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Letter from the Chairman of the Board
Dear Friends,
If you would have seen the hundreds of people at The Jerusalem Great
Synagogue this Tuesday morning waiting to be registered for Maot Chittim
assistance from us before Pesach, your eyes would have probably shed some
tears. Each family was required to have a letter from a Municipal
social worker attesting to the fact that they are in extreme need of help
(letter aleph). To see so many people who live in Jerusalem, many of
them elderly and in poor health and who are in such a precarious state, is
heartbreaking. We are trying to assist them to enjoy a happier
Pesach. We ask for your help to enable us to help them. Your Israeli
tax deductible contribution checks should be written to "The Jerusalem
Great Synagogue or, if you want to make a USA Tax Deductible contribution of
$100 or above, to "The American Friends of The Jerusalem Great
Synagogue". At the bottom of the check, please note that it is for
Maot Chittim. Contributions should be mailed to The Jerusalem Great
Synagogue, POB 7924, Jerusalem 91078, Israel. Thank you for your
concern and help.
At the bottom of this week's newsletter, we are attaching the pre-publication
press release from Toby Press (a division of Koren Publishers) regarding
Ambassador Yehuda Avner's new book "The Prime Ministers – An Intimate
Narrative of Israeli Leadership." Ambassador Avner will be
speaking at The Jerusalem Great Synagogue on Saturday evening, March 13th, at
8:30 PM. On that evening, you will be able to purchase a signed
pre-publication edition of his book, which is having a special printing to be
ready for this lecture. The cost is 100 NIS per book (instead of the regular
129 NIS price). Ambassador Avner is a fascinating writer and lecturer
and this is an evening that you will certainly want to spend at The Jerusalem
Great Synagogue. You may pre-order your copy by calling the Koren
office at (02) 633-0517, by e-mailing them at ayelet@korenpub.com or by faxing them at 02-633-0534.
The next Lone Soldiers Shabbat Dinner following our Leil Shabbat services
will take place on Friday evening, March 12th. These Dinners are
sponsored by The Jerusalem Great Synagogue and The Leo V. Berger Fund –
Harvey Schwartz, President and Sigmund Kassap, Vice President, our
Benefactors. We thank our partners in these Shabbat programs: The Center for
Lone Soldiers, Nefesh b'Nefesh, the Yeshurun Central Synagogue and The
American Jewish War Veterans Post 180- Jerusalem. We also thank those
who support these efforts by their donations, helping to show our
appreciation to these young men and women who have become Olim and
volunteered to serve in the IDF. Our cost per soldier is $30. We
welcome your contributions to assist us in covering the expenses for this
very special project. If you are a Lone Soldier and would like to attend the
next Dinner on March 12th, please contact Daniel Charter at the Center for
Lone Soldiers at 054-206-3321.
Those who joined us for Purim evening were, I am sure, very inspired by the
presence of a substantial number of IDF soldiers and by the wonderful spirit
both during the reading of the Megilla and during the Ruach which followed our
service. Our thanks to Aharon Agasse (son of our Baal Keriah Nachum Agasse)
who read the Megilla on Sunday evening and to our Supporting Member Emanuel
Blumfield who read the Megilla on Monday morning. Thanks to Benny
Friedner who provided the music during the post-service festivities and to
all who participated in helping to make this a very special Purim celebration
at The Jerusalem Great Synagogue. Our special thanks to one of our
Synagogue's families who sponsored the festivities. While we respect
their wish to remain anonymous, we thank them for their generosity and
kindness.
To keep you updated on renovation work: All of the doors leading into the
Main Synagogue have been painted as has the woodwork leading to Gush Gimel
(the main entrance) of both the men's and women's sections of the Synagogue.
The same will now be done on the side staircases. We have also begun
carpentry work to strengthen some of the seats. Electrical work is also
continuing as all of the switch boxes are being upgraded and we will soon
begin repair work on several of the small chandeliers in the Main Synagogue.
As heavy rains fell in Jerusalem from the end of last week, we experienced
some leaks from our roof. This problem and other critical issues facing
our physical structure will be dealt with in the coming weeks and
months. We will keep you posted on our progress and welcome your
comments. We also hope that we can count on your financial support in this
process.
We continue to pray for the good health and immediate release of Gilad ben
Aviva Schalit and the other members of the IDF still in captivity.
