July/August 2012 • Volume 7 • Issue 4 • Tammuz / Av /Elul 5772

The B’nei Menashe, immi-grants from northeastern India, will restart their aliya process this summer, following on from last years meeting of Israel’s Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorp-tion.

In March 2005, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar recognised the B’nei Menashe as “descendants of Israel,” and said they should be brought to the Jewish state. There was a set back in 2007 when then prime minister Ehud Olmert froze resettlement opportuni-ties and divided families.

Shavei Israel, an organisa-tion that has been assisting the community for over a decade, had lobbied intensively for resumption. The organisation, assists descendants of Jews to reconnect with their roots, the B’nei Menashe, claim descent from the tribe of Menashe, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the As-syrian empire more than 27 centuries ago.

B’nei Menashe community gains momentum in return to ancient homeland

In thIs Issue

regional newsHong Kong university professor visits Israel 3-7

Business newsIsrael and China on the fast track 8-9

art and cultureJewish Refugees and Shanghai

Exhibition opens in Israel 10-12

FeatureLimmud heads to China for a weekend retreat 13

one-to-oneElyezer Shkedy 14

Jta classifieds 20-21

Jewish communities in asiaCandle-lighting and the month’s Parshas 23

By Philip Jay, Editor

July / August 2012 • Volume 7 • Issue 4 • Tammuz / Av / Elul 5772 www.jewishtimesasia.org

received the rank of second lieutenant at a military base in the Negev. Gin was born in Mizoram, and made aliyah with his family in 1995.

In 2009 Shavei Israel, or-ganised for the first time, a group of seven young adults, descendants of another long lost Jewish community of Kai-feng, China, to make aliyah to Israel.

The organisation is currently active in nine countries, provid-ing assistance to a variety of dif-ferent communities to help them reconnect with Israel. Countries include India, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Russia and Poland.

Established 2006

The community, which numbers 7,232 people, resides primarily in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh.

“Around 1,700 B’nei Me-nashe have already made aliya, and their success in integrat-ing into Israeli society,” said Michael Freund, Chairman, Shavei Israel during last year’s meeting to pave the way for the immigrants to arrive.

Some 50 families, number-ing upward of 250 people, are expected to come before the end of August with the approval of the Interior Ministry, to be followed by another group later in the year. The families will be settled in the Galilee in co-ordination with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.

“The resumption of the B’nei Menashe aliya is long overdue, the last time we were able to bring a group was in 2007,” commented Freund.

Freund, previously served as an aide to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, launched an intensive lobbying campaign which resulted in the decision last year to bring the remaining B’nei Menashe to Israel. For-eign Minister Avigdor Lieber-man headed the committee.

“The return of this lost tribe to Zion more than 2,700 years after their ancestors were exiled by the Assyrian empire is noth-ing less than a miracle,” Freund said.

Shavei Israel is expected to cover the cost of transporting the immigrants as well as the initial period after their arrival, while the government will pay for their absorption. Transpor-tation from northeastern India to Israel alone is substantial, with budgeting for domestic and international airfare per person.

Last year, Shalem Gin be-came the first Israel Defence Force officer from the B’nei Menashe community. Gin

B’nei Menashe children celebrating Yom Haatzmaut

Celebrating the next festival of Sukkot in Israel

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Hong Kong university professor visits Israel

Professor Timothy Tong, President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led a delegation to Israel from 19-24 June, invited by the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs of Is-rael.

The purpose of the visit was to explore collaboration activi-ties such as student exchanges and joint research opportuni-ties, as well as to learn more about innovation and knowl-edge transfers between Hong Kong and Israel.

Members of the delegation included Professor Alex Wai,

Vice President (Research De-velopment), Professor Kwok Yin Wong, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, Chair Professor of Chemical Technology, and Winnie Eley, Director of International Af-fairs.

The programme included visits to three educational cam-puses: Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University and Technion. At the Weizmann Institute of Science they met Professor

Daniel Zajfman, President, Dov Keren-Yaair, Senior Advisor to the President and Dr. Ami Shalit, Director & Academic Secretary of Feinberg Graduate School.

In the Tel Aviv University, the delegation had a working lunch with Professor Raanan Rein, Vice President, and Profes-sor Asher Tishler, Dean, Faculty of Management – Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration and others.Luncheon hosted by Ruth Kahanoff

During their visit to the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa – meetings with Professor Paul Feigin, Se-nior Executive Vice President and professors of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Elec-trical Engineering and Chemi-cal Engineering.

The delegation also had an official tour of the Knesset and a meeting with Otniel Sch-neller, Member of Knesset.

The visit concluded with a luncheon hosted by Ruth Kaha-noff, Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific, Minis-try of Foreign Affairs, together with Hagai Shagrir, Director, North-East Asia Department and others.

The participants were opti-mistic that their meetings would pave the way for future collabo-rations among the universities and various planned exchanges are in the pipeline.

Vietnam, Israel hold third political consultationThe foreign ministries of Viet-nam and Israel held the third joint political consultation during Deputy Foreign Min-ister Le Luong Minh’s visit to Israel in May.

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh held a work-ing session with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Daniel Aya-lon. The two sides briefed each

other on the political and socio-economic situation in each country and expressed their delight at the development of the two countries’ relations and cooperation in various fields, particularly after the visit of Is-raeli President Shimon Peres to Vietnam in November, 2011.

The Israel side spoke highly of Vietnam’s economic achieve-

ments in past years, while af-firming that Israel wants to strengthen multifaceted coopera-tion with Vietnam, particularly in agriculture, trade, science, technology, health care, educa-tion and training.

The Vietnamese side as-serted that the country is ready to step up cooperation with Israel to maximise each other’s

Third from the left, Professor Timothy Tong and delegation being welcomed by Dov Keren-Yaair, (middle) of the Weizmann University at the campus

Former Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir passes awayYitzhak Shamir, Israel’s sev-enth prime minister, former Knesset speaker and foreign minister, has died at the age of 96. Shamir was laid to rest in a state funeral at Mt. Her-zl, Jerualem on 2 July.

Shamir was prime minis-ter in 1983-1984 and 1986-1992 and foreign minister 1980-1986.

“Yitzhak Shamir was a brave warrior before and after the founding of the State of Israel. He fought with courage against the British Mandate in the days of the underground

and his incredible contribution to the State of Israel during his time in the Mossad will remain forever enshrined in the tales of bravery of our nation. He was loyal to his views, a great patriot and a true lover of Israel

who served his country with integrity and unending commit-ment,” said Israel’s President, Shimon Peres.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also paid tribute to Shamir. “Yitzhak Shamir was from the generation of giants that established the State of Israel. He dedicated his life and all his might to ensuring the existence of the state, the free-dom of the Jewish people, the security of Israel’s citizens and the ingathering of the exiles,” Netanyahu commented.

“It is important to know

Yitzhak Shamir

that Shamir had a decisive role in directing hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union to the Land of Israel. He was also responsible for the immi-gration of 15,000 Jews from Ethiopia in one operation, which also expressed his deep commitment to the Zionist idea, to the Jewish future, and he was, of course, very forthright in his approach to the diplomatic issue.Today we have lost a true Jewish patriot and one of the Jewish people’s solid leaders,” Israel’s Prime Minster added.

strengths. Vietnam asked Israel to receive more Vietnamese apprentices in agriculture and open its market to Vietnamese labour.

The two sides agreed to maintain the joint political con-sultation between two foreign ministries, with the fourth ses-sion to be held in Vietnam next year.

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Regional News

UIA Dinner in Hong Kong launches its fund raising activities

On 5 June, UIA Hong Kong held their annual dinner and campaign launch at the Jewish Community Centre. Keren Hayesod – UIA is the primary and official fundrais-ing organisation for the State of Israel.

The event took place on a busy evening with over 160 guests from the Jewish commu-nity of Hong Kong.

The key note speaker was Brigadier General (Ret.) Mi-chael Herzog who is currently an International Fellow at the Washington Institute for near East policy and a Senior Fellow at the Jewish People’s Policy Institute, where he is running a project on the de-legitimisation

Michael Herzog addressing UIA Dinner

Amikam Levy, Consul General of Israel in Hong Kong, Mrs levy, Sigal Yaniv Feller, Israel Representative UIA HK & Far East and Ephriam Zion

Sheri Dorfman, Irit Barash, Director UIA English Speaking Countries and Philippe Bera, Young UIA

Robert Dorfman presenting a book on the history of the Ohel Leah Synagogue to Michael Herzog

flags painted by high school students at Elsa School.

In the courtyard by the Ohel Leah Synagogue was an enor-mous Israeli flag and a collage of smaller paintings of Israel made by elementary students at Carmel School.

The main focus of UIA Hong Kong’s fundraising efforts has been the “children at risk” in Israel. Today one in four chil-dren in Israel are considered at risk and UIA supports a number of programmes to help the next generation get a positive start in life.

The young leadership of the UIA Hong Kong, including Philippe Bera, Daniel Green

key negotiator with the Pales-tinians. The speech highlighted his positive feelings about the future of Israel and it’s standing in the international community.

Amikam Levy, Consul Gen-eral of Israel in Hong Kong, also addressed the guests with inspiring words on the signifi-cance of the Hong Kong Jewish community and raised a toast to the state of Israel.

The theme of the evening was Delicacies of the Diaspora, which highlighted the wonder-ful diversity of Jewish com-munities around the world. The dinner menu consisted of vari-ous dishes from countries with a strong Jewish presence and the tables were decorated with

of the state of Israel. Herzog re-tired from active duty in August 2010, after a long and distin-guished career.

General Herzog enlightened the audience with stories about his family and experiences as a

and Marco Hazan created a re-laxed atmosphere and the event was well received by the com-munity.


Jewish residents in 2012 Honours List

Regional News

A new torah finds its inspirational way to Indonesia

The Hong Kong SAR Gov-ernment published on 30 June 2012, the Honours List. A total of 295 persons were included in nine category sections.

