By MICHAL GALANTIFROM LEFT, Shira Ruderman, Hadassah and Joe Lieberman, Shimon Peres and Jay Ruderman(photo credit: HERSHEL GUTMAN)Ruderman on inclusionShira and Jay Ruderman are the Israel director and president (respectively) of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which works for the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout the Jewish community.Last Sunday, the organization hosted the Conference for Israel-America Jewish Relations, titled “Strengthening the Relationship,” at the Peres Center for Peace. Senator Joe Lieberman, who ran for US Vice President in 2000, was invited by the Foundation to give the keynote address in which he shared his Jewish story and discussed the special relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community.Joining the effort to “strengthen the relationship,” was Israel’s 9th president ,Shimon Peres, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, Senator Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah, Judith Yovel Recanati and Prof. Amos Shapira.Silent AngelsThe Silent Angels non-profit organization hosted a fundraising evening last week for girls who suffer from Rett’s Syndrome and their families at the Performing Arts Center in Herzliya. Silent Angels Chairman Shmuel Zysman, a founding member of his own law firm, is also a retired Israel National Team basketball player. Zysman’s daughter, Hadar, suffers from Rett’s Syndrome. Attending the evening were Udi Recanati, Sarit and Israel Eliyahu, Yair Hamburger, Rona Ramon, Raviv Zoller, Or Ofer, Dan Gillerman, Eitan Stiva, and Tal Alexandrovitz Segev.‘Mr. Gaga’ Friends of Batsheva Dance Company gathered last week to celebrate the group’s choreographer and artistic director Ohad Naharin’s 25th year with Batsheva.The event was held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art included the screening of the documentary film Mr. Gaga by Tomer Heymann, which tells the life story of Naharin. Attending the screening were Irit Isaacson, Yossi and Zvia Gross, Moshe and Ruth Castiel, Shira Farber and Lenny Recanati, Yossi and Orit Bachar, Ram Landes, Orly Dankner, Perry Giladi, Rami Mardor, Yair Seroussi, and Marius Nacht.Tislam & ALUT
Last Thursday evening at Tel Aviv University’s Smolarz Auditorium, veteran rock band Tislam played a concert in honor of ALUT, the Israeli Society for Autistic Children. The music brought back lots of great memories for the guests who danced and sang along with the music. The keynote speaker was Lihi Lapid, the mother of an autistic child, who moved the guests to tears with her stories about what it’s like to listen to people who cannot reply to us with words. Attending the evening program were Prof. Izzy Borovich, former ALUT chairman, Meir Shani, David Fattal, Avraham Poraz, Rani Rahav, Sami and Tova Sagol, Gabi and Erez Buganim who own Synel Industries and who sponsored the evening, Irit Isaacson, and Einat Cassuto-Shefi, director-general of ALUT.SuzukiTzvi Neta, the chairman of Automotive Equipment Group, which represents Suzuki in Israel, recently signed a sponsorship contract with Dmitry (Dima) Kroyter, one of Israel’s greatest high jumpers, who is busy training for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Just signing a contract was not good enough for Neta, so he went to see Kroyter during one of his training sessions and asked him questions about his upcoming competitions. Kroyter even invited Neta to participate