Bidspirit auction | Original Design for the Official

Original Design for the Official Emblem of the Kol Tzfat Bulletin, Signed by the Artist Aryeh Moskovitz - Original artwork - an original hand-drawn design by Aryeh Moskovitz for the official emblem of the Kol Tzfat bulletin from the period of the War of Independence, signed by the artist. Eretz Israel, 1940s. One of M. Aryeh's earliest works created in the Land of Israel. An emblem depicting a hand holding aloft a burning torch against the backdrop of the peaks of Mount Meron, in shades of brown, green, and orange. Signed in pencil by the artist, ”M. Aryeh.” This design was used on the first two issues of the Kol Tzfat bulletin, where it appeared across the entire title page. In these issues, the upper portion of the title page also bears the biblical verse (Numbers 10:35): קומה ה׳ ויפצו אויביך וינסו משנאיך מפניך. In the remaining issues, it was incorporated as part of the title page. Kol Tzfat was a bulletin published by members of the Haganah during the siege of Safed in the 1948 War of Independence, from the period of the siege until after the city's capture. It initially appeared as a booklet and later as single sheets. The bulletin's purpose was to disseminate announcements from Haganah headquarters and to bolster the morale of the besieged Jewish population. A total of 11 issues were published, extending beyond the capture of the city. The publication was issued on the orders of Safed's military commander, Meir Miber, in the midst of the fighting, out of concern that the city's Jewish residents might abandon Safed during the war. Following David Ben-Gurion's appeal, in December 1947 Miber gathered the city's leading writers in the attic of the Haganah headquarters and established Kol Tzfat. Through encouraging editorials and updates from Haganah headquarters, the bulletin had a significant impact on the morale of the city's Jewish population, urging them to join the struggle and instilling hope until the city's capture. The newspaper's editor was the local journalist Yeshayahu Ashani, who also chose the publication's title and motto. Ashani later served as head of public information in the Jewish Quarter of Safed. Other members of the editorial staff included Yitzhak Geiger, who edited the news section, and Y. Hazanovsky. Editorials and most news reports were published anonymously. The writers and editors worked from Haganah headquarters, where, between January and May 1948, they produced eleven issues carrying militant messages for the residents of Safed. These issues played an important role in easing tensions within the Jewish community and in disseminating vital information during the fierce fighting. M. Aryeh was the pen name of Aryeh Moskovitz (1930–2022), a distinguished Israeli painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Moskovitz illustrated dozens of children's books and designed hundreds of insignia for the Israel Defense Forces. He was born in Iași, Romania. At the age of twelve, he began working as an apprentice scenic painter for the Bucharest theater and opera. Moskovitz was a Holocaust survivor. In December 1946, he immigrated alone to Palestine aboard the immigrant ship Rafiah, which was wrecked in a storm near the Greek island of Syrna. The survivors were sent to the detention camps in Cyprus, where he remained for more than a year before being permitted to enter the country. In 1948, he settled in Safed, where, at the request of the local Haganah commander, he designed the title page of the Kol Tzfat bulletin as well as the Safed stamps. These were his first artistic works created in the Land of Israel. He subsequently embarked on a distinguished career as a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. Under the name M. Aryeh, he illustrated thousands of books and designed many well-known emblems, including numerous insignia for IDF units. He also illustrated a large number of children's and young adult books during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—from adapted Bible stories to Kofiko, Hasamba, and Danidin. For many years he served as the principal illustrator for M. Mizrahi Publishing House, designing and illustrating its publications. He also designed numerous greeting cards. His illustrations appear in more than 8,000 Israeli books. Size: 21×21 cm. Very good condition.