Sheldon Ritz has held different positions at the Dan Hotel chain for 23 years, a new food show about Yemenite food and a mask-free kiddush.
By GREER FAY CASHMANUpdated: JUNE 17, 2021 17:32The majestic King David Hotel in Jerusalem(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Crowne Plaza Hotel has a new general manager in the person of Sheldon Ritz, who for 23 years held different positions in the Dan Hotel chain, primarily at the company’s flagship hotel, the King David, and is now the new general manager at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which in its heyday, was the first Hilton Hotel in Jerusalem. These days, there is no hotel in Jerusalem that bears the Hilton name, although the Jerusalem Waldorf Astoria is under Hilton management. The David Citadel hotel, when it first opened, was also under Hilton management, but it was a relatively short-lived relationship.Ritz, who at the King David, was primarily responsible for relations with foreign embassies and making arrangements for visiting royalty, presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers and their delegations, was most recently the assistant to the King David’s general manager Tamir Kobrin, and has been succeeded in that position by equally personable Jeremy Sheldon, who admits that Ritz left very large shoes to fill. Ritz is so well known as a consummate professional to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to all the embassies in Israel, that the King David, despite its iconic status, may have trouble in competing with the Crowne Plaza. Some ambassadors will automatically flock to wherever Ritz is working.On the other hand, the challenge may spur the King David to introduce new attractions to make it a more competitive hotel than it has been to date.During the period of almost a year and a half in which most hotels barely operated or did not operate at all other than as COVID hotels, many took the opportunity to renovate and upgrade their premises. In addition, a number of new boutique hotels have opened. It is quite amazing how many hotels now exist between the entrance to the city and Emek Refaim, especially in the downtown area. There are others beyond, and more hotels are currently under construction or still in the planning stages. The Crowne Plaza has also made major changes, which will be available to the public from July 18.■ THE FACT that her husband is a partner in the Brown hotel chain does not deter popular children’s shows television star Michal Weizmann from appearing in a weekend incentive program at the Mamilla Hotel, which is owned by real estate tycoon Alfred Akirov, who also owns the Mamilla Mall.Professionally known as Michal Haktana because of her diminutive height and figure, Weizmann will meet the junior guests of the hotel during the weekend of June 24-26, while Gil Hovev, food writer and foodie, who does a lot of his own cooking, will entertain adults with a humorous lecture titled “Small Meals, Big Women.” It’s not meant to be derogatory. Hovev, whose ancestry on his mother’s side is Ashkenazi and on his father’s Yemenite will discuss Jerusalem, food, love and family. Though a well-known personality in his own right, Hovev can never quite stop being identified as the great-grandson of Eliezer Ben Yehuda who is credited with being the reviver of the Hebrew language as a tool of modern communication.But when it comes to pleasing the palate, Hovev leans to the Yemenite side of his family.■ FOR THE first time in a year and a half, congregants of the Hazvi Yisrael congregation in Talbiya were able to enjoy a community kiddush and to remove their masks. It was still compulsory last Saturday to wear masks during the service, but once everyone went upstairs for the kiddush, the masks were removed and people mingled happily, engaging in conversation and toasting each other in top-quality Scotch whisky. The kiddush was a triple whammy for the family of Judith and Peter Sheldon. First and foremost, it was in honor of Peter Sheldon’s 80th birthday and also in honor of the recent aliyah of their children Debbie and Jonny Sheldon, and the new position of the above-mentioned Jeremy Sheldon, who is also their son.■ AMONG THE key principles outlined in the coalition agreement of the new government is the elimination of the Ministries of Water, Community Promotion and Strategic Affairs, but not the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs which New Hope’s Ze’ev Elkin demanded for himself. The Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs is an occasional ministry that is not really necessary, given that it duplicates much of the work of the Jerusalem Municipality. It is simply a needless cost. When Elkin was still a member of Likud, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu acceded to his demand that he be given the Jerusalem portfolio as compensation for a portfolio that had been taken away from him and given to Gilad Erdan, who is currently Israel’s man in Washington and at the UN in New York.Elkin subsequently ran for mayor of Jerusalem and finished in third place, after Moshe Lion and Ofer Berkovitch, which means that the majority of Jerusalemites did not want him. But Elkin is determined to leave his imprint on Jerusalem. Anyone who holds the portfolio for Jerusalem affairs or for Diaspora affairs is simply wasting public funds that could go to much more worthy causes than the upkeep of either ministry, even if they are combined – which they are not. Both the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency, together with Keren Hayesod, the Jewish National Fund and WIZO, among others, are doing quite well in both spheres, and no ministry is needed to supplement their work. It is time that prime ministers of Israel realized that handing out ministries as a form of political barter is not the way to run a country.
■ THERE’S A wide misconception that people no longer read books. If this were really true, there would be no literary pages in newspapers and magazines, no annual Israel Book Week, no book launches throughout the year, no international writers’ festivals, no prestigious prizes for best-selling authors, and no bookstores remaining open. Yes, there are certain people who no longer read books, but go into a bus or a train, and people of all ages are engrossed in reading from Kindle. Book Week officially concluded this weekend, but is continuing in many stores, which are displaying new titles by both well-known authors and writers for whom their book is a first-time publication. If you missed out on meeting authors during Book Week, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement or an advertisement for a book launch. You’re bound to meet the author if you go, and if you buy a book, you can also have it autographed or dedicated.■ IT WAS gratifying to receive comments from various people who found the Balfour story in last week’s In Jerusalem interesting. One reader, Michael Vinegrad, referring to mention of Balfour House in London’s North Finchley, noted that the Jewish Agency’s London Office had been located there for several years.■ FORMER CHIEF of the Jerusalem District Police Force Mickey Levy, has much to celebrate this week. Aside from moving out of the Opposition into the ruling administration, he was elected Speaker of the Knesset and on June 21 will celebrate his 70th birthday. Hopefully, as Speaker, Levy will practice a little more decorum than he did as a member of the Opposition, where he was one of the screamers both in meetings of the Knesset plenum and in committee meetings. Curiously, Yariv Levin, whom he succeeds, celebrates his birthday a day later, on June 22, when he will turn 52. The two, who are obviously fond of each other, embraced, as they changed places.Until the term of Dan Tichon, who was the 11th Speaker of the Knesset, all Knesset Speakers were born in Russia, Poland, Iraq or Yemen. Tichon who was the first sabra Speaker, was born in Kiryat Haim and is an alumnus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.He was followed by Avraham Burg, Reuven Rivlin, Dalia Itzik, and Rivlin again, who were all born in Jerusalem. The pattern was broken by Yuli Edelstein, who was born in Ukraine, and Benny Gantz, who though a sabra, was born in Kfar Ahim, but then the top Knesset role was taken up by Levin and now Levy, who were both born in Jerusalem.greerfc@gmail.com
