Grapevine August 21, 2020: When Irish eyes were smiling

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN is seen greeting Heath Minister Yuli Edelstein. (photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN is seen greeting Heath Minister Yuli Edelstein.
(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
Borrowing from the title of one of the enduring songs of the Emerald Isle, retired dentist Philip Baigel, who is on a regular commute between London and Netanya, hosted a Zoom reunion of members of Irish Bnei Akiva. Irish eyes were definitely smiling, he said after the event.
In his youth, Baigel was district head of Dublin Bnei Akiva, and during 1981-82 was secretary of Bnei Akiva of the UK.
More than 70 people from around the world took part in an emotional trip down memory lane with Yitzchak and Linda Stern, who were the youth group’s emissaries from 1971 to 1978.
According to Baigel, the Sterns had a life-changing impact on the small Jewish community, and many people made aliyah as a direct result of their influence. This was best expressed by some of the participants themselves, who, one after the other, publicly thanked Yitzchak Stern for his positive input in their lives.
“I’ve been living in Israel for 40 years because of the wonderful injection of yahadut (Judaism) and tzionut (Zionism) that we received from Yitzchak over the years,” said Meir Smullen of Beit Shemesh.
“Tears would come to my eyes during Mifkad (assembly for inspection) when we sang ‘Hatikva.’ Our family made aliyah when I was 14 and I realize that it was all due to Yitzchak,” added Dena Woolfe of Haifa.
Yitzchak Stern, who is now 72 years old and lives in Safed, is a well-known and much-loved family doctor.
He maintains contact with many of the Irish Bnei Akiva expats, in Israel and abroad, and his former charges, whom he regards as “family,” still look to him for support as a role model and mentor.
“They were always there for me in Ireland, and always there for me in Israel and the US – I shall be ever grateful to you both” said Michelle Segal Shevach, who now lives in America.
“When I look at myself, and my children and grandchildren, I realize what an impact you had on all of us, in what you taught us and showed us,” declared Zenia Efrati of Ramat Gan.
Stern, at age 22, went to Dublin in 1971 to study medicine. It should have taken six years, but because of the Yom Kippur War, in which he served as a medic, he ended up being in Ireland for eight years.
This extended stay in Ireland was a real windfall for the small provincial Jewish community, as Stern proved to be an extraordinary educator who heralded a golden age for Irish Bnei Akiva.
Membership in the movement rapidly increased to about 130. Stern also started a small Bnei Akiva group in Belfast, which likewise has produced a steady stream of immigrants over the years.
He published considerable educational material which was used by Bnei Akiva worldwide and he organized innovative programs and events as were recalled by several of the Zoom participants.”I think his Anatomy of the Siddur (prayer book) was the first publication anywhere to explain in easy language for young kids the layout of the Siddur – well before the advent of Artscroll” commented David Urbach of Lawrence, New York.
“Bnei Akiva was our life, we couldn’t wait for Shabbat to come along, we were running down the road to get there in time” reminisced Ruth Woolfson of Ra’anana.
“I don’t know if they (the Sterns) realize, but they didn’t just have their own kids – they also had all of us, and all of our lives were impacted by their time in Ireland,”opined Philip Silverman of San Diego
The nostalgic virtual reunion with the sharing of common recollections, helped along with photos of summer camps, parades, inter-visits and general activities with people looking distinctly younger 50 years ago than those on screen, lasted for 75 minutes.
Stern admitted to being quite overwhelmed by all the praise which had been heaped on him plus the emotion of the whole event, the realization of the ripple effects of his time in Ireland. “It’s not just what I have given to you - it’s also what you’ve given to me,” he said, quoting his late mother who used to say – The most important ingredient of a cholent is the guests.”
Baigel paid credit to Philip Morrison for initially proposing the event, which had been extremely meaningful to all concerned.
■ FRIDAY IS the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Croatia, which were officially announced on August 21, 1997. This year, Croatia was among the first countries to welcome Israeli tourists following a relaxation of global restrictions on international travel. Scores of Israelis this week went through the new bureaucratic rules imposed at Ben-Gurion Airport before they were able to board a plane for the two-and-a half-hour flight.
Croatia has been known for centuries for the healing properties of its thermal springs, and people from all over the world flock to its numerous spa resorts for relief and even cures for a variety of ailments. These resorts, which also existed when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, increased in number after Croatia severed its ties with the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and became independent.
