{"id":12701,"date":"2009-05-26T18:44:19","date_gmt":"2009-05-26T18:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/a_center_in_the_center_of_the_world\/"},"modified":"2015-10-30T05:32:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T10:32:54","slug":"a_center_in_the_center_of_the_world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/a_center_in_the_center_of_the_world\/","title":{"rendered":"A Center in the Center of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"image\"
Photo credits: Abba Richman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

David Katz, reputed chazzan<\/i> and educator, reminisced over his first visit to the Old City of Jerusalem. \u201cIt was an organized balagan<\/i>,\u201d he described with an amused smile. Only two days after the liberation of Jerusalem, Katz remembers how he joined throngs of people headed toward the Kotel for the first time in 19 years. The first thing they did was install a water faucet, shared Katz. The dust in the air was heavy from the bulldozers clearing the Arab homes built up against the Kotel itself. \u201cAnd the Kotel,\u201d he let his sentence hang and looked up as if words could not describe his emotions.<\/p>\n

The miracle of the liberation of Jerusalem, and the gift of the land of Israel were themes that repeated themselves throughout OU Israel\u2019s 6th annual Yom Yerushalayim<\/i> dinner. Katz himself led the evening\u2019s festive tefilla<\/i>. His joyful singing overflowed and spread his elation and thanks throughout the room. Later in the evening, as talk fell to the Israel Center\u2019s place in Jerusalem and the meaning of the day, Katz shared his post six day war experience with others at his table.<\/p>\n

Sponsors:<\/b>
\nNefesh B’Nefesh
\nPelephone
\nHertz
\nMinrav
\nNegev Galilee
\nCarmel Winery
\nAmit
\nTravel Deal
\nLander Institute
\nTCS
\nGal Kitchens
\nMakor HaRishon
\nArutz Sheva
\nHaCohen Wolf
\nU Bank
\nTovei HaIr Residence
\nIsrael Experience
\nWorld Mizrachi Movement
\nKarden Real Estate & Yesodot Tzur
\nBait BeISrael
\nRPG (Global Mortgages)
\nLone Star
\nThe Bait Began Huesthouse
\nPrintiv
\nMortgage Israel
\nThe Old City Free Loan Association
\nGoldfus Insurance
\nKehilat Zichron Yosef
\nDiamant Law Offices
\nBank of Jerusalem
\nChaim Frankel, Attorney
\nJewishIsrael.com
\nHarvey L. Kasden Ph.D LTD
\nAyala Travel
\nNicole Levine Law Offices
\nSchockentino Caterers
\nDr. Robert Sreter D.D.S
\nCouncil of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel
\nSimcha Publishing
\nFreedman Topol & Co
\nAvi Klein
\nRabbinical Council of America
\nKollel Sinai
\nPortman Rachlin & Co.
\nShenai HaHar Dental Clinic
\nTishbi Estate Winery<\/div>\n

The dinner was peopled with individuals like Katz, olim<\/i> who have been in Israel for five, ten, twenty and thirty years. Men and women who made their homes in Israel mingled over soup and salad, joined together to offer thanks to Hashem for the miracle of Jerusalem, and gathered to pay tribute to OU Israel and the evening\u2019s honorees. For most of the attendees, the OU Israel Center plays an integral part in their aliyah<\/i> experience. They attend shiurim, shabbatonim<\/i>, connect to a supportive social atmosphere, and have the opportunity to support growth in Israel through the OU\u2019s outreach programs.<\/p>\n

Following tefilla<\/i>, Leah Goldstein of Har Nof shared her relationship with the Israel Center. She discovered the Israel Center by accident while waiting for an appointment at Bikur Cholim Hospital, across the street from the Israel Center\u2019s original location on 10 Strauss Street. The OU symbol on a Jerusalem building piqued Goldstein\u2019s curiosity and she entered to inquire what the Israel center was about. Rabbi Leff, an acquaintance from the \u201cold country\u201d (the United States) was delivering a shiur<\/i>. Goldstein stayed to listen and has been coming back every Monday for the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

