Reviews JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH (5/4/1998) wrote:Rating: ***** For the many Israelis who dont feel quite in the mood to celebrate the states 50th year of independence, this disk could be a cure, or at least offer some relief. Take a look at these images, lovingly captured by David Rubinger, and youll see and feel what the country started with and how far we have come since then. Immerse yourself in the 1,000 photographs from 1947 to 1997 - selected from among the 500,000 photographed by one of Israels premier photojournalists during his long career - and youll forget, at least for a while, your confusion over where Israel is going, your sorrow over growing internal divisions and years of missed opportunities, scandals and flawed leadership. Rubinger, born in Vienna in 1924, moved to Eretz Yisrael with Youth Aliya when he was only 15, leaving behind his mother, who died in the Holocaust. He lived on Kibbutz Beit Zera and, during World War II, served in the British Armys Jewish Brigade. He became a staff photographer for Time magazine in 1971, also working for a time as photo archive director of The Jerusalem Post, which has published more of his photos than most publications. He won the Israel Prize last Independence Day for his lifes work. Many of Rubingers moving photographs reproduced here have become collective memories in the Israeli consciousness: barren hillsides dotted with tents or caravans; new immigrants; wounded soldiers; David Ben-Gurion in silhouette; the paratroopers after liberating the Western Wall; the bereaved Yemenite mother hugging the gravestone of her son who fell in the Yom Kippur War; Anwar Sadat whispering to Menachem Begin; Teddy Kollek campaigning for himself between a sandwich board; Golda Meir in her kitchen; Yitzhak Rabin and Moshe Dayan asleep on a military plane, and many more. The archive of 1,000 black-and-white and color photos can be sorted by date or by any of several dozen subjects. Its a bit disappointing that a search engine for finding a photo on the basis of a single word isnt on the disk, but perhaps it would have taken too much memory. However, if users view all the photos, as I did, they will easily find what they need. Aside from the archive itself, theres a Gallery section presenting Rubingers 50 favorite photographs: just click a button and hear an anecdote on the circumstances of the picture (such as how a nun in Jerusalems No-Mans Land found the false teeth of a person who had lost them while leaning his head out of a window above). The user is likely to hunger for more. The Theatre section will probably be a favorite. A famous photo of a Jerusalem crowd celebrating after the announcement of the Partition Plan in October 1947 by climbing on a British armored car and waving a makeshift Israeli flag was re-enacted last year by Rubinger. Traffic was stopped on King George Street, and the celebrants (or the relatives of those deceased) returned - some even from the Diaspora - to sit on an old armored car. This video segment, produced thanks to Micha Shagrir, is very emotional. Rubinger shoots the contemporary scene, which alternates on the screen with the photos of 50 years ago. One man, who sat astride a bicycle in the historic photo, returned to live here after 35 years as an electrician in New York, but he was bitterly disappointed by the change in Israelis behavior. One can hardly overcome ones own tears when he breaks down, saying: For Fifty years, we lived at peace among ourselves. I thought that among ourselves wed be united, but that didnt happen... Im sorry.. It hurts.. there is no culture of dialogue in Israel; people dont talk to each other. Slide shows of a variety of Rubinger photos on various subjects (the early years, the Six Day War, immigrants, leaders, and so on) are presented with verses from a poem by Rivka Miriam, and original music was composed to accompany them. The photographs can be saved to the hard disk or printed out, but their commercial use or public display is forbidden. One could always argue over which photos I included and which were excluded. It was a very difficult decision, says Rubinger. There are dozens of photos from the 1990s as well, but the greatest impact this CD-ROM makes is the portrayal of Israels painful but often glorious past, from which one can garner strength to look towards the future.
JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH (5/4/1998) wrote:Rating: ***** For the many Israelis who dont feel quite in the mood to celebrate the states 50th year of independence, this disk could be a cure, or at least offer some relief. Take a look at these images, lovingly captured by David Rubinger, and youll see and feel what the country started with and how far we have come since then. Immerse yourself in the 1,000 photographs from 1947 to 1997 - selected from among the 500,000 photographed by one of Israels premier photojournalists during his long career - and youll forget, at least for a while, your confusion over where Israel is going, your sorrow over growing internal divisions and years of missed opportunities, scandals and flawed leadership. Rubinger, born in Vienna in 1924, moved to Eretz Yisrael with Youth Aliya when he was only 15, leaving behind his mother, who died in the Holocaust. He lived on Kibbutz Beit Zera and, during World War II, served in the British Armys Jewish Brigade. He became a staff photographer for Time magazine in 1971, also working for a time as photo archive director of The Jerusalem Post, which has published more of his photos than most publications. He won the Israel Prize last Independence Day for his lifes work. Many of Rubingers moving photographs reproduced here have become collective memories in the Israeli consciousness: barren hillsides dotted with tents or caravans; new immigrants; wounded soldiers; David Ben-Gurion in silhouette; the paratroopers after liberating the Western Wall; the bereaved Yemenite mother hugging the gravestone of her son who fell in the Yom Kippur War; Anwar Sadat whispering to Menachem Begin; Teddy Kollek campaigning for himself between a sandwich board; Golda Meir in her kitchen; Yitzhak Rabin and Moshe Dayan asleep on a military plane, and many more. The archive of 1,000 black-and-white and color photos can be sorted by date or by any of several dozen subjects. Its a bit disappointing that a search engine for finding a photo on the basis of a single word isnt on the disk, but perhaps it would have taken too much memory. However, if users view all the photos, as I did, they will easily find what they need. Aside from the archive itself, theres a Gallery section presenting Rubingers 50 favorite photographs: just click a button and hear an anecdote on the circumstances of the picture (such as how a nun in Jerusalems No-Mans Land found the false teeth of a person who had lost them while leaning his head out of a window above). The user is likely to hunger for more. The Theatre section will probably be a favorite. A famous photo of a Jerusalem crowd celebrating after the announcement of the Partition Plan in October 1947 by climbing on a British armored car and waving a makeshift Israeli flag was re-enacted last year by Rubinger. Traffic was stopped on King George Street, and the celebrants (or the relatives of those deceased) returned - some even from the Diaspora - to sit on an old armored car. This video segment, produced thanks to Micha Shagrir, is very emotional. Rubinger shoots the contemporary scene, which alternates on the screen with the photos of 50 years ago. One man, who sat astride a bicycle in the historic photo, returned to live here after 35 years as an electrician in New York, but he was bitterly disappointed by the change in Israelis behavior. One can hardly overcome ones own tears when he breaks down, saying: For Fifty years, we lived at peace among ourselves. I thought that among ourselves wed be united, but that didnt happen... Im sorry.. It hurts.. there is no culture of dialogue in Israel; people dont talk to each other. Slide shows of a variety of Rubinger photos on various subjects (the early years, the Six Day War, immigrants, leaders, and so on) are presented with verses from a poem by Rivka Miriam, and original music was composed to accompany them. The photographs can be saved to the hard disk or printed out, but their commercial use or public display is forbidden. One could always argue over which photos I included and which were excluded. It was a very difficult decision, says Rubinger. There are dozens of photos from the 1990s as well, but the greatest impact this CD-ROM makes is the portrayal of Israels painful but often glorious past, from which one can garner strength to look towards the future.
T-PORIW
