For many years now, one of the most visible of the veterans of the Red Army has been Mikhail Kano, 98, who, unlike his fellow veterans, has retained the physique of his youth and attends all state events and Russian Embassy events to which he is invited, wearing his army uniform, with the jacket weighed down by medals and ribbons.
During the Second World War, Kano was a mortar man; he rose in the ranks to battalion commander. Seriously wounded in April 1943, he was given staff duty in his battalion following his discharge from the hospital, but soon returned to combat, fighting in Belarus, Poland, and later in Germany. He continued to serve after the war, retiring with the rank of colonel in 1975.
He has been living in Israel since 1998, and has been extremely active in the Red Army Veterans Association. A grandson who served in the Golani Brigade was also wounded.
Kano recently moved into a newly established retirement home in Tel Aviv, run by the Jewish Agency, where most of the residents are former citizens of the Soviet Union or the Commonwealth of Independent States, and where Russian is naturally the dominant language.
■ ISRAEL’S MOST famous spy, Eli Cohen, and the current intelligence minister have the same name. Though one was actively engaged in collecting intelligence for Israel, and paid with his life for doing so, the other is more theoretically involved in the collection and analyzing of intelligence material.
The minister and Nadia Cohen, the wife of the famed spy, will discuss the Mossad mission of the late Eli Cohen at the Social Space in Kikar Atarim in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday, May 18, which coincides with the 56th anniversary of his public execution in Damascus.
The Cohen family has long sought to have his remains returned to Israel for proper Jewish burial, and even though the Russians have tried to help in this regard, efforts to date have been futile.
The event, hosted by the Tel Aviv International Salon, will be in English. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Reservations must be made in advance at https://EliCohenSalon.eventbrite.com
■ A MINIATURE replica of the Torah scroll that survived Bergen-Belsen and which Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, took with him on his ill-fated journey to outer space will be dedicated on Friday, May 14, at 10 a.m., at the Ramon School in Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut. The scroll, in memory of Ilan Ramon and his spiritual legacy, will be completed at the school prior to the dedication, after which there will be a procession to the synagogue.
The original miniature Torah scroll was lost in space when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in February 2003 as it was reentering earth.
That it survived Bergen-Belsen was a symbol of the survival of the Jewish people and the Jewish spirit against all odds. It had been smuggled into the camp by Rabbi Simon Dasberg of Amsterdam, who in March 1944 used it to perform a secret bar mitzvah ceremony on condition that the story be told by the boy who became a man in Bergen-Belsen.
That boy, Yoachim Yosef, miraculously survived, and carried with him the miniature scroll when he came to Israel after the war.
In the course of time, Yosef became a world-renowned scientist, whom Ramon visited in his apartment in Tel Aviv.
On one such occasion, Ramon noticed a small wooden box on a shelf and asked if it was special. Yosef told him the story of his bar mitzvah and of the rabbi who had given him the scroll on condition that he tell the story.
Ramon, whose mother and grandmother survived Auschwitz, was immediately entranced, and decided that the scroll should be among the Jewish symbols that he would take into space.
Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, it was decided to carry on Ramon’s spiritual legacy by writing another miniature Torah scroll, selling the letters to Jews around the world for $18 per letter. Eighteen in Jewish tradition is the gematria for life, so the sum was appropriate, in addition to which this is the 18th anniversary year of Ramon’s death.
Among the participants at the dedication ceremony will be Neil Rubinstein, formerly of Africa, who is the director of the Ilan Ramon Global Torah Scroll Project, Ran Livne, the director of the Ilan Ramon Foundation, members of the Ramon, Dasberg and Yosef families, plus various municipal and religious dignitaries.
The Torah scroll will be available to all bar mitzvah boys from anywhere in the world who celebrate their bar mitzvahs in Jerusalem.
■ AFTER HOSTING a Thai cooking demonstration on behalf of the International Women’s Club charitable projects, from which proceeds went to Say No2Violence, Thailand’s Ambassador Pannabha Chandraramya decided that if the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the best way to the hearts of Israelis was to keep opening her residence for Thai cooking classes – but to make sure that all the ingredients were kosher so that all participants could not only make Thai delicacies at home, but could also taste the Thai cuisine they prepared at the residence.
Last week the ambassador joined forces with the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel (ACI), with proceeds going to Gedolim BeMadim (Special in Uniform), which is not an exact translation, but is the expression used because all the soldiers in this particular unit of the Israel Defense Forces are special needs young men and women with mental or physical disabilities – and sometimes both. But they desperately wanted to be counted among those who are contributing to the nation’s future. Even though they are exempt, they insist on serving, and are accepted as volunteers. Although the IDF was initially reluctant, it has learned that these young people are the most hardworking and dedicated of soldiers, proud to be in uniform, proud to be accepted in a mainstream army. Not only that but most have been compensated for the disabilities with which they live by the gift of special skills and talents, which have eluded many regular soldiers. In other words, there’s a place for almost everyone in the IDF.