Please add prayers for refua sheleima for those who were injured in terrorist
attacks and in the War in Gaza and for Aryeh ben Sarah Leah (Chazzan Aryeh
Goldberg), Amiram ben Reina (Amiram Benshimol), Zahava bat Rachel (Zahava
Meczes), Channa bat Chaya Devorah (Anna Schlesinger), Bracha Miriam bat
Rachel (Miriam Sheinberg), Chaim Ariel ben Vera Devora (Ariel Sharon),
Shoshana bat Miriam (Susan Shapiro), Amit Yehuda ben Malka (Dr.Amit
Schwartz), Shimon Elimelech ben Sima Rivka (Marc Weinberg), Avraham Yeshayahu
ben Aviva (Avraham Yeshayahu Feiner), Shai ben Rachel (Shai Peltz),
Miriam Rivkah bat Adina Leah (Miriam Strasberg), Yissachar Dov ben Peshe (Bud
Silver), Moshe Avigdor ben Rivkah (Martin Herzog), Penina Rivka Yoela bat
Mirel (Penny Bowman), Avichai Avraham ben Sarah Miriam, Gitel Rivka bat Chaya
Risa and Chaya Aviva Sarah bat Adel Nechama (Alexandra Morgan Talbot). May
they all be blessed with a speedy and complete recovery and enjoy good health
for many more years.
Mazal Tov to Nir Chai Kirshbloom, who will be celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in
our Synagogue this Shabbat. Mazal Tov wishes to his parents, Menachem
and Yael Kirshbloom of Ramat Gan, to his older brother Nadav, who celebrated
his Bar Mitzvah at our Synagogue close to two years ago and to the entire
family. May Nir continue to be an ever-present source of nachat to his
family and to all Am Yisrael.
At the invitation of Chief Chazzan Chaim Adler and our Board, Guest Chazzan
Yechezkel Klang will officiate this Friday evening (5:25 PM) and on Shabbat
morning, Parashat Ki Tissa and Parashat Parah (7:55 AM) accompanied by The
Jerusalem Great Synagogue Choir conducted by Elli Jaffe. Chazzan Klang
has officiated in many Synagogues and has appeared in concerts throughout the
world. He has officiated in our Synagogue on several Shabbatot in the
past years and we are pleased to welcome him once again this Shabbat.
If you are in our area, we hope you join us.
Shabbat shalom.
Asher Schapiro
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 5-6 – Shabbat Parashat Ki Tissa
– Shabbat Parashat Parah – Guest Chazzan Yechezkel Klang will officiate
on Friday evening (5:25 PM) and Shabbat morning (7:55 AM) accompanied by our
Choir conducted by Elli Jaffe.
March 12-13 – Shabbat Parashat Vayakhayl-Pekudei – Shabbat Parashat HaChodesh
– Shabbat Mevorchim – Chief Chazzan Chaim Adler will officiate on Friday
evening (5:20 PM) and Shabbat morning (7:55 AM) accompanied by our Choir
conducted by Elli Jaffe
March 12 – Leil Shabbat Lone Soldiers Dinner
March 13 – 8:30 PM - Motzaei Shabbat Social
Evening and Lecture Program – Speaker: Ambassador Yehuda
Avner Topic: "Israel's Prime Ministers – Past and Present"
March 19-20 – Shabbat Parashat Vayikra – Chief Chazzan Chaim Adler will
officiate on Friday evening (5:35 PM) and Shabbat morning (7:55 AM)
accompanied by guest Zimrat Yah Choir conducted by Uri Aharon
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At the Nexus of History:
Yehuda Avner’s The Prime Ministers is a unique historical and literary
masterpiece.
Author and Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Avner
arrived in Palestine in 1947, just weeks before the U.N. passed a resolution
that led to the creation of the State of Israel. Witness to and active
participant in the dramatic birth of a sovereign Jewish state, he went on to
serve as speechwriter and English-language secretary to Prime Ministers Levi
Eshkol and Golda Meir, and personal adviser to Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin
and Menachem Begin. From this unique vantage point, Avner came to know the
inner workings of the Prime Minister’s Office and four of its key
officeholders.
The Prime Ministers draws us into the world of Israel’s most important
politicians as they grapple with the life and death decisions of leadership.
It describes their personal characters in intimate detail, re-enacts their
responses to acute situations of war and terror, and unfolds their
relationships with world leaders, including former US Presidents Johnson,
Nixon, Carter and Reagan, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Egyptian
President Anwar El Sadat. Based on Ambassador Avner’s personal notes,
transcripts and correspondence- some of which have never before been brought
to light—The Prime Ministers offers a close-up portrait of four remarkable
premiers who were instrumental in securing the future of the Jewish state.
Ambassador Yehuda Avner was born in
Manchester, England in 1928. He was a founding member of Kibbutz Lavi in the
Galilee, and entered the Israel Foreign Service in the 1950s. During his
lengthy diplomatic career, Ambassador Avner served as a Consul in New York,
Counselor at the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C., Ambassador to Great
Britain, and Ambassador to Australia. Between overseas postings he served as
speech writer and secretary to Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir,
and adviser to Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Shimon
Peres.
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