Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under a lot of criticism on many issues and from many directions this past year.
But one area in which he always gets it right is with Chabad, due to his great admiration for the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Shneerson whom he met on different occasions, and whose words influenced him greatly.
Their first meeting was forty years ago on Simchat Torah, 1984. During their conversation, the Rebbe told him: “You are going to the UN, an assembly hall that has falsehood and utter darkness. Remember that in a hall of perfect darkness, totally dark, if you light one small candle, it’s light will be seen from afar. Your mission is to light a candle for truth and the Jewish people...”
Netanyahu took the message to heart. In September 2009, on the day after the UN General Assembly had been addressed by hate-spewing Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi, and something in a similar vein but slightly less hysterically, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu spoke from the same podium. At that time he chose to focus on Auschwitz rather than Iran, and he surprised the full house by holding up the original construction plan for the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
The approved plan had been signed by Hitler’s deputy Heinrich Himmler. In one of the finest speeches that he had ever given, Netanyahu asked whether the death camp was a lie. The question was in response to the spate of Holocaust denial that the Iranian president had delivered from the same podium the previous day. Netanyahu praised those who had refused to come and hear such lies and those who walked out in protest when the lies were uttered.
Then, turning to those who gave the Holocaust denier a hearing, Netanyahu declared: “I say on behalf of my people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency? A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies that the murder of six million Jews took place, and who pledges to wipe out the Jewish state? What a disgrace, what a mockery of the charter of the United Nations.”
The speech received a standing ovation and headlines in the major American media.
Immediately after the speech when crowded by reporters who cover the UN, Netanyahu repeated what the Rebbe had told him.
At a subsequent meeting with the Rebbe only a few years later, he told the Rebbe that a lot had changed in the interim, to which the Rebbe responded: “One thing that has not changed is that the moshiach [messiah] has not come.”
Last week, on the 30th anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing, Netanyahu told a large delegation of Chabad emissaries from Israel and abroad who came to his office: “Don’t bend. Don’t cower, don’t surrender – not to antisemitic lies, not to fear, not to intimidation. You are our ambassadors in the spirit of the Rebbe.”
Netanyahu reviewed the present security situation and also shared reminiscences of his meetings with the Rebbe.
Elem works wonders for those in need
■ IT IS not uncommon for executive members of a social welfare organization or a business enterprise to distance themselves once they are no longer in office. Not so with Nava Barak, who after 28 years as president of Elem, the organization that seeks and saves at-risk youth, stepped down on April 1st. Last Sunday, she was an almost magnetic presence at the annual Elem fundraiser at the Smolarsz Auditorium on the Tel Aviv University campus.
Aside from her ongoing interest and loyalty, she was there because she was being honored with a life achievement award for all the work she has done and the projects she initiated over the years, and because Elem is this year celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Elem supporters contributed something in the range of NIS1.5 million.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by actor Lee Byrne and singer Hanan Ben Ari.
In addition to its regular projects, Elem employees and volunteers took on additional activities from the second day of the war, and continue to do so, with the main goal being to provide proper care for youth in trauma, especially those who are homeless. Since then, Elem teams have constantly been in evacuation centers, schools, online and in the streets.
In addition to being used for Elem’s regular activities, proceeds from the evening will also be distributed among the families of Lior Haddad Attias, Sigal Levy, and the late Yonatan Richter – Elem volunteers who were murdered at the Nova party while volunteering in Elem’s “Good People” project.
Among those attending were Elem Chairman Shai Piron, Elem CEO Tali Erez, youths evacuated from Kiryat Shmona, and long-time Elem supporters, including businesswomen and philanthropist Yodi Recanati, Harel Givon, the CEO of Amdocs Israel, Moshik Theumim from advertising group Gitam, Shira Ruderman, CEO of the Ruderman Family Foundation, Shlomo Meir, CEO For the Movement Devices Group, attorney Zvika Agmon, Nadav Grinshpon, owner of Credito and former vice-chairman of Africa Israel, businessman David Forer and his wife who are owners of Neopharm, and Gad and Talia Zaevi, businessman and member of the Elem board of directors.
“This evening is a wake-up call, an evening of hope but also great concern for the future of the youth who will build this country,” said Piron.
