Grapevine

A double emergency

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Grapevine 521 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Grapevine 521
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
■It is a well-known fact that royalty, heads of state, leaders of international organizations, captains of industry and high society in general are among the returning guests to Jerusalem’s historic King David Hotel. What is less known to the general public is that the King David, though within easy walking distance of Chabad, Sephardic, Italian, Bukharan, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform synagogues, has a synagogue of its own that is ministered by Rabbi Yosef Friedman, who conducts services or points guests in the direction of other synagogues they might prefer to attend.
Friedman always reminds them that if they are already in Jerusalem, a little charity and milk of human kindness would not go to waste, and thus everyone who is called to the Torah donates something to charity for the privilege. Friedman subsequently distributes such moneys to various charities in Israel.
Some of these funds were directed to United Hatzalah towards the purchase of a lifesaving ambucycle. On the eve of Shavuot when Friedman found himself in urgent need of a Torah Scroll, he turned to his friend, Eli Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah, who was more than happy to assist and mentioned that the organization had recently received a wonderful little Torah scroll – perfect for the many humanitarian needs in which United Hatzalah is involved. The scroll, donated by the Hofbauer family of London in memory of Hermann Rauch, was intended for use at the United Hatzalah synagogue as well as for other myriad celebrations when a compact mobile Torah scroll would be needed. A United Hatzalah service vehicle was dispatched to pick up Friedman and the Torah scroll, and bring them to the King David in time for the start of Shavuot, which for most of the guests was a two-day affair.
Just as the vehicle was pulling up to the hotel, there was an alert to all nearby units of the organization that there was a young man convulsing at the King David.
The Hatzalah volunteer left Friedman guarding the Torah scroll, grabbed a rescue bag from the vehicle and sprinted to the hotel.
There he was joined by a United Hatzalah doctor who had been working out in the hotel gym, and moments later by a volunteer riding ambucycle 278, the very ambucycle donated by the King David congregants. The trio treated the patient at the concierge desk until the ambulance arrived. Friedman was amazed how his request for an emergency Torah scroll had been instrumental in helping to save the life of a young man at the hotel that had facilitated the donation of the ambucycle.
■IT’S BEEN a hectic time for Israel Museum director James Snyder, who is busy overseeing the opening of new exhibitions, most notably “Herod the Great”; attending meetings of the Jerusalem Foundation, especially the dedication ceremony of Teddy Park; being the recipient of the prestigious Guardian of Zion Award; and supervising arrangements for the upcoming annual four-day meeting of the Israel Museum’s International Council. On top of that, he recently received the fourth Israeli bullion coin in the “Jerusalem of Gold” series that was released by the Bank of Israel. The new coin is dedicated to the Shrine of the Book on the Israel Museum campus, and will be displayed together with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Aleppo Codex and other rare and ancient manuscripts.
Always conscious of giving credit where it is due, Snyder, who received the Guardian of Zion Award in recognition of his achievements as Israel Museum director, made sure that the Kollek family was represented at the event by Amos Kollek and his wife Osnat, and in the course of his address, paid tribute to the vision of legendary mayor Teddy Kollek, who founded the museum. Similarly, Teddy Kollek’s name appears on the invitations to the International Council meeting, as does that of the late Dov Gottesman, an internationally known art collector, who succeeded Kollek as president of the museum, serving in the position for a decade after previously serving as chairman of its board of directors, a position now held by Isaac Molho.