Ireland has been frequently featured in recent news reports, primarily in relation to its anti-Israel attitude. It wasn’t always like that, and a different aspect of Ireland will be presented on Monday, January 26, to members and friends of the Israel branch of the Jewish Historical Society of England, who will learn of the mammoth involvement of Jewish impresarios in Ireland’s entertainment industry.
Veteran journalist and author Wendy Elliman, whose byline has appeared from time to time in The Jerusalem Post, will discuss her new book, The Outsiders Who Built Irish Entertainment: Maurice and Louis Elliman. The book, published by Valentine Mitchell, will have its Israeli launch at this meeting.
Elliman provides a colorful picture of Irish Jewish life, with the main focus on the large Elliman family and their contribution to Dublin theater. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at Beit Natan, Shir Hadash, 1 Yaakov Rubin St., Talbiyeh, on the 91 bus route. Admission is NIS 25. For people arriving by car, there are plenty of parking spaces in the immediate vicinity.
Torah dedicated in memory of Chavi Goldberg
It's fairly common knowledge that a Torah dedication ceremony is a joyous affair, and even more so in Hassidic circles, where the dancing and singing are doubly enthusiastic.
On Sunday, February 1, there will be a Torah dedication in memory of Chavi Goldberg, the mother of Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg, the director of Chabad of Rehavia and Nahlaot. The Torah has been donated by the rabbi’s father, Dr. Chaim Goldberg.
There will be a gathering at the Goldberg home at 7 Narkis St., Rehavia, at 3:30 p.m. for the completion of the final letters of the Torah, after which there will be a festive procession with hakafot and dancing to the main building of Chabad of Rehavia and Nahlaot at 2 Ibn Ezra St., near the corner of Keren Kayemet Street, where festivities will continue. Everyone is welcome to join in the celebration. Hopefully, if there is rain, it will be a mere drizzle.
World Aphasisa Shabbat marked by Migdal Hashoshanim Synagogue
At the Migdal Hashoshanim Synagogue (better known as the Pinsker Shul), congregants last Shabbat marked World Aphasia Shabbat. Aphasia is a disorder that affects communication and comprehension.
Eight years ago, Eitan Ashman, the owner of a property management business, volunteered in various organizations, and was a voluntary Torah and Talmud teacher in Efrat, where he and his wife, Liora, lived with their four teenage children, suffered a massive stroke, which seriously affected the left side of his brain, leaving him with aphasia.
It was after his stroke that Ashman and his wife realized that very few people were aware of aphasia; to remedy this, they set up an aphasia awareness organization, which they called Koach Eitan.
Because the Torah reading last Shabbat referred to the speech impediment of Moses, Koach Eitan decided to name parashat “Vaeira” World Aphasia Shabbat, and the Migdal Hashoshanim Synagogue was one of the places where it was observed.
Koach Eitan, which began as a very personal journey, has grown into a remarkable organization that offers guidance, peer connection, education, and practical tools – helping people reintegrate into family life, community, and society with dignity and purpose.
Although the reason for Ashman’s communication impediment was different from that of Moses, both were challenged, and both found ways to overcome. There are many families in which someone’s life undergoes a radical change in the aftermath of a stroke, but other family members do not know that there are ways in which the condition can be treated. Some, like Eitan Ashman, have found a way to deal with it. It’s not a miracle cure. He will never revert to being the person he used to be before the stroke, but neither is he the person he was in the early period after the stroke.
Koach Eitan has given Ashman a greater sense of purpose, but more importantly, it has helped those members of the public who learn about aphasia to be more sensitive, more patient, and more understanding of others who are experiencing aphasia and any other kind of challenge resulting from a stroke.
Jerusalem building upwards
Urban renewal is not a new concept. In his heyday, Teddy Kollek, the legendary mayor of Jerusalem, was known as a latter-day Herod. During his 28 years as mayor, Kollek revived the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and was pleased that internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie, while introducing modern architectural trends to the interiors of buildings, had retained the external character of the Jewish Quarter. King Herod was known for his massive building projects, which included the Second Temple.
Kollek was known as the latter-day Herod because of his vision and that of his close associates. He dreamed up the Israel Museum, while the fingerprints of Uzi Wexler, the Jerusalem-born decade-long treasurer of the municipality, can be found on many of the city’s public buildings – most importantly, on the area that he designated as the “Government Precinct.”
Wexler worked very closely with Kollek, and the combined vision of the two resulted in attractive projects on what had been barren land. It was rare during Kollek’s long administration for a building to be demolished to make room for a more modern structure. Kollek was not overly fond of high-rise buildings, and in his time, few buildings in the city were taller than five or six floors.
Moshe Lion has been the mayor of Jerusalem since November 2018, during which period he has apparently decided to surpass both Herod and Kollek by encouraging ever-taller projects, and in so doing has destroyed the unique character of Jerusalem.
His rationale has been that Jerusalem‘s population is growing, so there is a need to build upwards.
Perhaps. But the financial pages in Israeli newspapers say that new apartments are too expensive. Most people can’t afford them. Mortgage payments are too high. And property developers are often left in the position of not having sufficient finances to complete the project. This leaves anyone who buys into it in limbo indefinitely.
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