Justice Michael John Hart-mann was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star and Rafael Aharoni awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star and the Meritori-ous Service Medal. This is the 15th year the full Honours List has been published since the reunification of Hong Kong to China.

Justice Hartmann award was the second highest level category award, in recognition of his loyal and distinguished service in the Judiciary, particu-larly his significant contribution as the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administra-tive List, and in the Court of Appeal in public law and family law spheres. Justice Hartmann is currently a Justice of Appeal

Israel pavilion at Yeosu 2012 World ExpoIsrael is currently partici-pating at Expo 2012 in South Korea, being held in the new port area of Yeosu. The lo-cation .is ideal for realising the Expo theme, The Living Ocean and Coast.

The site overlooks Hally-eosudo Marine National Park and Odong Island, and is sur-rounded by 317 jewel-like is-lets, having the perfect natural conditions to make the Expo’s theme come alive. The Expo runs from May – August.

The Israel pavilion takes visitors on an aquatic journey with an immersive underwa-ter journey and breathtaking topographical viewing ex-perience. It captures Israel’s unique marine offering as characterised across technolo-gy, science, education, culture and environment.

The façade of the pavilion was designed by renowned Israeli lighting artist Ayala Serfaty, showcasing the pavil-ion’s theme Sea of Inspiration captured in an aesthetically appealing style.

Visitors enter through an illuminated hallway that is adorned with images captur-ing Israeli marine activities along the four seas, from walking on the sea shore of

Rabbi Oser providing a talk on the background of the synagogue

Sea of Inspiration

the Mediterranean Sea, surfing on the Sea of Galilee, floating on the Dead Sea and diving into the Red Sea - gradually “lead-ing” the visitors into the deeps. This phase of the pavilion also emphasizes Israel’s wide ma-rine culture attractions. From ancient archaeological sites, to unique marine-inspired art, to water-oriented sports, Israel of-fers a rich aqua experience.

As the visitors turn the cor-ner, they go into a space, simu-lating an underwater reality. An imaginary world of micro-organisms unveils to the visi-tors on 8-metre long 18-light pillars, carries them to a dis-covery journey into the basic foundation of life, realising the human responsibility of saving our important natural resources.

“The Sea of Inspiration offers visitors a magical ad-

venture,” said Yaffa Ben-Ari, Commissioner General of Israel. “Visitors will encounter exquisite Israeli discoveries and innovations. New win-dows of knowledge about doz-ens of items will be open to your touch. The virtual exhib-its propose Israel’s ecological solutions for humankind while keeping the balance between man and nature.”

One of the three pillars of major global festivities, together with the Olympics and the World Cup, World Expos are large-scale events held with a specific theme in order to highlight the related achievements of humankind and its future prospects.

The very first World Expo was the Great Exposition held in Crystal Palace, London, UK in 1851.

my beloved mother”.

“The sefer torah was already put to use for a few Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s in Indonesia just a few months ago, and will be used for the next High Holidays in our synagogue,” added Ba-ruch.

Yaakov Baruch, is a local practicing Jewish resident in Manado, Indonesia. In 2004 his family built a synagogue. Jew-ish Times Asia May 2007 edi-tion, covered a story on Yaacov Baruch and his family’s Jewish roots.

Baruch wrote a prayer re-quest and made a wish to have a sefer torah for his community.

“I was surprised that just two months after I came back to Indonesia, I received a tele-phone call from a friend and he said his mother wants to donate a sefer torah to our synagogue. Baruch Hashem! finally the sefer torah arrived early De-cember 2011 complete with the kashrut certificate from the sofer,” expained Baruch.

The name of the person who donated is Esther bat yehudah - it reads inside the case “in loving memory of

The new torah in the synagogue

of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and has served in the Judiciary for over 28 years.

Rafael Aharoni was award-ed for his valuable contribution to humanitarian and voluntary services, as well as promotion of trade in the Jewish com-munity in Hong Kong. He is currently Chairman of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and involved in many other Jewish organisa-tions including; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chapter Mac-cabi World Union and President ZAKA, in Hong Kong and Ma-cau, the Israel based humanitar-ian volunteer organisation.

Mr Aharoni works in the diamond industry and is the former director of the Hong Kong Institute of Gemology. In 2008, the World Gemological Institute appointed Aharoni as the Institute’s first Chairman for China, Hong Kong and Ma-cau.

The small Jewish community in Indonesia has now its own sefer torah. Its only previous kosher torah was sent from Singapore arranged through the Chabad community and use for the High Holidays ser-vices only.

A synagogue in Surabaya did own a sefer torah but that was sent to Singapore many years ago.

The story about the new se-fer torah began last September when Yaakov Baruch, President & Founder, Shaar HaShamayim Synagogue was visiting Israel and spent time in Jerusalem at the Kotel.

Yaacov Baruch with the new torah

Interfaith gathering at Ohel Leah synagogue

Rabbi Asher Oser of Ohel Leah Synagogue welcomed an interfaith gathering of spiri-tual and cultural representa-tives in Hong Kong.

Well over 40 spir i tual leaders attended a tour of the synagogue on 14 May, the group are members of the Hong

Kong Network on Religion and Peace. Participants were escorted into the synagogue where Rabbi Oser took out a sefer torah for the group to see at close-hand.

Following the tour the group were invited for a buffet dinner at the Jewish Commu-nity Centre. A lively dialogue proceeded with Q&A session for the representatives to ask Rabbi Oser about Judaism.

Invited guests included Imam Muhammad Arshad from the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, Reverend Will Newman and Reverend Can-non David Pickering from St. John’s Cathedral.

Justice Hartmann

Rafael Aharoni

Rabbi Oser with interfaith leaders


Regional News

Start-Up Nation meets Asia’s next generation leaders

Left to right: Saul Singer, Dr. Vasudheva Reddy Akepati, Sharon Teo, Howe Wang, Lee Jae Eun

Ambassador Menashe Bar-On and Secretary Virgilio R De Los Reyes

An event held in Jerusalem on 29 May entitled: ‘Israel-Asia: Visions of the Future From the Next Generation’ – brought together young Asian visionaries, who are actively engaged in promoting Isra-el-Asia relations, to discuss what’s next in the Israel-Asia relationship.

Moderating the event was Start-Up Nation co-author, Saul Singer. A best-seller in India and Singapore, the book has been translated into Japa-nese, Korean and Chinese, and is recommended reading for government officials in China’s Jiangsu province.

Speaking on the interac-tive panel were graduating fel-lows including: Howe Wang from China, Sharon Teo from Singapore, Lee Jae Eun from South Korea and Dr. Vasudheva Reddy Akepati from India.

At the event, Israel-Asia Center founder and execu-tive director, Rebecca Zeffert, quoted from Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, in his call for Israel “to form links with the people of Asia...to find room for more of their youth in our institutions of higher learn-ing and facilitate practical train-ing… in an attitude of humility and fraternity.”

“Ben Gur ion’s recom-

mendations couldn’t be more relevant than they are today,” she said. “He saw the potential in people-to-people cooperation – that by working together to find shared solutions to com-mon challenges, we could build a shared future between Israel and countries in Asia.”

“There is kind of this ten-dency of Israel to focus west, because that’s what’s familiar and that’s been our image of where the market is,” said Saul Singer. “We need to start look-ing in another direction. The world 10-15 years from now is going to be a very different place,” he added.

Much of the focus of the panelists was on Israel’s inno-vative and entrepreneurial cul-ture.Wang, said, “What really drives the seed of innovation

[in Israel] is the mentality of constantly being unsatisfied.” However, Dr. Akepati, said that in Israel, there is less awareness of Asia. “We talk about global-ization, but most of my [Israeli] friends know very little about India. We need to start thinking about innovating together.”

“Singapore has a lot of les-sons to learn from Israel in en-trepreneurship and innovation,” said Teo adding that Singapore has pursued a very strong eco-nomic policy and is extremely open to new ideas – especially in education.

Wang said he saw great potential for Israel and China to work together on oil inde-pendence. “That’s a topic the Chinese government would welcome a discussion on. Re-garding China, it is important

to show the real value you can bring to them.”

Lee Jae Eun, compared Israel’s and Korea’s political and security situation, but said Israel could learn something from Korea’s ability to promote its positives, such as Korean industry and culture, food, and its strength in building a good image.

Architect of Israel’s pavil-ion at the Shanghai Expo, Haim Dotan, who attended the event, asked the fellows what they saw as their world in 30 years from now.

“We are going to be the ones who will shape our govern-ments. Governments are shaped for the people, by the people, and we are the people,” said Teo. Wang saw that the world will be more of a transparent place with technology develop-ment.

The event marked the con-clusion of the 2011-12 Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship, an 8-month programme. The pro-gramme supplements the uni-versity studies of high-caliber Asian students studying in Is-rael. The fellowship comprised twelve fellows from across

Asia, ranging from bachelors students to post-doctorate re-searchers, in a variety of fields from cleantech and agritech to Holocaust education and Mid-dle Eastern studies.

Director of the North-East Asia Division at the Israel Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, Hagai Shagrir, commended the Israel-Asia Center for this initiative and all the partners who made the Israel-Asia Leaders Fellow-ship a reality.

“Your ini t ia t ive at the Israel-Asia Center is exactly the thing that we encourage and we commend you for that and we commend the 12 leaders fellows who took part in this initiative…we are seeing them as emissaries and ambassadors and as a bridge between Israel and Asia.”

Maccabi kids

Agricultural cooperation between Israel and the PhilippinesIn an effort to continue the agricultural cooperation be-tween the two governments, the embassy of Israel in the Philippines signed a two-year extension on the Phil-ippine-Israeli Center for Ag-ricultural Training (PICAT) project together with the Department of Agrarian Re-form (DAR).

