Weekly Bulletin of

The Jerusalem Rotary Club Club # 13459, District 2490

30 January 2013

Upcoming Programme February 6:

Club Assembly

February 13:

Prof. Ranon Katzoff (ret.),

Classical Studies Dept, Bar

Ilan University: How I May Have Seen the Messiah in

Rome

Future Events February 1:

Mid-year District confer-

ence - Quality, Excellence and Ethics, Netanya Col-lege, 08:00. Registration

and further details from

P/Rafi Aldor

April 25-28:

Annual outing to Peniel-by-

Galilee. Three days of frat-

ernizing, touring, swim-

ming in hot springs and

more

Club Officers President:

P/P Rafi Aldor

Secretary:

R/ Zvi Sharoni

Treasurer:

P/P Sandi Darmon

Immediate Past President:

P/P Elly Kenner

Board Members

P/P Rafi Aldor

R/ Yaron Amitai

R/ Art Braunstein

(Programme Chair)

P/P Richard Fain

P/P Marilyn Farber

P/P Elly Kenner

P/P Shlomo Khayat

R/ Michael Mertes

R/ Mike Rand

R/ Zvi Sharoni

P/P Kern Wisman

This Weeks Programme

Dr. Amotz Asa-El, WSJ Columnist:

"Israels 2013 Elections - What Now?

Amotz Asa-El, the former Executive Editor of the Jerusalem

Post, is a commentator for the Wall Street Journal/ Mar-

ketWatch, and a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

His column in the Jerusalem Post, "Middle Israel," is now in its

18th year, and is famous for voicing mainstream Israel's view

on anything - from politics and business to culture and reli-

gion. His column in the Wall Street Journal's financial website, "A View

from Jerusalem," analyzes economic trends in the Middle East.

Amotzs book, The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel, has been re-

viewed by the Wall Street Journal as "an engaging history that vividly

captures the creativity and nomadic quality of the Jewish people." Asa-

El's writing on Diaspora affairs has been awarded twice from Bnai Brith.

Amotz Asa-El was a Foreign Correspondent for the San Francisco Chroni-

cle and joined the Jerusalem Post as its Business Editor in 1995. He is a fre-

quent commentator of Middle Eastern affairs on Reuters, BBC, CNN, and

IBA English News.

Holding advanced degrees in journalism

and history from Columbia University in

New York and the Hebrew University in

Jerusalem, Asa-El lives in Jerusalem with

his wife Nurit and their three children.

Dinner meeting at the Jerusalem Interna-

tional YMCA, Wednesday 30 at 19:00

District News

The Annual District Convention will be held on 23-26 May at the Rhodos Palace hotel in Rhodes. See the District website for more details. The cost

is US$ 1060 per couple on half board basis, including

flight. Register directly with the travel agency organiz-

ing the event, as detailed in the brochure circulated to

the membership a few days ago.

Shlomo K., Acting Secretary

2

International Toast

Sutherland, Australia

Our Club was toasted last week by the

Rotary Club of Sutherland (District

9750, New South Wales, Australia).

This week we reciprocate their good wishes,

adding our belated congratulations on

Australias National Day (January 26). The Aus-

tralian national holiday commemorates the arri-

val of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, New South

Wales in 1788 and the

proclamation at that

time of British sover-

eignty over the eastern

seaboard of Australia,

then known as New Hol-

land.

Sutherland is a suburb

in southern Sydney, in

the state of New South

Wales, Australia, some

26 km south of the Sydney central business dis-

trict (CBD).

The Rotary Club of Sutherland has about 35

Members and about 10 Friends of Rotary. It was

chartered in 1958. They meet weekly on

Wednesday nights. Four (!) PDGs are current

members of the club. Their President is Warwick

Parnell. An instance to their activities is their

participation in the Big Bike Day Out at Wara-

tah Park Sutherland last year to raise

funds for the Sutherland Early Support

Service.

Michael M.

To learn more about the Sutherland RC, look at that

clubs website: www.sutherlandrotary.org.au or

facebook account: facebook.com/SuthRotary

Dear Members,

On 23 May we will all fly to Rhodes, where our annual District Conference will be held at the Rhodes Palace hotel. There, we will be

joined by fellow Rotarians from clubs in Greece and Romania.

I am pleased to inform you that the first flight is fully booked, and a second flight is being arranged.

Several members wanted to know why we are holding the conference

outside of Israel. I would therefore like to explain the considerations that were before us:

1. Conferences in Israel significantly more expensive than in

Rhodes. We held negotiations with a number of hotels and do-mestic travel companies, and realized that prices we received for

two nights and artistic programme, excluding the GD Ball, were

considerably higher than for the flight to Rhodes, three nights at a 5 star hotel there, tours, artistic programme , DG ball and more.

2. Our money will remain largely in Israeli hands: 60% of what

we pay will go to Arkia airlines and Kanfei Meshek, the Israeli

tour operator.

3. We are part of a global organization and part of the global econ-

omy. Rotary is an international organization. Remember that

whenever we make a community project in Israel through "matching grants" we bring in money from clubs around the

world (hopefully we will contribute more to the Global Fund in

the future.)

