Grapevine June 23, 2024: A matter of perspective

Split residency

PEOPLE WHO spend six months in Israel and six months in their home countries may initially do so in the hope of getting the best of both worlds. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

Zack Saltzman spends six months at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, and six months in Israel.

With rampant antisemitism and anti-Israelism in the US, it’s certainly not the best place for Jews. On a different scale in Israel, political and religious battlegrounds in which unity and love for one another are figments of the imagination, Israel is likewise not the best place for Jews. Still, there are people who remain loyal to both.

Just before leaving Florida for Israel, Saltzman sent this email last week:

“Leaving America now for our 6-month stay in Israel and the feelings of loss and despair will not improve in reading of our brave soldiers who fall in battle. One has to put in perspective 75 years of life for the State of Israel and the thousands who have given their lives so we, 50% of the world Jewish population can live in our homeland.

“The faces and stories of the fallen make us realize how important their lives were and how we have benefited from their sacrifices. It is true that all these IDF soldiers over the 75 years are the necessary gift that we lose in order to have a safer country. Praising them, helping them, their widows, their children is the smallest token of gratitude that we as citizens of Israel can show.

“We hope and pray that all world Jewry will appreciate their sacrifices and join together to make their memories a blessing for the future of Am Yisrael.”

Sometimes, when you’re too close to something, you don’t really see it for what is. Saltzman and others like him can see more clearly from a distance.

Remembering

BEST KNOWN for his illuminated Passover Haggadah, Polish-born Jewish artist Arthur Szyk was born 130 years ago this month, in Lodz. The anniversary of his birth is being celebrated in several countries in addition to Poland, Israel, and the United States, where he died in 1951.

In Israel, his birth is being commemorated by the Polish Institute in Tel Aviv in cooperation with the Interdisciplinary Center for Polish Studies in Haifa, and the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library at the University of Haifa with an exhibition under the title Arthur Szyk Man of Dialogue.

The exhibition will open at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, June 24, in the University of Haifa’s Nazaria Library.

The exhibition was curated by Dr. Joanna Podolska, the director of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Lodz.

Marek Edelman, a cardiologist who was also a Polish-Jewish political and social activist, was the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. He died in October 2009 at the age of 90. What he and Szyk had in common was a love for Poland, despite the antisemitism, and strong belief in the power of dialogue.

In addition to Podolska, the event will be attended by Irvin Ungar, chairman of the Arthur Szyk Association, and considered to be one of the foremost experts of Szyk’s art. The exhibition will be on view till August 15.

Szyk reached America in 1940 and quickly became the country’s leading anti-Nazi cartoonist.

Much as America provided him with safety, security, and recognition, his heart yearned for Poland.

Among the remarks attributed to him are:

“I am a Jew and Poland is my homeland. I cannot separate one from the other in my heart.”

Kafka-esque

ANOTHER FAMOUS Jew who is being commemorated at this time is noted Czech writer Franz Kafka, who died 100 years ago this month. To honor his memory, the Czech Embassy is holding a Kafka Day on June 27 at 5 p.m. The event includes an exhibition of paintings by Lela Migirov under the title Fragments of Kafka’s World, and a lecture by Raquel Orensztajn under the title of “Written Kisses,” which tells the story of Milena Jesenska, who received Kafka’s magnificent love letters.

Christians for Israel

THERE ARE many Christians of all denominations who are lovers and supporters of Israel, though some might find fault with Israel’s policies.

Among the more vocal and active Christians on Israel’s behalf are the Evangelicals who proudly refer to themselves as Christian Zionists. Some of them, in fact, are more Zionist than a lot of Jews who call themselves Zionists.

One such person is Bishop Robert Stearns of New York-headquartered Eagles’ Wings Ministries, who came to Israel on a solidarity mission with some 30-plus young pastors from the US and UK.

Among the places they visited was the Friends of Zion Heritage Center and Museum where Stearns was awarded The Jerusalem Prize by FOZ founder Mike Evans and FOZ CEO Daniel Voiczek. Stearns chose to dedicate it to the memory of Arnon Zmora, an officer of the elite Yamam counter-terrorist unit who was severely wounded in a hostage rescue operation and who succumbed to his injuries.

Stearns teaches Christians the importance of the Jewish roots of their faith, the necessity of combating antisemitism, and the profound need for Christians to stand with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, said Voiczek.

Stearns said he dreamed of the day when there would be thousands upon thousands of Christian leaders worldwide who would form a functional wall of support and strength to the Jewish people, saying, “We will not be silent!” They would also say, as did Ruth to Naomi: “Where you go we will go, where you lodge we will lodge. Your people will be our people. Your God will be our God.”

Saving our soldiers

BIKUROFE OPENED its new Kiryat Ono headquarters in the presence of Kiryat Ono Mayor Michal Rosenshein, Lt.-Col. Dr Yaniv Elzam, head of the IDF medical service branch, company CEO Ranit Rand Soroka, administrative and medical staff, and others.

Open 24/7, Bikrurofe provides emergency services, performs blood, urine, and cardiac tests as well as other medical services for soldiers and residents of the area. Conveniently located at 7 Duvdevan St., it is easily accessible from Petah Tikva, Givat Shmuel, Ganei Tikva, and the general environs.

Built at an investment of several million shekels, it will serve soldiers and all residents of the area.

Rosenshein was particularly pleased, noting that the provision of such a service immediately after Shavuot gave new meaning to the popular Israeli delaying expression of “after the holidays.”

Peace, Shalom

THE SHALOM Hartman Institute has announced the appointment of Tal Becker, a legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry and a veteran of peace negotiations, as vice president and senior faculty of the institute. Becker will play a critical role in all elements of the institute’s work, particularly in matters related to Zionism and Jewish peoplehood, as well as the moral and spiritual directions of Jewish life in Israel and around the world.