Grapevine: Broza to light up Masada

News briefs from around Israel.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Opera at Masada (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Opera at Masada
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
■ If Tisha Be’av is just around the corner, Tu Be’av, the traditional Jewish lovefest, cannot be far behind. Just slightly in advance of Tu Be’av (which is on August 11), singer-guitarist David Broza will present a pre-dawn performance at Masada beginning at 3 a.m., just before the first light comes up on Sunday, August 10.
What could be more romantic than driving to Masada late on Saturday night in order to listen to Broza and watch the sun come up? Audience members will be allowed to take their seats from 2 a.m., so anyone who wants to catch up on sleep can take a one-hour nap before the concert.
■ One cannot help thinking that the Jerusalem Press Club, headed by Uri Dromi, is a front organization for the Jerusalem Foundation’s public relations department. Commendable though it may be to have such an active press club with several events each week, Dromi does not forget – when talking about the JPC at various events – to mention it is located in Mishkenot Sha’ananim, one of the largest and most integrated projects of the Jerusalem Foundation.
In addition to the JPC, the overall complex includes a guest house for internationally acclaimed artists, authors and musicians; a music center where master classes are given by world-renowned musicians and singers; the Jerusalem Center for Ethics; the Konrad Adenauer Conference Center; a dairy restaurant and a meat restaurant – both kosher and well-separated from each other; plus several other facilities.
In notices it published this week, the JPC was promoting the guest house.
The wording of the notice began, “The Jerusalem Press Club and Mishkenot Sha’ananim are offering a special deal for journalists interested in accommodation in Jerusalem during the current situation.” It then goes on to list all the amenities, and the truth is the prices are amazingly low – $160 per night for a single occupancy in a deluxe bedroom; suites, including those with kitchenette, are $190 per single, with a supplement of $30 for an additional person in the room or suite. Breakfast is included.
■ Haifa has long been recognized as a shining example of Jewish-Arab coexistence.
There are joint social and cultural activities, and Arabs sit on the city council. Until a decade ago, Haifa was politically so far to the Left that it also has the reputation of being a red city, but since then has been a pink city – as Mayor Yona Yahav, like several of his predecessors, is a member of the Labor Party.
Last Friday, Yahav tried to persuade police not to permit two demonstrations on Friday and Saturday organized by Balad and the Sons of the Village movement, in protest at the killing of civilians in Gaza. His reason was that most of the demonstrators were not from Haifa, but were residents of the Triangle and the South; Yahav was concerned that an influx of angry Arabs could change Haifa’s status quo.
His fears proved to be well-grounded. The demonstrations erupted into violence, with right-wing Jews coming out against the Arabs. The situation became so ugly that police had to use water cannon to break up the fighting.
■ At a ceremony at Villa Dallal in Tel Aviv last week, Noa Raviv, one of the outstanding fashion graduates of the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, received a NIS 50,000 check from the Leitersdorf Family. The family has established an annual prize in memory of their matriarch Fini Leitersdorf, who was one of Israel’s leading fashion designers.
The prize was inaugurated a few years ago by Dushi Leitersdorf, the designer’s granddaughter; the two had a very close relationship. Other members of the Leitersdorf family thought it was an excellent way to perpetuate not only the name of Fini Leitersdorf, but also her life’s work.
Among those on hand to share in Raviv’s triumph was Shenkar president Yuli Tamir, a former education minister.
■ Most of the news coming out of Sderot is trauma-related, but there’s also some good news. Fourth-grader Ze’ev Eitan won the National Bible Quiz for Youth last week, and is so far the youngest person to do so. Over the past month, he boned up on 35 chapters of Bible and proved he has a retentive memory. Now, he has as his next target the International Bible Quiz, which is held each year in conjunction with Independence Day.
If he could do as well as he has done under rocket fire, imagine how much easier it will be for him to concentrate when there are no more rockets.