CHABADNIKS PLACE great store on the importance of the scrolls inside mezuzot and tefillin (phylacteries) being free of flaws. There are documented cases of tragedies in families being averted following an inspection of mezuzot and tefillin. Sometimes it is too late, and only after someone dies from an inexplicable cause, is it discovered that there was a flaw in a mezuzah scroll. Inspection of scrolls gains added importance in the Hebrew calendar month of Elul, which precedes the month of Tishrei in which there are more Jewish holy days than in any other month of the year, including the most important – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In Jerusalem, Chabad Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg, the director of Chabad of Rehavia, is conducting a mezuzah and tefillin inspection on Sunday, August 23, and will have replacements for sale, if necessary. According to Goldberg, having kosher mezuzot and putting on tefillin daily is the best way to protect Israel and Jews worldwide. People who do not live in Jerusalem or anywhere close to Chabad of Rehavia in the capital should contact their nearest Chabad center or synagogue if they want to check their mezuzot or tefillin. Some people may scoff at the idea, but it’s always wiser to be safe than to be sorry.
■ AT THE end of last month, on July 31 to be exact, the Berlin family of Jerusalem marked a very special milestone. It was the 80th birthday of the family matriarch Roz Berlin who worked for many years in the overseas students’ program of the Hebrew University. Roz was born in New York in 1941, and on the last day of high school, married her sweetheart, Moshe, better known as Moe Berlin. The young couple moved to Brookline, MA, where they were part of the Young Israel community. But they always had a yearning to live in Israel, and in 1971, they realized that dream. In 1972, Moe was appointed Israel Director of Yad Hanadiv (the Rothschild Foundation), a position that he held till 2002.
Roz and Moe raised five children, all of who served in the Israel Defense Forces, and three of the boys fought in the First Lebanon War. Moe who was a passionate and articulate orator, who cared greatly about the many causes supported by Yad Hanadiv, died two and a half years ago. The Berlin family had lived for many years in the German Colony, but a few years ago Roz moved to Katamon to be closer to Matan, where she is a regular student; and to Ramban synagogue where she attends services.
Roz has not allowed advancing age to stop her from working out, which she does four times a week, believing that keeping the body active is no less important than keeping the mind active. With 28 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, and more on the way, Roz – when not studying or working out – is forever busy buying gifts, and every week haunts the Ramle Market seeking bargains that will please members of her family. Military service is an important priority in the Berlin family. Just as three of Roz’s sons served in the first Lebanon War, several of her grandchildren have served in elite combat units. In drinking Lechaim to Roz’s continued good health on her milestone birthday, her family chose the most appropriate place to do so – the Gush Etzion Winery.
■ EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN of the Jerusalem Foundation and former long-time director of the Israel Museum James Snyder, returns to New York this week after almost a month in Jerusalem where he has been meeting some of the 45 grantees of the Foundation’s Innovation Fund which was launched last year. The grants, though modest, and ranging from $10,000 to $50,0000 are instrumental in preserving and promoting Jerusalem’s creative vitality. Snyder saw evidence of this not only in secular Jewish groups and institutions but also in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab communities. In its initial stage, the fund awarded grants totaling $1.25 million. The allocations have increased this year, with grants already to the value of $1.5m. Most of the money comes from second-generation American Jewish philanthropists, whose giving is based purely on cultural and community considerations and has nothing to do with political leanings.
Snyder was particularly enthusiastic about Jerusalem organizations such as New Spirit, Muslala, which have outdoor social and cultural activities and attract cross-cultural audiences of secular and religious Jews as well as Arabs in large numbers. Also in the category of cross-cultural activities is Mekudeshet which brings Jews and Palestinians together through “Jerusalem in the Cloud,” a series of digital art installations by local artists which can be seen both on-site and virtually and are free of cultural or community borders.
Snyder was sorry that he will not be in Israel for the opening of Seeing the Invisible, an international exhibition initiated by the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens and the Outset Fund for Contemporary Art that will be launched on Sukkot. Cocurated by Hadas Maor and Tal Michael Herring, the exhibition features the works of 13 leading international artists and will be seen simultaneously in 12 botanical gardens around the world. Visitors wandering through the different gardens will be able to download an app free of charge and view the exhibition in augmented reality. Long before its opening, the exhibition has excited international attention. “There’s even been an article about it in The New York Times which is not always well disposed towards Israel,” said Snyder.
He was also greatly impressed by a project of the Beit Hanina community council, which trains Arab women in business practices and helps them to improve their Hebrew so that they can contribute not only to their families but also to the local and national economies. He was equally impressed by a group of haredi women artists.
Other things that caught his interest were the new, enlarged building of the Charles Smith High School for the Arts behind the Inbal Hotel and a new Arab High School for the Arts.
One of the key aims of the Innovation Fund is to provide a platform for future leaders of Jerusalem. In this context, Snyder is particularly keen on the Hand in Hand bilingual school in which Arab and Jewish students study together in Arabic and Hebrew from kindergarten through high school, and along the way learn to appreciate and respect each other’s cultures.
Snyder also waxed enthusiastically about restaurateur Nir Levy who, though still in his early thirties, owns the Smadar Italian restaurant in the capital’s German Colony, the Talbiye Restaurant just outside the Jerusalem Theatre, the new French Patisserie inside the theater building, and a series of restaurants in the capital’s Derech Aza (Gaza Street), where many university students live and are patrons at his various eateries. Snyder is full of praise for Levy’s business acumen, but more than that for Levy’s willingness to give back to the community, by mentoring some of the cultural organizations that have bars or cafés, advising them on how they should be run in order to retain their viability.
When Snyder took up his present position, the idea was that he would come to Israel on average every six weeks, and stay for a week. The coronavirus disrupted this plan, so now he comes less frequently, but stays for longer periods. He was hoping to be back in October with a group of donors so that they could meet with some of the grantees whom they are helping, but with the latest developments related to the pandemic, he doubts whether this will be possible.
■ SENIOR REPRESENTATIVES of foreign governments, always have several meetings when they visit Israel, but it is doubtful that any of them have had as intensive a visit as Bahrain Undersecretary for Political Affairs Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who inter alia has met with President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz Head of the IDF Strategic Planning and Cooperation Directorate Maj.-Gen. Tal Kelman, head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Dore Gold, head of the Institute for National Security Studies Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, President of IDC Herzliya Prof. Uriel Reichman, head of IDC’s Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy Amb. Ron Prossor and Chairman of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation Chemi Peres.
This was not Al Khalifa’s first visit to Israel. He was previously in the country in December 2020 when he accompanied Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani on the first-ever Gulf Air flight to Israel. Al Khalifa and his hosts spoke of cooperation in all the places he visited, and in some signed MoUs for cooperation. At the Peres Center, Al Khalifa was presented with a copy of the book written by the late president Shimon Peres shortly before his death – No Room for Small Dreams.
In his conversation with Peres Center Director-General Efrat Duvdevani, Al Khalifa said:
“We have been building this peace for 11 months and this is only the beginning. We have much in common and there is plenty of potential for further close cooperation. Shimon Peres did a lot for the State of Israel and for the furthering of peace, which is why the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation is an integral part of the strategy for peace between Bahrain and Israel.”
In his conversation with Trajtenberg Al Khalifa said: “Peace, stability, and prosperity can only be achieved through regional and international cooperation. Bahrain and Israel face common challenges, and it is now time to work together to bring hope to our peoples.”
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