Jewish Heroines:
Making Their (Post)Mark
February 2002
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The stories of Jewish heroines can be found both in the Bible and in world history books. Because this is February, we'll focus on stamps of Jewish heroines with some kind of February connection -- that is, the women depicted on the stamps were born during the month, died during it or the stamps on which they appeared were issued during February. These women -- and all the Jewish heroines -- are bound not only by the religious heritage, but by leading exemplary lives distinguished by bravery, intelligence and commitment to ideals.
The term "brave" is an apt description for the actions of Sarah Aaronson, who appeared on a stamp issued by Israel Feb. 19, 1991 (Scott #1076). She was one of the leaders of Nili, a spy ring that helped the British (against the Turks) in World War I. She was born in 1890, the
daughter of a wealthy farmer in northern Palestine, then controlled by Turkey. When she married she moved to Turkey, but returned to Palestine in 1915.
In his book Heroes of Israel: Profiles of Jewish Courage, Chaim Herzog (who served as Israel's president), wrote that Aaronson witnessed on her return trip to Palestine some genocidal acts committed against the Armenians. This prompted Sarah and her brother Aaron (see Israel #742) and several friends to form a pro-British information network (or spy ring).
Sarah's role included literally passing the information the ring had gathered to a British agent who would come ashore near their farm from a waiting British ship. The Turks learned of the ring and arrested her in October 1917. She was tortured for several days at her family farm, but when she refused to provide any information, they decided to take her to Nazareth for further questioning. She convinced them to let her change out of her bloody dress. She went into her bathroom, but instead of getting dressed, she used the gun she had hidden there to kill herself.
Herzog summarized the contributions of Sarah Aaronson and Nili as follows:
The British won the war, conquered Palestine, issued the Balfour Declaration and were given the mandate by the League of Nations to implement it. Although a bitter confrontation was eventually to develop between the Yishuv (Jewish settlers in Palestine) and the British mandatory authorities, it was the mandate which led to the establishment of the State of Israel. The moral courage of the Nili spies, in sticking to their mission in the face of the disapproval -- even condemnation -- of their contemporaries, is no less striking than their physical bravery.
Reaching for the Sky
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© 2002, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved.
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