Diplomats and businesspeople – some together with their spouses – happily followed the instructions of the ambassador’s chef, and were glad to simultaneously support a venture that offers young people with special needs the opportunity to prove what they can do and be accorded the respect, dignity and appreciation that they don’t always receive in civilian life.
On hand to receive a check from the proceeds of the morning from ACI president Yitzhak Eldan and Chandraramya was Maj. (res.) Tiran Attia, the head of the external relations branch of Gedolim BeMadim. Also on hand was Sawalee Eldar, who imports authentic Thai food products to Israel.
■ ALTHOUGH IT is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot, not everyone does, and people who check into a hotel for the holiday, only to discover too late that the festive meal is based on meat and not on dairy foods, are really upset about missing out on the cheesecake.
That’s unlikely to happen to guests at the Dan Tel Aviv Hotel, where a sneak preview of part of the menu indicates that lovers of dairy foods will not be disappointed. Aside from that, Dan chefs have developed expertise in making soy-based egg cream and corn flour-based desserts that look and taste just like the most popular dairy delights.
Because Shavuot is so special, hotel management has brought in a Michelin-recognized chef, Gal Ben Moshe, to work with the hotel’s executive chef, Oved Alfia, in preparing the Shavuot menu. The additional treat on May 17 will be a chef’s talk in which food and beverage connoisseur David Kichka will interview Ben Moshe.
■ THERE WILL be a lot more visitors to the Histadrut Garden in Tel Aviv, following the inauguration of a special bench with an elderly woman and an elderly man sitting at each end. They’re not in-the-flesh people, but statues of Golda Meir and David Ben-Gurion, with enough space between them to enable at least one person to sit comfortably. The site will definitely become a major selfie attraction.
Attending the inaugural ceremony were Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, Histadrut labor federation chairman Arnon Bar-David, and Na’amat chairwoman Hagit Pe’er.
One of Pe’er’s predecessors in office, Tamar Eshel, will celebrate her 101st birthday in July. Eshel is a niece of Avraham Feinberg, who was one of the founders of the Nili spy network which helped the British to defeat the Ottoman Empire. Eshel has served as a diplomat, a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council and a member of Knesset.
■ LAST WEEK, while Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli was engaged in discussion with prime ministerial aspirant Naftali Bennett, her significant other, Lior Schleien, who lives in the same building as Michaeli, tweeted: “At this moment in the apartment below mine, the chairman of a party with six mandates is explaining to the chairwoman of a party with seven mandates why he should be the prime minister, and she should be the minister for agriculture. I am already missing the steps dancer who used to live in the apartment above mine. He annoyed me less.”
Bennett was left with six mandates when a member of his party abandoned him. Reports on progress for the formation of a government indicate that disputes over senior portfolios may prove to be the spanner in the works.
■ AT THE time of writing, Herzog was not listed among the candidates to succeed Reuven Rivlin as Israel’s 11th president. If, as anticipated, he will throw his hat into the ring in the coming days, his current role could be considered as a practice run for the presidency.
As Jewish Agency chairman, he has been meeting in person or online with Jewish communities around the world, with individual Jewish leaders, with ordinary people contemplating aliyah, with educators and with philanthropists. On the home front, he participates in various state ceremonies, is involved with numerous projects, welcomes new immigrants to Israel, is a frequent guest at diplomatic events, and much more. It is almost as if he has been prepared or preparing during most of his life for the presidential role.
Each of the individuals who have already announced their candidature has special qualities that make him or her worthy, but if, as anticipated, Herzog will join the list, he is arguably the person who has done the best internship.
As a boy, he was a student at a Jewish day school in New York during the period in which his father served as Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations. Professionally, like his father, he is a qualified lawyer. He has served as a cabinet secretary, legislator, government minister, chairman of the Labor Party and opposition leader in the Knesset. He has been a spokesman for Israel in different parts of the world, and can deliver a fluent, off-the-cuff speech on many subjects.
He has an impressive pedigree on both sides of his family. His father, after a distinguished military and diplomatic career, was Israel’s sixth president. His paternal grandfather was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel. His paternal grandmother was the founder of World Emunah and extremely active in the Jerusalem hospital that now bears her name. His mother was the founder of the Council for a Beautiful Israel and the initiator of the Bible Quiz that is traditionally held on Independence Day. One of his mother’s sisters was the longtime president of the Israel Cancer Association, and the husband of that sister was Abba Eban, who raised the Israeli flag at the United Nations and who served both as ambassador to the US and permanent representative to the UN. In addition to his public roles, Herzog has also written a few books.
