The attractive woman accompanying the President of Iceland, said a cheery "Shalom" to all and sundry.
By GREER FAY CASHMANgrapes 88(photo credit: )
SECURITY PERSONNEL at Beit Hanassi were somewhat taken aback last week when the attractive woman accompanying Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the President of Iceland, said a cheery "Shalom" and "Boker Tov" to all and sundry.
The words were uttered without any trace of a foreign accent, and those who were not in the know scratched their heads in wonder, because the woman had an air about her which indicated that she was not an employee.
Indeed she wasn't. She was the First Lady of Iceland, who happened to have been born in Jerusalem as Dorrit Moussaieff and raised until her early teens in the capital's Bukharan Quarter.
Although being the first lady gives her a certain status, she is no novice to nobility, and has rubbed shoulders with some of the most important people in the world. Her family roots comprise generations of jewelers, and her father, Shlomo, is one of the world's most famous collectors of Judaica, with precious objects dating back to the First Temple period. He established the Moussaieff Center for Research in Kabbala at Bar Ilan University, to which he donated his grandfather's collection of rare Kabbalistic manuscripts, along with a collection of rare books.
Shlomo Moussaieff, his Viennese-born wife Aliza and their three daughters moved to London in 1963 when Dorrit was 13. Having grown up in the jewelry business, which has at one stage or another been a source of income for all the branches of her family, it was natural for Dorrit Moussaieff to find her own forte in jewels, and for many years she dealt in rare stones. She was also engaged in refurnishing ancient British buildings and contributed articles to various publications, mostly periodicals that deal with the arts. She also contributed and continues to contribute to The Tatler.
Her first marriage, at a young age, to Jewish designer Neil Zarak was short-lived, and three decades passed before she found someone else with whom she was prepared to spend the rest of her life.
The man in question was a widower, who happened to be the President of Iceland. They got married in 2003 on his 60th birthday, after a three-year engagement. He has another Israel connection in that he was born on May 14, which is the Gregorian calendar date of the birth of the State.
Because Iceland's First Lady still has a large number of relatives and friends in Israel including a sister who lives in Tel Aviv, she comes to Israel from time to time to catch up with people on a face-to-face basis.
A visit here in 2006 almost caused a diplomatic incident. Since she was a minor when she left Israel and spent most of her life in Britain, Moussaieff never thought about taking out an Israeli passport. As far as she was concerned, she was a British citizen and traveled the world on a British passport. She continued to use her British passport even after she became first lady of Iceland, and in May, 2006, was detained at Ben Gurion Airport by security personnel who refused to allow her entry on a British passport. Immigration officials told her that because she was an Israeli, she was obligated under Israeli law to enter the country on an Israeli passport.
There was a rather unpleasant exchange between Moussaieff and the bureaucrats, and the media somehow got hold of the story.
However the incident did not deter her from coming back
Her most recent visit to Israel with her husband was a private one, but even on private visits presidents and prime ministers like to get together with their counterparts, and President Shimon Peres was quite happy to welcome them.
When Peres questioned Grimsson about the situation in Iceland, he replied: "It depends on whether you believe what you read" and quoted recent newspaper headlines such as "Iceland is Melting" and "Iceland on Fire." When he saw some of the published stories about his own country, he said it made him wonder about the reliability of other reports.
IT'S A well-known fact that President Peres is a literature buff. Thus, when Spain's new ambassador to Israel, Alvaro Iranzo Gutierrez, presented his credentials last week, the conversation between the two went beyond the usual subjects of bilateral relations, economics, alternative energy sources, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iranian nuclear threat, to a book which has taken Spain by storm. Coincidentally, Peres already had the book Sepharad in his possession and when Gutierrez told him that the author, famed Spanish novelist Antonio Munoz Molina, would be in Israel in mid-September, Peres inisted that Gutierrez bring him to Beit Hanassi. Molina's highly acclaimed book contains 17 tales of the Sephardic diaspora.