Signing on behalf of the DAR was Secretary Virgilio R De Los Reyes, who expressed optimism on the project’s extension. Secretary De Los Reyes also praised Israel’s ag-ricultural practices such as the Kibbutzim and desert farming.

Israel’s Ambassador Me-nashe Bar-On, signed on be-half of the State of Israel, stat-ed that signing is “a symbol of the strong relations between

Israel and the Philippines”.Ambassador Bar-On add-

ed: “Sharing our knowledge in agriculture is our commitment in improving and being part of the Philippine agricultural industry. PICAT is also an av-enue where farming methods will be modernised and im-proved.”

Launched in 2006, PICAT seeks to promulgate an agri-cultural and R&D coordina-tor that will promote farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability in the province of Nueva Ecija with the coop-eration of Central Luzon State University.

Presently, the PICAT cov-ers the entire Region III and contributes to the farmers’ standard of living in the Phil-ippines.

Participants and supporters of Maccabi Hong Kong got together on 17 June at an end of season awards event. Cer-tificates and prizes were given to all those that participated in the various programmes dur-ing the course of the season.

Maccabi Hong Kong orga-nises both boys and girls soccer programmes from ages 5-11, an adult soccer team and basket-ball. This year was an excep-tional season with two teams winning football tournaments in a local five-a-side competition.

A welcoming address was made by Daniel Gordon, one

Flas

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Howe Wang (left) and Lee Jae Eun

Flas

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Maccabi participants receiving certificates and medals from Daniel Gordon

Maccabi Hong Kong end of season awards

Jason Webber with David Effron

of the founders and organis-ers of Maccabi Hong Kong. A new award was initiated by lo-cal Hong Kong resident Jason Webber, the David Price Fair Play Award in memory of Da-vid Price. This award will be presented each year to the Mac-cabi footballer who demon-strates “sportsmanship” to the game and to his fellow players throughout the year. The very first award was made to David Effron.

“The David Price Fair Play Award is dedicated to the memory of a very dear friend of mine and of Daniel Gordon

who tragically passed away in London several days ago”, said Webber.

“David was an absolute leg-end in British Jewish footballing circles who devoted his time, over more 30 years, to coach-ing and managing the aspiring David Beckhams of British Jewish youth football. Literally, 100s if not 1000s of footballers passed through David’s hands. David’s mantra was always “fair play” and “sportsmanship” and Daniel Gordon and I are certain David would have been touched to see his name associated with this award,” concluded Webber.


EL AL’s Torah for Jewish Unity arrives

From left to right: Yair Berrebi, General Manager Asia & Oceania, EL AL, Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon, General Elyezer Shkedy, President & CEO, EL AL and Amikam Levy, Israel Consul General to Hong Kong

Regional News

EL AL Torah Unity Scroll

Gabriela Hoberman

General Elyezer Shkedy giving an address on the Torah project

The Chabad community of Hong Kong in conjunction with EL AL Israel airlines organised a special ceremony at the Chabad House on 13 June. An event attended by all the various Jewish communi-ties and rabbis in Hong Kong.

Special guests included Israel’s Consulate General to Hong Kong, Amikam Levy and General Elyezer Shkedy, EL AL President & CEO.

Food and cocktails were served with a special L’achaim said by Rabbi Mordechai Avt-zon, Director of Chabad in Hong Kong. Addresses was

made by Elyezer Shkedy, Rabbi Avtzon, and Consul General Amikam Levy. Members of the community were invited to add a letter to the torah. The invited sofer was Rabbi Shalom Chazan, of Chabad Shenzhen, China.

Shkedy spoke about the ini-tiative of the Torah Unity proj-ect. About two years ago, Israe-li President Shimon Peres was on an official visit to Germany to speak to the German parlia-ment. Shkedy asked if he was The most luxurious boats

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Former Hong Kong resident selected for Bronfman Youth FellowshipGabriela Hoberman was se-lected into the Bronfman Youth Fellowship programme. She was one of a group of 26 high school students from the US and Canada.

The Bronfman Fellows will participate in an intensive five-week programme of study, travel, and extensive learning in Israel designed to develop future community leaders com-mitted to Jewish unity.

Gabriela was born in Hong Kong and attented Carmel School and moved to the US in 2006. She is the daughter of Dr. Jerome Hoberman and Dr. Grace Chou of Hong Kong, and Ms. Rhondda May and Andrew Brodie of Atlanta, Georgia.She is a Yeshiva Atlanta High School junior.

A 2008 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards winner, Gabri-ela also attended the St. John’s College Summer Academy in Santa Fe and the Iowa Young Writers’ Workshop last sum-mer. She is co-head of the Georgia branch of B’nei Akiva (at Young Israel of Toco Hills) and is active in her school’s newspaper, literary magazine, and musicals.

Following a competitive application process, Bron-fman Fellows are picked from 12 states across the US and Canada. They represent diverse

Jewish backgrounds, including orthodox, conservative, reform, reconstructionist, unaffiliated and non-denominational. The programme was founded by Edgar M. Bronfman.

“Bronfman Fellows gain a special opportunity to explore their Jewish identity in fresh ways. The Fellowships in Israel offers a powerful experience that, as 25 years of success show, can last a lifetime,” said Edgar M. Bronfman.

Rabbi Mishael Zion, Co-Director, Director of Education of the Fellowship explains, “We have the privilege of working with young participants who are already leading in their communities. We, in turn, in-still in them a love for learning Jewish texts, a commitment to pluralism, and a sense of social and Jewish responsibility.”

going to take any significant tributes to give to the German diplomats and enquired if he was to travel with a symbolic torah. Perhaps inspired by the first Israeli astronaut into space a good friend of Shkedy, Peres said he did not have anything symbolic to give, so Shkedy ar-ranged for a torah to travel with the president.

The Unity Torah Scroll is smaller more portable in size, so now whenever EL AL flies around the world there is an opportunity for Jewish people in every country to participate. The torah has been to over 100 countries, starting in the US and more recently into China and now Hong Kong.

A decorated general in the IDF serving as the CEO of EL AL, Shkedy’s idea was simple yet powerful. Bring the Jews from around the entire world together through jointly writing a Sefer Torah. Shkedy also presented a Book of the Tanach to all the various com-munity rabbis that were present.

While visiting Hong Kong, the Israeli Chamber of Com-merce in conjunction with the Consulate General of Israel held a luncheon meeting on 14 June in his honour.

Shkedy gave a talk on “Pres-

ent Economy, Aviation in Israel and Around the World”. The speech was very well received by the attendees made up of the Jewish business community as well as local business leaders and many government officials.

A interesting Q&A session was held with issues relating to policies on more flights to Israel, tourism and security.


Business News

Israel and China on the fast track

Israel Katz, Israel's Minister of Transport and Road Safety, is visiting China in July to dis-cuss China’s involvement in rebuilding Israel's largest-ev-er railroad project, a venture that would connect Tel Aviv with the tourist resort city of Eilat.

Katz disclosed the news at the Israeli embassy in Beijing. It is his second visit to China within a year. As recently re-ported in Jewish Times Asia, Minster Katz was in China last year to establish a memoran-dum of understanding (MOU) on the Eilat railway project.

According to the Israeli minister, some 260 kilometres of a 370 kilometre long railroad needs to be rebuilt to achieve a transportation speed of 250 to 300 kilometres per hour. The railway would also provide a link to the ports of the Mediter-ranean Sea and the Red Sea as an alternative to marine trans-portation.

Katz added that the railway is of strategic significance be-cause it is expected to facilitate transport between eastern and western countries.

The Israeli Minister indicat-ed that the company that they are in discussions with is China Communications Construction Company Ltd, as they have the

tions and commemorate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Israel this year.

A Chinese delegation, in-cluding representatives from the China Communications Con-struction Company Ltd, will travel to Israel later this month for further negotiations.

technological strength to under-take the project.

However, Israel Katz de-clined to identify which com-panies would be responsible for financing the project or how much investment it would involve, but he added that his delegation is discussing tempo-rary investments with the China Export and Import Bank.

An unidentified source said that Israel’s largest-ever rail-road network project involves an estimated 20 billion yuan in investment.

Katz has signed the MOU with Chinese Minis ter of Transport Li Shenglin on the upcoming endeavour. The Is-raeli minister called the MOU a monumental event that would bond ties between the two na-

Singapore Air Force upgrades to Heron 1The Singapore Air Force has inaugurated the Israel Aero-space Industries Heron 1 un-manned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a replacement for the Searcher 2 UAV, also manu-factured by Israel Aerospace.

“The UAVs have realised the vision of the Singapore armed force’s founding pio-neers, but only through contin-ued investments to develop this capability,” says minister for de-fence Ng Eng Hen. “As a result, the armed forces today is an advanced user of UAVs, which are used routinely in exercises as well as in operations.”

The Heron 1 will be oper-ated by 119 Squadron, says Sin-

gapore’s defence ministry in a statement. It did not specify the number of aircraft the squadron will operate.

“The Heron 1 provides us with enhanced situational awareness of the battlefield as it has better detection capability and three times the flight endur-ance of the Searcher UAV,” says 119 Squadron commander Low Jun Hong.

“It also gives us the abil-ity to see things in colour as compared to the monochrome video system of the Searcher UAV. This allows us to detect targets that could not have been detected previously with the Searcher.”

Heron 1

50 million smartphones to embed Discretix technologyAccording to Globes newswire, Discretix Technologies Ltd, a leading global provider of field proven content protec-tion solutions is predicting smartphone manufacturers: Samsung, Motorola Mobility, LG, Panasonic and Sharp will sell 50 million smartphones with its embedded technology.

Samsung’s new smartphone, the Galaxy S3, has embedded security technology made by the company. Discretix devel-ops DRM flash memory proces-sors which are embedded in the memory.

