Educators Barbara Levin, Gidon Langman and Pnina Rosenbluth are among the 12 veteran Jerusalemites who will be honored as a Worthy of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, June 1. The US-born Levin, an Israel Prize laureate, established the first TALI school in Jerusalem. The founder of Pelech Religious High School for Girls, Rosenbluth also worked as an English teacher and professional coordinator at Boyer School for 30 years. Gidon Langman founded Evelina de Rothschild, has volunteered for the Civil Guard for 33 years and serves as a board member of the Hevra Kadisha.Also to receive the honor are former director of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Ora Ahimeir and radio and TV personality Yitzhak Shimoni.A look back at revisionism The Yad Ben-Zvi Institute, a cultural bastion of the Labor Movement, hosted a special evening last week dedicated to the launch of a book on the history of the revisionist movement in Eretz Yisrael between 1925 and 1940. Yad Ben-Zvi considered the event an opportunity to learn more about the movement and its ways and to acknowledge the major reasons for the disagreements between David Ben-Gurion and Ze’ev Jabotinsky and their respective ideologies.
Windows of opportunityTake a group of downtown merchants frustrated by the loss of income incurred by the roadwork on the light rail, add a dash of desire to help and a dollop of the means to give the design students at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design a chance to acquire some handson experience, and you have a beautiful joint venture that benefits all. The Bezalel students have redesigned the window displays of the Jaffa Road stores, calling the project “the Botox Party of Jaffa Road.” On Sunday, the 20 students who participated in the project met with the merchants and representatives of the New Spirit students’ association, which supported the project, and celebrated the completion of their creative effort all along Jaffa Road. The idea behind the project is to establish ties between the students and the city as part of the association’s efforts to encourage students to remain here after they graduate by offering them an opportunity to gain some experience in their field of study.
Be healthy, be happyDo you eat a nutritious diet? Are you aware of the necessity of physical exercise? Do you know how important it is to have a healthy environment? If you do, you may be an important asset in a new survey conducted by the municipality, aimed at assessing residents’ way of life as far as health is concerned. The survey will also examine the quality of health services available for residents. Pensioners have been mobilized to conduct the survey. The project is part of an international initiative launched by the UN; and Jerusalem, as a member of the worldwide Healthy Cities Network, has taken it upon itself to provide whatever is required to enhance the health of its residents.
Thanks, but no thanks Residents of Yemin Moshe are requesting the dissolution of the East Jerusalem Development Company, which is the municipal organization in charge of their well-to-do area. Yemin Moshe is a beautifully renovated neighborhood, which the late mayor Teddy Kollek transformed into a special residential location for artists he wanted to attract to the city following the 1967 war. Until then, it was a relatively poor neighborhood, inhabited mostly by Sephardim and olim from the Arab countries, who were later relocated to the Katamonim. Today, more than 40 years after the change in its character, the residents feel there is no longer any need for a special organization to oversee it.Chill out Winter has not been very cold this year, but for some people reality is no obstacle to realizing a dream. From March 10 to April 14, anyone who feels a stab of nostalgia for a proper winter is invited to Kikar Safra, of all places, to get a little taste of snow. About 500 square meters of ice will be laid in the main square, allowing for figure skating, together with a little bit of fantasy. The area will host hockey players of all ages, as well as a typical Inuit igloo and a special Purim party. Ice skaters will give special performances during the month, including Mayor Nir Barkat, who will show residents his skating skills on Purim.Jerusalem prideFive local high-school students have reached the semifinal stage of the Young Scientist national competition, held at the Bloomfield Science Museum. The competition is under the patronage of the Science and Technology Department of the Education Ministry, with the support of Intel. The five students are from the Torah and Sciences High School, the ORT college at Givat Ram and the High School for Sciences and Arts. The last stage of the competition will take place on March 14-16 at the museum, and the winner will be announced on the 16th at the Hebrew University in the presence of President Shimon Peres. Stipends, as well as financing for additional participation in international competitions, will be granted to the laureates.