LATER THAT day, Peres met with Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who when introduced to the president said that he was humbled to be in the presence of a living legend, and commented that Peres was the first Nobel laureate that he had ever met. Recalling his first visit to Finland, Peres said that he'd been taken to a sauna, where "for the first time in my life I met naked politicians talking to the point."
ALL THE world loves a wedding, but few weddings I have attended have been as witty and joyful as that of Jerusalem Post columnist and features editor Ruthie Blum to IBA English News Editor-in-Chief Steve Leibowitz. The event took place, naturally enough, at the capital's Kraft Family Stadium, which is a Leibowitz enclave, used not only for the purpose of encouraging and playing American football (as well as other sports), but also for Leibowitz family celebrations. Seven years earlier, it was the venue for the bridegroom's 50th surprise birthday celebration. Last year, it was the scene of his son Mikey's bar mitzva, and last Thursday it was filled with mainly journalists, academics and political figures who had come to celebrate Leibowitz's marriage to Blum.
In July, the couple traveled to New York to be married in the presence of the bride's parents, celebrated writers Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter, her sisters Rachel Abrams and Naomi Decter, her brother,John Podhoretz, and several of the couple's other relatives and friends, some of whom live in Israel and specially flew to the US for the occasion. Among them were the groom's sister Linda Amar, who was the highly prescient matchmaker and Bobby Brown, who went to university with the groom. And there was a more recent friend, Post columnist Caroline Glick, who at the second ceremony in Jerusalem recited the first of the seven blessings under the bridal canopy, which was larger than usual because it had to accommodate so many people. The bride and groom have nine children between them, eight of whom are in Israel. All eight stood under the bridal canopy as a symbol of the unity of their combined families. The bride's eldest son, Noam, who is studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, was present at the New York ceremony. The groom's eldest son, Yonatan Gher, was the laid-back, bilingual moderator, whose subtle sense of humor was deliciously contagious.
The bride looked stunning in a lace period-style gown with high neckline and long sleeves, similar to those seen in movies about the Old West. Because the wedding was held in a football stadium, there was plenty of room to seat the guests without having to arrange any chairs. The bleachers, directly opposite the bridal canopy, were given a facelift with a covering of lilac cloth, and most of the guests were able to sit down and comfortably observe.
Just before the ceremony, flower girls Ruthie Pilcer and Lilach Mishaan scattered rose petals on the carpet.
The bride was led to her waiting groom by her sisters, who flew in from Washington to participate in the ongoing celebration.
Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, founder and spiritual head of Kehilat Kol Haneshama, officiated and told the happy couple that he hoped their home would be filled with people who love them and people whom they love. At the special request of the bride and groom, he also mentioned the groom's late wife Drora Leibowitz, who after a valiant battle with cancer, succumbed. Drora's father, Yehezkel Levy, read one of the seven blessings, indicating that this blended family, like a diamond, has many facets.
Weiman-Kelman could not refrain from commenting on the significance of that week's haftara, from Judges, that opens with: "Shoftim v'shotrim titen lecha b'chol sha'arecha," the traditional translation of which is: "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates..." In a sporting context, said the rabbi lightly, it could refer to referees and umpires, which was entirely appropriate under the circumstances.
At modern Jewish weddings, it's customary to exchange rings, and although the groom had one for the bride, she came up with something the symbolism of which he would appreciate more - a silver football from Tiffany's. And that wasn't the only veering away from convention. The marriage contract was read not by a rabbi, but by the bride's daughter, Avital Blum. This Ketuba was one of mutual commitment in which the two pledged love, patience, openness and family unification, as well as commitment to revel in each other's joys, to be compassionate with regard to each other's needs and to go through life with humor.
The beauty of a wedding on a football field is that even with a few hundred guests, the venue doesn't feel crowded. There's room in which to breathe, and plenty of space between the tables, not to mention room in which to dance.
When everyone sat down to eat, they promptly had to stand again because this bride and groom, being fervent Zionists, began the meal with Hatikva. The groom has a Betar background, so there were quite a few ex-Betarim present who lustily joined in when the DJ played Shtei Gadot L'Yarden.
