Grapevine October 8, 2021: Good deed indeed

• Author: GREER FAY CASHMAN
• Published date: 08 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

■ IT'S RARE to hear applause during a synagogue service. It's even more unusual when the person being applauded is a woman – especially in an Orthodox congregation. But that's what happened last Saturday when Marsha Wachsman was invited to express appreciation to the Hatanei Torah who had been honored on Simhat Torah a few days earlier. Wachsman is one of the only women chairing an Orthodox synagogue committee. Speaking from the women's gallery, in a loud, clear voice, and in perfect Hebrew, for which she was later commended by many congregants, Wachsman had personal words of praise for each of the four men, but most especially for Menachem Levinsky, the key organizer and fixer of everything that needs to be done in the synagogue. Levinsky, who for years has shunned personal honors, needed a lot of persuading to accept the Simhat Torah honor. When his wife Chani was approached to help in getting him to agree, she doubted that he could be influenced, but in the final analysis, he relented. In speaking about Levinsky, Wachsman did not overlook his wife, who she said does more behind the scenes for the congregation than most people realize. Wachsman was applauded before and after she spoke.

■ ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Minister Tamar Zandberg, who lives in Tel Aviv, will not always have to travel alone when coming to Jerusalem on ministerial or Knesset business. The former Meretz leader will be accompanied on some occasions by her partner and father of her baby, Uri Zaki, who has been appointed to head the Herzl Center which is located on Mount Herzl.

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■ ALTHOUGH THE revelations about tax shelters that were published in the Pandora Papers are more in the nature of ethical misdemeanors rather than crimes, the negative publicity may prove costly for former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat who hopes to be the next leader of Likud and after that, prime minister. Some of the other contenders have their feet planted more securely in the Likud terrain, and are far better known to Likud voters. Even when he was still mayor, Barkat let it be known that he intended running for the Likud leadership as soon as former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped down from office. Netanyahu did not exactly step down, he was maneuvered out of office by a mismatched coalition – but he has no intention of leaving the political arena, so Barkat may...