For the Galaxy S3, the com-pany provides encrypted access for high definition video and TV broadcasting applications. The security solution can sup-port video, movies and premi-um TV content, which require protection. The company’s Wi-Fi Display technology also gives the Galaxy S3 the ability

to securely stream content via wireless to a TV screen. The solution uses TrustZone ARM security technology.

“Discretix believes that the new smartphones are becoming increasingly important in users’ daily lives, and they will quick-ly become the main way video and TV services are consumed,” says Discretix CEO Coby Sella.

In April Discretix signed an agreement with Taiwan’s HTC Corporation to embed its technology in its new flagship handset, One. The company is headquarted in Kfar Netter, Israel and has offices in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Israeli train and station


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Alvarion to provide Philippines with optimised access

Suntech Power strengthens ties with Israeli companiesSenior company officials of China’s Suntech Power, the world’s largest maker of solar panels, recently met with exec-utives of Israel’s solar energy industry.

Israeli participants at the meeting, arranged by the Israel Export and International Co-operation Institute, included executives of Pythagoras Solar Ltd, Solaris Synergy Ltd, Watts and More Ltd, bsolar Ltd and SolarBead Ltd.

Currently, Suntech Power is the largest supplier of solar panels to Israel. Suntech’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Stuart Wenham headed the delegation. After meeting the Israeli execu-tives and reviewing Israeli solar energy technologies and devel-opments, Wenham said, “Israel is a growing market in the solar energy industry, and we hope to deepen the dialogue with Israeli companies in the field to better understand their technologies and expand our activity and bring it to new levels.”

Export Institute target coun-tries director Assaf Bar-Moshe said that Suntech should be

Solar Panels

Shopping mall Wi-Fi friendly

viewed as a natural partner for supplementary solutions offered by Israel’s solar power industry. “We’re pleased that Suntech has identified Israel as a technology powerhouse, besides Suntech being a target market for Israeli exporters,” he said.

Separately, the 16th Clean-tech 2012 expo which was held in Israel on 3-4 July announced that representatives of foreign companies which visited the expo in Tel Aviv signed NIS 65 million in deals with Israeli companies. Hundreds of Israeli renewable energy companies displayed their developments and innovations at the expo, which was visited by hundreds of guests and representatives of leading foreign companies.

Alvarion Ltd, a leading pro-vider of optimised wireless broadband solutions recently announced a multi-million dollar project with Philip-pine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) to provide carrier-grade Wi-Fi access starting with over 3,000 hot zones around Manila’s metro-politan area, and continuing to other major areas around the Philippines.

Installation has begun on the first phase and the entire project is expected to be completed in two years. PLDT is the largest telecommunications company in the Philippines providing the largest and most diversified range of telecommunications services.

This Wi-Fi Zone Project provides access to a premium, high-speed Wi-Fi service in over 3,000 public areas such as cafes, bars and clubs, car deal-erships, salons, shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas.

In order to make this solu-tion visually appealing around the city, Alvarion designed graphical sleeves applied to the

Wi-Fi units that make it envi-ronment friendly and camou-flage it with the surroundings.

PLDT myDSL subscribers get unlimited access to the pre-mium Wi-Fi Zone service using one username and password in all of the 3,000 Wi-Fi zones na-tionwide.

Alvarion’s WBSn solution was chosen by PLDT amongst the vendors who participated in a field trial performance test. These tests were conducted in busy streets, parks, restaurants and office buildings connecting handheld devices such as lap-tops, tablets and smartphones.

Alvarion passed the criteria that included the capability in reaching long distances, over-coming dense urban obstacles such as trees and solid struc-tures, and penetrating inside public buildings such as muse-ums and libraries.

“With Alvarion’s advanced technology, professional net-work planning and experienced engineers, we were able to offer PLDT exactly what they needed in a Wi-Fi solution,” states Hezi

Lapid, President and CEO of Alvarion,

“We have enabled a nation-wide network of carrier-grade Wi-Fi hot spots that will give PLDT’s customers strong Inter-net connection anywhere they are, delivering a fantastic user experience no matter where the customer may go,” Lapid added.


After several years working on the commentary, transla-tion, editing, and proof-read-ing, Rabbi Steinsaltz together his team and Koren Publish-ers have launched a new Eng-lish Talmud.

The new version is not only an outstanding, user-friendly and beautiful book, but a “sa-cred book”, one that will serve our generation and many gen-erations to come.

Known as the Koren Talmud Bavli, it is a groundbreaking edition of the Talmud that fuses the innovative design of Koren

Publishers based in Jerusalem with the in-comparable scholarship of Rabbi Adin Stein-saltz.

Page extract

New Steinsaltz English Talmud launched

Art and Culture

Jewish Refugees and Shanghai Exhibition opens in IsraelA ceremony to open the Jew-ish Refugees and Shanghai Exhibition was held in Be’er Sheva on 25 June, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the es-tablishment of the Sino-Israeli diplomatic relations.

The event was jointly organ-ised by the Embassy of China in Israel, the Shanghai Jewish Refu-gees Museum, and the Munici-pality of Beer Sheva. Counselor Shi Yong, of the Chinese Em-bassy, Ruvik Danilovich, Mayor of Be’er Sheva among others at-tended and delivered speeches. More than 50 guests were invited to the opening ceremony.

Mayor Danilovich expressed his gratitude for the great sup-port given by the Embassy of China and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum to launch the

Bellahsen dancing in ManilaAt the Myra Beltran studio, independent dance groups from the Philippines were in for a totally new dance experi-ence, a very special workshop led by one of Israel’s most-renowned dancers, Ilana Bel-lahsen.

Bellahsen’s workshop was part of a myriad of cultural ac-tivities headed by the Embas-sies of Israel, Italy, Finland and France, along with the Alliance Francaise de Manila and the Goethe Institute. Celebrating two months of dance culture, this international festival brought the spotlight onto many foreign tal-ented young people.

Student dancers from differ-

ent universities dropped by the Lyceum University of the Philip-pines which hosted Bellahsen in a separate workshop.

The young artists performed unique dance exercises and learnt about choreography. Bellahsen also shared some of her thoughts and views on dance in an open forum with the students along with Arco Renz of Germany and Emmanuel Serafin of France.

The 30 year-old Bellahsen has won numerous accolades and achievements garnering her inter-national and hometown recogni-tion. In 2007, she was honoured by Israel’s Ministry for Culture for her talent and abilities.

exhibition. He said the exhibi-tion exposes the selfless love and humanity of the Chinese people, and represents the touching chapter of the history of friend-ship between Chinese and Jewish people.

The City of Be’er Sheva is expecting to establish twin cities with Chinese local counterparts, and promote the development of the bilateral relations and friend-ly exchange of the two peoples

Counselor Shi Yong ex-pressed warm congratulations on the exhibition. He pointed out that in the past 20 years, the two countries have made fruitful pragmatic cooperation in econo-my and trade, science and tech-nology, culture, education and

other fields.

The friendship between Chi-nese and Jewish people could be traced back to thousands years ago, especially during WWII, Chinese people lent a helping hand to the survivors of the Nazi massacre of the Jewish people, and provided warm, safe and de-cent homes for tens of thousands of Jewish refugees.

Visitors at the exhibition

Counselor Shi Yong presents a book to Mayor Danilovich

Left: Ilana Bellahsen with student dancers

The new Talmud

The Talmud is in full-colour that presents an enhanced Vilna page, a side-by-side English translation, photographs and il-lustrations. To accompany the commentary, a multitude of learning aids to help the begin-ning and advanced student alike actively participate in the dy-namic process of Talmud study.

The complete set has 41 vol-umes.


Art and Culture

Ka’et Ensemble perform at Singapore Arts Festival

Music Therapy workshop in Yangon

Israeli Music Therapist, Ms. Tsvia Horesh, conducted the first music therapy workshop in Yangon, Myanmar from 28 May to 8 June.

Daw Lilian Gyi, director from Eden Centre for Disabled Children asked the Embassy of Israel in Yangon to introduce such course for local teachers and para-medical therapists in order to help children with spe-cial needs.

As a result a workshop was organised, by Triangle Genera-tion Humanitaire (TGH), and European Union in cooperation with the embassy.

Israel’s Ambassador to Myanmar, Yaron Mayer opened

Tsvia Horesh

the workshop together with the officials from Eden Centre for Disabled Children and TGH.

Twenty five teachers from nine special education schools and centres participated in the workshop which equipped them with insight into the therapeutic role of music making for chil-dren with disabilities. Horesh is exepcted to come back to Myanmar in October 2012 for follow up training with the par-ticipants.Eran Katz

Singapore welcomed in May, Ka’et Ensemble, a creative group made up of 5 orthodox religious men. The ensemble are graduates of Kol Atzmo-tai Tomarna Dance-Theater School, who express their cultural and social identities through dance, and bring their unique voices to the ar-tistic and cultural dialogue of the contemporary dance world.

Choreographed by famed Tel Aviv choreographer Ronen Izhaki, Ka’et Ensemble is a post-modern dance that combines the movements of daily prayers, re-ligious chants and synagogue at-tire. The group performed at the Singapore Arts Festival for two nights. The crowd pleasers had

100% attendance for both shows.

The men are not professional dancers and have day jobs; one is a rabbi at a Yeshiva. When they made their debut last year at the Lab, an important alternative art -space in Jerusalem, audiences

enjoyed their shows with sold-out concerts.

The group presented an astonishingly intense dance, Highway No.1, with movement, costumes and sound score taken from Jewish religious practice.

Ka’et Ensemble

Israeli memory-trainer Eran Katz in Manila Guinness world-record holder, and mentalist, Eran Katz, was in Manila recently where he held a mini-work-shop and book signing for newly-discovered fans in the Philippines.

His humour and jaw-drop-

ping performances were well received by his audience in the Makati Greenbelt district.

Katz has stunned audiences all over the world; including the World Science Forum in South Korea held a few years ago.