Not all those who came from overseas were from the US, although Steve Rambam, one of the groom's close friends, did come from there. Journalist, author, university lecturer and most recently, Italian parliamentarian Fiamma Nirenstein, one of Ruthie's dearest friends, who came from Italy to join in the festivities, admitted that the first time she met Steve and they started talking politics, she thought he was too left-wing for Ruthie, but after a while realized how lucky Ruthie and Steve were to have met each other. "It's a great marriage," she said.
Described by Gher as "the woman with whom my father spends the most time," IBA's Leah Zinder noted that in the couple of years that they've been an item, "Steve and Ruthie haven't had a single fight - until Sarah Palin came along."
"What a fantastic wedding," said Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz, as he marveled at having seen his rabbi in a suit - implying that Weiman-Kelman doesn't dress that way for synagogue services. Waxing lyrical about the bride, Horovitz described her as a beautiful writer, someone who provided a shoulder to cry on and a person who was both counterintuitive and the voice of logic.
The groom was given a roasting by his very good friends Mitch Pilcer and Yonah Mishaan. Pilcer, an artist and journalist turned innkeeper, has a pomegranate orchard in Zippori, where he and his wife, Suzy, maintain a village of country cottages. So they brought not only themselves and their offspring to Jerusalem, but also lots of pomegranates, which they distributed on the tables. Live entertainment was provided by Larry Fogel and Mindy Burns who were known to many of the guests as regulars at the annual Jacob's Ladder folk festival.
The esteem in which Ruthie and Steve are held was best displayed by Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Adelson Institute of Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center, who, though he had another function that evening in which he was the star attraction, stopped by before the wedding ceremony to offer his congratulations.
Vera Golovensky, ISS Director of International Relations, who usually accompanies Sharansky on his engagements, decided that just this once, he could wing it alone, and she her husband, Joel, stayed to enjoy the wedding.
Among the other guests were Ron Dermer, a former minister for economic affairs at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and currently a foreign policy adviser to Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu; former foreign minister and defense minister Moshe Arens and his wife, Muriel; and founder and executive director of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Harry Hurwitz and his wife, Freda. Among the media personalities present were: Yochanan Elrom, Idele Ross, Elli Wohlgelernter, Sheila Zucker, Elliot Jager, Eeta Prince Gibson, Steve Linde, Liat Collins, Abigail Radoszkowicz, Gil Hoffman, Eva Ben David, Haviv Rettig, Ruth Beloff, Etgar Lefkovits, Judy Siegel, Herb Keinon and many others.
RATHER THAN overburden his embassy with farewells, Milan Dubcek, Ambassador of Slovakia, chose to combine his farewell party with Slovakian Constitution Day. Dubczek, who will be returning to his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of the month, has no idea what he'll be doing, but hopes to be assigned the Middle East desk. There's been a lot of reorganization at the Ministry, he explained. It is now larger than when he left nearly five years ago, and there will be several new positions available.
Slovakia has made progress in many ways since his arrival in Israel in May, 2004. It became a member of the European Union and is about to enter the European Zone. "Our integration into the European structure is becoming stronger and deeper," he said. As for bilateral relations with Israel, these too are constantly improving, especially on political and economic levels. In the period of his tenure, trade had almost doubled, he said. Other areas in bilateral relations have not been left behind. Tourism has increased in both directions and there have been art exhibits, musical performances, folklore and poetry readings by Slovakian artists who have come to Israel and Israeli artists who traveled to Slovakia.
Dubcek also spoke about the importance that Slovakia attaches to Holocaust education. The Holocaust is integral to the education system and is taught with the help of Yad Vashem and the Slovak Government, he said.
It was not easy to say goodbye, he explained. "Israel has gotten into my heart and I will look for many opportunities to come back." Noting how many friends he had made and the number of organizations in which he had been involved in his time in Israel, Dubcek wished the country health, luck, success and peace in the New Year.
