There are no age limits to first-time flying or the realization of a dream. Here are two examples. Yahav, a four-hour-old baby girl, was flown from Eilat to Jerusalem, and Bezalel Katz, a 101-year-old talented Jerusalem artist who had never had a solo exhibition of his works, finally realized his dream. The two events, details of which are published below, give added meaning to Jerusalem – not only as the city of peace, but the city of miracles in which dreams can come true.
Yahav’s parents, a young Jerusalem couple, decided to go to Eilat for a brief vacation. The baby’s father, a reservist, had been wounded in combat, and although he had recovered, a few days in Eilat was considered a nice cap to the recovery process. It seems that Yahav was in a hurry to come into the world and arrived prematurely, in the 29th week of her mother’s pregnancy.
The mother did not realize that she was in labor, but the pains and discomfort were so intense that the baby’s father rushed her to the Yoseftal Medical Center. A medical team there delivered the baby. Because there is no neonatal facility in Eilat, the parents asked that the infant be flown to Hadassah in Jerusalem. Immediate arrangements were made, and when the helicopter carrying its four-hour-old passenger, accompanied by her father, landed at Hadassah Mt. Scopus, all the necessary preparations were in place.
All things considered, Yahav was healthy and was breathing and crying just like any full-term baby, but she was so tiny that she needed additional care and spent several weeks in the hospital, looked after by Dr. Sinan Abu Leil and Neonatal Head Nurse Talia Visner. She’s home now. No doubt her parents will eventually tell her about her early arrival and her initial hours outside the womb, but she won’t remember. Or perhaps she will. Who knows what’s stored in a baby’s brain?
Bezalel Katz
■ MORE THAN a century in time separates Yahav from Holocaust survivor Bezalel Katz. As a soldier in the Red Army during World War II, he was seriously wounded and presumed dead. However, a very conscientious physician noticed a slight spasm and, on further examination, it was discovered that Katz was still alive. His whole family was murdered in the Holocaust, and no one was left after the war. Though grieving, Katz chose life and migrated to Israel, where he created a new family and where he painted hundreds of portraits and landscapes over the years.
Even at his advanced age and confined to a wheelchair, Katz continues to paint. Though many people have admired his work, he somehow never got around to having a solo exhibition. It was always his dream, but he needed prodding or someone else to come up with the initiative. At Neve Horim, the Ezer Mizion sheltered living and nursing home facility where he resides, the staff decided to make his dream come true. They worked within the framework of Holocaust Survivors’ Wish, which is under the auspices of the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry.
They collected paintings from private homes and assembled information on each individual painting. They had no trouble in persuading those in charge of the Harmony Center in Jerusalem to make their premises available for an exhibition called To Fly in Time.
The exhibition is impressive, and for Katz, it is the greatest gift he could receive in the twilight of his years. “After long years in Israel, I am happy and satisfied that at long last, many more people will see my paintings,” he said. “I began to paint when I was still in the Soviet Union. The paintings tell the story of my life. I completed the most recent one two weeks ago in my room at the retirement home.” When people ask him which of his paintings he likes most, it is difficult for him to decide, he said, but the one of snow in Jerusalem reminds him of a pleasant period in his life and of his love for the holy city of Jerusalem.
Naomi Mizrahi, who heads the Holocaust Survivor initiative at the Social Welfare Ministry, said that this had been one of the most unique and complex undertakings in making the dream of a Holocaust survivor come true, and that there had been many challenges in the process, including language difficulties. But in the end, it all came together. There is nothing more rewarding than when that happens, she said. In this case, it was especially so to see the joy in Katz’s eyes and in those of members of his family.
■ SOME OF the guests at the Tel Aviv International Salon’s meeting with Ambassador Michael Mann, who is head of the European Union Delegation to Israel, may be surprised to learn that he’s British. Those who are aware of Brexit, the result of a British referendum that divorced the UK from the EU, will wonder how a British diplomat is the EU's envoy. It’s simple. Mann also carries a German passport. Those of us who are dual nationals know just how valuable a passport from a country other than that of the land of one’s birth or one’s previous nationality can be. Mann will be both host and guest, as the venue for the December 2 event is the ambassador’s residence in Herzliya Pituah.
■ WHEN FORMER German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Israel last week, it was primarily to receive an honorary doctorate from the Weizmann Institute. Since, some years earlier, a similar honor had been conferred on her by the Technion (Haifa Institute of Technology), Merkel felt that she could not bypass the Technion while sojourning in Israel. Moreover, as a scientist, she was keen to find out what had been developed at the Technion since she was last there.
The ceremony at which Merkel was conferred the honorary doctorate by the Technion had been held in Jerusalem, and she had promised to visit Haifa on a future trip to Israel. Upon honoring that promise, Merkel was presented with a replica of a historic 1924 document, signed by the founders of the German Friends of the Technion Association – the first such society in the world – led by Prof. Albert Einstein. The presentation was made by the Technion’s Senior Executive Vice President, Prof. Danny Raz.
Following her meeting with members of the Technion management, Merkel met with Jewish and Arab students from Israel, as well as with students from Germany. She showed great interest in the challenges of studying and conducting research during wartime, amid frequent reserve duty, and in the shared campus life of Jews and Arabs. Merkel was pleased to hear from the students that the Technion campus was a safe space for them and that it served as an anchor during difficult times. She also took a close look at some of the scientific projects in which Technion faculty and students are engaged.
■ BEING A senior public official or a celebrity does not protect anyone from losing a loved one in war. MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, World Mizrachi Chairman Rabbi Doron Peretz, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, and judo champion and coach of the Israel judo team competing in the Olympics Oren Smadja all lost sons during Israel’s current war against the axis of evil and its proxies.
This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost his older brother Yoni half a century ago in the Entebbe rescue mission, attended the dedication of a Torah scroll in memory of Major (Res.) Dr. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, a squad commander in the Sheldag Reconnaissance Unit, fell in battle in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu, who was instrumental in writing one of the final letters in the Torah scroll, said that he had been shaken to the core when he learned of Moshe Leiter’s death, and when paying a condolence call during the Leiter family’s seven-day period of mourning, he had seen their strength of spirit. Turning to Yechiel Leiter, he said: “You, Yechiel, now bear the burden of representing Israel in the most important arena among the nations, and there you present the justice of our path, our right to Israel, the legacy of our people, the belief in our victory. “
Netanyahu added that it was a tremendous privilege to be present for the dedication of a Torah scroll in Moshe Leiter’s memory, and blessed all who were engaged in the holy work of his commemoration and the continuation of his actions.
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