Although many Israelis vacationed in Croatia, not only because of its natural beauty, but also because of its thermal springs, there were many who vociferously objected to Israel entering into a diplomatic relationship with Croatia, which had been a puppet state during the Second World War, with a cruel fascist Ustaša movement that was affiliated with Nazi Germany. Of Croatia’s pre-war Jewish community of 37,000 souls, most were sent to Auschwitz, and only 7,000 survived the Holocaust. Even today, when Croatia functions as a democracy, there are attempts to rewrite history and whitewash the atrocities of the past, although they were acknowledged by former Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović during her working visit to Israel in 2015 when she participated in the ceremony in which Croatian Holocaust survivor and film producer Branko Lustig presented Yad Vashem with the Oscar he had received for his work as a producer on the motion picture Schindler’s List.
■ WHAT WOULD the Jewish people do without committees? In the old Yiddish speaking world, to have a benkel (a seat on a committee) was a status symbol, a sign of influence – however minimal. The world has changed but the committee complex has remained a permanent Jewish characteristic, except for the fact that the committee has been elevated in rank and is now called the cabinet. Just look at how many official and unofficial cabinets and committees there are in the government and the Knesset, let alone in the wider community. Now Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel has formed yet another cabinet, a cabinet of reconciliation with the aim of closing the rifts that are drawing the various sectors of Israeli society further and further apart from each other. The members of the cabinet range from ultra-Orthodox to ultra Left.
Unfortunately, there are no Arabs.
Symbolically, the reconciliation cabinet was inaugurated at the beginning of the Hebrew calendar month of Elul, which heralds a 40-day period of personal stock taking, penitential prayers, compassion, forgiveness and the renewing of broken friendships prior to the High Holy Days. Among the members of the reconciliation cabinet are Rabbi Benny Lau, former Supreme Court justice Elyakim Rubinstein, ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi Zahav, former MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, poet and Israel Prize laureate Erez Biton and historian and writer Fania Oz Salberger, along with several other well-known personalities.
■ AT A meeting on Wednesday with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, director-general of the ministry Prof. Hezi Levi and the coronavirus commissioner, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, President Reuven Rivlin voiced his appreciation for the valuable, dedicated life saving endeavors around-the-clock by doctors, nurses, medical staff, volunteers, rescue crews, Magen David Adom medics and all those working in hospitals and other medical services, such as laboratory workers and all those engaged in medical research. Their efforts are greatly appreciated by the nation, he said, and they should be thanked again and again.
During the meeting, Rivlin was briefed on the current situation in the fight against coronavirus and was updated on patient statistics.
Among the more recent recruits for the care of coronavirus patients is the Jerusalem-based Herzog Medical Center with a total capacity for 160 COVID-19 patients, whose wards are in a totally separate area. The hospital, under the direction of Dr. Yehezkiel Caine, has been visited by senior Health Ministry officials who have approved all its arrangements.
Rivlin on Thursday added a special prize for volunteerism during the coronavirus crisis to the annual list of awards for different categories of the President’s Prize for Volunteerism.
■ THE HEALTH Ministry’s policy regarding senior citizens may lead to an avalanche of litigation following the intention of the family of Holocaust survivor Aryeh Even, 88, who in March of this year, was the first resident of an assisted living facility to die of coronavirus. Even, who had been a resident of Nofim Tower in Jerusalem since 2014, was in good health and functioning independently, according to a report in Yediot Aharonot, until he twice came into contact with a social worker, who despite feeling unwell, continued to meet with Nofim Tower residents. Several days after these meetings, she was diagnosed as positive. Five days after residents of Nofim were forced into isolation and forbidden to leave their apartments, Even was taken to hospital by ambulance, but was not tested for the virus. Had he been, say members of his family, it might have been possible to save him. Instead, he died frightened, confused and alone The family is represented by lawyers David and Haya Mena, who intend to file suit against the Health Ministry and Nofim in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court. Several other residents and employees of Nofim were also infected with the virus, as were residents of other assisted living facilities elsewhere in the country. In isolating senior citizens from their families instead of finding a solution for them to see each other regularly, the Health Ministry created a widespread psychological problem. Some families accepted the situation in the realization that physical contact might be harmful to their loved ones, but others could not see the logic of not being able to meet them in a hall or a garden at a sufficiently safe distance to avoid infection. The frustrations of the families of those senior citizens who died from exposure to coronavirus, have been exacerbated by the recent report that the deaths of at least 53 residents of facilities for senior citizens had been overlooked in Health Ministry records of the death toll. The decision by Aryeh Even’s family to go to court could lead to at least
60 similar cases, which could prove to be financially most unhealthy for the Health Ministry and for retirement homes for senior citizens. There are, of course, retirement complexes in which there were no coronavirus cases, and several such facilities have mounted aggressive advertising campaigns to attract additional residents.
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