Though unlikely to be performed in Israel, Motti Lerner’s play about the Eichmann trial will be performed this week, in the genre of an opera, at the National Theater of Bucharest, on January 31, and again on February 25.
Eichmann deported hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, so it is fitting that an operatic play about his trial should be performed in the week of the 80th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation.
Tova Ben-Nun Cherbis, the president and founder of the Magna Cum Laude-Reut Foundation, is the initiator and sponsor of the performances in Bucharest, with the intention of attempting to penetrate Eichmann’s mind to learn what prompted him to commit genocide against the Jewish people. After all, if one wants to fight antisemitism, it is important to probe what makes antisemites tick, especially now with the worldwide escalation of antisemitism.
Lerner, like many others, has asked himself over the years how anything so monstrous and lacking in morality as the Holocaust could have happened and begun in a country that valued culture and produced great writers, composers, and musicians.
He quotes Hannah Arendt, who wrote of so-called normal people who became caught up in the ever spinning web of evil and kept terrorism and racism running no less than maniacal tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin.
■ IN ISRAEL where Holocaust remembrance events are being conducted throughout the week, the Romanian Cultural Institute, in conjunction with the Association of Romanians in Israel, will host an event in Hebrew and English to mark the English-language publication of Dr. Arthur Kessler’s book about the Holocaust in Romania.
Kessler, a highly qualified physician, was imprisoned in September 1941 and deported to Vapniarka concentration camp in Transnistria, where, as a prisoner, he was in charge of a 30-member medical department.
In 1943, Kessler and other prisoners were transferred to the ghetto in Olgopol, from which he escaped a year later and returned to Bucharest. It was there that he was reunited with his wife, Chaia, and their infant daughter, Vera.
The family arrived in Tel Aviv in 1944, and Kessler found employment at the Zamenhof clinic, where he continued to treat former prisoners of Vapniarka who had also reached the Holy Land.
The event, which includes the opening of an exhibition of the Holocaust in Romania, will be held at the Romanian Cultural Institute, 8 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, on Thursday, January 30, at 5 p.m. with the participation of Romanian Ambassador Radu Ioanid, Micha Harish, the chairman of the Association of Romanians in Israel, and members of the Kessler family.
Ioanid is an expert on Holocaust history in general, and Romanian Holocaust history in particular. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Ioanid spent 20 years as the director of the Archival Programs Division at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. He has also written extensively on the Holocaust.
Last Sunday, on the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, there was a gala concert titled “Hidden Treasures” at the Jerusalem Theatre, in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute, with conductor Ionut Pascu conducting the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra accompanying a trio of Romanian singers.
■ THE FRIENDS of Zion Museum (FOZ), which does a lot to improve the quality of life for Holocaust survivors, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day hosted an evening of testimony and a panel discussion in which remembrance and combating the current global wave of antisemitism were woven together.
What was perhaps unique in this case was that all the speeches were in English, whereas the vast majority of the audience consisted of Russian Holocaust survivors and veterans of the Red Army, whose command of English was negligible. Thanks to technology, they were able to follow the proceedings via simultaneous translation receivers which they plugged into their ears.
Other members of the audience included ambassadors and diplomats of lower rank, plus a delegation from India, which was under the auspices of Sharaka, an organization with an Arabic name that means partnership. Sharaka is dedicated to bringing the story of the Holocaust to Arab and Asian communities which have little or no knowledge about it.
The moderator of the event was former diplomat and MK Ruth Wasserman Lande, who surprised everyone when she translated the passionate protest by a Russian-speaking member of the audience who opposed comparing the massacre of October 7 with the Holocaust. In her opening remarks, Wasserman Lande said that antisemitism has become normalized and almost trendy.
FOZ CEO Daniel Voiczek spoke of what FOZ does for Holocaust survivors, and showed a brief video by way of illustration. The video also had bar mitzvah scenes because FOZ, although a Christian institution, arranges bar mitvahs for elderly survivors who missed out as children.
Dan Feferman, the executive director of Sharaka, made the point that people in his organization do not define themselves as victims, but try to implant the message that evil thrives and triumphs when people do nothing.
Rena Quint, who among English-speakers is arguably Israel’s best-known Holocaust survivor and is invited to speak to audiences large and small several times in any given week, started volunteering at Yad Vashem in 1989. It was through Yad Vashem that the Polish-born Quint returned to Poland for the first time. She had been reluctant, but her husband had suggested that it would be a means of closure.
While still living in America, Quint came to Israel in 1981 to attend a conference of Holocaust survivors. Participants had placed notes on screens with their names and those of their families as well as their places of origin. Some discovered long-lost relatives and friends, while others, like Quint, found no one who knew her or her parents.
On that first trip back to Poland, she learned a lot about her background, and more things have come to light over the years. Her mother and two brothers were murdered in Treblinka. Her father met his death elsewhere. At the age of six, Quint went to America with a woman whose daughter had died. Quint was given the daughter’s documents and traveled under the daughter’s name and date of birth. Altogether, with change of circumstances, Quint has had six names.
The woman who took her to America died soon after arrival, and Quint was adopted by a childless couple who were very good to her and treated her as if she were their biological child.
