Mr. President

UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | JUNE 11, 2021 | 1 TAMMUZ 5781

Groups welcome Israel’s next president

Herzog brings ‘deep understanding of world Jewry’

(JNS) Jewish leaders in the United States and elsewhere welcomed the election of Isaac Herzog as Israel’s next president, with most praising his deep understanding of the worldwide Jewish community.

“I cannot think of a better or more able representative of the State of Israel and the people of Israel – Jews and Arabs, religious and secular,” said World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder.

Noting Herzog’s family history–his father, Chaim Herzog, a general in the Israel Defense Forces, served as Israel’s sixth president; and his grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, served as the chief rabbi of Ireland, and later, following Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel – Lauder said that Herzog “brings to this new position the dignity and depth of a true statesman.”

“Following on his distinguished service as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Isaac Herzog brings to the Israeli presidency a profound understanding of and appreciation for the mosaic that is world Jewry in its glory and diversity,” said Lauder.

Herzog, 60, was elected by a secret ballot in the Israeli Knesset on June 2 with 87 votes of the body’s 120 members. He defeated Miriam Peretz, a social activist and former winner of the Israel Prize, who lost two sons in military combat. His sevenyear term will begin July 9, and he will replace Reuven Rivlin, a former right-wing lawmaker.

The position is largely ceremonial; however, the president does play a key role in deciding who gets the mandate to form a government following elections, as well as the power to pardon people and grant clemency. Herzog, who will step down from his role as head of the Jewish Agency, formerly served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 2003 and 2018, and opposition leader from 2013 to 2018.

“It is with great pride that I congratulate the next president of Israel, our chairman of the executive Isaac Herzog,” said Michael Siegal, the Jewish Agency’s chairman of the board of governors. “His unwavering dedication to the Jewish people and to serving the State of Israel is an inspiration, and we will all undoubtedly continue to benefit from his leadership.”

The American Jewish Committee congratulated Herzog on his election, noting his deep experience in understanding global Jewry.

“We wish President-elect Isaac Herzog much success in fulfilling the duties of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

NEWLY ELECTED ISRAELI PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG VISITS THE GRAVE OF HIS LATE FATHER, CHAIM HERZOG, AT MOUNT HERZL CEMETERY IN JERUSALEM, ON JUNE 2, 2021.

PHOTO BY NOAM REVKIN FENTON/FLASH90

Two Bi-Cultural teens accepted into prestigious Yale research program

STAMFORD – Yehudit Hochman and Joshua Marcus, both juniors at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Upper School in Stamford, are among a select group of 50 high school students from across the country chosen to participate in Yale University’s prestigious 2021 Discovery to Cure Young Professionals Medical Conference. The week-long conference will be held virtually in June and takes the place of Yale’s annual in-person Discovery to Cure High School Internship Program, which was put on hold last summer owing to the COVID19 pandemic.

The conference will provide the opportunity for rising high school seniors to meet and interact with a variety of doctors and researchers through Yale’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences in the hope that they will consider pursuing careers in the fields of science and medicine.

“Bi-Cultural is the only school to have had every candidate we’ve fielded be accepted into the Yale Discovery to Cure program,” notes Bi-Cultural science teacher and college counselor Meghana Fernandez.

According to Ms. Fernandez, it is also the first year that the school had two BCHA Upper School students submit applications to the summer program, instead of one.

Prior to Yehudit Hochman and Joshua Marcus, five Bi-Cultural students have gone through the internship program in previous years, including last year’s recipient, Josh’s brother Ben Marcus, a recent BCHA Upper School graduate who will be attending Brown University after a year of study in Israel. Two of these students have had their work published; two were invited to continue their internship for the coming year; one was selected to do research at the Oceanic Research Institute; and one represented the University of Connecticut in