Gadna (IDF pre military training service)Hanukah Torch Relay 1949

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadna_(Israel)

The Gadna’s Hanukkah Race will begin on Saturday

Dab 15.12.1949 p. 4

“We will not bow our heads in the storm” is the slogan of the Gadna’s “Hanukkah Race” operation headquarters. The race will begin with the lighting of torches on Saturday in Tel Hai and Tirat Zvi, and will end on Tuesday in Jerusalem. Eight torches from various parts of the country will be brought by the runners to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem The Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff will welcome the arrivals and light the Hanukkah menorah and the Jerusalem torch with torches. The torches will pass through 76 communities in many of which festive ceremonies will be held. 1,755 torchbearers will participate in the race, accompanied by another two thousand runners from Gadna. The runners will cover a distance of 622 kilometers on land, 80 at sea and 250 in the air. The torchbearers will depart from Tel Hai, Degania, Yechiam, Tirat Zvi, Eilat, Negba, Modi’in – the Maccabean Cemetery, from the Navy and Air Force bases. All torches will be brought to Modi’in – the homeland of the Hasmoneans. After the torch from Modi’in joins them, they will continue their journey to Jerusalem. The Navy torch will be brought by sea on warships of the Israeli Navy to Tel Aviv. On the 28th of Kislev, the torch will be brought by boat to the Knesset (in its residence in Tel Aviv before moving to Jerusalem and declaring it the capital of Israel). The Navy and Air Force torches will be received by the Speaker of the Knesset (the first) Y. (Yosef) Shprinzak and will be handed over to the torchbearers who will continue the race to the city.

The Eilat torch will be flown to the Negev, where it will descend by parachute and the runners will run to Modi’in. In Modi’in, the Modi’in torch will be lit and all the torches will be transported to Jerusalem. A special train will transport hundreds of Gadnaites to the ceremony in Jerusalem. There will be a permanent wireless connection between the runners and the operation headquarters. 300 immigrant children will participate in the operation and will be present at the ceremony on Mount Herzl. A special airmail envelope with the operation postcard will be issued in honor of the event.