Goals and Objectives

As soon as he arrived in Aden, Lapides met with the Aden Jewish Community Council and together they decided to appoint a Special Committee for the Jews of Yemen (henceforth: Special Committee or Committee), which was comprised of members of the Aden Jewish Council and Lapides himself. The Committee was chaired by Selim Banin, an Adeni Jew, with Mayer Ahronee as secretary. Robin Gilbert, who had previously served as the headmaster of the Selim Jewish School in Aden (1954-56) under the auspices of the Anglo Jewish Association, also joined the Committee on a voluntary basis. Born in London, England and a graduate of Oxford with an Honors Degree in Arabic and Turkish, Gilbert commanded much respect among all concerned: the British authorities, the Jewish community, and Arab leaders. Lapides characterized Gilbert as ‘an able person of the highest character and integrity.’ ¹ Moreover, in the course of his tenure as Headmaster of the Jewish school in Aden Gilbert had developed a special interest in and passion for Yemeni Jews. As seen above, it was Gilbert who drew the attention of the Jewish Agency to the dire situation in both Aden and Yemen. His reports from Aden were highly instrumental in pressuring the Agency to send Lapides back to Aden. It is a small wonder, therefore, that all the members of the Special Committee, particularly Lapides, were very delighted to welcome him aboard. Gilbert, noted Lapides,

was motivated by a true spirit of idealism and dedication to the cause of saving the remaining Yemenite Jews and subordinated all personal considerations to this sacred objective. He gave of his time, energy and abilities without reservation most conscientiously and at a great personal and financial sacrifice. ²

The Council met on a regular basis, almost once a week. The first meeting took place on March 14, 1957. The minutes of these meetings were taken by Gilbert. Indeed, thanks to the minutes of the Committee’s deliberations, which Gilbert had meticulously taken, and his own diary, in which he recorded his personal reflections on the events which transpired during Lapides’ fifteen-month mission in Aden (both unpublished), ³ we are able to obtain vivid glimpses of and valuable insights into this short but very intriguing chapter in the history of post-Magic carpet Yemeni Jews.