Another new face at the President’s Residence
Among the new faces that will be frequently seen at the President’s Residence is that of 30-year career diplomat and former ambassador Zvi Aviner-Vapni, who is President Isaac Herzog’s senior adviser on foreign affairs. Aviner-Vapni has served in Europe, Asia and the US, and most recently was head of the North American Bureau of the Foreign Ministry. He has also been a senior director at the National Security Council, and in addition is a published author. He replaces Shuli Davidovich, who returns to the Foreign Ministry as head of the Bureau of World Jewish Affairs and World Religions. Herzog selected Aviner-Vapni on the recommendation of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Director-General Alon Ushpiz.
It will be interesting to see whether Herzog, who has strong ties with Ireland where his father was born and his grandfather served as Chief Rabbi, will receive an invitation to pay a state visit there.
Ireland is not particularly well-disposed toward Israel, but Herzog could possibly turn that around.
FORMER PRIME minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu is very fastidious about wearing a mask and washing his hands with hand sanitizer. He consistently talks about the importance of doing this in order to prevent another health crisis. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have much influence on his wife as far as masks are concerned. At the swearing-in ceremony for Herzog at the Knesset, everyone had a mask with the very conspicuous exception of Sara Netanyahu. Admittedly, some people had allowed their masks to slip, and some had pulled them below their chins – but nonetheless, they wore masks. Why was Sara Netanyahu conspicuous?
Simply because of her choice of attire. While nearly every other woman present wore muted colors, she chose a vivid green suit, which simply stood out in the crowd. It was then obvious why she had no mask.
PEOPLE WITH a common history, however brief, use it as a hook on which to share memories and bask in nostalgia, even when the people involved do not necessarily know each other. That’s what happened a few weeks ago, when former and present residents of Letchworth in England, which originally had a largely Orthodox Jewish community, got together on Zoom.
The event was organized by former Letchworth residents now living in Israel, and its success exceeded all expectations. Close to 100 people zoomed in on 60 computer screens, and their response was so positive that it was decided to write a book about the Letchworth Jewish congregations from the 1940s until the end of the 1960s, when most of the Jewish population had left for London, Israel or elsewhere.
Although illustrious in its time, the Jewish community of Letchworth had a short shelf life, mainly from 1930-1971.
Anyone with a Letchworth connection and a memory related to the history of the congregation – including family memories, anecdotes, and stories that may have passed from one generation to the next – is asked to make typed submissions of any length to carol.eini@gmail. com.
The only acceptable submissions will be those made by email.
Just to jog memories, even about non-Jewish aspects of Letchworth: George Orwell, who lived nearby, said the town attracted “every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, nature cure quack, pacifist and feminist in England”.
World renowned actor Sir Laurence Olivier lived there.
The world’s first traffic roundabout is there, and Canberra, the capital of Australia, was modeled on the town planning concepts that were pioneered in Letchworth.
From a Jewish perspective, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy lived there; and it was in Letchworth that Cambridge student Jonathan
Sacks decided to embark on the rabbinical career that led to him becoming chief rabbi of the UK.
Letchworth was also home to The Sassoon Library, believed to house the largest Judaica collection in the world.
The Letchworth book will be written by Yanky Fachler, the author of a dozen books on Jewish history, and the founder of the Jewish Historical Society of Ireland.
Very popular among Jewish expats of the UK, Fachler delivered 200 Zoom talks during the pandemic.
ISRAEL COOPERATES with many countries in joint projects and shared know-how. This is a form of diplomacy that wins friends for both countries in specific fields of interest and endeavor. An area that is being highlighted in recent months is how to cope with the post-coronavirus era, during which other viruses, though perhaps not as dangerous as COVID-19, pose major health problems.
Among the countries with which Israel cooperates in this area is Australia. Both countries have world-class healthcare systems, the future sustainability of which are national priorities for both countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges to the international medical community, not only in emergency management, but has also raised questions about long-term strategies related to a variety of health issues.
Leading Australian and Israeli health experts Prof. Paul Kelly, chief medical officer of the Australian Government Department of Health, and Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of Public Health Services at Israel’s Health Ministry, will participate in a webinar at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 12, Australian Eastern Standard Time, which will be 10 a.m. in Israel. To participate, contact events@aicc.org.au.
VOICES, THE Israel Group of Poets in English, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an event on Zoom on Sunday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. Israel time.
Registration for the event is with Voices president
Judy Koren at president@voicesisrael.
com.
In addition to a welcome from the president, the program will include a brief history of Voices Israel, tributes to the organization’s founders and readings of some of their early works; reminiscences of veteran members and readings from early published anthologies; and an open-mike featuring veteran and new generation poets.
GAMBLING IS a dangerous vice, yet it is often justified because proceeds are used to fund social welfare causes. Mifal Hapayis, the National Lottery, for instance, builds schools, sports arenas and cultural centers. Yet at the same time it encourages people to participate in its diverse games of chance. Many families in dire economic straits gamble on the lottery every week in the hope that their fortunes will improve – but they seldom do.
The Israel branch of Variety, which operates in different parts of the world to help children with disabilities and their families, organized a poker tournament in which the proceeds were used for this purpose. The event was held in conjunction with Trask Tel Aviv, where entry tickets for the right to start playing the game began at $2,000. This was the third time the poker tournament was held in Israel. It was organized by Andy Ram, Saar Ashraf and Michal Slonim, and was run by the Poker Academy. Among the players were Variety chairman Uri Slonim and his wife, Tammy; Variety president Udi Angel and his wife, Anat; Dov Kotler, the general manager of Bank Hapoalim; hotelier David Fattal; as well as several performing artists such as Guri Alfi, Giovanni Russo,Yossi Benayoun, Oshri Cohen and others who arrived after completing their gigs.
MINISTERS OF Tourism participate in a lot of ribbon-cutting events as new projects are inaugurated. Despite the paucity of overseas tourists, recently appointed Tourism Minister Yoel Razvazov has already experienced his first ribbon-cutting event at a tourist facility, at Ein Gev Resort Village by the shore of the Galilee. While hotels were closed because international travel was restricted in the effort to control the spread of the coronavirus, 59 family suites were constructed and are now ready for occupancy. In voicing his admiration for the initiative of Ein Gev’s management during a difficult period, Razvazov said he had just received a WhatsApp e message from his mother, reminding him that it had been a struggle for them to come to Israel 30 years earlier. Yet despite the difficulties of integrating into mainstream Israeli society, he managed to succeed in sports, and after that in local politics, then in the Netanya Municipal Council, and after that in the opposition in the Knesset. His current mission, he said, was to fight for a rebound in tourism in the present difficult times.
The ribbon-cutting event was also attended by Haim Statyahu, Ein Gev’s tourism director, and Idan Grinbaum, the head of the Jordan Valley Council.