Grapevine, February 9, 2024: A presidential bible

Argentina's President is gifted Koren Torah

■ Knowing that Javier Milei, the recently elected president of Argentina, is a student of Torah, who studies with Rabbi Axel Wahnish, whom he has designated as Argentina’s next ambassador to Israel, President Isaac Herzog prepared a gift for Milei that he knew he would appreciate. When Milei came to the President’s Residence this week, Herzog gave him a bilingual edition of the Koren Torah.

A.V.N.R. sells President Hotel in Jerusalem

■ After dealing for some three years with Nachum Rosenberger, one of the owners of the A.V.N.R. company which purchased the derelict President Hotel in Jerusalem from Africa Israel, residents of the Talbiyeh neighborhood who objected to Rosenberger’s plans for the property and surrounding apartment buildings, may find themselves with a tougher road to hoe.

According to a report in Globes, A.V.N.R. sold the hotel for an extremely handsome profit in order to focus on the development of its midtown property investments. The new owners of the President Hotel are the Hadas Capital and Magshimim Group. While Rosenberger was patient and even generous, repairing part of the building to provide temporary premises for various social welfare organizations, and attending meetings to listen to the views and complaints of residents in the area, Hadas Capital which was founded in 2010 by Hillel Zuravin and Asher Sebbag, and is the Israel branch of the American VIG Corporation, may not be as benign.

Although it will take time for the new owners to consolidate their plans and get approval for all the necessary permits, it is unknown at this stage whether they will permit the social activism in the building to continue until all the arrangements are settled. During the many years in which the building was owned by Africa Israel, then headed by Lev Leviev, there were ongoing disputes between him and the Jerusalem Municipality.

Leviev wanted to tear the building down and build luxury residential complexes on the site, and the municipality wanted him to build a new hotel. After much wrangling over the years a compromise was reached whereby a residential complex and a hotel would be built. But the plan was never implemented. What will happen now, and for how long, is anyone’s guess.

Netanyahu visits United Hatzalah headquarters

■ Despite a very tight and tough schedule, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made time this week to visit the United Hatzalah national headquarters in Jerusalem. Accompanied by his wife Sara, after being welcomed by Eli Beer, founder and president of United Hatzalah, together with the organization’s senior management and volunteers, the prime minister was briefed on the organization’s mission and activities by UH’s CEO Eli Pollak. He highlighted the dedication of the organization’s 7,000 volunteers, who come from all walks of Israeli society and from all over Israel and are always willing to drop their daily obligations to save lives.

Pollak made particular mention of how UH volunteers had risked their own lives on October 7 to save the lives of others. October 7 was a milestone for UH, said Pollak, proving its ability to respond to national crises in real time.

Since the onset of the war, said Pollak, UH volunteers had treated more than 4,000 people, including civilians and security forces, who were wounded or suffering emotional shock. More than 1,000 injured individuals were transported to hospitals by the organization’s ambulances and helicopters during the Hamas attack on October 7, and the days that followed.

Dashboard cameras in UH ambulances had captured difficult scenes on October 7 and the footage was presented to the prime minister and his wife.

The Netanyahus then toured the UH Dispatch Center which receives more than 2,000 nationwide calls daily, ensuring that calls for medical assistance are handled in real time.

The couple also received a comprehensive overview of the organization’s Psycho-trauma and Crisis Response Unit, which has been providing vital care to both EMTs and victims who were affected by the horrific sights they witnessed.

After the visit, the prime minister said, “My wife and I have come to be here with Eli Beer and the thousands of United Hatzalah volunteers: Jews and Arabs, around 700 Muslim Arabs and others, who have volunteered to help and to save lives, together with secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews, 50% are ultra-Orthodox, people who are deployed throughout the country and give of themselves. They saved many lives on October 7, under fire, and occasionally were fired upon, and treated themselves even as they saved lives – and they are doing this constantly. I think that you deserve to be recognized for saving lives. You have saved many people and you are doing amazing work. Well done.”