“Since October 8, Elem, in cooperation with the Welfare Ministry, has stood by the youth. They are the ones who need us now, they are the ones who will build and rebuild the country from the big hole it is in today. The youth in the South and the North need urgent help, which will prevent them from descending into the abyss. The situation of all the youth in Israel also suffered a severe blow. This evening is dedicated to all those engaged in the holy work, those who fight for our youth, because in their hands our future is entrusted.”
War can't stop Israel's future engineers
■ IN A year in which the studies of so many university and college students have been disrupted, the Afeka College of Engineering produced its largest ever graduating class. More than 700 engineering students were awarded B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in engineering and computer science, This milestone was achieved despite the fact that more than 40% of Afeka’s students were immediately called to military service, including some who were on the cusp of completing their degree.
These young engineers, who in all likelihood will be among the minds behind the next game-changing Israeli defense innovations such as the Iron Dome, managed to persevere and to graduate on time. They did so at a time when most needed by Israel’s hi-tech industry.
“I look at you and see the future – the future of the hi-tech industry, the future of the Israeli economy, the future of society, the future of the country,” president of Afeka College Prof. Ami Moyal, told them during the impressive graduation ceremony. “For us, you represent a significant part of the ‘victory picture’ for this country. I am filled with pride for each and every one of you.”
In response to this profound impact that war had on its students, Afeka developed a comprehensive support package to address their diverse needs. With the academic year beginning two and a half months late, Afeka began teaching all courses through its synchronous hybrid model. This innovative approach allows students who are able to attend in-person classes, while those who cannot be physically present can participate remotely.
The support package also provides additional course sections and summer courses so that students don’t fall behind their classmates, academic counseling and tutoring, financial aid, and mental health services. The college’s approach keeps every one of its students on a path toward filling a vital role in Israel’s engineering industry and contributing to the Jewish state’s crucial hi-tech sector.
To secure the resources that will enable the college to maintain this comprehensive student support package, Afeka recently launched its AsOne fund-raising campaign, with NIS15 million as its initial goal. The college has committed NIS 5 million from internal resources to the student support initiative, and is now seeking external donations to fund various initiatives under the AsOne campaign.
Krav Maga makes its way to California
■ OY VEY. In the country which East European Jews once regarded as ‘di goldene medina’, where they transitioned from paupers to philanthropists, they now have to enroll in self-defense classes. Krav Maga, which is the Hebrew for Contact Combat, has been taught in New York for several years, and is now moving across the continent, where it is being taught by martial arts experts who are all veterans of the Israel Defense Forces.
On July 22, classes for both men and women will begin at the Nessah Culture and Education Center in Beverly Hills California under the direction of Jennifer Siilverstein, who is a leading female Krav Maga expert.
WIZO is 104 years young
■ CONTRARY TO the belief that a woman must never tell her age, WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, proudly proclaims that it is celebrating its 104th anniversary. Though conceived in London, with Vera Weizmann, the wife of Israel’s first president Chaim Weizmann among its founders, it is headquartered in Tel Aviv with branches throughout Israel and in many countries abroad.
In honor of its triple digit birthday, WIZO held a modest, toned-down celebration at its headquarters in Tel Aviv. The event was attended by World WIZO President Anat Vidor, World WIZO Chairperson Anita Friedman, WIZO CEO Mira Mines, WIZO Israel chairperson Ora Korazin, WIZO Honorary Presidents Helena Glaser, Tova Ben Dov and Esther Mor, as well as volunteers and employees from WIZO’s programs around the country.
The event, held at the organization’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, recognized the dedicated efforts of many women, who were called by name and presented with awards WIZO, works to promote gender equality and strengthen social resilience in Israel. Since its founding WIZO has continuously been initiating significant social initiatives to meet the constantly changing needs of a young developing country, including services for women, youth, toddlers, immigrants and underprivileged populations.
WIZO is highly active in the United Nations, leading dialogues, advocating for women’s rights, and putting pro-Israel mattes on the agenda. In 1959, WIZO was recognized by the UN as an NGO and became the first Zionist organization to receive consultative status in ECOSOC, the UN Economic and Social Council, which includes the Human Rights Council and the Commission on the Status of Women. WIZO also has representation in UNICEF, the UN International Emergency Fund for Children.
WIZO has approximately 250,000 members across 37 federations worldwide.
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