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Friday, April 13, 2018

Cedars-Sinai's Yom Ha'Shoah Holocaust Remembrance Day Program - 4/11/2018


Yesterday at 10:00 AM Israel-time entire Jewish communities stopped what they were doing no matter where or what they were doing to remember that Hitler’s Nazi regime murdered about 6,000,000 MILLION Jews for no other reason than Aryan supremacist beliefs that Germans are a superior race and Jews are among the most evil sub-species of humans on earth. THE BELIEF IS JEW-HATRED POPPYCOCK!

Here is an excerpt from the Times of Israel including a two-minute video of the occasion:

Israel came to a standstill at 10 a.m. Thursday as sirens wailed throughout the country in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Buses and cars halted on streets and highways as Israelis stepped out of their vehicles and stood with heads bowed.

The sirens were followed by ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in schools, public institutions and army bases. …


In the wee hours of yesterday morning, Ari Bussel shared an email of his remembrance of the Holocaust.

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Cedars-Sinai's Yom Ha'Shoah Holocaust Remembrance Day Program - 4/11/2018

By Ari Bussel
Sent 4/12/2018 1:00 AM

I am the son of Holocaust Survivors, but this story is not about my parents, rather about their generation, about those who survived the Holocaust.

My father’s mother left one day, and did not come back.  One of the Polish neighbors informed the authorities.  The Poles did not only “follow orders;” the atrocities were not perpetrated only by the Nazis and at their direction.  The Poles were willing and often eager participants.  If I were in Poland today, such pronouncements would be punishable by law, for according to the new law, the Poles were themselves just innocent victims of the Nazis, nothing more.

Display of Holocaust Era Family Photo

On this Remembrance Day to the Holocaust and the Bravery (as it is called in Israel), we remember my grandmother on my father’s side (both seen in the picture above), my grandfather on my mother’s side and the entire extended family who perished during the Holocaust.

Yesterday you received from me a reminder of Cedars-Sinai's Yom Ha'Shoah Holocaust Remembrance Day Program that took place today, April 11th, 2018.

I wrote that to me, Dr. Joel Geiderman’s 34th annual program is likely the most significant of all.  Doctors (MDs), nurses, staff, the general public and Holocaust Survivors gather year after year, for three and a half decades, to hear a lecture, have a box lunch, witness Survivors lighting six candles commemorating the Six Million Jews who perished during the Holocaust in WWII (1939-1945) - among which were more than one million children - and hear the recitation of Kadish [aka Kaddish] and El Maleh Rachamim (“God Full of Mercy”) prayers.

Dr. Geiderman graciously gives credit to others, but it is his program, and the generosity of an enduring gift by the Feintech family that enables this program.  Will it survive after Dr. Geiderman?  What will happen when there will be no more Survivors still living among us?

Today, Dr. Guiderman asked the children of Holocaust Survivors to stand up.  We stood and looked around - there were many of us; as many as the number of Survivors when I started attending this program so many years ago.

We gathered to bear witness, promising “Never Forger; Never Again.”

Yom Ha'Shoah 2018 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills, Jerusalem of Gold and Holocaust Survivor Max Webb

Prior to the start of the program, members of the Jerusalem of Gold Committee (the official celebration in 2017 of “The City of Angels Saluting the City of God” marking 50 years of the Reunification of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital) presented a proclamation issued by the City of Beverly Hills to Max Webb, a Holocaust Survivor.

The City Council headed by (then Mayor) Lili Bosse issued 100 individual proclamations to 100 Holocaust Survivors who were still alive at that time, vowing and promising “We Will Never Forget You!

Max Webb, who was unable to attend at that time, received his Proclamation today.

Holocaust Survivor Max Webb received his Proclamation 2018

Members of the Jerusalem of Gold Committee:

(Standing) Dr. Pablo Nankin, Susanne Reyto, Marina Waks, Zohreh Mizrahi (Seated) Ari Bussel, Max Webb, Shahla Javdan


Max Webb is either the last or one of only two or three surviving members of the 1939 Club.  Years ago, when Pastor John Hagee (the most famous Evangelical Christian supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, founder of CUFI) was still not known, the Israel Christian Nexus hosted his visit to Los Angeles.  We had three events scheduled in his honor.  A morning event, followed by a meeting with the Board of Rabbis at the Jewish Federation of Greater LA (where Rabbi Kravitz, the father, of Jews for Judaism, asked Pastor Hagee about proselytization attempts; Pastor Hagee did not blink as he replied:  “Teach your young ones; and then nothing will succeed to sway them from their beliefs” and added unequivocally “we support you, no strings attached; we do not want to proselytize your children”).  From there we continued to the Hillcrest Club, where the 1939 Club hosted a reception for Mrs. and Pastor Hagee.

I remember as we arrived with the guests and entered the hall where the reception took place, the members of the 1939 Club were already waiting for us.  The picture in my mind is of “small” and frail people, who were already “old” at that time, very old.  Alas, memories of a young man.

Max Webb, as you can see from the pictures, looks fantastic, although he has passed the 100 year mark either a year or two years ago!

In Israel, in each university, there is at least one building with his and his wife’s name on it.  He has always given most generously.  As he told Shlomo z”l and Frida Rosenblatt long ago:  “I have, so I am giving.”  

This spirit of given has not diminished.  Its meaning is magnified when one learns (as I did from Mrs. Rosenblatt, herself and her late husband both Holocaust Survivors) that at home, before WWII, Max Webb’s family was extremely poor.  When he was walking to the Cheder (place of learning, the equivalent of elementary school), as he was lifting one foot after another, the water was pouring out from the bottom of the shoes (I am not sure if they even had soles).  

