Center Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 11

Volume 4, Issue 11
December 26, 2007

Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 353,290


On the Road to Jerusalem

Those entering Jerusalem these days from various directions can see on the side of the roads large posters portraying Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat to advertise the NO MORE WAR exhibition which is currently on display at the Begin Center.

It has already attracted a large number of visitors who have come especially to view it and to study it.

The exhibition opening coincided with the 30th anniversary of the visit to Jerusalem of Anwar Sadat at the invitation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin on Saturday evening November 19, 1977. This started the unique peace process which concluded with the signing of the first ever Peace Treaty with an Arab State, in this case the largest, most populous and strongest which had been at war with Israel five times with large numbers of casualties on both sides.

The Peace Treaty proclaims in its Preamble "the termination of the state of war" between the two countries.

The Begin Center has planned various activities over the next few years to highlight the peace process at special events and with special publications of books and brochures.

To Your Health

This has been a health week at the Begin Center. At the end of last week, the Ministry of Health held an all-day seminar in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium to deal with current problems in Israel's health services.

This week the Refuah Institute is holding a 2-day seminar on Torah Psychology and Medicine at the Menachem Begin Conference Center, as they describe it in their announcements.

The conference will be opened by Prof. Joshua Ritchie to be followed by Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau. Among 36 outstanding speakers who are doctors and rabbis will also be Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D. of Harvard University.

The Reuben Hecht Auditorium where the seminar will be held is expected to be full with doctors from Israel and abroad.

Mazal Tov

We heartily congratulate Eric and Suzy Graus, who, with many members of their family, were in Jerusalem to celebrate the wedding of their granddaughter, Leora to David. Following the wedding, the Grauses celebrated a sheva brachot festive dinner in Jerusalem where a number of their long-time friends from various stages of the Herut movemen t's life were present.

In Memoriam—Shia Gartner

We deeply regret to record the death in Antwerp last week of Mr. Shia Gartner, life-long member of the Jabotinsky movement and staunch supporter of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. In fact, he was of the same age as Menachem Begin. They grew up together in the Betar movement in Warsaw and were close personal friends for many years.

When the Begin Center was built, Shia Gartner, his family and friends made a significant contribution and dedicated the Warsaw section of the museum telling the story of Menachem Begin's life. Speaking for a minute on the video in the museum (in Yiddish) Gartner said that from the beginning he felt that Menachem Begin was "a young man with great charisma who w ould go far in the movement and in the history of the Jewish People."

Gartner had been ill for a number of years and died last Thursday at the age of 94. He is survived by his wife, Adele, his daughter Kouky and her husband Armand Frohmann, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

May his memory be a blessing.

Visitors

Mr. Mort Zuckerbrod of Cedarhurst, New York, friend and partner of Mr. Harry Taubenfeld in their law office, visited the Begin Center this week and was most impressed by the architecture of the building and the cultural and educational content. In various capacities he has visited a number of the Presidential Libraries in the US and he considered the Begin Center to be much superior to them. He was received by Harry Hurwitz, Founder and President, who briefed him on the present state of the Begin Center and future plans.

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Dov and Lara Mowszowski of Sydney, Australia, and their four daughters visited the Begin Center and judged the museum a very special and important feature. Dov is the son of Zalman and Aviva Mowszowski who also live in Sydney. The four daughters Talia, Rachel (who recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah), Nadia and Nicci found the museum tour most interesting.