When President Isaac Herzog attended the funeral of Reuma Weizman on Thursday, it signified the closing of a circle.
Seventy five years earlier, his grandfather, the first chief rabbi of the State of Israel for whom he is named, performed the ceremony in which Reuma married Ezer Weizman, a distinguished pilot and the nephew of Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann.
Ezer Weizman later became Israel’s seventh president, which meant that Herzog would have attended Reuma’s funeral regardless of the Weizman connection to his grandfather. But there was another connection as well.
Weizman succeeded Herzog’s father as president, and when Chaim Herzog died, Weizman opened the President’s Residence to the Herzog family to receive the many people who came to offer their condolences after the funeral.
Though very active in various humanitarian causes before and after the establishment of the state, Reuma Weizman chose to remain in the background and to give the spotlight to her husband, her famous older sister Ruth Dayan, her celebrated niece – writer and politician Yael Dayan – and her nephew, actor and filmmaker Assi Dayan.
■ AFTER A very long wait, US Ambassador-designate Mike Huckabee will finally be able to present his credentials to Herzog on Monday of next week. At least three of his predecessors had solo ceremonies and did not present their letters of credence on the same day as ambassadors from other countries.
But Huckabee will be the last of six ambassadors presenting their letters on Monday.
The usual procedure is for ambassadors to present credentials in the chronological order in which they arrived in the country; Huckabee was the most recent of the new envoys. Each will have a private audience with the president but will have a joint reception afterwards.
Huckabee’s colleagues who will precede him are Jitender Pal Singh of India, Olivio A. Fermin of the Dominican Republic, Leslie Scanlon of Canada, Aileen S. Mendiola-Rau of the Philippines, and Manuel Cosme of Angola.
■ THROUGHOUT THIS week there will be numerous gatherings in private homes and public places in which Holocaust survivors or their children or grandchildren will be speaking about the most traumatic chapter in Jewish history – the Holocaust.
Another traumatic chapter
We are currently experiencing another traumatic chapter, which many have compared to the Holocaust. Indeed, it is as cruel and sadistic, but not as widespread and not as devastating in its impact, even though it has caused so much grief to hostages, victims, and their families.
The gathering known as Zikaron BaSalon (Memory in the Parlor) is a lesson in oral history in which the experiences of the individual have a more meaningful impact than those of the collective. This is also a feature of returned hostages from Gaza.
Holocaust survivors tell their stories all year round, but there is something more poignant in doing so during Holocaust Remembrance week.
Among the most favorite of Holocaust survivors in the English-speaking community is Jerusalemite Rena Quint, who speaks to visiting groups of tourists, university students, diplomats, journalists, Hadassah missions from the United States, Evangelicals, other Christian groups, and more.
Quint hosts many of her audiences in her home and often speaks at other people’s homes, in hotels, and at Yad Vashem. Now in her late eighties, Quint shows no signs of slowing down. It is extremely important to her to make as many people as possible aware of where antisemitism can lead.
Slogans such as “Never Again” or the expanded version “Never Again is Now” are not good enough, as was evidenced on October 7. There has to be a stronger message, and Quint is one of the people who delivers it.
Her diary is filled next week with Zikaron BaSalon appointments – sometimes as many as three in one day. Among the more effective ones is her meeting on Tuesday with foreign and local journalists who are members of the Jerusalem Press Club.
Some of them will undoubtedly report on what she says, meaning that her message will be carried much further afield. Over the years, Quint has been amazed at the ignorance of some of the people she has addressed.
They know little or nothing about the Holocaust, and very often, she is the first Holocaust survivor that they have ever met.
■ WITH REGARD to the Holocaust, Israel’s best-known Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff, who headed the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, has retired, and a farewell in his honor will be held this coming Thursday, April 24, at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.
After all, there are not that many living Nazis left to hunt. Following a career spanning four decades, Zuroff has a fund of stories about how he helped to bring Nazis to justice, and he will relate some of them at the Begin Center, where he will be interviewed by Paul Gross.
IT’S FAIRLY common for people who haven’t seen each other in a long time, to meet at weddings and funerals.
This was certainly the case last Wednesday when many friends, acquaintances, and admirers of internationally known cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen, who started his Israeli career at The Jerusalem Post, came from all over the country to the Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba to escort him on his final journey.
Kirschen died on Monday after a long illness. But he kept up with his creations almost to the last day. His wife, Sali Ariel, an artist who has exhibited widely, spoke of what it meant to be married to such a creative person and of how much she will miss his charismatic personality.
Jenny, one of Kirschen’s three daughters, speaking on behalf of herself and her sisters Rachel and Abigail, recalled what a joy it had been to have conversations with her father, whom she regarded as one of the most intelligent and interesting people she had ever met.
