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Photo Credit: David Nathan- 80% of the audience passionatelyjoined in. There was a ‘rational’ explanationwhy 20% sat in grim-face silence.“They were fans of the local rival club,Everton,” Richard told Telfed.Melodies for the MidlandsIn Birmingham they performed witha local Christian group delighting theaudience with renditions of NkosiSikelele Africa and Naomi Shemer’sAl Kol E’leh. Following this performance,Richard was interviewed live onBBC radio. The ‘Flotilla Saga’ was infull swing and he was pressed to commenton this unfolding drama and thepeace process. “I said Israel has constantlyshown a willingness to makepeace and made numerous gestures ofgoodwill. The minute we have a partnerfor peace who we can seriously engagewith, there will be progress.”In London, Ramatayim performed onShabbat at Finchley Synagogue to anaudience of thirteen hundred. Sharingthe stage were Matthew Gould, theincoming and first Jewish British ambassadorto Israel, and retired ColonelRichard Kemp, the former Commander32PeopleRichard Shavei Tzion presents Mrs. HelenWilliams, Lord Mayor of Liverpool witha photographic print by artist and choirmember Yakov Rabinowitzof British Forces in Afghanistan anda high-profile critic of the GoldstoneCommission’s report. Kemp addressedthe synagogue saying that “Israel hadevery justification in defending itselfand its army is probably the most humanein the world.”Ramatayim’s choristers include lawyers,accountants, doctors and dentists,engineers, technicians and high-techpersonnel. Richard, who has beensinging since the age of ten whenas a boy soprano, he joined theGardens Shul Choir in CapeTown, today manages a propertycompany. Ramatayim’s repertoireconsists mainly of Jewishliturgical music and includesChassidic, Israeli songs andopera. They perform on avoluntary basis, frequentlyin support of local charitableand social causes.The choir appears at concerthalls and synagoguesthroughout Israel oftenalongside some of the finestcantors in the world. Thisseason so far, the Choir hasperformed with Israeli rockicon Shlomo Gronich and theacclaimed cantors YitzchakMeir Helfgot, Simon Cohen and formerSouth African Colin Schachat, who,in 2008, performed at BuckinghamPalace before Queen Elizabeth.The choir’s name derives fromRamatayim-Tzofim, birthplace ofthe Prophet Samuel, mentioned inthe Book of Samuel 1 (1:1) and associatedwith the present day suburbof Ramot.For more info on the choir, visit:www.rmchoir.org •Gems Don’t LoseTheir Sparkle“She loves mixing with youngsters,”says daughter Rena Elman of hermother. A good thing too!At 101 years old, FaniaHurwitz is the oldestresident on KibbutzYasur and probablythe oldestFania at 18shortly after shefinished matricin Lithuania.Fania with her granddaughter Ruth, takenwhen she was in her early 90s.Southern African in Israel. Still goingstrong, Fania flew last year to SouthAfrica to celebrate her 100 birthday.Her long journey began in Lithuaniawhere she lived through revolution and“quite a few wars - WWI, the Polish-Lithuanian War and the Lithuanian-Soviet War. The borders were oftenshifting,” related Rena. “One momenttheir shtetl was ruled by the Poles,the next it fell under the Bolsheviks.It was a terrifying time for the Jews,and Mom, as a little girl, had a fewnarrow escapes.”On one occasion, Rena relates, “Shewas on a train with her parents, whena bunch of boisterous Bolshevik soldiers,probably drunk, became violent.One of them said ‘Let’s kill the littlegirl.’ My grandfather quickly stoodup and pleaded, and luckily the trainstopped at a station - nowhere nearwhere they were going - and theyquickly jumped off.”This was ‘Hunting Season’ in thePale of Settlement and Jews werethe prey.Within a decade of this incident,Fania and her parents were living inDoornfontein in Johannesburg.Times were tough. Two years afterthe family arrived in South Africa in1929, Fania’s father died, and “my momand bobba opened a dairy café.” Fania,in her early twenties, had only basicEnglish, which she taught herself backin Lithuania while reading her firstEnglish book, Little Lord Fauntleroy.“For the first 20 pages she looked upwords in a dictionary; thereafter shewas fine. She’s a quick learner.” Shehad no difficulty answering, “yes” whenPhilip Hurwitz proposed.She also knew Russian - thanks tothe ‘occupation’ - which would laterprove helpful seven decades later withthe mass Russian immigration to Israel.In 1975, after her husband Philipdied, Fania, aged 66, made aliya joiningher daughter’s family on KibbutzYasur, near Akko. Rena had marrieda kibbutznik who had previously beena shaliach for Hashomer Hatzair inJohannesburg in the late 1950s. “In1990, when the first Russian familiesarrived on the kibbutz to learnHebrew, Mom became the officialtranslator. She was of course, fluentin Hebrew as well.”Over the years since making aliyain 1975, Fania had worked in variousfields, and at 95, she was officially pensionedoff from an electronics gamescompany. She was most unimpressed.“At 95, who will employ me now?”Stanley Fischer is seen here atthe Zimbabwe Reunion in 2008at the Ra’anana Bowling Club.From being an only child, Fania has afamily of 44, including 20 great-grandchildren.Following her 100th birthdayparty almost two years ago in SouthAfrica, Fania made sure she was backin Israel on the 10th of February, theactual date of her birth. It was also thedate of Israel’s general election andnot even the rain that day was goingto deter Fania from casting her vote.Clearly she has the vote of everyoneon her kibbutz.As one member expressed, “She giveseveryone hope as we see it is possibleto grow old with dignity and grace.She is such a caring and special lady– a gem.” •Settled inCourt“Jillian, you have notlost a singles title inthe last two years;that’s better thanFederer,” quipped awell-known Israelitennis coach at aceremony whereformer CapetonianJillian Milliner wasStan’s the ManBank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer was named‘Central Bank Governor of the Year’ by Euromoney. Theglobal magazine for banking and finance chose the formerRhodesian/Zimbabwean for his astute management ofthe Israeli economy through the aftermath of the globalfinancial crisis. His bold move to raise interest rates inSeptember 2009 - the first country to do after the crisis“proved well-guided and prescient,” said Euromoney.“Further rises have also been well-timed, allowing theeconomy to grow at a healthy rate of 4.7% in the secondquarter of 2010 while keeping inflation in check at around1.8%.” Euromoney commended Fischer for striking the idealbalance between moderating inflation and supportingeconomic recovery.awarded the 2010 Master’s Player of theYear. She also received an AchievementAward from the Israel Tennis MastersAssociation for winning five masterstournaments this season.Jillian was ecstatic. “I feel my fatherhere tonight.” Acclaimed as oneof Wynberg Boys finest sportsman,“Aubrey would be very proud of her,”added her emotional mother AnnetteMilliner-Giladi.“Jillian has proved herself to be Israel’sleading tennis player in the Masters division,”Ian Froman, one the co-foundersof the Israel Tennis Center toldHaaretz. “She is a true sportspersonon and off the court, and is someonewho works hard at continuallymaintaining and improvingher game,” added Ian.News from Centre CourtFollowing a BOG meeting of theIsrael Tennis Center (ITC)in October, Danny Gelleywas appointed the newCEO of the IsraelTennis Centertaking over from33