Grapevine December 3, 2023: In the frame

The most comprehensive photographic coverage of the return of any of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 was by Joseph Avi Yair Engel, known as Jucha. He is the grandfather of Ofir Engel of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in Jerusalem, who was released from Gaza last Wednesday night, four days after celebrating his 18th birthday in captivity.

Engel Senior is an avid photographer with an amazing collection of historic photographs that he has taken. He served as an adviser to the late president Shimon Peres, whom he often photographed at intimate moments when photographers from the Israel Government Press Office were not around.

He also photographed all public events in which Peres participated. Today, Engel is a member of the Board of Directors of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. He is a walking memorial for his son Yair, a talented basketballer who died on December 4, 1996, in a diving accident while training during his army service. Engel seldom goes anywhere without his camera, and of course he took it with him while waiting to welcome his grandson, who is also a talented basketball player. On the kibbutz, all who had known Ofir since he was born waited excitedly for his arrival, especially the friends with whom he had grown up and gone to school.

Zaka volunteers show Charedi community's contribution

■ ALTHOUGH THE ultra-Orthodox communities are often criticized for not participating in mainstream volunteer activities, the ZAKA 360 search and rescue unit is key proof that such charges are unfounded. ZAKA 360 is made up of ultra-Orthodox men who search for body parts following a terror attack, traffic accident, or natural disaster so that the remains of the deceased can be as whole as possible for burial. This is of enormous comfort to families of the deceased. ZAKA 360 also searches for survivors in collapsed buildings including after earthquakes. What they do takes enormous dedication, courage, and emotional stamina. It is very important for unit members to get to the disaster sites as quickly as possible, and for that ZAKA 360 urgently needs to purchase four SUVs to get to difficult places that are not on the road, but in gullies or on hillsides.

Chief Rabbi David Lau has joined their appeal for financial help towards achieving this goal. Since the October 7 massacre, ZAKA 360 volunteers have been exposed to some of the most gruesome sights they have ever seen, but they keep going in the knowledge that they are doing holy work.

President Herzog's 100th birthday message to the late Kissinger

■ AMONG THE congratulatory messages that Henry Kissinger received when he celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year was one from President Isaac Herzog, who wrote, among other things: “Your relationship with my family is a special point of pride. Your friendship with my aunt and uncle, Suzy and Abba Eban, was one they cherished. I am deeply grateful that my father, Chaim Herzog, Israel’s sixth president, also had a warm rapport with you. I distinctly remember the dinner they hosted in your honor at the President’s Residence with your son David so many years ago.”

Herzog continued, in a less personal vein, writing: “The history of the Middle East and the State of Israel cannot be told without mentioning your name. We will always remember your heroic diplomacy and pioneering efforts to achieve history-altering agreements with Egypt and Syria….”

Kissinger replied, “I was deeply touched by your message on my 100th birthday as it was read by our friend Jacob Rothschild to the long hall of guests at his home in Buckinghamshire, who absorbed every word.”

“Israel has played an enormous role in my personal and professional life,” he wrote, adding, in conclusion, “To celebrate Israel’s 75th anniversary alongside my 100th is a particular gift.”

 Indeed, Herzog met on Thursday morning with one of Kissinger’s successors, current US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who, like Kissinger, is Jewish with a family history linked to the Holocaust. Like Kissinger, Blinken is also pioneering major changes in the Middle East. He and Herzog updated each other on the most recent developments.

Taking care of evacuees' homes

■ SOME OF the most amazing initiatives have been dreamed up since October 7. Yael Lavi, conscious of the fact that many evacuees left their homes in a hurry and didn’t clear the table, empty the refrigerator, or make the beds, decided to do something to ensure that when they eventually return, it will be to a spic-and-span house or apartment. Aware that returning home after many weeks – possibly months – away will be a traumatic experience, Lavi organized a group of volunteer cleaners, ensuring in advance that they would not poke into drawers and closets but simply clean all surface areas and get rid of spoiled food.

In places where there had been electricity failures, all the food in the refrigerator had to be thrown out, and in some cases, the refrigerators would need to be repaired or replaced. Lavi is hoping that people who have a spare refrigerator will donate it and that those who were planning to replace a refrigerator in good working order with a new one will donate the old one. Not everyone whose refrigerator is no longer in working condition can afford to buy a new one, Lavi told Keren Neubach of Reshet Bet.

Former restaurateur turns his attention to spiritual nourishment

■ IN TIMES of acute trouble, even the most irreligious of people turn to prayer and begin using expressions such as “God willing.” When it comes to actually praying, many non-believers, lacking religious education, don’t know what to say or which special blessings to recite. Former restaurateur Marcel Hess, who is involved in several goodwill endeavors, decided that it was time to feed the soul and produced a booklet of prayers and blessings to give to soldiers. The small, slim, soft-cover volume has been published in 5,000 copies to fit into the pocket of each soldier’s uniform, close to his heart. Called Ki L’Olam Hasdo (For His kindness is Everlasting), the booklet contains prayers for soldiers of the IDF, prayers for the hostages and other prisoners, prayers for the sick, prayers for a woman giving birth and after giving birth, prayers for seafarers, and excerpts from the Psalms. Hess has personally delivered copies to army bases and hospitals where wounded soldiers are being treated. He is also preparing to distribute copies to United Hatzalah volunteers, whom he regards as civilian heroes for going into danger zones to save lives.

Reaction from soldiers has been positive in the realization that people of all stripes care about them. Some soldiers whose wives are in advanced stages of pregnancy have told Hess that they cannot be physically present for the birth but will definitely use the booklet when they know that the baby is on the way or has arrived.

Originally from Switzerland, Hess is a master chef, who has twice been to Gaza and helped out with food preparations for the soldiers.

Herzog: we are still like a rock

■ IN HIS many meetings with dignitaries and solidarity delegations, President Isaac Herzog often mentions that on October 6, one day before the Hamas slaughter, he attended the final 50th anniversary event commemorating the Yom Kippur War. Grandfathers and great-grandfathers had stood there like rocks with their descendants, he said, and then the following day, Hamas carried out its vicious murders. “But we are still like a rock,” he insists.

Before-and-after photos by the President's Residence

■ FOR SEVERAL months, the billboards lining the fence of the President’s Residence featured huge, blown-up photographs of Israel Independence Day ceremonies hosted by Herzog’s predecessors in office. These photos have now been replaced by before-and-after images of the famed Be’eri art gallery, which was destroyed by Hamas. Over the next three years, the gallery will be constructed with the help of a 7 million Euro gift from Germany. Patrons of the new Be’eri Gallery are German President Frank Walter Steinmeier, who announced the gift during his visit to Israel last week, and Herzog. Meanwhile, the gallery is operating rent-free out of Romano House in Tel Aviv, where it will continue to display the works of leading Israeli artists.

Peace concert in the Old City

■ AUSTRIAN CELLIST Eriich Oskar Hetter, together with Israeli percussionist Chen Zimbalista, will give a peace concert at 5 p.m. this evening, Sunday, December 3, at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City. Admission is free of charge.

Tel Aviv conference on the 'boiling' Middle East

■ INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN Portuguese-Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman, who has remarkable connections throughout the world, will be the guest speaker at a meeting of the Commercial and Industrial Club on Friday morning, December 15, at the Tel Aviv Hilton. His topic is: “The Middle East is boiling – Where do we turn?”

A multilingual journalist who works for print and electronic media outlets, Cymerman reports in Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, English, and French. He is also an expert on economics and serves as president of the Israel-Gulf States Chamber of Commerce.

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