Autograph letter signed by David Be-Gurion. Sde Boker, September 25, 1960. Hebrew. In this letter, David Ben-Gurion requests assistance from the intended recipient, addressed as "Dear Gideon, " with regard to a certain Polish woman who married a Jewish man and from whom a sum of 300 Israeli lira was demanded for the benefit of a recognized conversion: "Can you not arrange to have a [particular] Sephardi rabbi (I forget his name, but I saw him at our conference and he gave me the impression of [being] an understanding and patient [or tolerant] man) arrange for him the conversion for his wife?" Signed "D. Ben-Gurion." 1 f. (one side written), approx. 21 cm. Good condition. Punch holes, and minor tears to edges (medium-sized tears adjacent to lower punch hole). Browning to paper in left margin.

Five books signed by Moshe Dayan (four with his Hebrew signature and one with his signature in Latin characters): 1. Arabs, Oil and History, the Story of the Middle East, by Kermit Roosevelt. London: Victor Gollancz, 1949. English. 2. "In the Enemy's Eyes, Three Arab Publications on the War of Independence", translated by S. Sabag [Samuel Segev]. Tel-Aviv: Ma'arachot, 1954. Hebrew. 3. "Arab States", by Yaakov Shimoni. Tel-Aviv: Am Oved, 1959. Hebrew. 4. "Moshe Dayan, a Portrait", edited by Pinchas Yurman. Massada, 1968. Hebrew. Presentation inscription by Moshe Dayan: "To Rachel and Zvi with love, 15.5.68, Moshe" (Hebrew; presumably, the inscription refers to Rachel and Zvi Schwartz, parents of Dayan's first wife, the social activist Ruth Dayan [Schwartz]). 5. Breakthrough, a Personal Account of the Egypt-Israel Peace Negotiations, by Moshe Dayan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. English. Size and condition vary. Provenance: Estate of Ruth Dayan.

A lengthy, poetic letter sent by Moshe Dayan from Nahalal to Jerusalem, a few months after first meeting Ruth Schwartz, his future wife, soon to become Ruth Dayan. Written when Moshe Dayan was 20 years old. In it, Dayan describes his days living in Nahalal as a young "halutz" (Jewish pioneer). Hand-signed by Dayan. Nahalal, February 4, 1935. Hebrew. The present letter was published (with some omissions) in the Hebrew edition of the book "…Or Did I Dream a Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan" (written by Ruth Dayan and Helga Dudman; published by Sifriyat Poalim, 1973); a few lines from it are quoted in the English edition (published by Steimatzky's Agency together with Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973; p. 20). According to Dayan, the letter was sent when she returned to her parents' house at the winter of 1935. At the time of the writing, Moshe Dayan was still a young "halutz, " a member of the Labor Zionist Movement, and this particular letter offers a unique glimpse into his character, revealing a number of interesting aspects of his personality – his family home and upbringing, his spiritual mind-set, his thoughts as a young man – many years before he developed into an Israeli cultural hero. In the letter, he writes as follows: " Everything is dirty, damp, and cold, every motion – parting the Red Sea, and the boots are wet from both sides, and the reins are slippery and the mares stubborn… If only I was given a heater and the right to sit and not work! " Further on, he discusses matters related to his own family: " Actually, it isn't the work that upsets me, but rather the atmosphere back home… Zohar is ill, and Grandma is moaning. Everyone gets mad, and everyone finds faults in the other… and everything is so petty to the point of being nauseating ." Elsewhere in the letter, Dayan discusses his likely future and what lies in store for him: " I would find myself all sorts of ‘kibbutzim' and ‘kevutzot' and professions in construction and writing and painting and God knows what [else]… But when I look truthfully inward, I know I'll find no satisfaction there… " Several times in the letter, Dayan speaks of his admiration for the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky: "Blessed be Dostoevsky. Two or three pages and you're purified and refined through the suffering of humanity… the suffering of humanity is apparently always one and the same, and I am momentarily uplifted in light of that ." A number of segments of the letter were omitted from the version published in Ruth Dayan's book, including a lengthy and interesting section relating to the subject of Arab laborers: " On a night such as this, all my humanitarian instincts are obviously awakened, and I recall how I actually came to meet the government workers involved in drilling (that is, ‘fellahin' from the vicinity of Nablus)… they live there in a tent, and the tent is leaking, and the ‘floor' is all mud… in order to be frugal, they go barefoot, holding their shoes in their hands. This evening, I'd be capable of writing an entire book about this ." Signed at the bottom of the final page: "Yours, Moshe." 3 ff. (6 written pages), approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines, creases, and minor stains. Minor tears to edges. See: "…Or Did I Dream a Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan" (Hebrew Edition), by Ruth Dayan and Helga Dudman. Jerusalem: by Sifriyat Poalim, 1973, pp. 23-27. Provenance: Estate of Ruth Dayan.

Autograph letter signed by Moshe Dayan, on the official stationery of the Minister of Defense. Addressed to Ruth Dayan. February 21, 1971. Hebrew. Letter by Moshe Dayan, addressed to Ruth Dayan. Written while he was serving as Israel's Minister of Defense, a few months before the couple divorced after over 35 years of marriage. Dayan writes briefly about his meetings with family members. Later in the letter he apparently makes reference to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's proposals regarding potential peace talks: "[Yitzhak] Rabin arrived for consultations and Golda [Meir] holds endless meetings and they argue and make decisions, but I don't feel that matters are being seriously managed ." The State of Israel's official response to Sadat's proposal was delivered on February 26, 1971, five days after this letter was written. At the end of the letter, Dayan writes the following to his wife Ruth: "You'll no doubt manage to also get to see a good play or enjoy [some decent] entertainment, after all, the US is not Tzahala [an upscale residential neighborhood in Tel Aviv, where the couple was residing]." And he signs "Yours, Moshe." [1] f., written on both sides, 20 cm. Good condition. Fold lines. Few stains. Provenance: Estate of Ruth Dayan.