Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin 1, Vol. 5

Menachem Begin
Heritage Center, Jerusalem
Volume 5, Issue 1
October 2008
Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 442,273

Begin Fellows Honored in Special Ceremony

A ceremony and luncheon was held to honor three of our very special donors—Begin Fellows—who have committed to a continuous yearly contribution to support the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation. The additional funds help make up the shortfall created by budget cuts in the government so that the Begin Center activities will continue irrespective of financial issues within the government. The Begin Center's mission is to commemorate the life, words and deeds of Menachem Begin and to pass on his heritage to future generations which can only be done with a consistent and thriving budget. These donors are helping to ensure that the activities, publications, research and preservation will continue from generation to generation.
The Begin Fellows honored at this ceremony are: Mark and Anna Ruth Hasten of Indiana, Eugen and Jean Gluck of New York and the Silver Family Foundation of Ontario, represented by Aaron Silver. They join previous honorees Hart and Simona Hasten of Indiana, Rose Lax of Ontario and Matti Drobles of Israel. Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Begin Center, welcomed everyone to the meeting, said a few words to honor Harry Hurwitz saying that his loss is deeply felt at the Center and noting that Harry's latest initiative was this ceremony to honor these donors, and he gave an update on activities at the Center then turned the floor over to "Smoky" Simon, Honorary Treasurer of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation, to give a brief report on the status of the Foundation. Yechiel Kadishai said a few words of thanks on behalf of the Finance Committee. Each Begin Fellow received a certificate, a replica of Menachem Begin's Nobel Prize Medal and a lapel pin. Other honored guests were Dr. Beny Begin, MK Reuven Rivlin, Hart Hasten, President of the US Friends of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation and Mrs. Freda Hurwitz.
After the ceremony, the group went to the restaurant downstairs for luncheon.

Begin Center Busy During Sukkot

The cultural events organized by the Menachem Begin Heritage Center over the Sukkot holiday were especially successful with quite impressive numbers of participants.
* The day-long symposium under the auspices of the Jerusalem Municipality 'Sha'arayich' initiative on the topic of "In God We Trust": US & Israel Models of Religion and State drew between 40 and 100 persons at each of the four sessions. Each session was addressed by outstanding academic lecturers from Israel's leading universities and other educational institutions.
* As popular as ever, learning sessions at the Begin Center are drawing overflow crowds. The unique Hoshana Rabba all-night learning program of four different lectures from Dr. Iddo Chevroni, Dr. Shelly Goldberg, Dr. Micha Goodman and Yirmi Stavitzky was so well attended that in addition to the Reuben Hecht Auditorium, a seminar room was required for closed-circuit broadcast of the speakers. This event is in anticipation of the Rohr Family Parshat HaShavua weekly lecture series which will begin with B'reisheet on Thursday October 23, at 7pm. Dr. Iddo Chevroni, a member of the academic staff of the Mandel Leadership Institute, the Shalem Institute's Biblical Literature studies and of Herzog College, will be the lecturer for the book of B'reisheet. We expect, as in previous years, that the Parshat HaShavua will be hugely popular bringing an audience to the Begin Center of young, old, religious, secular, men and women who will all learn the portion of the week together for an hour. Menachem Begin liked to learn the portion of the week and was quite committed to the study of the Torah. At a certain point in his years as Prime Minister, the study group lectures and discussions were broadcast live on the radio and recorded. The Begin Center's archives hold this very interesting and valuable collection of recordings.
* In addition to the various special events, the Begin Museum was open for extended hours from 9AM to 7PM and up to 500 people a day went through the exhibit during the Chol HaMoed intermediate days of Sukkot.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, October 26—Book Launch: The book launch of the memoirs of Prof. Menachem Levin, a Jabotinsky Movement veteran, will be held beginning at 6:30 PM at the Begin Center. The speakers will include Herzl Makov, Center Chairman, Prof. Yaakov Shavit, Yossi Achimeir, Prof. Hillel Weiss, Prof. Moshe Arens. Prof. Levin will respond. The event will be conducted in Hebrew.

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The Menachem Begin Heritage Center
6 Nahon Street Jerusalem 94110 ISRAEL
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