December 2015During the past decade, a wave of nostalgia has swept through Israel and the world. This nostalgia stems from a sense that the progressive world in which we live, with its rapid technological advances and terms such as “global village” and “virtual world” creates feelings of alienation, as opposed to the intimacy remembered from earlier times.

Thus, we look back to a place where we felt content, comfortable and safe – to childhood, to the past, to the pleasant realm of nostalgia. The Tembel Hat, Soda Siphon and Sussita car featured in this stamp series are examples of things that remind us of days gone by and fill us with pleasant memories of the past.

Tembel Hat
In the early days of the State of Israel nearly everyone wore Tembel hats, making it a common symbol of “the Israeli”. This is how renowned caricaturist Dush represented the mythological Sabra Srulik, along with his short khaki pants, open collared shirt and sandals. The Tembel hat was popular because it was inexpensive (it was produced from scraps of textile fabrics), it could be used to wipe sweat from the wearer’s face, folded into a triangle that fit comfortably into a pant pocket, and was easy to wash.

Soda Siphon
The Soda Siphon was a metal container used to produce “homemade” soda. Water was turned into soda when gas from a small container attached to the siphon released bubbles into the device.

The Soda Siphon was so popular in its day that it became a common wedding gift. In a wellknown skit called “Wedding Photographer”, Israeli comedian Gadi Yagil said, “… do you know that you got 100 Soda Siphons? What do you do in your spare time? Make soda?…”.

Sussita
The Sussita car was assembled in Israel from 1960 to 1975 at the Autocars factory in Tirat Hacarmel. The body was made of fiberglass. According to a common tale, the Sussita was favored by camels in Southern Israel, because they could bite off chunks and gleefully eat them. A number of Sussita models were manufactured: a 2-door model that looked like a box and was nicknamed accordingly; a station wagon; and a Sussita pick-up truck that had a passenger-cab in the front and a load cab in the back.

—David Sela
Chairman, Council for Promoting Israeli Heritage
Editor of the Israeli Online Nostalgia website

The themes for the stamp series were selected based on a survey of the 202,281 members of the Online Nostalgia website. Of those surveyed, 13,103 gave the most votes to the selected items. Our thanks to David Sela and the Online Nostalgia website for their assistance.

December 2015

Nili: acronym for “Netzach Israel Lo Yishaker” The Eternity of Israel will not deceive (Samuel I, 15:29)

Dreamers and warriors, bearers of the rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.

The underground Nili network was established in 1915 and operated in Eretz Israel during WWI. Its objectives were:

• To assist the British effort to conquer Eretz Israel by gathering information.
• To support the Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel in a time of famine and disease.
• To draw world attention to what was happening in Eretz Israel.
• To fulfill the dream of establishing a Jewish State in Eretz Israel.

Nili was founded and led by agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn from Zikhron Ya’akov, joined by his sister Sarah and brother Alexander, as well as Avshalom Feinberg from Hadera, brothers Na’aman and Eitan Belkind from Rishon LeZion, Yosef Lishansky from Metula and dozens of others.

The organization operated from Atlit where Aaron’s Agricultural Experiment Station was located. British forces sailed regularly between Egypt and Atlit – the British warship Managam frequently came ashore at Atlit to collect the information gathered by Nili members. Information was also passed on via homing pigeon.

In the spring of 1917 rumors about the espionage organization circulated around the Yishuv. A number of events led to the exposure of the organization in September 1917: a British coin was found in the market in Ramleh, a homing pigeon failed to complete its mission and landed in the governor’s yard in Caesarea and Na’aman Belkind was arrested by Turkish authorities.

Following these events, the Turks began a campaign of threats and terror against the Jewish Yishuv in order to apprehend Nili members. Many were in fact caught and tortured. Sarah Aaronsohn committed suicide after undergoing severe torture. Na’aman Belkind and Yosef Lishansky were executed in Damascus.
The bravery and heroism of the men and women of Nili helped the British enter Eretz Israel and end the Ottoman rule.

—Beit Aaronsohn Nili Museum

Description of the Stamp, the First Day Cover and the Cancellation
The stamp features the British warship Managam across from the Atlit shore and the house in the vineyard in Zikhron Ya’akov from which they signaled the Managam.

The stamp tab features portraits of Aaron Aaronsohn, Sarah Aaronsohn, Avshalom Feinberg and Yosef Lishansky.

The First Day Cover bears a picture of the house in the Agricultural Experiment Station from which the Managam was signaled. The signals were made by opening and closing the shutters or hanging dark or white laundry.

The cancellation features Aaron Aaronsohn’s home on Ha’Meysadim (founders) St. in Zikhron Ya’akov.

December 2015

The Postal Road established by the Mamluk Empire in Eretz Israel (1260-1516) ran from the capital in Cairo to the capital of the north – Damascus and other important centers. This main route and its branches served as a means of passing news between the outlying areas of the Empire and the capital.

The road from Egypt, which passed through the northern Sinai Desert, forked into two branches in Gaza – one toward Karak in Jordan via Beit Guvrin and Hebron and the other toward Damascus via Jitin (Ge’a), Qatra (Gedera), Ludd, Jinin, Baysan (Beit She’an), etc.

The Mamluk postal network was based on three components: equestrian post, homing pigeons and fire/smoke signals. This system was called Barid. The land Barid utilized fast horses whose sole purpose was to transport messages from the Sultan in Cairo. The messengers who rode these horses were selected from among those closest to the ruler.

The fourth Mamluk Sultan, al-Zahir Baybars al- Bunduqdari (1260-1277), who established the Mamluk Empire, reintroduced the Barid and incorporated it into his military structure. The peak of the Barid was during the third reign of al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1310-1341).

This postal system was based on stations positioned at regular intervals along the route where messengers were able to obtain fresh horses. Approaching messengers were recognized by station personnel based on identifying marks such as a yellow silk scarf tied to the messenger’s neck, a large silver medallion hanging from the messenger’s neck or a horse with a tied tail – and were met with a fresh horse so they could continue immediately on their journey.

It took no more than four days for the post to reach Damascus from Cairo.

In order to minimize the obstacles en route, Baybars built and repaired bridges. This Sultan’s hallmark – the lion/cheetah – appears on many of his buildings (and also on the stamp) and it decorated at least two of the bridges that he built: one near Cario and the other the Gandas Bridge near Lod which was one of the main stations along the Barid.

The Mamluk Postal Road left its impression on Eretz Israel and a number of impressive ruins from that network attest to its importance as a key land bridge among various countries.

—Dr. Katia Cytryn-Silverman
Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem