Israeli currency 100 New Sheqalim banknote 1999 Bank of Israel
Latent image: A triangle in the right-hand corner.
Sign for the blind: One horizontal line in intaglio ink at the top left of the note.
Denomination: In the top right-hand corner in numbers, in Hebrew and with the words "Bank of Israel"; and in the bottom left-hand corner in metallic gold.
Watermark: Portrait of Itzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel and a small circle beneath it enclosing the initial of his surname (in Hebrew).
Security thread: Threaded through the paper below the middle of the note.
Reverse: Picture of the Ancient Synagogue in the Galilee village of Peki'in, and a view of Peki'in; text from Ben-Zvi's speech at the inauguration for his second term.
Microtext: To the right of the main text with titles of nine books written by Ben-Zvi.
Denomination: In numbers with the words "New Sheqalim" and "Bank of Israel"; in iridescent ink and in Arabic characters.
Optical Variable Ink: A triangle composed of small squares, with the apex pointing to the right.
See-through: A small triangle printed on either side of the note; the two triangles form a precise Star of David.
Serial numbers: Once in orange and once in black which reflects UV light.
Designers: Naomi Rosner and Meir Eshel.
Date of Issue: January 3, 1999.
Size: 138 X 71 mm.
Dominant colour: Brown.
Israel Banknotes - Israel Paper Money
Second Series of the New Sheqel
The second series includes improved security features against forgery. The new banknotes share similar design elements and all have uniform security features. The personages on the second series of NIS notes are those who featured on the same denominations of the first NIS series. The notes are designed vertically, and all denominations are uniform in size: 138 mm x 71 mm. The second series was designed by Naomi Rosner and Meir Eshel.
20 New Sheqalim 50 New Sheqalim 100 New Sheqalim 200 New Sheqalim
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Hebrew: יצחק בן־צבי Yitshak Ben-Tsvi; 24 November 1884 – 23 April 1963) was a historian, Labor Zionist leader and the second and longest-serving President of Israel.
Born in Poltava in the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), Ben-Zvi was the eldest son of Zvi Shimshelevich, who later took the name Shimshi. Shimshi was a leading Zionist activist and one of the organizers of the first Zionist Congress in 1897, who, in 1952, was honored by the first Israeli Knesset with the title "Father of the State of Israel".
Ben-Zvi was active in the Jewish self-defense units organized in Ukraine to defend Jews during the pogroms of 1905, and joined the Poale Zion Zionist political party. He immigrated to Palestine in 1907, settling in Jaffa, and later the same year was a representative in the Zionist Congress at The Hague. It was there that he first met Israel Shochat. "Bar-Giora", the clandestine precursor to Hashomer, was created in his apartment in 1907. In 1909, he organized the Gymnasia Rehavia high school in the Bukharim quarter of Jerusalem together with Rachel Yanait.
In 1910 Yanait, Ben-Zvi and Ze'ev Ashur founded the Ahdut, the first Hebrew socialist periodical. Following his studies at Galatasaray High School in Istanbul, from 1912 to 1914 Ben-Zvi studied law at Istanbul University, together with the future Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion. They returned to Palestine in August 1914, but were expelled by the Ottoman authorities in 1915. The two of them moved to New York City, where they engaged in Zionist activities and founded the HeHalutz (Pioneer) movement there. Together, they also wrote the Yiddish book The Land of Israel Past and Present to promote the Zionist cause among American Jewry.
Upon returning to Palestine in 1918, Ben-Zvi married Yanait. They had two sons: Amram and Eli. Eli died in the Arab–Israeli War, defending his kibbutz, Beit Keshet.
Political career
Ben-Zvi served in the Jewish Legion (1st Judean battalion 'KADIMAH') together with Ben-Gurion. In 1919, he helped found the Ahdut HaAvoda party, and became increasingly active in the Haganah. He was later elected to the Jerusalem City Council and president of the National Council, the shadow government of the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine.
Murder of Jacob Israël de Haan
According to Avraham Tehomi, Ben-Zvi ordered the 1924 murder of Jacob Israël de Haan.
De Haan had come to Palestine as an ardent Zionist, but he had become increasingly critical of the Zionist organizations, preferring a negotiated solution to the armed struggle between the Jews and Arabs. In Tehomi's opinion: "I have done what the Haganah decided had to be done. And nothing was done without the order of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. I have no regrets because he [de Haan] wanted to destroy our whole idea of Zionism."
Presidency
When Israel gained its independence, Ben-Zvi was among the signers of its Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. He served in the First and Second Knesset for the Mapai party. He was elected President of Israel on 8 December 1952, assumed office on 16 December 1952, and continued to serve in the position until his death.
Ben-Zvi believed that the president should set an example for the public and his home should reflect the austerity of the times. For over 26 years, he and his family lived in a wooden hut in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. The State of Israel took interest in the adjacent house, built and owned by Nissim and Esther Valero, and purchased it, after Nissim's death, to provide additional space for the President's residence. Two larger wooden structures in the yard were used for official receptions.
Research
In 1948, Ben-Zvi headed the Institute for the Study of Oriental Jewish Communities in the Middle East, later named the Ben-Zvi Institute (Yad Ben-Zvi) in his honor. The Ben-Zvi Institute occupies Nissim Valero's house. His main field of research was the Jewish communities and sects of Asia and Africa, including the Samaritans and Karaites.
Commemoration and awards
In 1953, Ben-Zvi was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.
Ben-Zvi's photo appears on 100 NIS bills. Many streets and boulevards in Israel are named for him. In 2008, Ben-Zvi's wooden hut was moved to Kibbutz Beit Keshet, which his son helped to found, and the interior was restored with its original furnishings. The Valero house in Rehavia neighbourhood was designated an historic building protected by law under municipal plan 2007 for the preservation of historic sites.
Family
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's father, Zvi Shimshi (Shimshelevitch), was a leading Zionist activist in the 19th century. A member of the B'ne Moshe and Hoveve Zion movements in Ukraine, he was one of the organizers with Dr. Theodore Herzl of the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in the fall of 1897. At this Congress, the World Zionist Organization was founded, and the intention to re-establish a Jewish state was announced. Shimshi was the only organizer of the first Zionist Congress to live to see the birth of the modern State of Israel in 1948. On 10 December 1952, Zvi Shimshi was honored by the first Israeli Knesset (parliament) with the title, "Father of the State of Israel".
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's brother was the well known Jewish author, Aharon Reuveni, and his brother-in-law was the Israeli archaeologist, Prof. Benjamin Mazar.
Peki'in Synagogue
The Peki’in Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת העתיק בפקיעין The Ancient Synagogue in Peki'in), is a synagogue located in the centre of Peki'in, Northern Israel, said to have built into its walls two stones taken from the walls of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
According to local tradition the synagogue was built on the site of the Beth midrash, where Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah has taught before the Bar Kokhba war, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai after it. The current structure dates from 1873 after the former one destroyed by an earthquake 30 years before. Funding for the construction, attested to on a plaque commemorating the donation, was given by a Jew named Rafael Halevy from Beirut.
In 1926 and 1930 two old stone tablets were uncovered at the synagogue. One depicts a menorah, shofar and lulav and the second depicts a Torah shrine. Both are dated between the late 2nd century CE and the early 3rd.
In 1955 the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs renovated the building at the request of president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi who had visited the Jewish community of Peki’in in 1922 and documented it in his book Shaar Yashuv. To this end the 100 NIS banknote which features Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, also features the Peki’in synagogue on the reverse side.
The synagogue, not usually active, is kept by Margalit Zinati. Zinati is of a Jewish family who have lived for centuries in Peki’in, reportedly since the time of the Second Temple.
Archaeology
In February 2017, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel uncovered an 1800 year old limestone column capital. Engraved on the column capital are two Hebrew inscriptions dating to the Roman period. The column was found upside down in the buildings courtyard. “A preliminary analysis of the engravings suggests that these are dedicatory inscriptions honoring donors to the synagogue.” said Yoav Lerer, the IAA inspector in the Western Galilee. Uriel Rosenboym, director of Beit Zinati, exclaimed that "No one can argue with the written artifact. There was an ancient synagogue here and the synagogue was built in its current form in recent centuries."