They also shared the same political beliefs, and when President Donald Trump won the US elections, they had both been thrilled.
Hirsh Goodman, the founder of The Jerusalem Report and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, who was one of Kirschen’s most long-standing and closest friends, spoke of how sad it was to lose such a vibrant personality who was able to capture so much in so few words in a small square box.
Goodman referred to Kirschen as “living history” and said that his mind was always working – even when he was hazy from medication. Goodman also paid tribute to Sali Ariel, saying that she has been through many tribulations in recent years.
Historian David Geffen reminded everyone that Kirschen had been a pioneer of entertainment software.
National Library spokesperson and former journalist Rachel Neiman described Kirschen as her friend and mentor. The two used to drink coffee on Fridays together with the late Robert Rosenberg, another former Jerusalem Post reporter, who transitioned to Haaretz.
Neiman recalled that their regular meeting spot had been Tel Aviv’s legendary Cafe Tamar, a hangout for visual and performing artists, writers, painters, and poets, plus Tel Aviv’s bohemian community.
Cafe Tamar closed 10 years ago after a 74-year run, and Kirschen and Neiman moved on to another venue. She had her last cup of coffee with him on the eve of Passover.
Uri Fink, a celebrated political cartoonist and writer, said that all of Kirschen’s cartoons were still relevant, regardless of when he had drawn them. “Nothing has changed. People still hate each other.”
The apartment that Kirschen shared with his wife is testimony to that. The walls are decorated with framed single cartoon squares, one of which, in particular, is absolutely relevant.
It shows a prancing male haredi (ultra-Orthodox) figure alongside a brief text that states: “They’re ready to fight the Israeli police, but not in Gaza.”
The final speaker was journalist David Bedein, who spoke of his 55-year friendship with Kirschen and of Kirschen’s self-imposed mission to fight antisemitism.
The Pardes Haim cemetery is a model of respect for the deceased and for those who visit graves there. All the pathways are paved; all the tombstones are clean and obviously well cared for; there is space between the tombstones so that people can walk comfortably; and a temporary tombstone, as distinct from a marker, is placed on the grave at funerals until family members of the deceased put up a permanent tombstone.
The members of the Chevra Kadisha are polite and considerate – much more so than some other burial societies.
■ STEM RESEARCH in Israel has been boosted by a transformative gift of NIS 100 million ($25m.) for the establishment of a new research center at the Weizmann Institute of Science and a national neuroscience research program within Israel’s universities.
This was announced at the Zuckerman Israel Institute’s Annual Forum by Eric Gertler, Trustee of the Institute and the Zuckerman Family Foundation, in the presence of Herzog and his wife, Michal, and dignitaries and university presidents.
Attendees gathered to celebrate the latest achievements of the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program and to welcome the newest cohort of returning Israeli scientists to Israel.
According to Gertler, the new gift will be used toward inaugurating the Zuckerman Center for Research on Learning, Memory, and Cognition at the Weizmann Institute’s Azrieli Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences.
Moreover, $5m. of the overall gift will be directed toward establishing the Zuckerman National Neuroscience Research Program, promoting collaboration in the neurosciences between leading academic institutions in Israel and the United States.
This gift complements the Zuckerman Israel Institute’s substantial commitment to advancing STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) higher education in Israel.
Over the past nine years, the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program has provided over $30m. in support of scientific initiatives, building 52 state-of-the-art labs to date for returning scientists at eight Israeli universities, creating a “brain gain” for Israel.
In fostering collaborative relationships and research, the STEM Leadership Program funds North American postdoctoral researchers at Israeli universities and Israeli postdoctoral researchers at American universities as part of the program’s 20-year, $100 m. funding commitment.
“This gift furthers our commitment to accelerate Israel’s standing as a global leader in neuroscience research,” said Gertler.
“We hope our gift will help lead to discoveries that will transform our understanding of one of science’s greatest frontiers – the complex human brain – and, eventually, provide new treatments for devastating neurological conditions.”
In voicing appreciation for the Zuckerman Forum’s commitment to academic research and scientific advancement in Israel, Herzog said, “Investing in and advancing academic excellence is about securing our future, driving economic growth, and ensuring that Israel remains a global leader in discovery and progress.”
Herzog also saluted Israel’s remarkable academia: “I know how difficult this time has been for faculty, students, and academia at large,” he said. “I salute all of you for your commitment to defending the principles at the root of our Israeli society.”
At a ceremony at the Weizmann Institute marking the gift, Weizmann Institute President Alon Chen described it as “visionary,” adding, “It will serve to encourage groundbreaking research at the intersection of neuroscience and human cognition, foster joint research, and establish Israel as a leader in the field.”
greerfc@gmail.com