Fund to bestow awards for helping Holocaust survivors

The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Updated: DECEMBER 16, 2016 00:43
A woman lights a candle in front of a wall containing the names of victims, during the Holocaust memorial day at Budapest's Holocaust Memorial Centre April 16, 2013 (photo credit: REUTERS)
A woman lights a candle in front of a wall containing the names of victims, during the Holocaust memorial day at Budapest's Holocaust Memorial Centre April 16, 2013
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel will hand out its annual Beacon of Light awards at the Knesset next week.
This is the fifth year that the foundation is bestowing the award to Holocaust survivors, officials in the public and private sectors and volunteers who have carried out significant work for Holocaust survivors in Israel.
The recipients of the award this year are actor and comedian Ya’acov Bodo, Holocaust survivor Ya’acov Zilberstein, President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, German Judge Jan-Robert von Renesse and volunteers Rina Stadler and Haim Shilo. A medal for social activity will be bestowed on the ORT Israel network, for its Connected volunteer project, through which students and network workers visit the homes of survivors and help them acquire computer skills.
The Citation of Light honor will go to MK Itzik Shmuli, for his “tireless work as a legislator on behalf of disadvantaged populations, the elderly and, especially, Holocaust survivors.”
Former Likud minister Limor Livnat, chairwoman of the foundation, said that the award is an “expression of appreciation and gratitude to those who are outstanding in their efforts and contributions to improve the quality of life of Holocaust survivors in Israel.” She added that the purpose of the award is to reserve a place of honor for those people, and to raise public awareness about the situation of survivors and their needs.
Recipients of the Medal of Light are selected by a public committee, on behalf of the Foundation’s Academic Advisory Committee, chaired by Prof. Jacob Lomranz, and whose members include Prof. Ariela Lowenstein, Batia Rapaport, Aviva Silverman and Avi Rosenthal.
The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, sponsored by MK Avi Dichter, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and Livnat. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will also attend the event.