The history of the state of Israel is relatively short, but the tales surrounding its establishment go back thousands of years, and includes incredible stories of struggles, successes, failures, wars, defeats and victories. Until recently, those tales were mostly documented in long and tedious books, which kept them out of reach for anyone but the most devoted or academic readers. That is no longer the case, though, as Pillar of Fire, one of the best documentaries of the history of the Jewish people, is finally available on DVD.
Back in the ‘70s, this unique documentary masterpiece was created over a period of five years and contained a lot of footage never before seen by the public. This included interviews with some of the most influential people in the history of Zionism and the state of Israel. Other than the likes of Golda Meir, Yisrael Galili, Abba Eban and Menachem Begin, one can find a rare interview with Max Nurdock, Secretary to British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel.
Yigal Lossin, the series’ editor, told JTNews that Nurdock made a special impression on him with his colorful telling of the events that took place in 1920, when Samuel came to Israel and raised great hopes within the Jewish population.
“[Series researcher] Naomi Kaplansky has done a terrific job in locating him, as well as other hard-to-find individuals. Most of the people who were involved with Zionism and Israel from the beginning were already dead while we filmed the Pillar of Fire,” Lossin said. “Another example is Mrs. Solomia Levita, who was about 100 years old at the time of the interview. She was probably the last person alive who actually met Mr. Theodor Herzl in person.”
The essence of the series, according to Lossin, is the personal testimonials by people who were there when things happened, as opposed to other works that interview professors and historians. “During the interview with Mrs. Levita, everyone was moved to tears,” he confessed. “Even some hard-core cynics.”
The original program consisted of 19 hour-long episodes, narrated in Hebrew by famed Israeli artist and celebrity Yossi Banai, but Britain’s Channel 4 had put in a special order for an English version, so a young and then-unknown actor named Ian McKellen was hired to narrate. The English edit is shorter, at only seven hours, but gives essentially the same story.
McKellen, who went on to become a very successful and influential actor, is recognized by most Americans for his performance in the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and the powerful mutant Magneto in the X-Men movie series. It’s interesting to note, by the way, that the character of Magneto, in the X-Men canon, is a Jewish Holocaust survivor.
The series tells the history of Zionism, starting from 1896 through the day the state of Israel was declared in 1948. During the original broadcast, Lossin said, there was a lot of controversy. A group of intellectuals contested the series, claiming it misrepresented the part of Sephardic Jews in the Zionist movement and undermined their achievements in establishing the state of Israel.
“The show was broadcast from January to April of 1981, “he said, “and a lot of people complained. Every day, each newspaper published at least five or six letters to the editor, and at some point the police had to be called in to protect the TV offices during the broadcast.”
Lossin himself went on to produce many documentaries, as well as many influential books. An important one, Out of Spain, gives a history of Sephardic Jewry.
“We had the fortune of working with Yitzhak Navon, who was the fifth president of Israel and a Sephardic Jew,” Lossin said. “We basically took him to Spain and filmed him telling the history on-location.”
Another project Lossin is working on now is a book about the German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. The book is already in print in Hebrew and German, and Lossin hopes to publish it in English soon as well.
While both versions of the series have been broadcast extensively and universally throughout the years, it was difficult to find as a package. Both the English and Hebrew versions are now available for purchase or rental on DVD. The Israeli Broadcast Authority’s online store (http://tinyurl.com/pillaroffire) offers both versions for the price of 399 Israel shekels each, plus shipping and handling, (about $105). The series can also be found on Amazon and eBay for a little less, as well as the series’ book in several translations. The show is also available for rent on NetFlix, and Hebrew-speakers can watch the entire Hebrew version for free as a video stream on the IBA website (http://www.iba.org.il).