Rabbi
Shira Stern and
Kenneth Bialkin. |
JERUSALEM
FOUNDATION
Holy City Wonders:
Where Art Thou?
By
Tim Boxer
| " |
 |
E
feel so lonely in Jerusalem,” lamented Ruth Cheshin,
international president of the Jerusalem Foundation at the gala
dinner at The Plaza.
“It’s
very difficult to show the beauty of Jerusalem,” echoed chairman Kenneth
Bialkin, “when there are so few visitors.”
Instead
of gathering in Jerusalem, supporters from several countries came to
New York’s Plaza Hotel for the Jerusalem Foundation gala dinner.
Marvin
Leffler and
Charlotte Frank. |
Bialkin
set the pace for the dinner by affirming that even in the face of
terrorist threats, “we celebrate because to do otherwise would
surrender to our enemies.”
He
added: “We celebrate because we believe in ourselves and in our
country and in Israel. We believe in Jerusalem as the center of hope
for three major religions and because we believe that one day our
efforts will be rewarded with a strong and free Israel with
Jerusalem as its capitol standing as a beacon of tolerance, freedom
and peace.”
Ruth
Cheshin presented a Builder of Jerusalem Award to Alan “Ace”
Greenberg, chairman of the executive committee of the Bear
Stearns Companies, Inc.
In memory of
his mother, Ace helped build the Esther Greenberg High School in
Gilo. He also funded a swimming pool and youth club in Jerusalem.
Irving
Schneider, ever so
modest. |
“We
took [my wife] Kathryn’s mother to Jerusalem,” Ace said.
“It was the most wonderful trip of her life. My granddaughter had
her bat mitzvah at Masada. We certainly got our money’s worth.”
John
C. Whitehead
presented the Builders of Jerusalem Award to Paul A. Volcker,
chairman of
the Independent Association of Eminent Persons with Regard to the
Distribution of Settlement Funds to Holocaust Victims.
Volcker
has been invaluable to the recovery of World War II reparations from
Swiss banks. Whitehead
is chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Violinist
Gil Shaham and pianist Yefim Bronfman performed
together in a tribute to the late Isaac Stern. Shaham wasn’t
uncertain if he would make it to the dinner – a few days ago his
wife gave birth to Elijah Jacob.
John
C. Whitehead, chairman
of the Lower Manhattan
Development
Corporation and
Jerusalem Foundation board
member, with daughter
Anne Whitehead. |
Bialkin
made a special presentation to Stern’s daughter, Rabbi Shira
Stern. In a video clip of Stern’s last appearance at the
Jerusalem Music Center two years ago, just prior to his death, he
remarked, “The greatest thing in life is to die young – but
delay it as long as possible.”
Teddy
Kollek,
who founded the Jerusalem Foundation to help improve the quality of
life, made an appearance on video to declare, “I hope to see you
all in Jerusalem – the sooner the better.”
Real
estate tycoon Irving Schneider told me about some of his own
accomplishments in Israel – but don’t write about it.
Ever
so humble, he noted that there are only two Jewish children’s
hospitals in the world – Schneider Children’s Hospital at Long
Island Jewish Medical Center and Schneider Children’s Hospital in
Petach Tikvah.
Alan "Ace" Greenberg performing
one of
his renowned magic tricks
for Israel Supreme Court Justice
Mishael Cheshin.
|
And
he built both of them. Schneider modestly declined to elaborate and
refused to be photographed to publicize his charitable
accomplishments.
Also
among the guests were Marvin Leffler, president of Town Hall,
and his wife Charlotte Frank, senior vice president of
the McGraw Hill Companies.
Charlotte
told me her granddaughter, Sarah Shapiro, is a sophomore in
the School of Engineering at Cornell University. What a coincidence!
Our son David is majoring in computer science at Cornell.
Will they meet on campus? Stay tuned.
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