This article entitled “Elections in Jerusalem” was published in the newspaper Doar Hayom on May 5, 1920 and describes the ceremony held to honour the completion of the tally of votes cast for the elected assembly of the Jewish community.
The article expresses the community’s great excitement about the elections. A number of publications were keen to point out that these were the first Jewish elections to be held in Israel and it was therefore a hugely significant moment for the Yishuv (the Jewish population in pre-State Israel). This excitement is reflected in the words of Joseph Meyuchas, then chairman of the regional election committee. He wrote that the election was a historically “sacred” event for which the Jewish People had waited two thousand years.
Translation: It is hard to find the exact words to express all the joy that is felt at this moment, a moment which is both national and historic. It is a moment for which the Jewish People have been waiting two thousand years, and we must celebrate openly – Blessed is He who has sustained us and brought us to this moment... A row of all the vote slips in the next room – a very long line, testifies to the interest that has been shown by the Jerusalem residents … demonstrates their commitment to the nation and to Israel… Soon we will know the names of the representatives who will begin the actual work of the community…
