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In the present catalogue, a distinct chapter is dedicated to the Dayan family, featuring personal letters, photographs, books and documents from the estate of Ruth Dayan; together, this miniature collection recounts the story of the Dayan-Schwartz family over three generation, from Moshe's father Shmuel Dayan to Ruth's and Moshe's children. Included in this collection are a number of letters written by the famous of all Dayans – Moshe Dayan, and a variety of letters and other items sent or presented to family members, such as pictures dedicated to Moshe Dayan by Nobel peace prize laureate Albert Schweitzer, a micrography by Abraham Haba and a letter of appreciation to Moshe Dayan by Yigael Yadin, who served as IDF chief of staff during the 1948 War.
The art chapter features a number of Old Master works – including a forest view by Allaert van Everdingen and "Ruins of the Brederode Castle" attributed to Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael – as well as works of Israeli and Judaic art from the collection of art historian Uzi Agassi.
the catalogue also includes an extensive chapter dedicated to numismatics, with an abundance of scrips and coupons, some used by Jewish Palestinian communities in times of distress and need (World War I, the 1948 siege on Jerusalem), some issued by small businesses throughout Palestine – bakeries, groceries and various stores, many of which had gone out of business soon afterwards. The chapter also includes various coins and banknotes: Ottoman, mandatory, and Israeli banknotes and coins, and two silver amuletic medals struck in honor of the formation of the Mandatory government and the appointment of High Commissioner Herbert Samuel.
The catalogue further features a variety of choice items representing the history of Palestine and Zionism – rare books (such as Sh.Y. Agnon's first book published in Palestine and "Tsveyuntsvantsik" by Ka-Tsetnik), letters and manuscripts (by Leah Goldberg, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Uri Tzvi Grinberg and Agnon), publications and ephemera from central events in the history of Zionism (the Katowice conference protocol, autograph postcards by Leo Motzkin), travelogues and scholarly works, Bezalel art, rugs, photographs and more.
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LOT 129:
Lengthy Letter, Handwritten and Signed by Moshe Dayan to Ruth Schwartz (Dayan) – Nahalal, 1935 – "Everything is ...
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Sold for: $500 (₪1,585)
₪1,585
Start price:
$
400
Buyer's Premium: 25%
VAT: 17%
On commission only
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Lengthy Letter, Handwritten and Signed by Moshe Dayan to Ruth Schwartz (Dayan) – Nahalal, 1935 – "Everything is dirty, damp, and cold, every motion – parting the Red Sea, and the boots are wet from both sides, and the reins are slippery and the mares stubborn… If only I was given a heater and the right to sit and not work!"
A lengthy, poetic letter sent by Moshe Dayan from Nahalal to Jerusalem, a few months after first meeting Ruth Schwartz, his future wife, soon to become Ruth Dayan. Written when Moshe Dayan was 20 years old. In it, Dayan describes his days living in Nahalal as a young "halutz" (Jewish pioneer). Hand-signed by Dayan. Nahalal, February 4, 1935. Hebrew.
The present letter was published (with some omissions) in the Hebrew edition of the book "…Or Did I Dream a Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan" (written by Ruth Dayan and Helga Dudman; published by Sifriyat Poalim, 1973); a few lines from it are quoted in the English edition (published by Steimatzky's Agency together with Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973; p. 20). According to Dayan, the letter was sent when she returned to her parents' house at the winter of 1935. At the time of the writing, Moshe Dayan was still a young "halutz, " a member of the Labor Zionist Movement, and this particular letter offers a unique glimpse into his character, revealing a number of interesting aspects of his personality – his family home and upbringing, his spiritual mind-set, his thoughts as a young man – many years before he developed into an Israeli cultural hero.
In the letter, he writes as follows: "Everything is dirty, damp, and cold, every motion – parting the Red Sea, and the boots are wet from both sides, and the reins are slippery and the mares stubborn… If only I was given a heater and the right to sit and not work!" Further on, he discusses matters related to his own family: "Actually, it isn't the work that upsets me, but rather the atmosphere back home… Zohar is ill, and Grandma is moaning. Everyone gets mad, and everyone finds faults in the other… and everything is so petty to the point of being nauseating." Elsewhere in the letter, Dayan discusses his likely future and what lies in store for him: "I would find myself all sorts of ‘kibbutzim' and ‘kevutzot' and professions in construction and writing and painting and God knows what [else]… But when I look truthfully inward, I know I'll find no satisfaction there…" Several times in the letter, Dayan speaks of his admiration for the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky: "Blessed be Dostoevsky. Two or three pages and you're purified and refined through the suffering of humanity… the suffering of humanity is apparently always one and the same, and I am momentarily uplifted in light of that."
A number of segments of the letter were omitted from the version published in Ruth Dayan's book, including a lengthy and interesting section relating to the subject of Arab laborers: "On a night such as this, all my humanitarian instincts are obviously awakened, and I recall how I actually came to meet the government workers involved in drilling (that is, ‘fellahin' from the vicinity of Nablus)… they live there in a tent, and the tent is leaking, and the ‘floor' is all mud… in order to be frugal, they go barefoot, holding their shoes in their hands. This evening, I'd be capable of writing an entire book about this."
Signed at the bottom of the final page: "Yours, Moshe."
3 ff. (6 written pages), approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines, creases, and minor stains. Minor tears to edges.
See: "…Or Did I Dream a Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan" (Hebrew Edition), by Ruth Dayan and Helga Dudman. Jerusalem: by Sifriyat Poalim, 1973, pp. 23-27.
Provenance: Estate of Ruth Dayan.