Quint eventually had four children of her own, who gave her 22 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren. When she heard the figures, Wasserman Lande gasped in astonishment. Quint did not tell her that there are at least three more great-grandchildren on the way.
■ YAD VASHEM is this year’s recipient of the Jan Karski Eagle Award, which Karski established shortly before his death in 2000. The award is in recognition of Yad Vashem’s mission to preserve Holocaust memory.
Karski, a resistance fighter who had been a courier for the Polish government in exile, and who had smuggled himself into the Warsaw Ghetto to see exactly what was happening to the Jews, subsequently briefed leaders of Western nations with the aim of stopping the Nazi atrocities. He later immigrated to America.
In 1982, Yad Vashem designated Karski as a Righteous Among the Nations. He also received honorary Israeli citizenship.
Among the Israelis who personally knew Karski is Laurence Weinbaum, the director-general of the Israel branch of the World Jewish Congress and of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations. Weinbaum is a graduate of the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he was an assistant to Karski.
Karski’s real name was Jan Romuald Kozielewski, but he chose to live his life with his nom de guerre as a resistance fighter.
■ FUTURE HISTORIANS looking back at the current period, will describe it as an era of rebellion and humiliation in which the perpetrators were seldom penalized.
It has been previously asked in this column how someone who is in contempt of court can remain as justice minister. Yariv Levin has not only ignored court orders but has denigrated the judges who sit on the Supreme Court and repeatedly humiliated Supreme Court President Isaac Amit during the long period in which he served as acting president. Even after Amit’s election this week, Levin, in a move reminiscent of Donald Trump four years ago, refused to recognize the result of the vote and said that he would not work with Amit. Why is a man such as Levin permitted to remain in government?
He is entitled to disagree with the system, but not to disagree with the result of the vote. To change the system would be to politicize the Supreme Court.
Under the present system, judges know each other’s age, and all know who will be next in line to serve as president. To change the system would be akin to holding primaries, with judges competing against each other instead of working toward reducing the backlog of cases. It would also create resentment and animosity among a group of people who remain united even when there are differences among them. That unity would crumble if they have to compete against each other. Competition is supposed to bring out the best in people, but it often brings out the worst.
Australia Day
■ JANUARY 26, which fell on Sunday of this week, was Australia Day, which marked the anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove and the raising of the Union Jack in 1788. Unlike American and many European, Asian and Latin American ambassadors, Australian ambassadors do not host Australia Day receptions unless the visit of the governor-general, the prime minister or the foreign minister happens to coincide with Australia Day.
But Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel regards Australia, where she spent six years, as her second home. Together with the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce, she decided to celebrate Australia Day at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, and the guest of honor was Australian Ambassador Dr. Ralph King, along with scores of Australians living in Israel and some Australian tourists who came to Israel as volunteers for various causes.
Also present were Benny Weizman, project manager at the IACC, Moriah Ben David, the Israel director of the Zionist Federation of Australia, and Yael Ravia Zadok, deputy director-general and head of the Economics Division at the Foreign Ministry, along with other Foreign Ministry personnel.
All the speakers related to the return of the hostages and expressed the hope that all the hostages would soon be back in Israel. They also spoke of common values and of the importance of Australia as a free, welcoming, multicultural, democratic, and freedom-loving society.
Haskel spoke of her time there and how much she loved the country and the people. She also mentioned the long, shared history of the two countries, adding that Australia was “the foundation of the modern State of Israel.” She explained that without the defeat of the Ottoman forces by the Australian forces more than 100 years ago, there might not be a State of Israel. Thirty years later, Australia played a pivotal role at the United Nations vote on the partition of Palestine. During her six years in the southern continent, prior to taking up her political career, Haskel traveled all over and has only good memories, except for the weather. In summer the heat is worse than anything experienced in Israel, and in winter the floods are everywhere.
“Australia is in my heart,” she said, but admitted that she is deeply concerned about the 75% rise in antisemitism. “Australia must address these antisemitic events immediately,” she insisted, emphasizing that “antisemitism is the antithesis of Australian values.”
She also commended the Israel Chamber of Commerce and Australia’s commercial attaché for doing excellent work.
Haskel concluded by saying that it was important to her personally that so many people had accepted her invitation to join in celebrating what she considers to be “an important historic relationship.”
King noted that Australia is still a young country which has achieved remarkable success. It is a vibrant country “but still a work in progress,” he said.
Referencing Australia’s support of, and long-term friendship with, Israel, King said that Australia is interested in Israel being a flourishing country and in increasing cooperation, which would reflect the strength of both.
Weizman, who was born in Israel, but who went to Australia as a child and grew up there, recalled how different everything had been to him. He went from a small country to one that was so big and so different. He had been a boy in shorts and sandals, and on arrival at Mount Scopus Jewish Day School, he had to wear a uniform that included a blazer and tie. He had found it all overwhelming, but eventually adapted, and he liked the Australian attitude of giving things a fair go.
“Australia is a success story,” he said, crediting its intake of so many immigrants from so many different countries, who have contributed to its multiculturalism and who have made extraordinary contributions to its development in many spheres.
