Dr. Leslie Green

Thirty-eight members attended Esra Rehovot’s recent Annual General Meeting held at the home of Sylvia Arvatz. Also there were Esra chairperson Debby Lieberman and branch Chairperson Audrey Goodman.

Annice Grinberg gave a report on the monthly activities of the past year which included a wide range of interesting talks:  Dr. Arnold Rosin – The Edge of Aging; Jeremy Pfeffer – The Mosuo of China. A Society Without Husbands and Fathers; Rina Tzoref – Hearing Loss: How to Diagnose and what to Do; Gloria Mound – Hidden Jews: The Marranos; Ziv Hellman – Stem Cells; Rose Johnstone – This Must be Heaven: Chocolate as a Health Food; Mike Diamond – author of Subsurface, as well as an annual Hanukkah party and a musical evening with sandy Cash.

David Schwartz, the treasurer, gave his report ans stated that the group had made donations to its two community projects and that the branch had a working surplus in the bank.

Reports were given by Lucille Edelman on the after school project and Gila Schwartz on the Ethiopian handicrafts.

An election was held for the Esra Rehovot board for the coming year. Its members are: Sylvia Arvatz, Roy Caplan, Phyllis Collins, Benny Edelman, Lucille Edelman, Annice Grinberg, Evelynne Goldman, Seth Hoffman, Rose Johnstone, Joyce Lasovsky, Susan Lurie, Elisheva Schreiber, David Schwartz, Gila Schwartz.

Some time ago Esra’s Rehovot chapter decided against having a chairperson, and whoever hosts the board meeting acts as chairperson for the evening; so far it has worked very well.

Seth Hoffman then introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Leslie Green, who gave a most informative talk on osteoporosis, during which Dr. Green answered questions from the audience. Seth presented Dr. Green with a plaque in appreciation and Seth also thanked the members of the board for organizing the evening and Sylvia for her hospitality.

The Esra Rehovot board is very sorry to loose long time members Roy and Edith Dinar and wish Roy a speedy recovery following his stroke. We also wish Edith continued good health.

A few days after the AGM we heard of the tragic passing of Joyce and Mervyn Lasovsky’s son in the UK. The board and members of Esra Rehovot extend condolences to Joyce and Mervyn and all the family

This report was based on the minutes of the Annual General Meeting recorded by minute secretary Evelynne Goldman

Caesarea Five Towns

The delicious art of fruit degustation at Maagen Michael             

By:   Viviane Silverstone

I decided to join a recent Esra Caesarea – Five Towns excursion to Kibbutz Maagen Michael, simply because it was so close to home. To my delight, it also turned out to be an enriching and exquisite experience. We were visiting an orchard of rare exotic fruits – and it wasn’t at all as I had imagined. The orchard is surprisingly small, set against the slopes of some prehistoric caves, creating favourable conditions for a tropical climate.

The man responsible for growing such delights is Avraham Hassidim. To my mind, he is dedication and passion personified, and a great source of inspiration. The trail was quite short, but the number of different rare fruit trees was astonishing. Our host told us about the origins of each tree, and then he lovingly peeled, cored and quartered each fruit for our palate and our pleasure.

We ate to our hearts’ content, the most colorful, most delicious and most completely organic exotic fruits. On that wonderful morning in May I am sure I was not the only one who had an insight into what Gan HaEden might have been like. I felt that I was strolling in paradise.

Thank you to Marion Fredman who organized this unforgettable experience.