Wilted Desert Rose
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Crossposted from Haaretz
Rarely does a single building play such an important role in the life of a city. Philip Murray House, the Histadrut labor federation’s local headquarters and the first public building in Eilat, is one such case.
Since its inauguration in 1957, when only a few thousand residents lived in the southern city, it has been and remains a focus of cultural and communal activity.
“A theater, movie house, dance classes, municipal library, matriculation exam study courses and night classes, the first photography club in Eilat, all the important things in the city happened here,” attests Shmulik Tager, who managed the place for many years. “All of the country’s leading artists appeared on stage here, Haparvarim, Hatarnegolim, Hava Alberstein; even the philharmonic did a concert here.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