Yet for all that, there are no guarantees. The president is elected by members of Knesset in a secret ballot. The current Knesset has barely convened, and although the declared candidates – Shimon Shetreet, Michael Bar Zohar, Yehudah Glick and Yosef Abramowitz – have met with many legislators and have received the required endorsements, they are relatively unknown to many of the newer MKs, whereas the chairman of the Jewish Agency is frequently in the news.
With the notable exceptions of Chaim Weizmann and Ephraim Katzir, all previous presidents of Israel came to the role after long political and other public service careers. Shimon Peres was the only president who had also served as prime minister. Up till now, a political background has been important, regardless of the status of nonpolitical contenders, such as retired Supreme Court judge Dalia Dorner and Nobel Prize laureate Dan Shechtman, whose prestige in their respective fields did not serve them well in the presidential race.
Meanwhile, Rivlin on Tuesday opened the President’s Residence to children and adults from the south of the country, particularly the area around Gaza, for the duration of the period during which missile attacks continue. Tours of the presidential compound are conducted daily, but in view of the emergency situation, the number of tours will be increased in order to accommodate the anticipated influx from the south, and with the aim of relieving the tensions and anxieties experienced by people from those areas.
■ REMARKABLY SPRY for a nonagenarian, journalist, author, essayist and poet Dvora Waysman who recently turned 90, celebrated her career by hosting a dinner party for some 20 relatives and friends who represented human milestones in her existence. Every person present, she said, had brought joy to her at some stage in her life.
Despite other commitments, Prof. Jonathan Halevy, the president of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and his wife, Adina, specially came to the Denya Café in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul to wish Waysman well. Among the various positions that Waysman held over the years was a 14-year stint as press officer of the medical center, during the 31-year period in which Halevy was director of the famed hospital.
Aside from her family, there was a preponderance of representatives from The Jerusalem Post, to which Waysman has contributed articles over the years, including two that were published last Friday. In response to a long poem about herself and the people who have given her joy, Waysman received enthusiastic applause, but even more so later in the evening when she joined two of her 18 grandchildren, David and Amichai Lavi, in singing some golden oldies. David Lavi is a well-known professional singer and songwriter, and his brother Amichai is a keyboard instrumentalist. Their gift to their grandmother, whom both obviously adore, was a medley of her favorite songs of yesteryear, beginning with “New York, New York,” which David quipped was in celebration of Jerusalem Day, and ending with another Frank Sinatra favorite, “My Way.” Along the line, he also sang something in memory of his late grandfather Harry (Zvi) Waysman – “Bluebird of Happiness,” of which he has a recording of his grandparents singing the song together in his car.
Waysman said that while she may not be wealthy in the material sense, she is the richest woman in the world surrounded by her loving family. Always ready to crack a joke, she referred to the latest edition of The Jerusalem Report, a sister publication of the Post, in which she is not the writer but the subject of a cover story. “It’s not Playboy,” she sighed, to peals of laughter from the guests.
Though laden with many gifts to take home, Waysman also had gifts for her guests – three of her books, including In A Good Pasture and Searching for Sarah, which were each published by Mazo Publishers.
■ OVER THE past 27 years the 40-member Ramatayim Men’s Choir, founded in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood by Richard Shavei Zion, has given close to 300 performances all over Israel, with a broad range of music, including cantorial, hassidic, jazz and Broadway.
When it first started there were four men who liked to sing together and were gradually joined by others who also wanted to be part of this happy singsong.
For the past decade, the choir has been the staple of the Malki Foundation’s annual Rainbow of Music concerts performed together with guest artists, with proceeds earmarked for life-changing programs for children with special needs.
But time waits for no man, and the choir is about to disband and go into retirement. Its final gala on behalf of the Malki Foundation will be on Wednesday, June 23, at the Jerusalem Theater, where it will share the stage with Simon Cohen, Yitzhak Meir, Avremi Roth, Colin Schachat and Tzvi Weiss, with whom it has performed many times in the past.
The choir’s many fans are hopeful that retirement is only a temporary decision and that choir members will miss each other’s company so much that they will come out of retirement because they will see no alternative. Meanwhile, the Malki Foundation is planning to give them a big send-off.
■ FOR SEVERAL years now, Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum has been the venue for Yakir Yerushalayim ceremonies in which senior citizens who have contributed in different way to the development of the city have been honored.
This year, due to the massive renovation project being undertaken at the museum, the venue moved to a large outdoor section of the Israel Museum, where Galab Abu Nagmah, the mukhtar of Abu Tor, was recognized for bringing Jewish and Arab residents together in a spirit of friendship and harmony in a mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood.
The space in which the ceremony was held was far in excess of that in the Tower of David, but access and exit for many elderly people, relying on walkers and canes, was very difficult, and in some cases even painful. Inside the Israel Museum itself, there are buggies that transport visitors who have difficulty walking. Why could they not have been used for most of the long walk to which so many senior citizens were subjected?
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