29th of November- This Year in Jerusalem

This past Shabbat, November 29th, marked the 78th anniversary of the historic United Nations vote in Swan Lake, NY that passed a resolution in favor of the Partition Plan and the creation of a Jewish state in what was then known as Palestine.  30 years after the Balfour Declaration, Palestine had reached a boiling point. Holocaust survivors languishing in Displaced Persons camps in Europe were doing all that they could to try and immigrate to Palestine. The British were getting tired of their Mandate in Palestine, especially as Jewish resistance became better armed and organized. Britain asked the United Nations to decide the future of the area. A UN committee recommended two states for two peoples. The recommendation was then sent to the full United Nations to deliberate. At that time the UN mostly deliberated- but rarely came to any decisions. And even when decisions were made they were rarely taken seriously during the UN’s infancy. Even with the early support of the United States and the Soviet Union (each with fascinating background stories of their own), the Jewish diplomatic core had to work very hard to get the 2/3 majority of “yes” votes for the resolution to pass.

This diplomacy and lobbying continued until the actual vote. The Jewish delegation viewed three countries as key for passing the resolution: Liberia, Haiti and the Philippines. A story is told that one Argentinien Jew followed a Latin American Ambassador to the UN into the restroom and banged on the stall door saying, “You promised to vote yes- and the vote has started!” The vote took place on Saturday night. Some who witnessed this historic event suggested that perhaps the vote could not take place Friday night because of the tradition that “Moshiach cannot come on Shabbat” (based on Talmud Eruvin 43a). Jews around the world held their breaths in anticipation. When the vote was over, “The resolution of the Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine was adopted by 33 votes (in favor), 13 against, 10 abstained.” After the vote, people were crying and embracing each other. Suzy Eban, wife of diplomat Abba Eban, recalled that after the vote she drove from Swan Lake to Manhattan in a car with her husband and Moshe Sharrett, Israel Foreign Minister-in-waiting. She noted that during the long car ride nobody said a word, describing the moment and the events of that day as “overpowering”.

Yehuda Avner was a diplomat author (of The Prime Ministers) and advisor to many of Israel’s Prime Ministers. In explaining the significance of November 29, 1947, he noted, “for 20 centuries Jews were the object of history- other people made our decisions. As of November 29, 1947, we suddenly became again the subject of history. We make decisions for ourselves. 

Last Shabbat November 29, Rebecca and I were fortunate to be in Jerusalem with our daughter Shoshana and our nephew Yehuda, both students at gap year programs in Israel. On Friday we had breakfast with 15 of our Hollywood girls studying in Israel, and on Saturday night we hosted a similar number of Hollywood boys for a Melava Malka. Each year Rebecca and I host a Shabbat lunch for 9th grade students in the Fall (this year’s Freshmen Lunch is scheduled for January 3) and for 12th grade students in the Spring. It is particularly meaningful when we meet up with students studying in Israel whom we hosted the year before when they were in 12th grade- and 5 years earlier when they first started high school. The pleasure of seeing the growth of our YIH students coincided with the pride we feel in the growth of our homeland from 29th of November 1947 to November 29, 2025.