Correspondence from Zvi Ben Dov:

An Israeli delegation attended the Hanukiad 2003 organized by the Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania (FJCR). The delegation consisted of Richard Armon (chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Israel-Romania and president of the "Keser Hamishpahot" Project, initiated by the "Joint"), Moshe Nagor (chairman of the League of Friendship Israel-Romania) – both of them accompanied by their wives; Mrs. Sara Kremer (manager of the programs "Hamifal Haleumi le Pituah Hevrati-‘Joint’", initiator of this visit), Mrs. Rita Aschenazi and the author of these lines, Zvi Ben Dov (secretary of the Unitary Organization of the Romanian-born Jews), with his wife. For some of the delegation’s members, who had not been to Romania for a long time, seeing the country they were born in was an exciting moment. As far as I am concerned, I left for Israel from Foscani when I was 15, on December 24, 1957, that is 56 years ago… The initial emotion was completed, during the visit, by the emotion of meeting the Jewish communities, the friendly welcome we were given as guests, the interest and love for Israel that we witnessed. Counsel Iulian Sorin (secretary general of the FJCR) and engineer Osy Lazar (president of the Jewish Community in Bucharest) did their best to organize our visit as well as possible. The delegation commenced its tour by attending a wedding officiated at the Coral Temple on Friday morning. The number of the Jews in Romania being currently very low (because of the massive aliyah), weddings are rare events, which explains why the Great Synagogue was very crowded. The religious service was officiated by great rabbi Menahem Hacohen. The choir sang in Yiddish and Hebrew, contributing to the solemn atmosphere in the temple. On Friday afternoon, the delegation came back to the Coral Temple (which was once again full of people), where the first Hanukah candle was lit, in the presence of Academy member Razvan Theodorescu (Romanian minister of Culture and Cults), Zvi Fain ("Joint" manager for Romania), high representatives of the cults in Romania, academics, politicians and scholars, and a group of young Jews from the US. The religious service was officiated by great rabbi Menahem Hacohen, together with prime-cantor Iosef Adler. The "Talmud Torah" children’s choir performed Hanukah songs; presents were offered to the children. Great rabbi Menahem Hacohen, dr. Zvi Fain and counsel Iulian Sorin spoke about the Hanukah. Following the Hanukiad, we left for Brasov on Sunday. Our bus was also boarded by great rabbi Menahem Hacohen, Zvi Fain, Iulian Sorin and the group of young Jews from the US. The first stop was at the Brasov synagogue, where we found a large number of parishioners, together with local officials and personalities. Speeches were held by some of the guests and by Tibi Roth, president of the Jewish Community in Brasov. That same day, early in the afternoon, the Hanukiad continued in Tg. Mures. Late at night, we reached Cluj. The Hanukiad continued in Oradea, Arad and Timisoara. On Wednesday, we came back to Bucharest, where we met with Academy member Nicolae Cajal (president of the FJCR). We had a warm discussion with him, which was also attended by his daughter, dr. Irina Cajal. Tiresome though this trip was, the moving contact that we had with the Jewish communities that we visited, as well as seeing the country we were born, made it all worthwhile.

The shooting of the series of motion pictures "Vacaresti Ave-Dizengoff St." is to begin soon. This is the first large-scale cinematographic production dedicated to the Romanian-born Jews, an Israeli-Romanian-American co-production. These are the first episodes of the series:

- "The Tel Aviv Editorial Office", after a script by Carol Isac about the dramatic conflict between a journalist and the non-journalist owner of the newspaper;

- "Israel with No Horoscope", after a novel by Mirel Brates, who also wrote the script;

- "Uzia and de Gaulle", after a script inspired by Arnold Sherman’s book, "A Dream Realized", dedicated to Uzia Galil’s fight to develop the Israeli hi-tech in order to combat the effects of the military embargo instituted by gen. Charles de Gaulle, president of France, after Israel’s victory in the Six-day War (1967);

- "Struma – Behind the Scenes", after a script by Dorel Dorian, inspired by the tragedy of the ship that sank in February 1942;

- "Love at the Third Age", inspired by Gina Sebastian Alcalay’s novel, "The Loneliness of the Low-range Runner";

- "A Night in Transnistria", after a script by Sonia Palty, inspired by her book, "Jews, Cross the Dniester";

- "Messages on the Internet", a comedy based on the confusions aroused by an Israeli willing to find a wife in Romania through the Internet. The script was written by two Internet writers from Israel and Romania.

The films will be directed by Israeli an Romania directors, out of whom the most important are Zoltan Terner and Radu Gabrea. The cast of the films includes Lya Konig, Rozina Gampos, Mircea Crisan, Carol Marcovici and Bodo. Some of the films will be shot in Romania.

50 episodes have been planned so far. They will be shown on a weekly basis, starting with the fall of 2004, by the Israeli television and by a television channel in Romania.

The series is produced by the new company "Jerusalem Film", owned by a number of businessmen from Israel, the US and Romania, whose names will be unveiled in the night of the premiere of the series. The "Jerusalem Film" company is to be transformed in a share-based company. The series is expected to be requested by TV stations from other countries than Israel and Romania.

P.S. The editor of this newsletter, who is usually a moderate individual who tries to check all the news published in "Good Morning, Israel!", took the liberty of letting his imagination run wild, on the threshold of the new year 2004. The fact that this piece of news could become a reality is another story…

What do the readers of the newsletter think?