Grapevine: Sending regrets

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Ivanka Trump is all smiles at the official opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Ivanka Trump is all smiles at the official opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
 MERETZ MK Mossi Raz was not invited to the opening of the US Embassy, and if he had been, he would have followed the example of party leader Tamar Zandberg, and declined.
Raz, one of the founders of Peace Now, was born in Jerusalem, and told Kan 11’s Uri Levy that even though the embassy has been moved to Jerusalem, when he renews his visa it will not state that he was born in Israel because the US State Department’s policy on documentation has not changed and people born in Jerusalem cannot state on any official American document that they were born in Israel.
Considering that the embassy’s transition was led by Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, it’s somewhat strange that there’s no tandem transition in policy.
NOT ONLY has the cabinet chosen the Bible Lands Museum for an important event, as it did on Jerusalem Day, but so has Emunah Jerusalem’s Na’avah Tehilla chapter. It will hold its Spring Luncheon there on Monday, May 28. The occasion will be a celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary.
The museum’s Education Department is preparing a special presentation for the event under the title “Israel as a Start-Up Nation: In the Forefront of Innovation.” David Horovitz, editor of the Times of Israel, and former editor of The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report, will be the keynote speaker. There will also be a dvar Torah by Rabbanit Pearl Borow.
Yet another highlight of the luncheon will be an Israeli hit parade singalong with musical accompaniment provided by well-known pianist Gershon Wachtel, the in-house pianist at the Waldorf-Astoria. Proceeds from the luncheon will go toward a new Emunah Jerusalem initiative to help women in crisis: “Circles of Support,” which provides group therapy facilitated by highly professional therapists in Emunah’s Counseling Services.
Some of the crisis areas that have been identified include postpartum depression, fertility issues, aging problems, bereavement, dealing with the serious illness of a family member, young women from dysfunctional/or abusive families who are now living alone, new immigrants from various countries dealing with difficult family or personal adjustment issues.
Emunah Jerusalem will conduct a telethon (similar to Super Sunday in America) on May 23 and 24 to raise money for the funding of as many additional groups as possible.
ONE FAMILY, one of the leading organizations that cares for terrorism victims and their families, is hosting a night (for women only) of dancing and laughter on Tuesday, May 22 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Featured guests are inspirational speaker and dancer Shimrit Adar and comedienne Noya Mandel.