Described as a “phenom-enon” and the “memory guru”, Katz has also been a popular guest on many radio and TV shows. He is also a well-known author, publishing best-sellers in 12 countries, having sold more than 500,000 copies.


Taiwanese artists featured at Israel exhibition

Art and Culture

Dining in the Dark inspiration in Nepal

The Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu, wishing to spread the concept to the visu-ally impaired people around the world, organised a Restau-rant in the Dark event in May at the Imago-Dei Restaurant, Naxal, Kathmandu.

The restaurant was open for two weeks for anyone who would like to experience the world of the visually impaired and taste some great food in a darkened environment. Al-though the concept of Restau-rant in the Dark has never been tried in Nepal, it has gained much popularity in Israel and in countries like the US, Australia, UK, Switzerland and Canada.

Israel’s Ambassador to Ne-

Ambassador Goder arrives at the restaurant

pal, Hanan Goder said, “This is an example of solidarity that ex-ists between all parts of the soci-ety. We are proud to be a part of such solidarity”.

The concept of this restau-rant is to provide an unusual social experience. Customers will be taken to a completely

dark room where their food will be served and will be guided by the visually impaired waiters. In short, the visitors will have to completely rely on the guides and their senses.

A short exhibition – pictures with explanations, before enter-ing the restaurant, showed the difficulties blind people face in society.

The embassy has dedicated the year 2012 for people with special needs and recently or-ganised its annual film festival focusing on people with special needs. It will also be conducting training on ‘People with special needs’ along with Dhulikhel Hospital later this year.

The works of 16 Taiwanese modern artists will be on dis-play in Israel, from 18 May -11 August, in a collabora-tion between two major art museums in the two coun-tries.

Entitled, Boundaries on the Move: A Cross-Cultural Dialogue, the exhibition is co-organised by the Herzliya Mu-seum of Contemporary Art and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. It features Taiwanese artists ac-tive from the 1980s to the pres-ent and three contemporary art-ists from Israel in dialogue with one another, a Taipei museum released stated.

They will examine those boundaries that are “on the move” in everyday life in the

Visually impaired musicians performing at the restaurant

context of social, political and economic issues facing Taiwan and Israel today, and address complex issues of individual identity, territorial borders, so-ciety, economics and immigra-tion in an era of advanced tech-nology and globalisation.

The exhibited art works in-clude photography, video, oil pantings, print and sculptures, the press release said.

Modern art exchanges be-tween the Taipei museum and Israel can be traced back to an exhibition on modern Israeli designs in 2003 and another in 2008 when the Taipei museum collaborated with Israel’s rep-resentative office in Taipei in celebration of Israel's 60th an-niversary.


Fo r t h o s e w i t h a r a t h e r n a r r o w understanding of the Jewish world,

the idea of Limmud China might come as a surprise. But those who know a bit about Limmud will probably be thinking, it’s about time.

Limmud is now a global phenomenon, bringing Jewish learning of every imaginable content and style to Jews of ev-ery stripe. Limmud started in 1980 in Britain and the latest addition to the Limmud Inter-national family, Limmud China, has already surpassed that first Limmud event.

In June, about a hundred people, mostly from Beijing and Shanghai gathered in the as-tonishing setting of the Huang-ya Villa, a complex of classical Chinese courtyards nestled into the Great Wall of China itself, for a day of Jewish learning.

Such things don’t happen by chance (alone!). The American Joint Distribution Committee, known affectionately as ‘the Joint’ has recognised that Lim-mud is a brilliant model for em-powering ordinary Jews and, as elsewhere, they set about help-ing a Limmud team achieve great things in Asia.

It’s a tricky act. Both mid-wife and parent, the Joint has

Limmud heads to China for a weekend retreatAnd if that wasn’t enough,

he assured us all that Chinese people just think the Jews are marvellous. We are, it seems, the most successful people on the planet, punching far above our weight, making money beyond anyone’s wildest imagining, surviving and thriving against all the odds – and always win-ning! Music to my ears – utter astonishment to many others!

As so often happens after Limmud sessions, discussion spilled out after the session and continued in the queue for lunch. Fabulous kosher food provided by the Chabad of Bei-jing including, of course, hum-mus and sweet and sour fish.

Supplied by Clive A Lawton

Clive Lawton has best been described as Diaspora Jewish Educator of the Year by the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. He was one of the founders of Limmud worldwide back in 1980 and now retained by Lim-mud International as its Senior Consul-tant, chair of development charity Tzedek and a former head teacher of King David high school in Liverpool. He is also a broadcaster and writer, and helped pio-neer Holocaust studies for schoolchildren in several countries. He has served as the vice-chairman of the Anne Frank Educa-tional Trust.

– contrast enough to the recent Limmud Jerusalem which had other walls on its horizon – and that several of those attending had Chinese features, along with the usual collection of semitic and eastern European types.

Being in Asia, it also attract-ed people from the Phillipines, Singapore, India, Tokyo and Hong Kong, the first gathering of ordinary Jewish folk from across Asia ever. Almost all ‘ex-pats’. Like 1950s Israel, af-ter asking someone where they were from, you then had to ask them ‘And where are you from originally?’

But for me the most Chinese aspect was a lecture given by a Chinese – non-Jewish – profes-sor of Jewish Studies at Nanjing University. There is apparently a Chinese view that ‘if you don’t understand Jewish culture and its impact, you can’t understand the world’.

have worked to make the event happen enlist the support of all those present to help make this truly something belonging to all the paticipants.

Leading educators help to stack chairs, little children make up registrations packs, young adults argue enthusiastically with elders, super-frum folk try and get their heads around what makes some secular guy tick.

The ‘pre-shabbat’ retreat shared by the (Reform) Kehillat Beijing and the Limmud volun-teers not only gave me a Limmud training opportunity with the group in more reflective mode before the reality of their event actually struck, but it also en-abled Limmud to demonstrate its model of principled co-existence where Jews genuinely differ.

There was a very healthy Or-thodox minyan on Friday night without any challenge to the Ke-hillat Beijing’s own retreat ser-vices held in the same complex. Limmudniks chose either.

Then, we all said Kiddush and havdala together. In the Limmud maxim, ‘the things we can do together, we’ll do to-gether; the things we can’t do to-gether, we’ll do separately’. Not exactly stunning you’d think, but a rare model for Jews behav-ing like grownups.

So Limmud China was very Limmud-y. But how was it Chi-nese?

Set aside that it was more or less on the Great Wall of China

to help bring this thing into the world, while tactfully recog-nising that most of the work is done by the mother. And then as parent, eventually they will aim for their child to leave home.

Meanwhile, Limmud Inter-national, based in the UK but working all over the world, is the family, helping this new young thing to feel befriended and secure. OK, I’ll probably break the back of this metaphor if I go on much longer, but you get the idea.

Anyone who’s been to Lim-mud anywhere in the world will know what I mean by ‘Lim-mud-y’. There’s a moderate franticness, needing to choose a session from the range on offer, coupled with a slight worry in case you’re missing something good in another session at the same time, coupled with a love-ly feeling of fellowship and mu-tual help as the volunteers who

Limmud Beijing participants

Limmud volunteers

Limmud China getting into the spirit

Clive Lawton on the right with participants

About Limmud

Limmud is the Hebrew word for learning. It is an approach to cross-communal Jewish educa-tion that started in the UK in 1980 and is now being enjoyed by communities throughout the world.

Limmud aims to enable each participant to go one step further on their own Jewish journey. Events include lectures, work-shops, text-study sessions, film, meditation, discussions, exhibits and performances to ensure that there is always ‘something for everyone’ as diverse as its par-ticipants.

Limmud International was cre-ated as a project of Limmud in 2006 to provide guidance and support to groups around the world as they develop, grow and become part of the global Lim-mud family. Limmud now reach-es over 60 different communities around the world.


One-to-One Interview

where else. Try to find an ex-ample, you cannot. We are very proud of it, it is part of our iden-tity. The people, the airline and the state.

Jewish Times Asia: On a more personnel note, speaking of your days as a fighter pilot on F16s, isn’t there a lot of wear and tear on the human body?

With a top fighter almost ev-ery flight you reach supersonic speeds. It is very interesting but it’s not beyond human capabil-ity to withstand the strain. The fact is, it’s a process, a compli-cated process and you are devel-oping your ability to do it all of the time, day by day. It is not as if you think today you are going to do something unique, this is when flying with fighters.

When the first F16 arrived in Israel it was the first air fighter that could do 9G. Until then it was 4, 5, or maybe 7G. Under the new concept of how to de-velop an airplane you could do 9G every time and the question was, would that cause you dam-age. Maneuvering... 9G - for every G you can picture what is happening inside you body - you see your face, your arm is nine times heavier than nor-mal, every internal part of the body feels the same, heavy, the stomach, the heart whatever and there was a big debate.

I have flown F16s for about 30 years I can say it is OK. The ability of human beings is prov-en.

Interviewed by Tony Henderson

Elyezer Shkedy, President and CEO of EL AL Israel Airlines joined the airline in January 2010 after a distinguished ca-reer of nearly 33 years in the Israeli Air Force, earning the rank of Major General.

Shkedy was visiting Hong Kong in June, Jewish Times Asia sat down with EL AL's president to discuss the airlines position in Asia and his personal experiences as a fighter pilot.

Jewish Times Asia: What is the situation regarding Asia in the development plans of EL AL?

We are trying to put Asia more clearly on our map. We fly into four places in Asia: Hong Kong, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Beijing. We are trying to in-crease flight frequency. Lately, a year ago, I decided to make a change and we enlarged the capacity into Asia and added flights into Hong Kong, Mum-bai and Beijing and that was quite a dramatic change.

It is complicated to get ‘slots’, especially in Beijing. One slot we got into Beijing was not attractive so we did not take it. We know what we want and that slot did not fit our require-ments. The capacity in 2011 be-came much bigger than before.

