A group of 22 Polish young people, all of whom only recently discovered their Jewish backgrounds, will arrive in Israel for a three-week Polish-language seminar.
By GREER FAY CASHMANConference Circuit 88(photo credit: Courtesy)Sunday, July 27
A THREE-day conference and exhibit of works by students of the School for Architecture at Ariel University will feature lectures on a variety of subjects. On Sunday at 6 p.m., Prof. David Cassouto, head of the School of Architecture, will discuss the battle to preserve the old while encouraging the new, with specific focus on the ruins of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City. On Monday at 5 p.m., a panel of architects will discuss text and concept in Israeli architecture. On Tuesday at 5 p.m., architect Benny Reuven Levi will talk about the significance of a school of architecture. For more information call (054) 774-0207.
IN POLAND, people raised as non-Jews are increasingly discovering their Jewish roots. A group of 22 Polish young people, all of whom only recently discovered their Jewish backgrounds, will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a three-week Polish-language seminar. It is organized by Shavei Israel, which is dedicated to bringing lost Jewish communities back to the fold. The participants, most of whom are in their 20s, come from Krakow, Lodz, Lublin, Przemysl, Wroclaw, Zawiercie and Warsaw.
The seminar will take place in Jerusalem. But within the context of the overall program, participants will travel throughout Israel, study Hebrew and learn about Jewish history, culture and religion, as well as the history of the State of Israel. Shavei Israel has arranged for Polish-speaking Israeli educators to teach the youth and to guide them on their visits to various parts of the country.
Today, there are only a few thousand Jews registered as living in Poland, but experts suggest there may be tens of thousands of other people in Poland who are either hiding their Jewish identities or are simply unaware of their origins.
Monday, July 28
IS IRAN a danger to Israel? Menashe Amir, chief editor of the Foreign Ministry's Farsi Web site, will attempt to answer that question in a lecture in Hebrew at noon in the Abba Eban Conference Room, Ground Floor, Truman Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mount Scopus campus. The lecture is under the auspices of the Abba Eban Center for Israeli Diplomacy at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. For more information call (02) 588-2329.
Wednesday, July 30
THE FOUNDING Myth of Anti-Semitism will be explored by Dr. Robert Wistrich and speakers from Israel and France at a seminar in Hebrew at 6.30 p.m. at the Maiersdorf Faculty Club, HU Mount Scopus. It is under the auspices of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Registration is required by Tuesday. For more information and registration call (02) 588-2991, (02) 588-2494 or e-mail sicsa@mscc.huji.ac.il.
GEN. (RES.) YA'ACOV AMIDROR will deliver the Jabotinsky Institute's annual Jabotinsky lecture at the institute's Tel Aviv headquarters, 38 King George Street, at 7 p.m. The lecture will be based on Jabotinsky's principles and their relevance today. It will take place on the eve of the 68th anniversary of Jabotinsky's death, which will be commemorated at Mount Herzl on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Thursday, July 31
A MEMORIAL ceremony commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack that was perpetrated on Mount Scopus six years ago will be held 11 a.m. at the Nancy Reagan Plaza on the HU Mount Scopus campus.
THE ANNUAL Hadassah Medical Conference will take place at the Jerusalem International Convention Center. It begins at 9 a.m. with an address by Hadassah managing director Prof. Shlomo Mor Yosef, who will review 60 years of health and medicine in Israel. For more information and registration call (02) 531-5813.