Nefesh B Nefesh

Moskowitz Zionism Prizes Awarded

Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of the Nefesh B’Nefesh English speakers’ aliyah movement, Former MK Rabbi Chanan Porat, who helped re-establish the community of Kfar Etzion after the 1967 Six Day War following his service as a paratrooper, and recently retired director of the Mossad, (Israel’s international spy agency) Meir Dagan were the recipients of the 2011 Moskowitz Prize for Zionism.

The Prizes were awarded in ceremonies on Monday evening at Jerusalem’s City of David (Ir David), located across the road from the Western Wall (Kotel).

Cherna Moskowitz, who founded the prize along with her husband Dr. Irving Moskowitz, was the first speaker of the evening.

“We see reversals in all Arab countries,” she said. “No one can predict what will happen there. We have seen the rise of terrorism since the Oslo agreements and the education of incitement by Mahmoud Abbas. All this causes great damage to Israeli and American values ​​and to the stability in the Middle East. At such a time of uncertainty, the last thing we need to do is to establish another Arab country in any way. All this only emphasizes the necessity of preserving Judea and Samaria in order to allow the Jewish state to survive.”

In the speech he gave after receiving the award, Dagan referred to the location of the ceremony, saying: “This place is not political. The City of David has a deep connection to Jewish history.”

Dagan thanked the members of the Israeli intelligence community for their part in the award.

“If I got this far, it would be appropriate for me to be the mouth of the intelligence people who work day and night. A group of men and women, young and old, who give all their energies and abilities for the State of Israel. Some of them work under difficult risks, they are not recognized, and you read about their successes in classified papers. On the other hand, their failures are smeared in newspapers and on television screens. They are not recognized, and even neighbors and relatives are unaware of their work.”

Dagan added, “Their real greatness is that they know how to learn from their failures.”

In his acceptance speech, Rabbi Fass noted that he does not stand there on behalf of himself, and that Nefesh B’Nefesh is an operation behind which are many other individuals. He made particular mention of his friend Tony Gelbart, who founded the organization with him but could not receive the award because he does yet not carry an Israeli identity card. Rabbi Fass stressed that the organization is working on this to happen soon.

Moskowitz Prize to Fass of Nefesh B'Nefesh and Chanan Porat | New ...

The annual Moskowitz Prize for Zionism will be awarded Monday to Rabbis Yehoshua Fass of Nefesh B’Nefesh and Chanan Porat, and to Meir Dagan, who until recently headed the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The awards will be handed out Monday evening at the City of David (Ir David), located across the road from the Western Wall (Kotel). Dr. Irving Moskowitz established the annual prize, which includes an award of $50,000, to support Zionist values in Israeli society and to promote the Jewish nationalist home of Israel.

The committee selecting the honorees sifted through the candidacy of hundreds of nominees.

Rabbi Porat, who is battling cancer, was evacuated as an infant from Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, in Gush Etzion, during the War for Independence. His father was one of the last defenders of the community and was killed by the Arab Legion. Porat helped re-establish Kfar Etzion after the Six-Day War in 1967, in which he fought as a paratrooper. He became one of the leading figures in the National Religious movement and was a Knesset Member when the National Religious Party was at it strength.

Rabbi Fass, who lost a relative in a 2001 suicide bombing terrorist attack, co-founded Nefesh B’Nefesh along with Tony Gelbart to help Jews move to the Jewish homeland.

Nefesh B’Nefesh revolutionized the aliyah movement and has helped bring 27,000 Jews to Israel from North American and Britain.

(IsraelNationalNews.

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