Avie and Orit were married in "Makom Batevah"
a natural setting about ten miles north of Netanya.
Officiating was Rabbi Yaakov Adler, son of Ruth Ziff Adler - he and
Avie are both great-grandsons of Rabbi Tobias Geffen.Some of the unusual
guests were the former minister of finance, Avraham Beige Shohat,
who hired both Avie and Orit when they first started to work - Avie
in 1993 - Orit in 1999. Former minister and protege of Shimon Peres
- Yossie Beilin who is friendly with Orit's mother Orit's parents
are Tamar (Tami) and Zohar - both are native Israelis. Tami's parents
are still alive - both holocaust survivors. Zohar's parents were halutzim
in the twenties arriving from Poland.
At the wedding - from the groom's immediate family along with his
parents were his sister Elissa and her husband, Chemi Burg, with their
3 children, Ori, Lyron and Eden who live in the Golan Heights ....and
his brother Tuvia Jeremy Geffen, his wife, Keren and their son Daniel
who came to the wedding from New York City.....
Also attending- were first cousins - Ruth Ziff Adler and her husband
Judge Steve Adler - chief judge of the national labor court of Israel,
all five of their sons were present - two with their wives - a few
Adler grandchildren.
Dr. David Wilensky, son of Bessie Geffen Wilensky, still living in
Chicago, two of their daughters were present - their oldest daughter
Rinat just had her fifth son - the daughter of Professor Jacob T.
Wilensky, Devora, was in Israel and came to the wedding.All three
daughters of the late Dr. Daniel Ziff came - Rachel, Dr. Batsheva,
and Shirit some came with husbands and children. Also, Ellie Ziff,
ex-wife of Dr. Daniel Ziff and her husband, Maurice Corb.Allen Hoffman
and his wife Dr. Stefani Hoffman and their daughter Avi were present.
Allen's grandmother in St. Louis Ethel Geffen Liebson, was a first
cousin of Rabbi Tobias Geffen.
Allen has written a number of novels and his wife translated the autobiographies
of Natan Scharansky and Ida Nudel - she heads an eastern european
institute at the Hebrew University.Dr. David Geffen returned from
the usa two hours before the wedding - he came with his second and
fiancee - they are getting married in august (on shabbat in Jerusalem
at Auruf) - his oldest son and his wife were present.Reuven and Yaffa
Geffen who live on a Moshav were present - he is next after David
and then their sister Sara Geller is the cantor now in a synagogue
in Olney, Maryland. Reuven did not bring his two children - they will
be bar and bat mitzvah in early july in Beersheva. Dr. and Mrs. Abraham
will be going over for the simchas.
Also present - Professor Dov and Bilha Levin. Dov is a great-nephew
of Mrs. Tobias Geffen.
He walked from Vilna to Italy from January to June in 1945 and was
smuggled in to Palestine as an illegal in october 1945. Dov is one
of the leading authorities on the history of the jews in the baltic
countries. Rabbi and Mrs. Geffen assisted him when he first came to
palestine.
Also present was Nira ben-Zvi and her husband Danny. Her mother Sonia
was the daughter of Yona Geffen, a brother of Rabbi Tobias Geffen.
Her older sister Yona died a few years ago. Nira has two children
and some grandchildren. |
Photos
are from Only Simchas |
|