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PAGE 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 4, 1986
The Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspoper For Southern Je\ v rv
Since 1925
Vida Goldgar
Editor and Publisher
Leonard Goldstein
Advertising Director
Luna Levy
Associate Editor
Eschol A. Harrell
Production Manager
Lutz Baum
Business Manager
Published even,' Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc
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Where will it end?
And so it continues. This time two women, a man and an
8-month-old baby girl are dead. But for a fluke of altitude, the toll
in this week’s bomb explosion of a TWA plane possibly would
have exceeded a hundred.
Proudly claiming credit is one of the myriad Palestinian ter
rorist groups, this one identifying itself as the Arab Revolutionary
Cells. Revenge, they say, for last week’s U.S. military confronta
tion with Libya.
Meanwhile, M uammar Qaddafi quickly washes his hands of a
connection, leading one to wonder what it is he expects when his
country plays host to terrorists, funds terrorists, gives moral and
political support and training bases to terrorists.
No doubt, Syria’s Hafez Assad is equally ‘’innocent” when
murderers sally lorth from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, or even
Damascus, to do their dirty work.
We hear a lot of talk about reprisals and sometimes even our
allies in Europe nod their heads when their countries are involved,
but they still tend to be more accommodating than not to terrorists’
demands. It doesn’t seem to help.
If the toll in human lives has not brought forth a concerted
effort to end the cycle, perhaps the economic impact will.
by Carl Alpert
— HAIFA
A man went dow n into the base
ment of his home and began to dig.
For weeks and for months he dug
away, going ever deeper into the
ground, boring his way through
impacted rubble and debris. He
did not strike either oil or water.
He found no buried gold —but he
did strike historic treasure.
That, in brief, is the story of
Theo Siebenbcrg, son of a family
of Belgian diamond merchants who
tied from the Nazis and found a
haven in the United States. Theo
grew up with visions of a home,
and after the Six-Day War found
that home in Israel. He had the
means to purchase a stone house
on the hill overlooking the Temple
Mount, on the edge of the Jewish
Quarter, in what was known in
ancient times as the Upper City
It was a spacious home, by Israel
standards, occupying four floors,
but Theo Seibenberg was looking
for roots. He watched the archaeol
ogists busily at work excavating
the Jewish Quarter, and his heart
leaped at the sight of the streets
and shops and ruined buildings
dating back to the days of the
Temple. It was then, he told us,
that he decided to go home and
explore what lay under his house.
For weeks and months he dug
away, carefully sifting every basket
of sand and stone. He employed
workmen to dig with him, each
under instructions to dispose of no
rubble until it had been carefully
inspected. The excavation went
deeper. Excited hopes rose when
they began coming across charred
remnants and soot-covered stones,
all indicating a major fire and des
truction on the site. It was soon
thereafter that he struck gold, his
torical gold, penetrating into the
ruins of a Jewish home which had
existed here almost 2,000 years
ago.
The relics were small—a ring, an
inkwell, a perfume bottle, a bronze
bell, buttons, keys, nails, stone
weights and pieces of shattered
utensils. The walls of the buried
home were carefully uncovered.
And still Siebenberg continued to
dig down. It became necessary to
put up retaining walls, and many
tons of concrete went into the ever-
widening pit, to prevent the house,
and indeed the whole street, from
caving in.
For almost 10 years he dug
away, and only a few people were
in on his secret. After he had gone
down the equivalent of lour floors,
and he had installed lighting and
convenient access, he let the world
know what he had found.
Proudly Siebenberg escorted us
on a tour of his “dig,” pointing out
the layout of the rooms, the loca
tion of the family mikva—and the
special mikva for guests. It was
obviously a wealthy family—Jews
who lived here when the Temple
stood across the valley from them,
Jews who met an unknown but
presumably tragic end. Or did they
manage to escape in time through
the exit tunnel which they, and
perhaps their neighbors as well,
dug in their own basement, as
emergency escape in time of need?
Siebenberg has not yet followed
the tunnel to its end, since it
stretches under the street and
under many other neighboring
houses.
The area did not remain com
pletely unoccupied in the post-
Temple period. A huge Byzantine
cistern, in excellent condition,
was uncovered alongside the house,
and will soon be converted into a
small concert hall. Initial experi
ments with performance of baro
que music give promise unique
acoustic facilities.
The history of the place precedes
our anonymous Jewish family as
well, for they had constructed heir
home over what used to be burial
vaults of about the eighth cent. r y,
B.C.E., when the place was mu
outside the city limits. We lea n
from records that the vaults h<i
been emptied, the bones take
elsewhere, and the ground desanc
tified when it became necessary tc
accommodate Jerusalem’s ex pandink
population—2.000 years ago.
Jerusalem’s archaeologists have
not been happy at Siebenberg’s
digging, on the grounds that he is
unprofessional. He gives them due
credit for their magnificent recon
struction of the Cardo and the old
Jewish Quarter, but told us that he
does not seek to compete with
them. He wanted to establish his
own, personal place in the chain of
Jewish history—and found it here.
Two chance finds served to empha
size the continuity of that history,
he said, and showed us flint arrow
heads, dating back to the Roman
period. On the same day that these
were uncovered, he came across a
rusty old machine gun, of Haga-
nah vintage, which the Jews of the
Old City had apparently hidden
away out of sight of the prying
British eyes.
Theo and his wife, M iriam, have
no children. They have established
a foundation, the Jerusalem His
torical Institute, to carry on their
work and maintain the public mu
seum which he plans to open in the
house. Thus far, he says, he has put
some three million dollars into the
project. The knowledge of how
much more there is still to be done
keeps him young.
A double blessing
by David Amato
I he (Mexico) News
Proud of the fact that the Holy
Land was one of the first to recog
nize and appreciate Placido Do
mingo's vast operatic talents,
Israel gave him a warm home com
ing recently after an absence of
more than 20 years.
As he walked about Tel Aviv
and observed two decades of pro
gress, he told friends that it was
truly “an emotional experience” to
visit Israel at this time. The cultu
ral growth of all art forms was par
ticularly impressive.
When Placido was first studying
at the Mexico City Conservatory
ol Music, he received an attractive
offer from the National Opera of
Israel, which he accepted readily.
He still cherishes the memory of
those early years of his career in
Israel, when he took part in 280
operatic performances.
With a nostalgic smile, he still
remembers that “the choir sang in
Hebrew, the soprano in German,
American
Red Cmas
A
ii
We’ll help.W ill you?
t*!\
the baritone in Hungarian and 1
sang in Italian." It was in 1966,
w hile in Tel Aviv, that he attracted
the attention of Julius Rudel, di
rector of the New York City Opera
Company. Since then, he has had a
meteoric rise to fame in his bril
liant career.
He has recorded more than 50
opera albums. His recording with
the popular American singer John
Denver has surpassed one million
in sales. And he has made televi
sion appearances and is now also a
movie star.
But in all his fame and glory, he
has not forgotten the early years of
his career in Israel. Placido has
already promised the world-fa
mous conductor, Zubin Mehta, to
return in July of this year to sing
with the Israel Philharmonic Or
chestra. He has also signed a tele
vision contract lor a Christmas
special in the Holy Land, the in
come of which will be donated to
charitable activities of the Variety
Club and his own fund to help
Mexico City’s earthquake victims.
Placido has been doubly blessed
with a beautiful voice and a charit
able heart. He will surely be re
membered warmly for both.