smiths, one occupied by red slippers,
another by books, and so on. These
streets smell of roses of leather, as
the case may be, and those lined with
goldsmiths booths are always full of
black-cloaked women. The glittering
stuff attracts them.
* * *
t The street of books lies near the
University. As soon as one enters the
courtyard or halls of the Ashar
Mosque one hears the murmuring hum
of boys’ and men’s voices
yard, surrounded by shad
whose stones many hund)
and young men sit readi
ing, is the so-called Univ
another world. These ai
like people of the Arab
Reading, writing, a littb
and a very great deal <
that is the learning of th
University. Yet learning
different in every land a;
Oriental thinker probabi \
gard the structure of oui
with just as ironical a sn,
n is court-
'valks, on
' 3 boys
and writ-
r y. Truly
'fie child-
n Nights.
arithmetic
Koran—
wondrous
' relative.
age. An
would re-
'nowledge
But this Arabian institution
higher learning provides
spectacle. Classes are h*ld not
separate chambers, but .
the same large hall. The groups •
auditors touch one another. Th
teacher, the sheikh, sits c
on a chair or straw mat. Hi - discipl
squat in a semi-circle on the flo
before him, each with his shoes a:,:
bookd lying at his feet
reads aloud and comments, the stu
dents listen and absorb wisdom. It
is remarkable to see how quietly and
well these classes behave. They sit
close together, separated not even by
a screen—each group can listen to the
teachers of its neighbors and yet
they do not disturb one another. The
individual students are deeply seri
ous; they are passionately eager t
learn, that later they may teach
others. Their reverent attention trans
forms the broad hall into a temple.
They appear to forget food and drink,
to thirst only for knowledge. But for
those who thirst for water also about
a dozen water-bearers are provided;
bulging goatskins on their backs and
clattering cups in their hands, these
carriers walk about between the
groups of students. They do not dis
turb the lecturers—they walk noise
lessly on bare soles. A thirsty stu
dent need only raise his hand! At
once the water bearer stops and, with
a skillful forward jerk of his shoulder
pours water from the goatskin int
a cup, which he then passes to the
one who wants it.
A thousand-year old picture. lh*
sheikh with his Koran, the water-car
rier with his goatskin, the boy whose
thirst both quence—the picture is
thousand years old, and yet renew
itself daily. I stopped for a while
listen to one of the sheikhs. I did not
know what he said, and yet 1 urn* 1
stood him. I understood the argumen
tative tons of his voice, his victoiiou
expression as he proved a point,
explanatory spreading of his hand?
he interpreted and commented, i’ject
ed new meanings and discover. ■ new
truths. For that matter, th
tie that an earnest seeker cannot mu
in a verse of the Koran. This
first time that I saw the ntan, vet
I knew him. He was one
who are filled with the
knowledge and, themselves c ^
impart this illusion to oti
like that are found in the
well as in the West. But, a
is it not unimportant, in
analysis, which dream domi
lives ?
Copyright 1931 by S. A. F. s