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The Jewish community of Hebron mourns the loss of Gershon Elinson, who passed away at the age of 75. As a professional photographer, Gershon documented the rebirth of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria for 45 years. He was one of the pioneering members of Hebron in the 1960s.
Elimelech Karzen, a Hebron community coordinator and said, “many knew him as a warm and smiling man, dedicated to his mission as the photographer in Hebron, in Kiryat Arba, in Gush Etzion and in other sites and events around the country.” He said that there was rarely a significant event take took place without Gershon’s presence.
When the community set forth to publish a book marking the 50th anniversary of their renewal, Gershon was approached for permission to use his many photographs. He agreed to grant permission without compensation. The following is Gershon’s memoirs which were published in the book along with many of his now historic photos.
“The photos I took and present in this book sum up for me the many years in which I accompanied and still accompany the settlement in the City of the Ancestors with great love and pleasure.
I started my journey with the Hebron settlers in the Hebron government administration building. When I saw that no one was photographing the history that was being made in Hebron, I decided to do it privately, and to finance the expenses I photographed for the press and thus I could photograph without limitation. I arrived in Hebron single, and in the government building I met my wife Meira when she came to visit.
In my private archive I collected documents, press clippings as well as thousands of photos that I took over the years in Hebron and Kiryat Arba which were in great demand in Israel and around the world.
In Hebron I held various positions. We raised chickens in an abandoned bunker of the Jordanian army and I served as a butcher. I was in charge of the mail and the only public telephone that was used by all of us at a time when there were no private telephones at all.
Every morning I went down from the administration building to the Arab post office in Hebron to collect the letters that arrived for the settlers. I worked on behalf of the army with Sheetz (Shimon Yitzhak) and Yitzhak Ben Hebron in operating the large generators that supplied electricity to the government building and the Hebron Arab municipality.
I would take a wagon with a horse and cart and bring the supply of vegetables to the kitchen that we bought in the market in Hebron.
I participated in all the struggles for the return of Jewish prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs and the Jewish community and of course, I documented it through the lens of the camera.
In the first year, the army forbade chairs to be brought into the Cave of the Patriarchs and prayers took place standing. Attorney Elyakim HaEtzni also petitioned on my behalf against the ban on bringing chairs into the Cave of the Patriarchs. As a result, six benches were allowed to be brought into the site for the worshipers, and the rest is history. I also participated in drilling a slot in the concrete frame at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs, for us to insert the mezuzah parchment into it and covered it back with concrete. The parchment is still there today.
On the occasion of the wedding of Benny and Binah Katzover which took place in the government administration yard, we decided to set up a kosher buffet near the Cave of the Patriarchs for the many guests. For this purpose, I went down with Rabbi Moshe Levinger to a carpentry shop in Hebron and we purchased a table for refreshments. When the military governor discovered that the refreshment stand was also set up the next day, he decided to issue a demolition order against it and expelled three of us who were working as food servers from Hebron.
Faced with this, we exerted counter pressure, arguing that the Jews coming to Hebron need kosher food. Minister Yigal Alon worked for the establishment of the "Settlers Restaurant" and it became one of the prominent symbols of the Jewish return to Hebron several years before Beit Hadassah. Together with Zvi Katzover, I was one of the employees of the souvenir shop and the settler restaurant and I worked there for many years. Many times Zvi and I were the only Jews inside Hebron even before the Jewish settlement was established, I had permission from the military governor to enter Hebron in any situation, even during curfew. And so I could photograph what was happening in Hebron at any time.
We helped the late Prof. Ben-Zion Tavger in transporting equipment and materials for excavations and restoration of the ancient cemetery and the Avraham Avinu synagogue.
I participated in the entry of the women and children into Beit Hadassah in Hebron in the dead of night. I was only able to take one picture so that the soldiers would not notice the flash light and recognize the entry of the women over the fence of the building. This unique and historic image appears in this book. In the early days I was the spokesperson for the women of Beit Hadassah in Hebron.
In 1992, while I was buying vegetables in a store located on the road between the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, a terrorist suddenly came running behind me with an ax with the intention of murdering me. The Arab shop owner who noticed the terrorist ran in my direction and threw a box of tomatoes at him. As a result, the terrorist panicked, threw the ax at me, injured my back and fled quickly, thus saving my life. I took the ax to the restaurant and asked to be photographed with the ax. Only after that I was evacuated to the hospital.
This page is too short to contain the many stories and experiences I have had over the decades in Hebron, but I chose to bring a few of them to share with the rest of the readers the many experiences that shed light on the early years.
Thanks to my wife Meira and my family members who supported and support me all along the way.”
Yaron Rosenthal the head of the Gush Etzion Council stated “He came to every event in Gush Etzion. In the official capacity he was a photographer, but those who knew him knew he saw it as a mission to bring the story through the lens of his camera. Gush Etzion owes him a lot.”
Elimelech Karzen, a Hebron community coordinator and said, “many knew him as a warm and smiling man, dedicated to his mission as the photographer in Hebron, in Kiryat Arba, in Gush Etzion and in other sites and events around the country.” He said that there was rarely a significant event take took place without Gershon’s presence.
