OUT OF Zion shall go forth the law – but that is not all that is emanating from Zion. Jerusalem's celebrity chef Assaf Granit will be cooking breakfast in Herzliya this Friday at a special event hosted by the importers of Infiniti luxury cars. Aside from the treat to the palate, the event will include a discussion on the connection between cars and cuisine led by Dror Globerman, founder and editor-in-chief of NEXTER, a leading tech media website that is part of MAKO (Israel). ■ ASHDOD MAYOR Dr. Yehiel Lasri and the Ambassadors' Club of Israel cordially invite the public to the opening ceremony of the Ashdod Folk and Flavor Festival on Wednesday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. This annual event is a feast for the eyes and the taste buds with both kosher and non-kosher offerings. The festival is on September 13 and 14. The event is held in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry at the Nahal Lachish Park, Ashdod. In addition to culinary offerings from many countries, there will be a central stage with ethnic music, song and dance; a photography exhibition and a book launch for Ashdod City of Flowers. ■ HE WHO saves a single life is as one who saves a whole world, according to Talmudic teaching. But too often what happens in that world is ignored or forgotten, so that when that person eventually dies, little or nothing remains of his or her legacy. Even people with the most humdrum lives have done or experienced something worth recording, especially those who are Holocaust survivors, or those who fought in Israel's wars or for that matter the wars of any other country. There are many other experiences worth recording for posterity and one person taking up the challenge of doing this is retired educator Hannah Minns, 77, of Yokneam. She wanted to do something worthwhile when she no longer held a permanent job, so she looked around at the local Gold Age Club – supported by Mifal Hapayis, the national lottery – and decided that everyone there had a story to tell. She recruited some of her friends to help with the interviews and a lot of lonely people who frequented the club were only too pleased to have someone listen to them. Some of the stories are riveting and they have resulted in the publication of 120 books, giving the subjects of these books a renewed sense of self-worth. One of the more recent stories is about Avraham Weinreich, who saw his grandfather murdered by the Nazis before his eyes. The 11-year-old Avraham joined the partisans. His father was also killed in the war, and the boy, filled with vengeance, killed Nazis and set explosives in trains. When he came to Israel after the war and was sent to a kibbutz, no one was interested in hearing about what he had endured, so he locked his thoughts in the back of his mind, never dreaming that he would finally have an opportunity to tell someone in the twilight of his days. ■ BANK HAPOALIM is once again giving back to the public by way of a Not-for-Profit Fair to be held on Friday September 15 and Saturday night September 16 at the Bank Hapoalim headquarters at 63 Yehuda Halevi Street in Tel Aviv. Many of the gift items on sale have been made by people with disabilities, so in purchasing any of these items, buyers will not only be contributing to various organizations and institutions that provide services for the disabled, but also demonstrating their appreciation for what the disabled can produce, and will thus help to boost their self-esteem. Organizations that will benefit from the fair include Alyn; Beit Noam; Keilim Shluvim; Shikum Aher; Beit Hagalgalim; Akim; Aleh; Latzet mi Hakufsa; Kfar Idud; Enosh; Beit Izzy Shapiro; Alut; Nitzan; Machon Summit; Yatzir Kapayim; Variety Israel; Liliot; Kochav Hatzafon; Elmaz; Yedidei Hamiftanim; Aliplat; Hahayot shel Dudu and Café Tov. It would not be at all surprising if all of the above received checks from Bank Hapoalim regardless of the amounts raised through sales.
Cars line a Jerusalem street(photo credit: HABATLAN PR)