Lishmor al Kesher – Full House, Big Questions

This month, we held our second Lishmor al Kesher gathering – a series of encounters with Holocaust survivors at Beit Ben Yehuda, held in cooperation with our partner AMCHA. And once again, the house was full.

At the beginning, in a conversation with one of AMCHA’s social workers, I learned that five German-speaking survivors had reached out, asking him whether one of our future volunteers could visit them once a week – like in the years before October 7. For me, it was painful to hear – especially knowing that we won’t have enough volunteers in Israel next year to meet this need.
After a shared lunch, our board member Jonathan Livny gave his talk on Richard Wagner for the second time – exploring the composer’s antisemitism, legacy, and music. Using carefully selected audio clips, Jonathan illustrated why, despite everything, he still considers Wagner’s music brilliant. During the discussion that followed, I was surprised how many participants were familiar not only with Wagner’s music, but also with his biography.
At the end of his talk, Jonathan revealed a “secret” project: plans for a Wagner concert in the fall, with free tickets for all survivors in our circle.
Jonathan – we’ll hold you to it. And we’re already looking forward to it!
This gathering was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Axel Springer Foundation