Kline, Brett
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
04-24-2006
KIBBUTZ TZE'ELIM, Israel, April 23 (JTA) -- Located not far from the Gaza
Strip, Kibbutz Tze'elim has 6,000 acres of prime, irrigated desert
farmland, one-fifth of which produces sweet potatoes. In the midst of all
those sweet potatoes is a treasure hidden in an underground bomb shelter
built in 1947: hundreds of medallions etched in copper and bronze that tell
the story of the founding of modern Israel.
There are round etchings of Zionist founding father Theodore Herzl with
his trademark beard. There are medallions of writer Sholem Aleichem cast
from clay for the Zionist Congress of 1921, and of Chaim Weizmann, the
first president of the State of ...