Jerusalem photo exhibition to celebrate lives of Peres and Begin

‘It’s a great honor for us to offer the public these two exhibitions commemorating the lives of Peres and Begin in the city of Jerusalem,’ says Limmud FSU founder Chaim Chesler.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
PARTICIPANTS OF Limmud FSU’s Odessa conference (photo credit: Courtesy of Limmud FSU)
PARTICIPANTS OF Limmud FSU’s Odessa conference
(photo credit: Courtesy of Limmud FSU)
The 90th birthday celebration of President Shimon Peres and 100th birthday of former prime minister Menachem Begin will be celebrated in the capital Wednesday with the launching of two photo exhibitions illustrating the two leaders legacies and contributions to Israel.
The exhibits, titled “From Vilna Street, Vishneyeva to President’s Street, Jerusalem” for Peres, and “Milestones – From Brest-Litovsk to the Prime Minister’s Office” for Begin, will commemorate the lives of both men, born on August 2, 1923, and August 16, 1913, respectively.
“It’s a great honor for us to offer to the public these two exhibitions celebrating the lives of Peres and Begin in the city of Jerusalem,” said Chaim Chesler, founder of Limmud FSU, who spearheaded the event.
“Jerusalem is the spiritual capital of the Jewish people and we decided to have a Limmud FSU conference there this year that is dedicated to the contributions of FSU Jewry to Jewish and world culture.”
Limmud FSU International Steering Committee Chairman Matthew Bronfman and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, accompanied by members of Peres’s and Begin’s families, will gather to open the exhibitions to the public at the First Compound in David Remez Square in the capital.
Additionally, the government of Belarus will issue official stamps bearing both leaders images – along with former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, former president Chaim Weizmann and former president Zalman Shazar, all of whom were born in the country – all to be unveiled at the event.
The stamps were presented last month in Belarus to Herzl Makov, chairman of the Begin Heritage Center.
The exhibitions were initially displayed last May in Peres’s and Begin’s hometowns in Belarus as part of Limmud FSU Belarus Festival, and are now part of the Limmud FSU Jerusalem Festival, taking place across Jerusalem between November 13 and 16.
The Limmud FSU Jerusalem Festival, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality and the Begin Heritage Center, will feature more than 800 Russianspeaking Jewish leaders and intellectuals from across the world.
Limmud Jewish education conferences were conceived in 1978 as a volunteer-driven enterprise. It has since branched out, now holding events in 26 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hungary, Mexico, the United States, Sweden, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Limmud FSU was founded in 2006 by Chesler, of Israel, and co-founded by Sandra Cahn, of New York and Mikhail Chlenov, of Russia.
Aaron Frenkel of Monte Carlo serves as its president.
The exhibit will open on Wednesday at noon and feature displays curated by Peres’s senior adviser Yoram Dori.