Pinchas Avivi, Deputy Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, observed that at the end of the day, it is not special interests or policy that count, but the people who do the job. He told Dubcek that he ought to be proud of what he had done in the building of bilateral relations, and raised a laugh when he said that every month he received a request from Israel's ambassador to Slovakia for arrangements to bring yet another Slovakian minister to Israel. Avivi also credited Dubcek with initiating joint ventures and cultural activities and lauded Slovakia for its fight against anti-Semitism and its support of Israel in the EU.
WHILE ON the subject of Slovakia, Haifa resident Tova (Gitka) Teitelbaum, nee Eckstein, is a Bratislava-born child Holocaust survivor, who as a baby was taken out of her home and passed on to Christians so that Jewish children sheltered by her parents would not be endangered by her crying. Her father Jonas Eckstein, who was known as "der Gute Jonas" to the Jews of Pressburg/Bratislava during the war years, brought food and comfort to the many who were interred in the Patronka Camp in Slovakia. Between 1941-44, he hid approximately 60 people in two bunkers in Pressburg, one in the cellar of his house on Jidovska Ulica and the other in the Shas Hevra. He opened his home to hundreds of children who were smuggled out of Poland - mainly from Cracow and surrounding areas - into Slovakia. He did this at constant risk to his life. His daughter Tova, an English teacher, is currently documenting his life and war year activities, some of which have been recorded in books and pamphlets written by others. She admits that she has left it a little late, and has so far managed to locate only one of the people saved by her father, but is hoping that she can find others. Anyone with information can contact her at 04-824-4257 or e-mail teitel_@netvision.net.il.
By the way, she is the mother of Israel Radio's Benny Teitelbaum.
ISRAEL TELEVISION was very proud last week when its Paris-based reporter Gideon Kutz, traveling with the entourage of President Nicolas Sarkozy, was permitted to enter Damascus even though the Syrian authorities knew that he was an Israeli in the employ of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. He did, however, enter on a French passport. He is not the first person working for an Israeli media outfit to be permitted to enter Syria. David Makovsky, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, accompanied president Bill Clinton to Syria while diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, but unlike Kutz was not born in Israel.
ARE THE people behind the Guinness Book of Records being unfair to Israel, or worse? If you ask Galia Albin, whose brainchild it was to have Jewish communities around the world simultaneously sing Hatikva in celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary, she will not comment, but will shrug her shoulders as if to indicate: "You said it, not me."
Albin spent more than $150,000 out of her own pocket in a concerted effort to have her Hatikva initiative included in the Guinness book of world records - as marking the greatest number of people worldwide to sign this song of the Jewish people. The initiative fired the patriotism and imagination of more than 32 Israeli municipalities, 1,000 Canadians at the March of the Living, three different groups in Jerusalem, two groups in separate venues in Tel Aviv as well as multiple venues across Europe and the United States. Outside Israel, Hatikva was simultaneously sung in Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, France, Netherlands, England, and in American states New York, Ohio, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, thus making it the largest Jewish-related event ever. Albin had carefully checked and triple checked all the rules and regulations and had followed them religiously. She had even arranged for a Guinness World Record representative to come to Israel to make the presentation to President Peres, on the understanding that she would provide the business class airfare and some rather hefty expense money. The money part didn't bother her. It was the excitement of the enterprise.
On May 29, 2008, all the documentation in the aftermath of the event was submitted to Guinness World Records and Albin awaited the response with great anticipation, only to be disappointed. The effort was ruled out: As far as Guinness is concerned, it seems, Hatikva is not a song of the Jewish people, but the national anthem of Israel, and as such only people singing it in Israel would have been relevant to the calculation. The adjudicators apparently chose to overlook the fact that Hatikva was written by Naphtali Herz Imber in Jassy circa 1878 and was sung at Zionist Congresses and in pro-Zionist communities throughout the Jewish world for more than a century. Although it was also sung in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948 at the proclamation ceremony of the state, it did not officially become the anthem of Israel until November, 2004 when the Knesset enacted legislation to that effect.
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