As part of a global organization, there is room

for holding our Annual Conference in a neigh-

bouring country; by helping that countrys

economy, we also help ourselves. After all, we

live in a global village, and if Greece's economy

collapses, we will pay the price too. We all remember how in 2008 the U.S. and Europe

crisis hit us all.

So see you at the Conference in Rhodes, the Island of Roses!

Moishik Yonay, Attorney

District Governor

3

Rotary International

Nobel Peace Laureate Receives Award

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's democ-

racy movement and recipient of the Nobel Peace

Prize, delivered the keynote address at the Rota-

ry Global Peace Forum held in Honolulu on 25-

27 January.

She was honored with the Hawaii Peace Award

for her longstanding pursuit of democracy

through peaceful, nonviolent means. After 20

years of house arrest, Suu Kyi was released in

November 2010, and last year was elected to

Myanmar's parliament as a

member of the pro-

democracy opposition par-

ty.

Suu Kyi told the attendees

that absolute peace is an

unattainable goal, but one

that we must nevertheless

continue to endeavor to-

ward. She said that demo-

cratic institutions are neces-

sary to guarantee human

rights.

The kind of peace we want

is very simple. We want

permanent peace, said

Suu Kyi.

She also noted that young

people have an important

role to play. The Honolulu forum emphasized the

importance of getting youth involved in the

peace process.

We must help our young people so that they

may be able to take over our task of building,

Suu Kyi said. We depend on our young people

to take us forward.

Engaging young people

More than 1,800 Rotarians, Rotary alumni, and

supporters of Rotary's peace program took part

in this event, the second of three peace forums

planned by RI President Sakuji Tanaka. The first

was held in Berlin in November, and a third is

planned for Hiroshima, Japan on 17-18 May.

"Rotary builds peace and international under-

standing through education, humanitarian ser-

vice, and connecting with youth," Tanaka said.

"To ensure a lasting legacy in this arena, we

must engage young people and the new genera-

tions to come in a meaningful way, and empower

them to carry Rotary's peace-building efforts into

the future."

The forum also addressed environmental con-

servation as a means of promoting peace. At-

tendees adopted a declaration supporting The

Green Path to Peace, which urges Rotarians to

act as catalysts for peace through efforts that

conserve and protect the planet.

"An environment that is healthy makes it possi-

ble for us to reach our full potential," Tanaka

said. "When our basic needs are met, we are not

occupied with the daily problems of survival.

There is less cause for conflict. And people and

nations who do not waste their energy in conflict

can use it in ways that benefit everyone."

Past RI President Luis V. Giay served as the fo-

rum's convener. The three sites for the peace

forums were selected by Tanaka because each

was heavily affected by

World War II and now repre-

sents the healing power of

sustainable peace between

nations.

"Growing up in Japan after

World War II, I saw the im-

portance of peace. I saw the

consequences of war," said

Tanaka. "Working for peace

is a lifelong task. Every day, in our 34,000 clubs,

we work together for a more peaceful world by

bringing water, health, education, and hope to

the people who need it most."

DI News

4

Jerusalem Rotary Club

Meeting at the YMCA, 26 King David St, Jerusalem

Wednesdays at 13:00, last Wednesday of each month

at 19:00. Meetings are conducted in English. Visiting

Rotarians and other guests are welcome.

Luncheon/Dinner cost: NIS 60, students and lone

soldiers: NIS 20. For Kosher meals please book in ad-

vance. For this and other enquiries e-mail the club Sec-

retary: zvi.sharoni@gmail.com

Visit our website:

www.JerusalemRotaryClub.org

Happy Hour

What Causes Arthritis?

A drunk man who smelled of beer sat down on a

subway next to a priest. The man's tie was

stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick,

and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He

opened his newspaper

and began reading.

After a few minutes the

man turned to the

priest and asked, "Say

Father, what causes ar-

thritis?"

The priest replies, "My Son, it's caused by loose

living, being with cheap, wicked women, too

much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man,

sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a

bath."

The drunk muttered in re-

sponse, "Well, I'll be

damned, then returned to

his paper.

The priest, thinking about

what he had said, nudged

the man and apologized.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't

mean to come on so strong.

How long have you had arthritis?"

The drunk answered, "I don't have it, Father. I

was just reading here that the Pope does."

*** MORAL: Make sure you un-

derstand the question before of-

fering the answer. ***

Sent in by Rafi A.

New Member

Aviva Kogus

On 16 January, President Rafi Aldor inducted a

new member, Aviva Kogus.

Aviva was born in kibbutz Zora. She served in

the IDF as Regimental Personnel Officer and later

moved to Sydney, Australia

where she lived for 20 years

before returning to Israel in

2011. She holds an MBA

(Executive) from the Australia

Graduate School of Manage-

ment. While in Australia, she held senior posi-

tions with various Jewish and Zionist organiza-

tions, among them the State Zionist Council of

New South Wales and the Australia-Israel Cham-

ber of Commerce.

A corporate leader with more than 20 years ex-

perience in Strategic and Financial IT, Event

Management in both commercial and community

enterprises. Aviva is currently working as Direc-

tor of Operations for the Lapid Israel organiza-

tion, which she presented to the Club some time

ago.

We wish Aviva an enjoyable and active time at

our Club.

Yaron A.