Wheat from Tiberias in the War Years

In its report *Religious Bodies: 1936*, the United States Bureau of the Census described ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s work during the First World War:

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> During the World War communication with friends and believers outside Syria was almost completely cut off, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His followers suffered great hardships. During those dreary years the resourcefulness and sagacious philanthropy of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were strikingly shown.

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He personally organized extensive agricultural operations near Tiberias, bringing under cultivation land which had been untilled for centuries; thus He secured a great supply of wheat by means of which famine was averted, not only for the Bahá’ís, but for many of the poor of all religions, whose wants He liberally supplied. After the cessation of hostilities, a knighthood of the British Empire was conferred upon Him in recognition of these services.

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