I am thinking fiercely about the next step for Asia. One thing is to further increase the fre-quency and capacity to the same places, or, whether to open new routes - and it’s not a simple de-cision. I see that within 2 to 3 years we will have even more capacity and more routes. Then again, should we open the new routes in the same countries or open new countries?

The second issue is, develop-ing our ability to reach beyond our extant places, with code shares (where a partner or EL AL can sell a ticket all the way to say Australia despite that EL AL does not fly to Australia, and vice versa, for our partners where EL AL flights are included in their schedules. We see us flying all around Asia with partners.

Jewish Times Asia: Will there be deals such as with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific?

We always think from the commercial point of view. Other airlines likely do the same. As we understand it, at the moment, with the code share arrange-

From F-16s to Boeings EL AL chiefsees only blue skies ahead

ments with other airlines from Israel to places around Asia this is a good solution, a win win so-lution. We are talking with each other about the new terms, with calculations, not just chatting.In Thailand and in China crucial talks have been held.

Jewish Times Asia: Doesn’t the involvement with partners create security risks?

We are very proud about our security as, no matter what, we have solutions and as things arise we find solutions. It’s not an issue we can overlook and the issue of security is always on the table. We work on it all the time and we work on it with our partners running security. But security is not a problem.

Jewish Times Asia: Are there some countries that have a lot of potential?

Certainly, and that’s why we seek to create code sharing agreements around Asia and we will do this at the highest level and build a network. A good ex-ample is Australia as the number of people flying between Israel and Australia warrants attention and we do this but on indirect flight routes.

Hong Kong is only 8% of our total revenue from Asia, includ-ing cargo. In Asia we connect our passengers to the two hubs of Hong Kong and Bangkok.

But, we must do revenue management and though, for ex-

ample, the Philippines is a big market, we have to get the fig-ures right. It’s all about the price. We get continuous requests from groups but unless the price is right we don’t go for it.

Anyway it is impressive to see our reach and how it is spreading. We are opening up Nepal and Fiji, as two new plac-es. In Fiji there are Christians, there are UN soldiers.

Jewish Times Asia: Is there something special EL AL of-fers that others might not?

Airlines look for stability and reliability and airlines know that we always fly, even during the Iraq war, we were flying. The Middle East has perpetual problems but we keep flying no matter what. Look at the situa-tion now, everything looks to be risk. Over the last year and a half with Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, but we are flying and we get support from friends of the Jewish nation.

Jewish Times Asia: So you are already part of an alliance?

No, not under the terms of what’s commonly understood as an alliance. The way we do it is through code shares, as men-tioned, but this does not make us partners in any of the three ma-jor airline alliances, even though we would like to be.

We know that a lot of things are not straightforward, so we have taken the direction of cre-

ating one-to-one agreements, which is much more complicat-ed but it’s achievable, so instead of having a link with one alli-ance, which is convenient, we go one by one and we find this is a win-win situation.

We are doing this in the US and in Canada. Also, in Russia, in Asia with the Chinese and the Thais, and we are expanding this procedure though it means we have to work harder – be-cause the end result is what we want. It’s a process.

This was decided back at the HQ in Israel, that this is the direction we want as there is a great potential for us in Asia but we have to be patient. Every-thing we have done so far has worked. The process launched in Asia is on the right track.

Jewish Times Asia: Is EL AL a national airline or privately owned?

It’s a combination, a very interesting combination. First, for the practical aspect we have been private since 2004. For the symbolical point view EL AL is the national airline. You see the symbol of EL AL has the flag of Israel displayed on the tail of our airplanes. Israelis and the Jewish people from all around the world, supporters of the state of Israel and tourists that want to come to Israel, understand that really it’s a unique airline.

You cannot find this any-

Elyezer Shkedy

Elyezer Shkedy served as the Commander of Air Force from 2004 to 2008 and prior to that was the Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2004.

Shkedy has served as Head of Air Directorate (2000-2002), Commander of Ramat David Air Force Base (1998-2000), Head of the Operations Department (1994-1996), and Head of the Combat Branch in the Opera-tions Department (1993).

From 1991 to 1993, he served as Head of the team that estab-lished the F-16D “Valley Squad-ron,” which he also commanded.

Shkedy holds a BSc in Math-ematics and Computer Science with Honors from Ben-Gurion University and an MA in System Management with Honors from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Shkedy is married to Dr. Anat Shkedy and has 3 children - Nimrod, Maya, Omer.



Australia is the land of plenty and when it comes to single J e w s w e h a v e

many. If you have been busy cultivating wonderful careers abroad but have found it hard to connect with other Jews, why not visit Australia to meet your match?

One example is a company called j-junction. It provides a confidential and discreet intro-duction service based on the age old practice of matchmak-ing but with a modern twist. This service is available to ev-eryone. j-junction has now had sixteen weddings, nine babies, and over ninety people cur-rently in existing relationships through its introductions.

With a large group of highly professional qualified women putting up their hands to be matchmakers it comes back to one word…Love. Charging through the well-known bar-riers that often block singles to meet, these fearless women make connections happen.

Calling all Jewish Singles – Australia awaits you!Their motivation is ‘Jewish

Continuity’ but beyond that it’s simply about giving the “hope of love.”

Michelle Lewis is chief operational manager and chief-matchmaker. She noticed lately there is a real shift in the way Jewish guys are thinking. “A lot of guys who are already on the move in Asia and the US would be willing to move to Australia for the right girl if career pros-pects were good,” Lewis said.

j-junction even offers its Platinum Service. Picture it as an elite executive search. They are headhunting to find some-one suitable to fit your criteria. Not only looking within the database but throwing the net much wider, including interstate and even abroad.

This service suits busy pro-fessionals who have no time to look for love or anyone who has simply had enough.

j-junction is developing a solid track record with clients as far as Asia, US and South Africa. These clients have

staff, this is no different, but j-junction won’t charge a whop-ping bill on success. j-junction Platinum will also review appli-cants from other dating sites and assist with advice. The service includes reviewing resumes, writing and tailoring profiles to suit each particular candidate.

So how does it work? It’s simple, the teacher appears when the student is ready... so when you feel you have had enough of the same old, same old, that’s when you contact Michelle Lewis at j-junction.

She is equipped for the chal-lenge starting with ten years in specialist recruiting then add another ten years of manage-ment experience in a leading introduction agency. She is the author of Flirting 101. With so many social media platforms a lot of people have forgotten the basics, how to communicate. “We help you open the door and let the conversation begin,” says Ms Lewis.

Supplied by Odile Faludi.

tential matches before their ar-rival or start setting up meetings ahead of their arrival in Austra-lia. Their personal matchmaker is on hand to assist them every step of the way. It is comfort-ing to know that all candidates are vigorously background checked.

As we all know, there has been many online cases where people create false profiles in order to lure unsuspecting singles into thinking they have met their dream partner only to leave them waiting at the arrival gate after sending their dream date the airfare.

This and other scams prey on the knowledge that someone looking for love will easily fall for someone who can romance them in cyberspace. At j-junc-tion, the candidates are “real” and their behaviour is moni-tored by the matchmakers to protect our members. Trust and respect are two words which are very much part of the charter.

Corporates will spend as-tronomical amounts of money for head hunters to find suitable

planned long and short visits to Australia with the aim of meet-ing a potential partner and many successful relationships have resulted from these encounters.

The process begins with a Skype interview followed by reference checking and then sending the client profiles. The overseas visitor can then choose to start corresponding with po-




In May 2012, Dr Yossi Leshem was invited by the Government of Taiwan as a personal

g u e s t o f t h e P re s i d e n t , Professor Ma Ying-Jeou, to participate in the inauguration ceremony for his second presidential term of office.

Dr. Leshem is Founder and Director of the International Center For the Study of Bird Migration at Latrun, Israel and-has worked at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Isra-el (SPNI), the leading NGO in Israel, for 25 years. Leshem has been involved in many aspects of nature conservation, with the emphasis on bird research for 38 years.

“My unique bond with Ma was built in 1998, when I was invited, together with 80 other representatives of BirdLife In-ternational to Taiwan, to partici-pate in a conference whose aim was the strengthening of the activities of the Government of Taiwan in the promotion of Im-portant Bird Areas (IBAs) and the preservation of biological diversity,” explains Leshem.

Israel and Taiwan extending feathered relations sions during which Leshem delivered the key note lecture, attended by about 80 academics and birding organisation mem-bers.

“I was awarded the honour of being present in the hall with the heads of the delegations - even ambassadors weren’t in the hall! Participation in the official inauguration ceremony, attended by 50 delegations from around the world, and a festive dinner at a hotel together with 450 guests,” Lashem comment-ed.

While in Taiwan, Leshem also visited the Endemic Spe-cies Research Institute in Nantou County, and met with researchers, and lectured to 60 researchers and conservation-ists.

“In Chinese we speak of “building a nest to attract the Phoenix” – in other words “build it and they will come”.

We really hope to “take off” to a new horizon, both Taiwan and Israel, President Ma was quoted in saying during the in-auguration ceremony.

“About 15 representatives were chosen to meet with the president of Taiwan and the mayor of Taipei. I brought to the meeting a framed poster of storks above Jerusalem that was “hot off the printing press”, and mayor Ma, was full of enthusi-asm from the meeting, invited me for a second visit during which I met with the Chief of the Taiwanese Air Force who wanted to learn about our achievements on the topic of birdstrikes.

“A year later Ma came on a reciprocal visit to Israel, and was my guest at Latrun, and the bond between us tightened,” Leshem added.

About two years ago, the Representative of Taipei Eco-nomic and Culture Office in Tel Aviv, Liang-Jen Chang, came to Israel and was asked by the now president Ma, to increase collaboration and hosted a Tai-wanese delegation, headed by Lt. General Liao Jung-Hsin, Chairman of the National Secu-rity Council of Taiwan.

