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AMIR (The Unitary Organization of the Jews from Romania) organized on Sunday after-noon the presentation of a new offer received in relation to the project of the Museum of the Romanian Judaism. The offer was made by Beno Friedel (TV producer) and Uri Hendel (architect) - who approached the contents of the museum - in cooperation with several companies that made proposals regarding the building. The presentations took into consideration the possibility that the museum be placed in the Beit Basarabia building (after it will be renovated and two floors will be added).

The project is based on three coordinates: Jews in the history of Romania (until the beginning of WW2), the period of the Holocaust, the emigration and the life in Israel. The display space covers 850 square meters. The first hall that the visitors enter shows in a multimedia format the contemporary achievements of the Romanian immigrants in Israel, in different fields of activity. The following halls represent Memory (a return in history, the periods in the development of Judaism in Romania and the contribution of the Jews in all the fields of activity of the Romanian people). "The legionary weeds that invaded the field of wheat did not manage to destroy the traditional connections and the peaceful living together with the Romanian people", says the program of the project. The visitors will be offered a sound and light show that evokes the story of the Romanian Judaism in all its moments.

The last hall of the museum goes back to Eretz Israel, with a multimedia display of personalities - filmed portraits of Jews born in Romania who had and continue to have contributions to the formation, the defense and the development of the State of Israel.
A few months ago, AMIR hosted the filmed presentation of a museum project submitted by another specialized firm.

During the meeting, the organization's finance report for 2002 was presented and approved. Another topic was centered on discussing the contacts with different personalities and institutions in view of obtaining the necessary resources to build the museum. Shimon Peres, former head of the Israeli Government and leader of the Labor Party is among those who promised to support the project. The creation of a commission that will manage the organization of the first international congress of the Jews born in Romania was announced. The participants also talked about AMIR's initiative to create "The Book of families", where those who wish can present their families covering four generations: themselves, their children, as well as their parents and greatparents. A proposition was made that the book be put on the Internet.

AMIR's management was represented at the meeting by: gen. (res.) Moshe Nativ, president of the association, counsel Itzhak Artzi, president of the management committee, Moshe Nagor, vice-president of the organization, Zvi Ben-Dov, AMIR's secretary. 34 other members of AMIR's extended management and other guests were also present.

At the beginning of the meeting, some participants requested that the agenda include the issue of the press release given by the Public Information Ministry in Bucharest, which states that "a Holocaust did not take place within the boundaries of Romania in the period 1940-1945." AMIR's president answered that the agenda could not be altered and that the issue could only be debated at the end of the reunion. After the topics on the agenda had been covered, somebody requested that, in order to protest against the afore-mentioned press release, the authorities be addressed in view of withdrawing the Israeli ambassador to Bucharest. Also, it was suggested that the public be encouraged not to choose Romania as a tourist destination. The issue was further debated, but no decision of responding to the press release was reached in the end.

The "Haim and Sara Ianculovici" Cultural Foundation celebrated in a festive manner 25 years of existence on Thursday, June 12. The event took place at the Haifa City hall and was the perfect opportunity for the award of the cultural prizes of the foundation for 2003.

This year's laureates are:

A gratitude diploma was awarded to photographer Pavel Brimbram, member of the Association of Plastic Artists, for the "Photo Album" that he was about to finish when he was struck by a heart attack. The diploma was be presented to his wife, Ella Brimbram.

The festivity's moderator was dr. Izu Eibschitz, president of the "Ianculovici" Foundation, who also led the jury for the prizes. Mrs. Micaela Ionescu, prime-secretary of the Embassy of Romania in Israel and cultural attaché, spoke about the "willingness to comprise all that stands for culture" that the organizers had, and she pointed out the recognized value of the awarded personalities and of other participants. Engineer Lou Rozeanu was among those invited on the stage. He is a laureate of the international prize for tribology (the wear of the materials), awarded by the world organization in this field, based in Great Britain. Though in his nineties and without sight for ten years now, Rozeanu is still active, working with calculations made in his mind; he spoke about the joy of being present once again to a public meeting of this sort. Dr. Shlomo Leibovici Lais, president of Acmeor, stressed the exceptional quality of this year's laureates and welcomed the fact that the Foundation started giving prizes based on much more demanding criteria and to a limited number of people. Engineer Moshe Nagor, president of the League for Friendship Israel-Romania, evoked the important part of the "Ianculovici" Foundation in the system of the organizations of the Jews born in Romania and spoke about AMIR (The Unitary Organization of the Jews from Romania), the new organization that intends to found a museum of the Romanian Judaism and an international congress of the Jews born in Romania.

Moshe Idel and Sandu David underlined the contribution of the Romanian Jews to the Israeli culture, a contribution which they thought that needed further recognition.

The jury for the prizes included: dr. Bela Aftenie, counsel G. Mosari, engineer Morel Goldpracht, Mania Herman, Tehila Ofer, Avraham Perl, Miriam Constantinescu and Biti Caragiale.

Like Dr. Izu Eibschitz puts it, the Foundation tries to discover and to acknowledge creators and authors from Romania in the fields of culture, science, and art who have an international reputation, but who are insufficiently known by the Romanian immigrants in Israel..

The first issue of "Continuum", the magazine of the Association of the Israeli Writers in French (ASILF), has been published. The editorial staff includes Marlena Braester (president of ASILF) and Bluma Finjlestein, both speakers of Romanian, Monique Jutrin and Carmen Oszi. The editorial signed by Marlena Braester reminds that the members of the association are also bearers of the Hebrew, the country's national language, as well as bearers of the language spoken in the country where they were born (for many of them). The author evokes the different meanings of the word "continuum", among which "the present of continuity".

The first issue comprises a vast enquiry entitled "French - foreign language", whose respondents tell about how they ended up writing in this language. Bluma Finklestein remembers that, while in Romania, she learnt Hebrew letters as Yiddish letters. But since she was convinced (after she emigrated to Israel, in 1963) that she could never write verse in Hebrew, she decided to write in French, the language that she had learnt in school in Romania. Marlena Braester discusses the poetic ego and the "otherness" of the language. Another enquiry ("Writing in French") is answered, among others, by Harri Bar Shalom, who also writes in Hebrew and in Romanian. A third enquiry is entitled "Writing in Israel".

The same issue includes an article by Yael Armanet Chernobroda ("The other side of words: Bluma Finklestein's poetry") and "A propos du Centre de Recherches sur la Poesie Francophone", signed by Prof. Jacqueline Michel, essayist and researcher in French modern literature, professor of contemporary poetry at the University of Haifa.