16 Apr

What Matters Now to Israel Story's Mitch Ginsburg: A 1973 exodus from Egypt

0 History Literature

JL;DR SUMMARY Mitch Ginsburg tells the extraordinary story of a group of Israeli POWs who, while held captive in Egypt during the War of Attrition, decided to translate J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" into Hebrew. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski.

At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself.
This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude.
Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from.
But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Places mentioned

Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel

"Then alongside them, is another group. Well-groomed. Well-dressed. Yeah, we had white shirts and pants, and the fashion of the day, our hair was pretty long. The guys in this group most definitely do not look disheveled. One of them is carefully carrying an architectural model made out of matches. Another has his arm around General Azar Weizmann, the former commander of the Air Force. And a third, sporting stylish sideburns, is clutching a bouquet of flowers in his left hand. Together, they look more like they're on their way to a wedding than returning from a 40-month-long stint of captivity. It was important for us to present a picture that not only gave us satisfaction, but that would show others that you could go through this kind of ordeal and stay okay. Um, come out of it the other side. That's Yitzhak, or Jeff, Peer, one of those dashing POWs."

Jerusalem, Israel

"People around the world will gather at sedil tables and talk about slavery and freedom. Liberty and social justice. We'll ask how this night, this sedil, is different from all other nights. We'll offer up some answers about bitter herbs and comfortable cushions. But the truth is that once again, just like the previous 554 nights, there will be countless people throughout the region who aren't reclined and sheltered, but are rather suffering and homeless and feeling pain."

Cairo, Egypt

"Ever since I first learned of this saga, I've thought a lot about J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world and the reprieve it must have granted these men as they waited out the endless hours and days in the depths of Cairo's Abyssinia. To be honest, I don't think I've ever been to Cairo's Abyssinia."

Suez, South Sinai, Egypt

"Moti's job was to be a shikimist, driving a mobile canteen between the IDF outposts, selling soldiers little tastes of home. Bamba, Tempo Cola, Sano Soap. I went down there and worked, and I actually really liked the job. I'd pull up at the army's outposts, and the soldiers were always so thrilled to see me. Let's put it this way. If it was shown, at that moment, if at that very moment, God himself would have shown up, the soldiers would have been less interested in him than in my canteen."

Kfar Malal, Central District, Israel

"Today, more than 51 years later, the two are still happily married. Others, however, weren't so fortunate. Jeff's wife had also shown up at the airfield to celebrate her husband's return, but unlike Esther, she was harboring a jagged secret. A week later, when they were lying in bed, she confessed to Jeff that she was in love with another man. In fact, she had wanted to tell him in real time, in a letter to the Abbasia prison, but the Air Force brass forbade it, fearing it would break Jeff's spirit. Jeff consented to our interview on condition that I not ask about that part of the story."

Cairo Item ID	49475
Cairo Source ID	111
Retrieved	2025-04-17 05:30:24 UTC
Curated	2025-04-17 06:09:41 UTC

What Matters Now to Israel Story's Mitch Ginsburg: A 1973 exodus from Egypt

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