The Convoy of the 35After the UN Partition Plan was proposed on November 29, 1947, the Palestinian A
The Convoy of the 35After the UN Partition Plan was proposed on November 29, 1947, the Palestinian Arabs launched a civil war against the Palestinian Jews and besieged the four Jewish villages in Gush Etzion. The Jews in Gush Etzion were subsequently cut off from the rest of the Jewish bloc and were in dire need of medical supplies and food. The Haganah sent a number of convoys in order to aid the trapped Jews, but the Arabs attacked and thwarted them all.On January 14, 1948, Arab forces launched an attack on the Jewish villages and left them in critical condition. As a result, the Haganah decided to send another convoy to aid the trapped villagers. On January 16, 1948, a convoy of 35 Haganah soldiers led by Palmach commander Danny Mas, set out help the besieged villagers. Before reaching their destination, the convoy came upon an Arab shepherd, who they let go. The shepherd ran to the nearby Arab village and raised the alarm. The Arab villagers attacked the convoy and a battle ensued where the 35 were all killed by the overwhelming Arab forces. Although the story of the Arab shepherd is subject to debate, it is the accepted tale as told by Palmach commander, Yitzhak Sadeh. After the War of Independence, the bodies of the 35 were returned to Israel, but only 23 of the 35 bodies were able to be identified. Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, suggested that Rabbi Aryeh Levin perform a rare ceremony, called “gorel ha-gra” (lit. the lots of the Rabbi of Vilna), in which the reader randomly chooses a passage from the Bible that in turn hints about the body in question. Rabbi Aryeh Levin performed the ceremony and the remaining 12 soldiers were identified and properly buried. After Israel’s victory in the Six Day War, veterans of the Palmach established the village Nitiv HaLamed Hey (lit. The Path of the 35), and erected a monument in their memory.My Nation Lives עמי-חי -- source link