Einat Sarouf will play Yarkoni in a new musical

■ More than 40 years after she received an invitation from legendary singer Yaffa Yarkoni to appear with her on stage, thereby sparking her career, popular community singer Einat Sarouf will be playing Yarkoni in a new musical based on Yarkoni’s life, that will premiere at Habimah on February 22.

Sarouf, Galit Giat, and Gila Almagor will play Yarkoni at different stages of her life. The iconic singer who died at the end of 2011, a week after her 86th birthday, was famous for singing to army troops both in peacetime and during wars, and went straight out onto the battlefield as did another iconic singer Shoshana Damari, who was known as the Queen of Hebrew Song, and who died at age 82 on February 14, 2006. Both singers made successful careers for themselves abroad as well as in Israel, and each was an Israel Prize laureate. The new musical Believe Me the Day Will Come, is named after one of the songs that Yarkoni sang to soldiers in wartime. Some of her other songs which became part of the soundtrack of the nation, will be featured in the production which was scripted by Guy Meroz and directed by Eldad Groisman.

Unless he’s busy with political affairs, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid will in all probability be in the first night audience. Lapid who is a personal friend and fan of Sarouf’s, before entering politics and assuming a statesmanlike demeanor, used to attend her night club performances and dance on the tables.

It’s doubtful that he would dance on the tables these days.

Yehoram Gaon always on the radio

■ If the popularity of a singer is judged by the number of times that he or she is heard on radio, veteran singer Yehoram Gaon, 84, could be regarded as the most popular singer in Israel. Not a day goes by without him being heard on radio at least once and often two or three times. It’s true that when wars are taking place, we hear more of the songs of yesteryear – a kind of nostalgic reminder of previous wars from which Israel emerged the victor, even after having been caught by surprise. Perhaps Gaon is being played so often these days, because he is regarded as a musical mascot.

Commemoration of the Six Day War 

■ On the subject of war, the outcome of the Six Day War paved the way for the reunification of Jerusalem. Some of the bloodiest fighting took place on Ammunition Hill, a former Jordanian stronghold that has since become an Israeli memorial heritage site and museum. The annual commemoration of the battle on Ammunition Hill where both sides showed exceptional bravery and suffered heavy losses, takes place on Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of the reunification of the capital of the Jewish people.

At this moment in time, it is doubtful that there will be a ceremony on the site this year, as according to Menachem Landau, the chairman of the Ammunition Hill executive board, the museum is in danger of closing. The reason is financial. The government has not transferred the NIS 50m. that it allocates to the museum annually for maintenance and salary costs. Unless there is a reprieve, the museum will close on March 1.

Jerusalem neighborhood cinema

■ As far as reprieves go, the veteran Jerusalem neighborhood cinema Smadar, which opened in 1935 in the capital’s German Colony, and which every few years is under threat of closure, has yet again received a last-minute reprieve thanks to the initiative of Roni Alon and Gilit Rubinstein. Collectively the two women have considerable experience in strategic planning, project leadership, and lobbying. They managed to assemble a neighborhood group to run the Smadar theater, received some financial aid from the Bracha Foundation and signed a deal with the Lev Cinema group.

Municipal elections

■ With municipal elections coming up at the end of the month, it seems as if Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion is going to serve a second term, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any new faces on the city council. It’s important to have native English speakers and native French speakers on the council to defend the interests of immigrants from English- and French-speaking countries and to explain various issues to them.

Although the energetic and influential deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is not standing for reelection, another active English speaker Rabbi Ian Pear is running on the ticket of another deputy mayor – Hagit Moshe. Pear will appear to answer questions at a virtual parlor meeting on Zoom on Wednesday, February 14 at 8 p.m. and deal with subjects such as the impact of war on the elections; why a rabbi is entering the dirty world of politics; what can be done to elevate Jerusalem from its position as one of the poorest cities in the country; how immigrants can have an impact in Israel; how to deal with the growing haredi influence in secular and national religious neighborhoods and schools; plus a variety of issues raised by people who join the zoom link. Those who want to join should contact Dorraine Gilbert Weiss at dorraineg@gmail.com.

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