■ THE LOBBY/lounge of the King David Hotel tends to be a somewhat staid and quiet. The sets of armchairs, sofas and tables are placed sufficiently distant from each other to facilitate private conversations. But the space may now get a certain buzz, due to the introduction of a wine bar. There has always been a bar at the King David, but it was in a room off the inner recess of the main corridor. The newly established wine bar is a more public watering hole for locals and visitors alike. The wine bar has been created not only for the benefit of those who like to indulge, or even to add to the profits of the Dan chain, of which the King David is the flagship. Among other things, it is there to give a boost to Israel's wine industry with the introduction of four new wines each month, as a means of giving them quick exposure to the wine-drinking public. In addition, there will be wine-oriented events at the hotel, such as wine tastings and meetings with vintners. There will of course be some munchable delicacies at the bar as well – mostly fish and dairy offerings prepared by executive chef David Biton. ■ HEBREW BOOK Week has been used as a lever toward the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature to S.Y. Agnon, who was Israel's first Nobel Prize laureate. There were some references earlier in the year, but from this month forward, the Agnon celebration is gaining steam. Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, who as editor of the Agnon Library is a leading exponent of Agnon's writings, some of which he has translated and on which he frequently lectures, presented a lecture this week at Hazvi Yisrael Synagogue and on July 14 will be among the speakers at Beit Agnon, 17 Klausner Street, at a book launch of A City in Its Fullness, which he co-edited with Alan Mintz, professor of Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary. The book tells the epic story cycle of Agnon's old-world hometown in a first-time annotated English translation. Mintz will also be among the speakers, together with best-selling Jerusalem-born author A.B. Yehoshua and literary critic Ariel Hirschfeld, who is a professor of literature at the Hebrew University. ■ IT'S BUSINESS as usual for Rami Levy, despite a fight with the landlord who owns the property in Mahaneh Yehuda's Hashikma Street, where Levy set up his first store and which he continues to rent. Levy incorporated the name of the street into his corporate business enterprise, which over the years has mushroomed beyond belief. The landlord wants to evict Levy from the Hashikma Street store, stating that Levy doesn't use it anyway. Levy claims that he uses it for storage. It's been a talisman of sorts for his success. But the store is a minor problem compared to media reports that police have completed their investigations into allegations Levy and his son-in-law Ophir Attias had eavesdropped on company employees through Rami Levy Communications, the cellular phone company that is part of Levy's ever-growing empire. Moreover, police suspect that Attias hired private detectives to dig up dirt on Elkana Alon, a former employee of Rami Levy Communications, who had written of sexual harassment complaints as well as eavesdropping on employees who had voiced grievances against the company. With all this on this head, Levy is nonetheless opening up supermarket outlets around the country and advertising a variety of employment opportunities. ■ IF YOU want a job done, give it to a busy person, goes the old adage. Indeed, dentist and plastic surgeon Dr. Steve Sattler, who was the guest speaker this week at the general meeting of the Tamar Chapter of Hadassah, certainly epitomizes that. Born in Breslau, Poland, in April 1948 to Holocaust-survivor parents, he grew up in Melbourne, and after graduating in dental science and coming top of the state in maxillofacial surgery, he settled in Israel in 1971, and was the regional dentist for Lachish. He also studied public health at the Hebrew University. He recently retired from private practice after having worked for 38 years as a surgeon. Sattler spent six years in the Israel Air Force as a flying doctor, in the Negev and beyond. He is senior judge in the Council for the Beautification of Israel; a volunteer in the World Health Organization in Geneva as a senior investigator of their doctor programs; a 32-year volunteer in the Civil Guard for north Jerusalem; a volunteer in the detective division of the national police; a volunteer in the Jerusalem municipal emergency squad, which is trained to deal with earthquakes and missiles; an international lecturer in public health for the World Health Organization, having spoken in 63 countries so far; a consultant to the British Library, in London, on philately; a professional stamp collector of Israel, Palestine and Australian stamps; a lecturer on Palestine history during World War I; an author of two books, with two more on the way – all on vastly different subjects; and the key organizer and liaison in his synagogue in Ramat Eshkol. He is married and the father of seven children, who thus far have given him and his wife 12 grandchildren.
(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/DANNY LYULEV)