Leshem commented at the

Israel,” said Leshem.

While in Taiwan for the inauguration, Leshem met with Ma for a whole hour. A person-al meeting with the Chief of the Taiwanese Air Force, General Yen-Ming was also arranged with lectures for the senior staff of the Taiwanese Air Force and senior representatives from flight safety. More than 50 of-ficers were present.

In addition a half-day con-ference on the topic of bird-migration in Israel and Taiwan with five lecturers and discus-

time that the Lt. General was not only a Mirage pilot but also a ‘sworn birdwatcher’. The ar-rangements were also handled by Israel’s Economic Represen-tative office in Taiwan.

“As a result of the visit we decided to promote the idea of collaboration in the fields of flight safety, environmentally friendly agriculture, study of raptor migration with satellite transmitters, and schoolchildren via the Internet to learn about migration, and promote birding tourism between Taiwan and

Dr. Yossi Leshem

Jewish New Year 5773 / Rosh Hashanah Greetingswill be appearing in our September 2012 edition

We provide a choice of greetings and messages.A selection of sizes available depending on your budget.Costs include colour, pictures, text design and layout.

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Maccabi World Union (HK Chapter) Ltd. Hong Kong – Macau - China

Hon. Chairman Hon. Judge Michael Hartmann

Chairman Rafael Aharoni

Vice-chairman & TreasurerJeremy Levy

Vice-chairman Yariv Yaakobi

Secretary Dr. Naomi Rodrig

Board of Directors Rafael Aharoni Yair Berrebi Gil Inbar Kobi Itzchaki Yaron Gil Lamy Jeremy Levy Dr. Naomi Rodrig Erez Weiss Yariv Yaakobi

Supporters Dr. Judith Diestel Edwin Epstein Rabbi Shimon Freundlich - Beijing Yaron Geiger Dan Hoffmann Michel Jospe Moty Kafry Isaac Kamhin Eitan Livne Mark C. Michelson Daniel Moldovan Robert L. Meyer Avraham Nagar Elan Oved – Shanghai Bernie Pomeranc - Shengzhen Caterina Rajchenberg Shay Razon Andre Rofe Joe Teichmann

Two years ago, we celebrated the 18th World Maccabiah Games

*World’s 3rd Largest International Sports Event*

The Maccabi spirit is working wonders all over the Jewish world. MWU has enjoyed a year of excellent mass events infused with Jewish and Zionist motivation, all working towards the Maccabi answer to the difficult times that we live in. Six years ago, the 17th Maccabiah Games took place on 11th July 2005 in Israel was absolute success, especially when China, Hong Kong and Macedonia participated in the games for the first time since 1932. We, Hong Kong brought some medals back.

With 8,500 athletes competing, including 5,000 from abroad, the Maccabiah Games was a celebration of sports and Zionism. Competitors from 55 countries gathered to celebrate solidarity between our people.

Today, we are looking forward to the 19th Maccabiah Games in 2013. With the larger team from Hong Kong, Macau, China which will participate in the games. Hope you can all join in July 2013. Please start saving your money for the trip to Israel. I promise you will have the best time of your life.

On behalf of the Macabi World Union, Macabi Hong Kong – the Board of Directors and myself, I wish you all a splendid evening. Enjoy yourself and God Bless!

Yours truly

Rafael Aharoni Chairman Macabi Hong Kong

Thank you. We couldn’t have come this far without you.

Room 712 East Ocean Centre, 98 Granville Road, TST East, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel. (852) 23121111 E-mail : [email protected] Fax. (852) 23116999

Special Days

Three Weeks of mourning – understanding the significance

Th e t h r e e w e e k s between 17 Tammuz and Tisha B’Av have historically been days

of misfortune and calamity for the Jewish nation and a period of mourning is observed.

Seventeenth of TammuzA fast day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the destruction of the Holy Temple. No eating or drinking is permit-ted from the break of dawn until dusk. (Should the day coincide with Shabbat, the fast is delayed until Sunday.)Catastrophes that occured:• Moses broke the tablets at

Mount Sinai — in response to the sin of the Golden Calf.

• The daily offerings in the First Temple were suspended dur-ing the siege of Jerusalem, after the Kohanim could no longer obtain animals.

• Jerusalem’s walls were breached, prior to the destruc-tion of the Second Temple in 70 CE.

• Prior to the Great Revolt, the Roman general Apostamos burned a Torah scroll – setting a precedent for the horrify-ing burning of Jewish books

throughout the centuries. • An idolatrous image was

placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple – a brazen act of blasphemy and desecration.

Ninth of AvThe intensity of mourning reaches a peak on Tisha B’Av, the Ninth day of the month of Av. On this day five national ca-lamities occurred:• During the time of Moses,

Jews in the desert accepted the slanderous report of the 12 Spies, and the decree was issued forbidding them from entering the Land of Israel. (1312 BCE)

• The First Temple was de-stroyed by the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar. (586 BCE)

• The Second Temple was de-stroyed by the Romans. (70 CE)

• The Bar Kochba revolt was crushed by Roman Emperor Hadrian. (135 CE)

• The Temple Mount was plowed under, and Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city

Other grave misfortunes throughout Jewish history co-

incided with the Ninth of Av, including the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the outbreak of World War One in 1914, and the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942.

During the three week peri-od, various aspects of mourning are observed by the entire na-tion. We minimize joy and cele-bration – no weddings are held, we do not listen to music, nor are there haircuts or shaving. The expressions of mourning take on greater intensity as we approach the day of Tisha B’Av.

Sundown marks the com-mencement of Tisha B’Av, where no eating or drinking is permitted until nightfall the fol-lowing evening. It is also for-bidden to bathe or wash, wear leather shoes, or engage in mar-ital relations.

We also refrain from Torah study except for texts relevant to Tisha B’Av and mourn-ing such as the Book of Eicha (Lamentations) and Job, and certain sections of the Talmud.In the Book of Eicha we read Jeremiah’s poetic lament over the destruction of Jerusalem

and the First Temple. It is read in the synagogue as part of the evening service.

Special Kinot (elegies) are also recited, both at night and during the day. We also mini-mize business and leisure ac-tivities. Through the process of teshuva – self-introspection and

a commitment to improve – we have the power to transform tragedy into joy. In fact, the Tal-mud says that after the future redemption of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, these days will be re-dedicated as days of rejoicing and festivity.

Tu B’AvTu B’Av is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month of Av. It has been called affectionately the Jewish day of love and has become a popular date for Jewish weddings.

It may be also be significant because the mitzvah to fast on your wedding day is also dropped.

Tu B’Av falls one week after the sombre Tisha B’Av, yet it is considered one of the most joyful days of in the Jewish calendar.

First mentioned by Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel in the Taanit, restrictions on young men and women associating with eachother were lifted. It was a day considered to finding their intended part-ner in marriage. During this time, women would dress in simple white dresses so as to not appear distinctive from the others. They would not wear jewellery or make-up so the men would get to know them for the intelligence and kindness rather than for their external beauty.

Through the years, Tu B’Av has become a symbol not only for romance, but for hope, since a number of positive events that have affected the Jewish people have taken place on this date.


CambodiaChabad Jewish CenterHouse # 32, Street 228, Phnom Penh, CambodiaTel: (855) 85 807 205 www.jewishcambodia.com

CHinaBeijing Chabad House and Community centre: Fang Yuan Xi Lu, next to the south gate of Si de Park, beijing, PR China Tel: (8610) 8470 8238 ext. 210, (86) 13910740109www.chabadbeijing.com

Chabad of Ya bao Lu: Jian Guo men diplomatic bldg, building 3,2/F, 223 Chaoyangmennei Street, beijing, PR ChinaTeL: (86) 1352 2016 427 Email: [email protected]

Kehillat beijing (Reform): Capital Club athletic Center, 3/F., ballroom, Capital man-sion, 6 Xinyuan nanlu Chaoyang district, beijing, PR China Tel: (86) 10 6467 2225 www.sinogogue.org

GuangzhouGuangzhou Chabad: 31 He Ping Lu, overseas Village, Guangzhou, China Tel: (86) 137 1050 5049 www.chabadgz.org

ShanghaiShanghai Chabad (Shanghai Jewish Center): Shang-mira Garden Villa #1, 1720 Hong Qiao Road, Shanghai, 200336, PR ChinaTel: (86) 21 6278 0225 www.chinajewish.org

Chabad of Pudong: Vila # 69, 2255 Luoshan Road, Shanghai, 200135, PR China Tel: (86) 21 5878 2008 www.chinajewish.org

Sephardi Shanghai Center: building b. apt. 3 (Room 103),1000 Gubei Road, Shanghai, PR China 201103Tel: (86) 21 6208 8327 mobile: (86) 15900808733Email: [email protected], [email protected]

ShenzhenShenzhen Chabad: no.4, block a, Guishan Xiaozhu Yanshan Road, industrial area, Shekou nanshan district, Shenzhen, PR ChinaTel: (86) 755 8207 0712 www.chabadshenzhen.org

HonG KonG Jewish Community Centre: one Robinson Place, 70 Robinson Road, mid-Levels, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2801 5440 www.jcc.org.hk

Chabad of Hong Kong: 1/F Hoover Court, 7-9 macdonell Road, mid-Levels, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2523 9770 www.chabadhk.org

ohel Leah Synagogue: 70 Robinson Road, mid-Levels, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2589 2621 www.ohelleah.org

United Jewish Congregation (Reform): Jewish Community Centre, one Robinson Place, 70 Robinson Road, mid-Levels, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2523 2985 www.ujc.org.hk

Shuva israel (orthodox): 2/F Fortune House, 61 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2851 6300 www.shuva-israel.com

KowloonKehilat Zion (orthodox): Unit 105, 1/F, Wing on Plaza, 62 mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon Tel: (852) 2368 0061 www.kehilat-zion.org

