Doing good

Published: JANUARY 10, 2020 02:48

Rivlin was full of praise for the Yad Sarah organization, which he said touches almost every Israeli citizen in light of its 45th anniversary.

A 45th anniversary is not exactly a landmark anniversary. The round numbers on either side – a 40th or 50th anniversary have some kind of traditional significance – but 45, well it depends on the circumstances.

If you happen to be the military aide to the president of the state and your mother is a volunteer with what is arguably one of the most wide-ranging do-good networks in the country, 45 is no less important than 40 or 50.

Brig.-Gen. Alaa Abu-Rukun, the military aide to President Reuven Rivlin, is one of those people who always has a pleasant demeanor and a happy smile on his face. But that smile was broader than usual when his mother, Samira, who is one of several Druze volunteers with Yad Sarah, was among the volunteers who came on Sunday with Yad Sarah founder and former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski to the President’s Residence to celebrate the organization’s 45th anniversary. Also present were heads of Yad Sarah branches throughout the country and veteran employees of Yad Sarah.

Rivlin was full of praise for the organization, which he said touches almost every Israeli citizen.

Yad Sarah’s many volunteers reach out to anyone who needs Yad Sarah’s manifold services, and they do so every day of the year and every hour of the clock, said Rivlin. He doubted that there was a family in Israel that had not at some stage come across Yad Sarah and received help in dealing with physical limitations of various kinds. This includes people from all sectors of Israeli society, without prejudice and without distinction, but with a total dedication to professionalism and modesty, he stated.

Lupolianski said that Yad Sarah people from the overall mosaic of Israeli society had come to the President’s Residence to receive, through Rivlin, the appreciation of the nation in recognition of their day-to-day dedication to their volunteer work and the precious time they devote to it in helping people whom they don’t even know.

MANY PEOPLE like to draw parallels between the weekly Bible reading and current events. Writer and political activist Gol Kalev prefers to link the Bible reading with events in the life of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl, and on Sunday, January 12, at 6 p.m., he will discuss similarities between the struggles of Joseph, the interpreter of dreams who wanted to be reunited with his father and his brothers, and Herzl, who in an acutely antisemitic era dreamed of bringing his fellow Jews to the Promised Land. Kalev will discuss the struggles of the two men, born so many centuries apart, yet somehow linked in searching for their brethren. Strangers whom they met led them on transformative paths, and in so doing changed the course of Jewish history.

The address is the events lobby of the Seidoff Building, 153 Jaffa Road, near the light rail Mahaneh Yehuda stop. The affair will be accompanied by wine and Bamba. Entry is free of charge, but space is limited, and anyone wishing to attend must register with parashaandherzl@gmail.com.

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ACCORDING TO Jerusalem Foundation president Shai Doron, one of the last projects in which the Jerusalem Foundation was involved in 2019 was the inauguration of the Jerusalem Community Mobile Innovation Lab – JLM Makers on Wheels, which is a collaborative enterprise with the Machshava Tova association, which works to reduce social gaps and makes technology available to all.

JLM Makers on Wheels operates in several Jerusalem neighborhoods, including east Jerusalem, and literally drives innovation through each neighborhood. This equalizing venture will enable children and teens to experiment with 3D printers, laser cutting robotics and advanced computers, all made possible by Della Worms, a longtime supporter of Jerusalem cultural, educational and horticultural projects together with her late husband, Fred Worms, in whose memory she donated this particular project.

CARING FOR the welfare of others is taught in some schools, with children at elementary school age becoming involved in charitable enterprises on behalf of the less fortunate. Where this occurs, the youngsters go on to continued participation in various social welfare activities.

This week the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra of the Jerusalem Music Center dedicated a concert at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv to Save a Child’s Heart, which works out of the Wolfson Medical center in Holon and is an Israel-based international nonprofit organization that helps children from all parts of the world, including countries that not only have no diplomatic relations with Israel but are even anti-Israel, to overcome heart defects.

The program also provides training for doctors and nurses from developing countries. To date, Save a Child’s Heart has been responsible for saving the lives of more than 5,000 children from 62 countries.