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I read the article twice, three times, four times and five times, and again and again... The words are so moving and written with such good taste. Congratulations on the important work the Center is doing

I would like to ask whether it would be possible for you to film and document by video? This would be a very useful way to display material at conferences and at the Or Shalom Center, soon, when hopefully the new building will be ready (Amen!).

Please send me the addresses of the Community's different synagogues around the country, for maintaining contact and for invitations to events.

Eliyahu Guilli, Or Akiva

The Editor's Response

The Or Shalom Center has been conducting video documentation of interviews with Community elders for almost 3 years.

We have a large number of films that include my Rabbis from Yatzitz (and Rabbi Dvash). There are also films with people who were activists in the Jewish Immigration and in the Hagana (Yosef Gueta, Climo Adadi, Rina Halachmi, Members of the Elimination Squad Tzion Abaka, Shalom Fergun, Eliyahu Machluf, etc.) The filmed material will be available to people editing papers, as needed.

I take this opportunity to thank you for your warm letter to Mr. Yitzhak T'shuba. I am confident the problem will be resolved and the necessary help will be acquired. As my father, may he rest in peace, used to say "From the heavens, will He send angels, from the heavens will He make peace." And so may it be.

Rabbi Chmus Fellach

Rabbi Chmus Fellach served the community during the few years before WW2. You could call these years the "good years." There was a sense of ease, peace, and quietness in the Community, among Jews and non-Jews alike. There was considerable growth in business activity and there was a lot of trust from one person to another, with little disturbances.

The Jewish Community had much respect for the Rabbi. He was the Head of the Jewish Court in the entire district of Cyrenaica. His position as judge was also authorized by the Italian Government.

In the early 30's, an order was published by the Jewish Court which was at the time called "The Ban." This order restricted all the Jews of Benghazi from gambling. The Community respected the order, and all gambling with money stopped. Instead people played for fun only. Some of the people in the Community found a way to bypass the order by gambling outside of Benghazi. The punishment for violating the order was to be banned, or even jailed. Banishment meant that no other Jew would talk to that person, or deal with him in any way, including in business, social, or family contact. This would go on until the banned person apologized to the Rabbi, asking for forgiveness. After doing so he was received back in the congregation. But, if that person continued to gamble (which almost never happened, because there was no one to gamble with!), Rabbi Fellach was then authorized as head of the Court to put that person in jail.

These situations continued till the beginning of WW2. At that time, the Jews of Benghazi left the City for the villages, along with their families, for fear of bombardments. Then there was a lot of time for games. In the morning, they returned to the City for work, and at night they went back to the villages to their families. Rabbi Fellach once made an important announcement to his family, which shows how great he was. He said the following: "As long as I am alive, there will be no harm to any of you from the bombings." And so it was! Benghazi was conquered many times, and every night there was a bombardment by the British or Germans, and thank God, there was no loss of life. The Jews passed this period in their history safely.

Sassy Legziel
Tel Aviv