Chabad of Kowloon: 11 Hart avenue, 2/F, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Tel: (852) 2366 5770 Email: [email protected]

india (mUmbai) magen david Synagogue: 340 Sir J.J. Rd, byculla, mumbai Tel: (91) 22 23006675

Kenesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, 43 dr V.b. Gandhi marg, Fort, mumbaiTel: (91) 22 22831502 / 22839617

Kurla bene israel: 275 C.S.T. Rd, Jewish Colony, Kurla (W) mumbai, indiaTel: (91) 22 511-2132

JaPan Kobeohel Shelomoh Synagogue and Community Center: 4-12-12, Kitano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650, Japan Tel: (81) 78 221 7236 www.jcckobe.org

TokyoTokyo Chabad: 1-5-23 Takanawa, minato-ku, Tokyo Japan 108-0073 Tel: (813) 5789 2846 www.chabad.jp

JCC Japan: Tokyo Jewish Community Centre, 8-8 Hiroo 3-Chome, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150 0012, Japan Tel: (813) 3400 2559 www.jccjapan.or.jp

nEPaL Chabad House: GHa-2-516-4 Thamel, Kathmandu, nepal Tel: (977) 980 324 1294 [email protected]

PHiLiPPinES beth Yaacov Synagogue: 110 H.V. de la Costa cnr, Tordesillas West, Salcedo Village, makati City, metro manila 1227, The Philippines Tel: (632) 815 0265 www.jewishphilippines.org

SinGaPoRE Chesed-El Synagogue: 2 oxley Rise, Singapore 238693

Jacob ballas Community Centre & maghain aboth Synagogue: 24-26 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187950Tel: (65) 6337 2189 www.singaporejews.org

United Hebrew Congregation (Reform): email:[email protected]

SoUTH KoREaChabad: 744-18 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-Gu, Seoul 140-893, South KoreaTel: (82) 107 730 3770 www.jewishkorea.com

TaiWan Taipei Jewish Center: 2/F no. 8, Lane 180, Songde Rd, Xinyi district, Taipei City 110, Taiwan Tel: (886) 9 2392 3770

Taipei Jewish Community: 16 min Tsu East Road, Second Floor, Taipei, Taiwan, RoC Tel: (886) 2 2591 3565 email:[email protected]

Taipei Jewish Services: Sheraton Taipei Hotel, 12, Zhang Xiao East Road, Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan Tel: (886) 2 2321 5511, (886) 2 2394 4240

THaiLand Jewish association of Thailand: 121 Soi Sai nam Thip 2, Sukhumvit Soi 22, bangkok, Thailand Tel: (662) 663 0244 www.jewishthailand.com

Chabad of Thailand: 96 Rambutttri St. banglamphu, 102000 bangkok, Thailand Tel: (662) 629 2770 www.chabadthailand.com

bet Sefer Chabad: 221 Sukhumvit Soi 20, bangkok, 10110 ThailandTel: (662) 258 3434

Chabad of Phuket52/32 Ratch U-thit Song Roy Pee Rd. (opposite Patong Post office), Second row of town houses, Patong, Katu district, Phuket 83150

Chiang Mai189/15 Chang-Clan Road, Chiang mai, Thailand, on street of night bazaar, 100 meters before The Empress hotel Tel: (66) 81 870 2249

ViETnam Chabad: 5a (villa) nguyen dinh Chieu St., dakao ward, district 1,Ho Chi minh, Vietnam Tel: (84) 90 9166770 www.JewishVietnam.com

JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN ASIA

Candlelighting times are taken from Chabad.org.

July / August Parashas

7 July 2012 / 17 Tammuz 5772: BALAKA king named Balak wanted to curse the Jewish people. He sought out a prophet named Balaam to carry out this wish and sent his officers to summon him. Balaam asked G-d if he could go, but G-d immediate-ly told him not to go and curse the Jewish people because they were a people who were “blessed.” But when Balaam relayed this answer to the king’s officers, Balaam left that part out. An angel tells Bilaam to only use the the words G-d gives him and consequently blesses the Children of Israel. The Moabites entice the Israelites into idol worship.

14 July 2012 / 24 Tammuz 5772: PINCHASAs a reward for his act of zealousness, Pinchas is appointed as a Kohain. Although a grandson to Aaron, he was not included in the original selection of Kohanim. No other person would ever be so honoured. Moshe is told to do battle against the Midianites in retaliation for the incident at Baal Peor. Moshe counts the Children of Israel in preparation for entering the Promised land. Moshe divides Israel through a lottery that miraculously matched each tribe to its proper portion. The Leviyim are counted. Moshe is told to prepare for his death, and Joshua is chosen as his successor. The remainder of the Parsha details the various public sacrifices offered throughout the year: daily, Shabbat, Musaf, Rosh Chodesh and Yom Tov.

21 July 2012 / 2 Av 5772: MATOT / MASEIMatot includes the laws of making and annulling vows, the surprise attack on Midian in retribution for the devastation the Midianites. The purification after the war of people and vessels, dedicating a portion of the spoils to the communal good, and the request of the tribes of Reuben and Gad for their portion of land to be east of the Jordan river. Masei includes the complete list of journeys in the desert (the name of each stop hints at a deeper meaning). G-d commands to drive out the land’s inhabitants, to destroy their idols and to divide the land by a lottery system. G-d establishes the borders of the Land of Israel. New leadership is appointed, cities of the Levites and Cities of Refuge (where an accidental murderer may

seek asylum) are designated. Lastly, the laws are set forth regarding accidental and willful murder as well as inheritance laws only for that generation regarding property of a couple where each came from a different tribe.

28 July 2012 / 9 Av 5772: DEVARIMThe beginning of the last of the Five Books of Moses. Also called Mishneh Torah (repetition of the To-rah) as it includes many commandments already mentioned in the Torah, but also has many command-ments that are mentioned for the first time. It is also considered to be Moses’ last address to the Children

of Israel as was spoken by him in the last five weeks of his life.

4 August 2012 / 16 Av 5772: VE’ETCHANANMoses prays that he should be allowed to enter the Promised Land, but G-d upholds the decree that he will not do so. Moses exhorts the Children of Israel to uphold the Torah and tells them of G-d’s promise that there will always be a remnant of Israel. The Ten Commandments as were written in the Book of Exodus with few differences. The first paragraph of the Shema.

11 August 2012 / 23 Av 5772: EKEVMoses continues his address to the Children of Israel by telling them to trust in G-d and that they should diligently listen to G-d. The laws of Birkat HaMazon. The seven foods for which the Land was blessed, and for which we say a special blessing after eating them (wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive and dates). Warning against thinking that Israel could achieve a victory with their own might.

18 August 2012 / 30 Av 5772: RE’EHA choice is placed in front of the people. They can choose to keep the Torah which will bring blessings, or they can choose to forsake the Torah and bring about curses. The sanctity of the Land of Israel. The command to destroy all idolatrous images and icons in Israel. Private altars would only be permitted until a more permanent Sanctuary (in Jerusalem) would be built. The laws of the Tithe, prohibition of eating blood and the different animals, birds and fish that can and cannot be eaten and the laws of the Shemittah year.

25 August 2012 / 7 Elul 5772: SHOFTIMThe Torah teaches us the importance of upholding the law, both religious and civil law. It commands us to appoint judges of good standing who will dispense the law righteously and will not be intimidated. It also commands us to appoint a king who will be one of our own, who will be a person of stature, both morally and in wealth, but will not be allowed to live a life of such great opulence that he will loose sense of what his role is. Two Sifrei Torah will be written for him, one to be placed in his archives, one to be with him at all times, and also that he should always read from it. The laws of engagement in war are given and the Parasha concludes with the law of a body found near a city.

Countries 6 July 13 July 20 July 27 July 3 August 10 August 17 August 24 August 31 August

bangkok 6:32 6:32 6:31 6:30 6:27 6:24 6:21 6:17 6:12beijing 7:28 7:25 7:21 7:15 7:08 7:00 6:51 6:41 6:30Guangzhou 6:59 6:58 6:56 6:53 6:50 6:45 6:40 6:34 6:28Hong Kong 6:54 6:53 6:51 6:49 6:45 6:41 6:35 6:30 6:23Katmandu 6:45 6:44 6:42 6:38 6:34 6:28 6:22 6:15 6:08Kobe 6:57 6:55 6:52 6:47 6:42 6:35 6:27 6:19 6:09manila 6:11 6:11 6:11 6:09 6:07 6:03 6:00 5:55 5:51mumbai 7:02 7:02 7:00 6:58 6:55 6:51 6:47 6:42 6:36Perth 5:07 5:11 5:15 5:19 5:24 5:28 5:33 5:37 5:41Shanghai 6:44 6:42 6:39 6:35 6:30 6:24 6:17 6:09 6:01Singapore 6:57 6:58 6:58 6:58 6:58 6:57 6:55 6:53 6:51Seoul 7:39 7:36 7:32 7:27 7:21 7:13 7:04 6:55 6:45Taipei 6:30 6:29 6:27 6:25 6:20 6:15 6:09 6:03 5:56Tokyo 6:42 6:40 6:36 6:32 6:26 6:18 6:10 6:02 5:52

Candle Lighting Times for July / August

Fast of Tammuz:8 July 2012 (17 Tammuz 5772)

Rosh Chodesh:20 July 2012 (1 av 5772)

Tisha B’Av:29 July 2012 (10 av 5772)

HOLIDAYS/ FASTS/ ROSH CHODESH/ SPECIAL DAYS

Tu B’Av:3 august 2012 (15 av 5772)

Rosh Chodesh:18 august 2012 (30 av 5772)19 august 2012 (1 Elul 5772)


Documents

July/August 2012 • Volume 7 • Issue 4 • Tammuz / Av /Elul 5772