When the community set forth to publish a book marking the 50th anniversary of their renewal, Gershon was approached for permission to use his many photographs. He agreed to grant permission without compensation. The following is Gershon’s memoirs which were published in the book along with many of his now historic photos.
“The photos I took and present in this book sum up for me the many years in which I accompanied and still accompany the settlement in the City of the Ancestors with great love and pleasure.
I started my journey with the Hebron settlers in the Hebron government administration building. When I saw that no one was photographing the history that was being made in Hebron, I decided to do it privately, and to finance the expenses I photographed for the press and thus I could photograph without limitation. I arrived in Hebron single, and in the government building I met my wife Meira when she came to visit.
In my private archive I collected documents, press clippings as well as thousands of photos that I took over the years in Hebron and Kiryat Arba which were in great demand in Israel and around the world.
In Hebron I held various positions. We raised chickens in an abandoned bunker of the Jordanian army and I served as a butcher. I was in charge of the mail and the only public telephone that was used by all of us at a time when there were no private telephones at all.
Every morning I went down from the administration building to the Arab post office in Hebron to collect the letters that arrived for the settlers. I worked on behalf of the army with Sheetz (Shimon Yitzhak) and Yitzhak Ben Hebron in operating the large generators that supplied electricity to the government building and the Hebron Arab municipality.
I would take a wagon with a horse and cart and bring the supply of vegetables to the kitchen that we bought in the market in Hebron.
I participated in all the struggles for the return of Jewish prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs and the Jewish community and of course, I documented it through the lens of the camera.
In the first year, the army forbade chairs to be brought into the Cave of the Patriarchs and prayers took place standing. Attorney Elyakim HaEtzni also petitioned on my behalf against the ban on bringing chairs into the Cave of the Patriarchs. As a result, six benches were allowed to be brought into the site for the worshipers, and the rest is history. I also participated in drilling a slot in the concrete frame at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs, for us to insert the mezuzah parchment into it and covered it back with concrete. The parchment is still there today.
On the occasion of the wedding of Benny and Binah Katzover which took place in the government administration yard, we decided to set up a kosher buffet near the Cave of the Patriarchs for the many guests. For this purpose, I went down with Rabbi Moshe Levinger to a carpentry shop in Hebron and we purchased a table for refreshments. When the military governor discovered that the refreshment stand was also set up the next day, he decided to issue a demolition order against it and expelled three of us who were working as food servers from Hebron.
Faced with this, we exerted counter pressure, arguing that the Jews coming to Hebron need kosher food. Minister Yigal Alon worked for the establishment of the "Settlers Restaurant" and it became one of the prominent symbols of the Jewish return to Hebron several years before Beit Hadassah. Together with Zvi Katzover, I was one of the employees of the souvenir shop and the settler restaurant and I worked there for many years. Many times Zvi and I were the only Jews inside Hebron even before the Jewish settlement was established, I had permission from the military governor to enter Hebron in any situation, even during curfew. And so I could photograph what was happening in Hebron at any time.
We helped the late Prof. Ben-Zion Tavger in transporting equipment and materials for excavations and restoration of the ancient cemetery and the Avraham Avinu synagogue.
I participated in the entry of the women and children into Beit Hadassah in Hebron in the dead of night. I was only able to take one picture so that the soldiers would not notice the flash light and recognize the entry of the women over the fence of the building. This unique and historic image appears in this book. In the early days I was the spokesperson for the women of Beit Hadassah in Hebron.
In 1992, while I was buying vegetables in a store located on the road between the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, a terrorist suddenly came running behind me with an ax with the intention of murdering me. The Arab shop owner who noticed the terrorist ran in my direction and threw a box of tomatoes at him. As a result, the terrorist panicked, threw the ax at me, injured my back and fled quickly, thus saving my life. I took the ax to the restaurant and asked to be photographed with the ax. Only after that I was evacuated to the hospital.
This page is too short to contain the many stories and experiences I have had over the decades in Hebron, but I chose to bring a few of them to share with the rest of the readers the many experiences that shed light on the early years.
Thanks to my wife Meira and my family members who supported and support me all along the way.”
Yaron Rosenthal the head of the Gush Etzion Council stated “He came to every event in Gush Etzion. In the official capacity he was a photographer, but those who knew him knew he saw it as a mission to bring the story through the lens of his camera. Gush Etzion owes him a lot.”
Nati Shochat the CEO of the Flash 90 news photography service stated, "Gershon was an amazing person, humble and hardworking until his last day. He captured historical moments, happy and sad… his sensitive eye will be greatly missed.”
Gershon Elinson’s photos of Hebron’s early days are on display at the Gutnick Center in Hebron.
NOTES:
* Parting from Gershon Elinson, z”l, one of the first documenters of renewed Judea and Samaria - Sovereignty
* Remember Gershon Elinson, Photographer of Gush Etzion - Jewish Press
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