Center Bulletin - Volume 3 Issue 16

Volume 3, Issue 16
January 31, 2007

Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 255,640


15 Years Since the Passing of Menachem Begin

The fifteenth anniversary of the death of Menachem Begin will be observed at various events on and around Thursday 22 February.

* An all-day seminar will be held at the Bar Ilan University's Wohl Center in cooperation with the Political Science department. The seminar will be under the direction of Prof. Efraim Inbar, head of the Begin-Sadat Center of Strategic Studies founded by Dr. Thomas O. Hecht of Montreal, Canada. The seminar is divided into three parts: Peace and Security; Society and Economy; and Democracy and Justice. Each has a high level panel to discuss the subject.

* A highlight of the commemorations will be the publication, in Hebrew, by the Aba and Sisel Klurman Research Institute of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center of a booklet that has been out of print for more than fifty years dealing with the vision and basic principles of Menachem Begin. It first appeared in serial form in 1951 in the newspaper Herut. Subsequently, it was published in booklet form. This booklet is on display in the Menachem Begin Museum and has aroused interest in many thousands of visitors. When this annotated edition of the booklet is released, it will be made available to universities, colleges, libraries, research institutes and bookstores at a very reasonable price.

* Several pre-military academies will attend lectures here at the Center on the subject of leadership and ethics.

* Walking tours in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem entitled In the Footsteps of Menachem Begin visiting a variety of sites where Menachem Begin lived and worked. Details of these tours will be announced.

* The Student Union at Hebrew University will be sponsoring a lecture at the Mt. Scopus Campus on Menachem Begin and the ethics of government.


Junior Knesset Featured on Israel's Channel 1

The first in a series of six programs showing the Junior Knesset in session in the Menachem Begin Heritage Center will be screened on Sunday 4 February at 4:20pm on Israel's Channel 1. The chapter will be repeated on Saturday morning at 10:30am. The six programs were filmed in the Menachem Begin Heritage Center's Reuben Hecht Auditorium where the Junior Knesset takes place. The participants are from schools all over Israel—Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, boys and girls. The program is entitled "HaNoar LaShilton" (Youths on the way to leadership). The program host is Uri Bannai.


"Saturday Night at the Movies"

The two women's organizations Amit and Emunah had a fundraising event at the Begin Center on Saturday night. This is the second time they have used the Center for "Saturday Night at the Movies" and hope to make it an annual event. Amit and Emunah are committed to helping disadvantaged children all over Israel, from those as young as toddlers to those already in their teens. This event previews films from young film makers from Ma'aleh, a film school, who are completing their studies. On Saturday night, two short films were shown, "One Too Many" and "Blinker," followed by a short talk by the producer of "One Too Many."


Births

We are happy to announce the birth on 24 January of a son to Carmel and Gali Ganach and grandson to Debra (Silver) and Yossi Karta. Debra's late parents, Lily and Nathan Silver, were on the first Board of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation.

* * * * *

We extend our warm Mazal Tov to Efrat and Elkana Efrati on the birth of their second daughter, Shaked. Elkana is on the staff of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, where among other duties he organizes the Rohr Family Parashat HaShavua program.


In Memoriam

We deeply regret to record the death at an advanced age of Yehuda Bilu, a leader of the Betar, fighter in the Irgun Zvai Leumi and a prominent figure in the Jabotinsky movement. He is survived by his wife Hana, his daughter Karni and son-in-law Dan Kav, by his son Dudi and his daughter-in-law Yael, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Yehuda and Hannah Bilu were among the early schlichim of Betar in South Africa where they had a profound influence on a significant number of young people who came on aliyah.


On the Radio

A very happy and excited radio listener informed the Begin Center that by coincidence she was listening to a Sunday night radio program and heard a Vietnamese man named Mr. Long speaking from the US in excellent Hebrew.

He said he was one of the "boat people" stranded in the Pacific Ocean whom Prime Minister Menachem Begin had ordered to be brought to Israel on the first day of his premiership in 1977. Mr. Long said that he and his family were running a "glatt kosher" restaurant and that they consider themselves Israelis.


Visitor Comments:

v All memorial institutes around the world can come to learn from the Begin Center, Jerusalem, how to commemorate a great leader and keep his legacy alive. What you are doing here is absolutely unique. – Israel