Content area
Full Text
* THE PARTY at the Hebrew University was almost two months after the actual date, but that did not stop Israel's fifth president and Jerusalem's honored native son Yitzhak Navon from celebrating his 90th birthday with scores of his relatives and friends, with the music of Bustan Sfaradi (Spanish Orchard) from the musical that he wrote playing in the background.
Navon, who was born and raised in Jerusalem, was the only president whose children spent a large portion of their childhood at Beit Hanassi. He was also the only president who returned to active public life after completing his tenure, returning to politics and serving as education minister.
Navon continues to be active and to travel all over the country. An educator in his soul, who was a teacher long before he went into politics, it was entirely appropriate that the venue for his 90th birthday celebration be the Hebrew University.
Noticeably absent was one of Navon's oldest friends and colleagues, Israel's ninth president, Shimon Peres, who was in Rome hobnobbing with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who, together with close to 80 other world leaders, were the guests of President Giorgio Napolitano at Israel's celebrations marking both Republic Day and the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification.
* APROPOS ACTIVE nonagenarians, among the people present at the Jerusalem Foundation's Teddy Kollek awards ceremony at the Knesset last week was Ralph Goldman, 96, whose name was for many years synonymous with the Joint...