THE JERUSALEM Opera has a logo, a program but as yet no permanent home, so it uses the Gerard Behar facilities for its all too rare performances. When Mayor Nir Barkat talks about the cultural development of Jerusalem, he fails to mention that Jerusalem is one of the few capitals in the Western world in which there is no opera house. Up until now, opera and ballet performances have been staged at Binyenei Ha'uma, the Jerusalem Theater and the Gerard Behar Center, and presumably in the future they will also be staged at the Payis Arena. An innovative staging of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro will be presented at the Gerard Behar Center on December 29, following a performance in Ashdod on December 27. Stage director Ari Tepperberg, together with artistic adviser Gabriele Ribis, has given the opera a refreshing new interpretation. This is a truly international production, with singers from France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Israel, accompanied by the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Omer Arieli. The title role is performed by Yuri Kissin, who was born in Siberia, moved to Israel in 1990 and now lives in Paris. HEBREW UNIVERSITY professor Alexander Levitzki, the Wolfson Family Professor of Biochemistry and one of the world's most prominent cancer researchers, was the recipient of the prestigious Ilse and Helmut Wachter Award for 2014. The award ceremony took place at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria. He was nominated for the award on the basis of his leading role in helping to lay the foundation for personalized cancer therapy and contributing to the development of new and precise cancer medications. Levitzki's research is conducted at the Unit of Cellular Signaling in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Hebrew University's Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences. The award's executive committee cited Levitzki's pioneering role in the field of signal transduction, noting that for the past 25 years he “made seminal and landmark discoveries which served as the scientific basis for the subsequent development of two very important novel anticancer drugs, Gleevec by Novartis and Sutent by Sugen.” Hebrew University President Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson lauded Levitzki's important contributions to academia, research and the betterment of mankind. He said that the award signaled the continued flourishing of cooperation between Israeli and Austrian researchers for the benefit of both our countries and the world. Levitzki's many previous awards include the Israel Prize and the Wolf Prize in Medicine. A graduate of the Hebrew University, he joined its faculty in 1974 and trained a generation of scientists who continue to advance this important area of research. ALYN ORTHOPEDIC Hospital and Rehabilitation Center has a new chairman in the person of economist and strategic adviser Zvi Ginosar, who has many years of organizational and business management experience. Ginosar has held senior management positions in the Finance Ministry and in private companies including Intel, Numonyx and Micron Technology and three years ago joined Alyn's board of directors. As a board member, Ginosar has been exposed to the medical, financial, strategic planning and auditing aspects of the hospital. When Meir Tchorz, who had successfully filled this position for many years, asked Ginossar to replace him as chairman, he agreed. “Alyn Hospital is an amazing combination of compassion, medicine and technology. The enormous impact this has on patients and their families is apparent every time I visit Alyn. When parents praise Alyn, I understand the enormity and importance of our mission, along with the satisfaction it gives us,” says Ginosar, who plans to develop new horizons in obtaining strategic resources and new contacts throughout Israel and the rest of the world. Dr. Maurit Beeri, Alyn director- general, is certain that her cooperation with Ginosar, coupled with the support of board members, will lead Alyn forward and enable it to enhance its position as a leader in the field of pediatric rehabilitation.
