A LEADER OF THE YEMENITE JEWS IN JERusalem's The Jews are a prominent class in the Moslem towns of Yemen, where they are noted as smiths and carpenters. In recent years many have come to Jerusalem, where they form a portion of the Jewish proletariat. The Sephardim, who came to Palestine when they were expelled from Spain by Isabella in the year that her protégé, Columbus, discovered America, still employ Spanish patois, though most of them speak Arabic. A JEWISH HAVEN IN THE PROMISED LAND These elders are sitting in the courtyard of an old folks' home near the Jaffa Road. Their furbrimmed hats and bright robes add glints of light and color to this quiet retreat. A BOKHARA MOSLEM MERCHANT NEAR THE HOLY SEPULCHER Throughout the Near East, pilgrims from Yarkand, Samarkand, Bokhara, and Kashgar carry their grinding wheels for sharpening the knives which constitute the Oriental's tool kit. In a street near the Holy Sepulcher, they sell the woven caps men wear beneath their turbans and such bright trinkets and "nervous beads" as the Oriental loves. A BIT OF BEAUTY PRESERVED AMID THE CHANGES OF THE EAST Panniered donkeys plod along the covered streets; a wandering sherbet-seller clinks a brazen appeal to buy his ice-cooled drinks; a princely son of the desert stands as though undecided where to go, amid the maze of overarched highways; two townsmen talk of money in the shadowy bazaar, and a Crusader fountain displays time-softened carvings to the visitor. of households, collecting a small sum from each owner. Daily he takes the sheep to pasture and brings them back at sunset. It is no myth that sheep follow their shepherd in Palestine, and in summer evenings at sunset one sees, along the roads, small clouds of dust arising and hears the patter of little feet. Gradually the silhouette of the shepherd emerges, marching at the head of his flock, playing his David's pipe or carrying in his arms a newborn lamb.* Crowded as it is, Jerusalem finds room to harbor many sheep within its walls. Jerusalem is now, as always, a city of many tongues. In the last census the following 29 linguistic groups were re *See, also, "Among the Bethlehem Shepherds: A Visit to the Valley Which David Probably Recalled When He Wrote the Twenty-third Psalm," by John D. Whiting, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for December, 1926. WHEN INFREQUENT SNOW ACCENTUATES THE ARCHED ROOFS OF OLD JERUSALEM Above the snowy rooftops rises the whitened Dome of the Rock which has long been erroneously called the Mosque of Omar. Jerusalem is "builded as a city that is compact together." In times of festival, when the streets are congested with traffic, the sight-seers, chiefly women and children, throng the flat roofs. Some of these buildings were destroyed or badly cracked in the recent earthquake, but, considering the intensity of the shock in other parts of Palestine, the Holy City escaped lightly. David Street is a series of long, shallow, greasy, cobblestone steps, and a good stick with a sharp point is not to be despised. Walking is difficult, as one constantly skirts every sort of bundle borne on men's shoulders or donkeys' backs. The world is busy bargaining amid the traffic, so it is best to take time and drift along slowly with the crowd. NO DAY OF REST IN THE HOLY CITY A remarkable feature of the Holy City is that, although each of the three communities has its own weekly day of rest, the city itself never has one, and every day some shops are open. Donkeys bearing heavy burdens pass by, pushed and prodded by their drivers, |