A Chelmer Purim Party

On Shushan Purim this year, March 15, 2006, there was a traditional Purim party for Chelmer's at the Renaissance hotel in Tel Aviv. The evening started in a simpler fasion than one would expect, since the invitations for the party had been sent out on the day that the postal strike began. Until the last minute, it was unclear how many people were to attend.

When the party was to begin, under half the hall was full, and this led to the postponement of beginning of the festivities. The event began over half an hour late.

The organization's president, Bentzi Levkovitz, opened the evening by discussing the recent relationship which had been established with the city of Chelm, as well as with a group of local volunteers in the city aiming to preserve its Jewish archives.

Immediately afterwards, Purim songs were sung by the attendees. At the point, our friend Chaim Lender provider a solo of Yiddish folk songs. His singing and the words of the songs were so nice that the main attraction of the evening, Gadi Yagil, who was already supposed to have begun his show, signaled to the audience to allow Chaim to continue singing as long as he's like.

When the entertainer Gadi Yagil made it to the stage, he gave a wonderful show. Parts of his show were melanges of Hebrew and Yiddish, and yet all members of the audience understood. After the loud applause, the entertainer let all know how he enjoyed performing for the group.

Most of those who attendend did not run off right after the show, but rather stayed and discussed the success of the evening with much satisfaction.

And if you thought that this was the end of the event, well you were wrong! The following morning, the front page of the Haaretz newspaper published an article on the event, written by Amiram Barkat:

http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=694863

A few moments after 6:00am the following morning, Israel's channel 10 stations called the organization's president requesting an interview for their morning show. They asked that he speak about Chelm and about the Chelmers living in Israel today. Throughout the day, he was interviewed by Israel Army Radio as well of the Voice of Israel radio station.

An additional interview had been planned with Israel's Channel 1, however, news of the Bird Flu had caused the cancellation of the interview.

We are grateful to the following people for the success of the event:

The sisters Chana Sheynis and Shosh Easterman and their husbands who sent our the invitations, arranged for the refreshments and set up the tables.

Liora Maron who arranged for the hall.

Dvora Shoham who invited Gadi Yagil.

Israel Becker without whoms lists and stickers the invitations could not have been sent out.

Moti Trager who photographed the evening.

Yaakov Drutin who filmed the evening.

Chaim Lender who helped in every way he was asked.

Moshe Galili who handled the Internet site and brings news of the upcoming events.

All other members who helped the evening become a success.

All members interested in help future events are more than welcome.

Bentzy Levkovitz, President of the Israel Chelmer Organization

Photos from the evening:
(Photos taken by Moti Trager)

Memorial Service 2005

On June 19, 2005 we held the annual memorial service at the "Leonardo Center" (of the Kibbutz movement) in Tel Aviv.

The organization's president Bentzy Levkovitz emphasized the importance of bestowing a sense of memorial onto the younger generation, and one of the important reasons in doing so is to prevent onset of Holocaust denial. The participants were told of students from Reut high school who have taken upon themselves the restoration of the cemetary. After the traditional candle lighting, the names of the dececed were read. Participants heard the singing of Henya accompanied by the guitar playing of her son Moti. The songs in Yiddish and in Hebrew were very moving.

Photos from the evening:
(Most of the photos were taken by Moti Trager)

Purim 2005

The Purim ball that took place at the Renaissance hotel in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, March 23, 2005 was a great succcess. The hall was completely full, requiring organizers to quickly add tables and chairs in order to avoid disappointing attendees.

Yaakov Bodu entertained the audience in Hebrew and Yiddish with many laughs.

The guest of honor of the evening was Mrs. Nechama Gonen, who works at the Holocaust Musium of New York. Mrs. Gonen is participated in the development of this website, in order to help more Chelmers and their decendants find their roots and reconnect with friends and family.

Mrs. Nechama with this site's webmaster.