The stories of the olim<\/i> connected with OU Israel are the stories of the Israel Center itself: the story of Anglo Jews taking their place in their homeland and in the rebuilding of the Land of Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took the entire Klal Yisrael<\/i> to put together the OU,\u201d Rabbi Avi Berman, Director General of OU Israel, said at the dinner. \u201cThe OU is a community that\u2019s full of spirit, full of people that want to take that spirit and pass it onto others, and to teach others to be leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not just another fundraiser, the OU Israel dinner was an evening with a message. The stories of the center\u2019s supporters, the accomplishments of the honorees and the words of the keynote speaker pointed towards rededication to a national initiative to work for the good of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Ari Berman, delivering the keynote address, explained that according to Rav Soloveitchik, \u201cthe creation of the State of Israel is Hashem knocking on our door waiting for our response. We must respond to his knocking and continue the rebuilding… There is so much we can do. The OU\u2026 serves as a way to galvanize the olim<\/i> community to give to the Land of Israel, to build our country.\u201d It is not enough to make aliyah<\/i> and move to Israel, Rabbi Berman insisted, olim<\/i> must contribute to the rebuilding.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Shalom and Bayla Gold, recipients of the Keter Torah and Eishet Chayil awards did more than just move to Israel when they made aliyah<\/i>. They discovered a need for English adult education and Rabbi Gold founded the Avrom Silver Jerusalem College for Adults to respond to that need. Later, he joined forces with the Israel Center to pool resources and provide the best possible Torah experience for Anglo olim<\/i> in Jerusalem. As Phil Chernofsky, OU Israel Educational Director, described, Rabbi Gold\u2019s contribution to the community is his emphasis \u201cnot on mind to mind education, but mind, body and soul education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shelley and Charley Levine, recipients of the Boneh Yisrael and Shem Tov awards, also came to Israel with a purpose and a goal. The Levine\u2019s met as Jewish student activists in the 1970\u2019s. They were members of the first student group to raise awareness of Russian Jewry behind the Iron Curtain. They pledged themselves to a life of service to the Jewish people. Stalwart religious Zionists, they continued their work after they made aliyah<\/i>. Shelley, who was described at the dinner as \u201ca real estate mastermind,\u201d was the stronghold behind some of the most vibrant and successful Anglo communities in Israel. \u201cI don\u2019t sell houses,\u201d Shelley clarified, \u201cI build communities.\u201d Charley, CEO of Lone Star Communications, has worked hard to improve Israel\u2019s image in the world media. Rabbi Steven Berg, Chief Programmatic Officer of the OU, added that when the OU garnered its forces to present the world with its position on a united Jerusalem, \u201cCharley helped us get that message across.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olim<\/i> from every corner of Jerusalem, PR and real estate professionals, Rabbis, chazzanim<\/i>, educators, and many others make up the colorful fabric of OU Israel. \u201cMy first experience with the Israel Center is that it really is the center.\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s amazing about the center is that it is there if you are 13, or 33 or 73.\u201d \u201cThe Israel Center is one of the biggest examples of kiddush Hashem<\/i> in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh<\/i>.\u201d \u201cI was on the sisterhood in West Hempstead when Rabbi Gold was installed there, now I go to his classes in the Israel Center whenever I can. It\u2019s a very special place.\u201d The voices at the dinner were overwhelming. They described a place where people feel at home. They spoke of a place where Jews can come together to learn, to grow and to give.<\/p>\n

\n

Elisheva Rosenblatt<\/b> is a freelance writer living in Beit Shemesh, Israel<\/i><\/p>\n

Abba Richman<\/b> is an Israeli-based photographer. To view more of Abba Richman\u2019s photographs and contact him, visit www.abbarichman.com<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Katz, reputed chazzan and educator, reminisced over his first visit to the Old City of Jerusalem. \u201cIt was an organized balagan,\u201d he described with an amused smile. Only two days after the liberation of Jerusalem, Katz remembers how he joined throngs of people headed toward the Kotel for the first time in 19 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":46034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA Center in the Center of the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The miracle of the liberation of Jerusalem & the gift of the Land of Israel were themes that were repeated at OU Israel\u2019s 6th annual Yom Yerushalayim dinner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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