Center Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 13

Volume 4, Issue 13
January 8, 2008

Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 358,044


Bush's Visit Will Tie Up the Streets of Jerusalem

Begin Center will Remain Open

The enormous pressure on traffic movement in Jerusalem related to the visit of US President George W. Bush has had some impact on the free movement in and out of the Begin Center—although the rule here is "business as usual."

President Bush will be staying in the King David Hotel and the police and security forces will block off the area around the hotel, sealing off any traffic and no parking will be allowed. The Begin Center is situated just outside the blocked off area. The Center will remain open as usual and most tours of the Begin Museum are going ahead as planned. Hopefully, there will be no serious traffic breakdowns to prevent people from arriving at the appointed hour for their tours.

Positive Response for World View

The very attractive and unique reproduction of the booklet which was first produced in 1951 containing Menachem Begin's "Basic Outline of Our World View and Our National Outlook" has already reached some of the addressees here in Israel and abroad. Their reaction has been most positive and grateful that they are among the first to see and be able to read this historic document.< /SPAN>

A number have sent their comments by email and others have telephoned from abroad to thank the Menachem Begin Heritage Center for having sent them this document.

A limited number of copies are still available for sale for 20 NIS at Tal Klein's souvenir shop on the entrance floor to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

Annual 'Elitzur' Lecture in February

As previously announced the annual 'Elitzur' memorial lecture will take place on Sunday, 24 February at 6:00pm at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. The tribute will be the first part of an event (mainly in English) dedicated to Jewish heroism. The second part will honor the courageous fighters in the Soviet Union who waged a struggle for their right to aliyah 40 years ago. This event is currently commemorated in a special exhibition in Beit Hatefutsoth (The Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv), which was set up by a committee headed by MK Yuli Edelstein. He has readily agreed to appear at the 'Elitzur' evening to speak about his own struggle at that time. An excerpt from the movie Refusnik will be shown at the conclusion of his address.

In Memoriam

We deeply regret to record the death of Dr. Matthias (Matti) Cohen of Ramat HaSharon who came to Israel many years ago from Welcom, South Africa. He was a leading physician in Israel and a friend of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Jean, his children and their families.

* * * * *

Yosef (Borke) Mintz who was a member of Betar in Latvia before his aliyah and then was in the ranks of the Irgun passed away a week ago. He served as Betar shaliach in New York in the 1970s and in other capacities in the organization during his career. He is survived by his wife Thelma and family.

Visitors

Moe Levy, of the Asper Foundation, Winnipeg, visited the Begin Center on Tuesday morning accompanied by th e Foundation's local representative, Shai Abramson. He met with Harry Hurwitz, the Founder and President of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation and Herzl Makov, the Chairman of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. There was wide ranging discussion on the activities of the Begin Center, future plans and the financial situation.