Center Bulletin, August 22, 2007

August 22, 2007

Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 321,892

Yemenite Aliyah To Be Celebrated

An unusual evening celebrating the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel and the aliyah from the exotic Jewish community of Yemen in the early 1950s will be held on 1 October. The program will include songs and stories about the Jews from Yemen, their customs, their culture, their food, their dress, etc. Further details will be published in the next few weeks.

The Druze Will Celebrate Menachem Begin

Members of the Druze community will celebrate the life and work of Menachem Begin on the 19th of September at a large event which will take place at Daliat El Carmel. The event is upon the initiative of former MK and chairman of the Druze Yad L'Banim Amal Nassr al Din.

A series of lectures and recollections will be given by well-known persons who worked with Menachem Begin and studied his thoughts and deeds.

Mazal Tov

A hearty Mazal Tov to Frank and Florence Dimant whose son, Ari, was married at Atlit at a wonderful site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Frank Dimant was a leading member of Betar in Montreal and has been for many years the Executive Vice-President of B'nai Brith Canada.

In Memoriam

We deeply regret to record the death of Rabbi William Z. Novick of Chicago who was for many years the representative there of the Weizmann Institute. Among other things, he was also a member of the International Board of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation. He is survived by his wife, Eda Bess, his children and grandchildren.

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Mr. Moshe Shnitzer, the founder and long-time head of the Israel Diamond Exchange and the World Diamond Exchange, passed away at the weekend and is deeply mourned by his son, Shmuel Schnitzer, and his two daughters, Mrs. Gartler and Mrs. Ne'eman. Moshe Schnitzer received the Israel Prize for his contribution to the Diamond Industry.

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Mrs. Vera Wald, who was the administrative secretary of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation in South Africa in its early fundraising efforts, passed away last Thursday. She is survived by her children. Her late husband Herman Wald was the famous sculptor who created the large monument to the Six Million Jews at the cemetery in Johannesburg. He also did other important public sculptures.

Visitors

A distinguished visitor to the Begin Center at the beginning of this week was Dr. Shevach Weiss, one of the heads of Yad Vashem and a former ambassador of Israel to Poland. He is also a former Speaker of the Knesset.

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Ami Gluska, a former director of the President's office under President Itzhak Navon, visited the Begin Center this week. He thoroughly enjoyed the museum and discussed matters with Yisrael Medad.

He has recently published his book on Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in the period of the 6-Day War.