Weizman is happy that Australian business delegations are again returning to Israel, albeit not yet at a double-digit pace.
Now back in the land of his birth, Weizman is an Israeli with an Australian accent.
“Australians have found a home in Israel” said Moriah Ben David. Referring to the Jewish community’s contribution to Australia, Ben David underscored that for generations Jewish Australians have played a role in shaping Australia’s destiny. Nonetheless, current antisemitism in Australia cannot be ignored, she said. “Rising antisemitism has tested us. Together, we have to build a better future.”
Ravia Zadok stated that she would like to see the building of bridges between the two nations and peoples.” We need to keep going,” she insisted.
■ AMONG THE guests were Paul Hakim, who is co-founder and CEO of the Israel Life Saving Federation, and also a karate champion and instructor; attorney Lisa Segelov, who is also on the board of the ILSF; Arnold Roth, co-founder of the Malki Foundation; venture capitalist Moshe Shopoff, who had just returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos; and the effervescent Rachael Risby Raz, who until recently was the international relations manager at the Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem.
Risby Raz has left the zoo “to join the circus,” as she said in her own words of her return to the world of politics, from which she came – this time, Zionist politics, taking up the position as the new COO of the Kol Israel (General Zionists) Party in the World Zionist Congress.
She has had a varied and interesting career. She was an adviser to Ehud Olmert during his term as prime minister. Before that she was the coordinator, international relations, and social media manager of the Menachem Begin Foundation, and before that a content team member of the Israel Presidential Conference.
In taking up her new role, Risby Raz joins longtime friends Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, who is the secretary-general (and the first female to hold this position), and David Yaari, vice chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, who serves as chairman of the party. The trio came on aliyah some 20 years ago from Melbourne, Gibraltar, and New York.
■ NO ONE knows the power of prayer, but to gain a little more influence where it counts, when praying for the safe return of all the hostages, President Isaac Herzog, after praying last week at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, this week prayed at the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in New York.
Herzog was in the Big Apple to deliver the keynote International Holocaust Remembrance Day address at the United Nations and to attend the inauguration of the Altneu Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, which is run by Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt.
■ HIS TITLE is director-general of the Hadassah Medical Organization, but first and foremost Prof. Yoram Weiss is a physician specializing in emergency medicine and anesthesiology.
His expertise recently helped to save a life. Weiss was on an El Al flight to Miami, where he hoped to raise funds for Hadassah. Other passengers and flight attendants noticed that one of the passengers had suffered some kind of disturbance and was visibly ill. Weiss approached the sick passenger and immediately began emergency treatment. Recognizing that the passenger had suffered a heart attack, Weiss attached an oxygen tank to the passenger and gave him appropriate medication. He also ordered an emergency landing in Athens, so that the passenger could be hospitalized and placed under observation.
There was no doubt that Weiss had saved the passenger’s life, and Weiss was applauded by fellow passengers, who were relieved that a doctor had been on board.
Following the emergency landing in Athens, where the ill passenger was off-loaded to a waiting ambulance, the plane continued on its flight to Miami.
“I did what any physician would do under such circumstances,” said Weiss. “A doctor is a doctor all the time, both inside and outside the hospital. We are lifesavers by natural instinct – even between heaven and earth.”
■ THE THOUSANDS of photographs that have filled the pages of newspapers and magazines since October 7, 2023, have also been committed to books and exhibitions. Yet in the midst of all this, a group of top-notch photojournalists took time out to voluntarily photograph a haven of peace, security, serenity, and tranquility, open 24/7 to people with physical and mental disabilities.
Collectively, the photographers in the project, which was coordinated by Eli Mandelbaum, were happy to come to Shalva, which is the Hebrew word for tranquility, which is what it exudes in the work it does, and which affects not only those who directly benefit from it but also their parents and siblings. The tensions which the photographers experienced in their regular assignments melted away at Shalva.
This was more or less expressed by Marc Israel Sellem, the chief photographer of The Jerusalem Post, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues at the opening of a photography exhibition, “Shalva Through the Lens of War,” at the Jerusalem Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which, in addition to the exhibition, created a colorful, mouthwatering buffet for guests to enjoy.
Sellem said that it has been not just an honor but a privilege to photograph at Shalva. What really moved him, he said, was that in the midst of a war, everyone at Shalva was smiling.
The other photographers, most of whom were present, included: Lior Mizrahi,Yossi Zeliger, Oren Ben Hakoon, Batsheva Hadida, Amit Shabi, Yaniv Nadav, Miki Spitzer, Meir Elipur, and Yoav Dudkevitch.
The Waldorf, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary year of operations in Jerusalem, was looking for something meaningful to include in its series of events. So when Kalman Samuels, Shalva’s president and co-founder with his wife, Malki, called Avner On, the general manager of the Waldorf, to ask if the exhibition could be held there, he received an instant affirmative reply.
The Waldorf has cooperated with Shalva in other projects, said On, implying that it would continue to do so indefinitely. When he saw the photographs, he continued, he could not stop thinking about what goes through children’s minds in a time of war, but he was happy knowing that they were in good hands at Shalva.
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