Nate Shapell z”l

As a kid, I knew of Nate (Nathan) Shapell, for he used to underwrite the State of Israel Independence Day official Consulate reception in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

He and brother David (also deceased) have supported Israel in numerous ways.  The Beverly Hills annual extravagance was not even the cherry at the top; it was simply something they most generously did.

For members of the Israeli community, it was the most coveted invitation at that time, likely similar to receiving an invitation to the Oscars today.  I was fortunate to accompany my father year after year (as my mother shies away from such events).

Shapell continued to underwrite the reception until Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a world-wide directive to all its diplomatic missions prohibiting individual sponsorships of official events.

Several years ago, one of the leaders of the local Israeli community passed away.  General Shimon Erem founded and headed to his last day the Israel Christian Nexus, on whose founding board I had the privilege of serving (until Gen. Erem’s death).

Shimon’s wife Danielle, who will be 98 on September 22, 2018, has given me much of Shimon’s very extensive library, which we distributed among Jewish and Christian community- and religious leaders.  

Among the books were two copies (second printing, 1974) of “Witness to the Truth” by Nate Shapell.  

1974 2nd Printing Witness to the Truth by Nate Shapell

Here is an excerpt from the jacket to the book:

Nathan Shapell was 17yo when he Germans occupied his hometown in Poland.  Ordinary life vanished from the face of Europe; there was only survival and horror or death to choose between.  Shapell fought with every weapon at his command - his ingenuity, his resourcefulness, and his incredible courage - not for himself but for the lives of his family and friends.

After managing to outwit the Nazis hour by hour with his fellow Jews in the ghettoes, he was taken at last to Auschwitz, and from the summer of 1943 on, he endured was two few lived to tell.  He survived Auschwitz, death marches, and two more concentration camps.  Then his story, and Witness to the Truth, begins.

The book tells that story, and it also conveys a vote of thanks to those ordinary American soldiers and officers who found themselves in an unexpected role.  He bears witness to their humanity and decency; he also bears witness to eh survivors and to the silent dead.  Finally, he reaches out to all people, especially young Americans, to show them that a man can go through the worst hell imaginable, survive it, still love his fellow men, and even go on to become a part of what is now called “the establishment.”

Nate Shapell’s daughter, Vera Guerin, participates in the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Program, until this year as the Chair of Cedars-Sinai board of directors.  So today I brought a copy of the book to her.  I suspected she has many copies at home, but she was grateful to have it.

Her aunt (Nate’s sister) was Max Webb’s wife.  Nate z”l and Max are brothers-in-law.  A small world indeed.

[Dr. Geiderman:  I do not have Vera’s or Max’s e-mail addresses; kindly please forward this to them.]

This is the story of One Proclamation, One Book and a ceremony in its 34th year, a commitment that keeps on going.  It seems that by design, they are all connected.  Likewise, in life, we - the Jewish People - are all connected; and we - the Saturday and Sunday People, Jews and Christians - are all connected.  We are one, all created in the image of our God the Almighty.

Always,
Ari Bussel
bussel@me.com

Ellie and Dr. Pablo Nankin, Dr. Nepune Mizrahi, Esther Hezghian

Susanne Reyto, Janet Kirt

Beverly Hills Synagogue (YINBH) Cantor Nati Baram singing El Maleh Rachamim 

Lighting Six Candles [Representing 6,000,000 Murdered Jews], remembering the Six Million Jews who perished during the Holocaust [1 & 2]


Suzee and her mother, Holocaust Survivor Lili Markowitz


Esther Blaugrund, Zohreh Mizrahi and Shahla Javdan, a prominent leader of the Jewish Iranian community


Zohreh Mizrahi, Cantor Nati Baram, Dr. Pablo and Ellie Nankin


Below picture is from March 2, 2017, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Los Angeles Dinner “What You Do Matters:  Celebrating Max Webb’s 100th Birthday with a special tribute"

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Minor editing by John R. Houk
Source links are by the Editor embedded for non-Jewish understanding.

© Ari Bussel

Ari Bussel Bio via BeverlyHills.org

Ari Bussel is Vice President of Operations at Saybrex International, a privately held family business specializing in the distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and has held various positions in the company since 1993.

Prior to joining Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in the Center for Systems Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, where he led the implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the Computerized Wargame Program.

Mr. Bussel is involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities. Mr. Bussel completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and served on the Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of Beverly Hills. He was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly Hills Mayor MeraLee Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the Hon. Eliot Finkel. Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community Emergency Response Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as the Crisis Response Team of the Maple Counseling Center.

Mr. Bussel was among the founding members and served on the boards of Gen. Shimon Erem’s Israel Christian Nexus, the Western Region of Friends of Israel Firefighters and the Israel Institute for Alternative Energy Advancement. He completed the Salvin Leadership Program of the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. Bussel writes regularly. For the past decade, his weekly columns appeared in print in Israel Jewish Life, Shalom LA, Muslim World Today and Israeli Week. Mr. Bussel’s articles appear on numerous websites, including Canada Free Press, Free Republic, NewsBlaze, SlantRight and OpEdNews. He is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club.

Mr. Bussel received a Master of Science in Operations Research from Stanford University and Bachelor’s degrees from UCLA in Applied Mathematics and in Economics with a specialization in Computing.

Mr. Bussel was an avid runner who completed the 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles Marathon.

Mr. Bussel divides his time between Israel and the United States, writing about the social, political, military and foreign policy fabrics of the two countries. Mr. Bussel is a member of the foreign press corps in Israel. Since 2008, Mr. Bussel has cooperated with award winning investigative journalist and author in a series of essays “Postcards from America – Postcards from Israel,” and since 2011 in a series of radio broadcasts “Conversations Eye to Eye.”



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