By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–A day after the House of Israel’s grand reopening, board member Arnold Flick opened up the Balboa Park cottage again on Monday, June 13, to permit visiting Israeli veterinarian Yonatan Peres to take a look.
Peres, whose father is President Shimon Peres of Israel, expressed pleasure over the transformation of the House, which he had visited some years before. The last time he had visited, he was not nearly so enthusiastic over what he had seen, sharing in the consensus that it did not so much represent Israel as, perhaps, a Diaspora view of Israel.
Now, however, as he saw a wall of Jerusalem stone, a counter bearing a reproduction of the writing on a Dead Sea Scroll, and then transitioned from this room of ancient wonders to a smaller room with video monitors and encased exhibits of various Israeli inventions benefitting the world, he congratulated Flick on the vast improvement to the structure. “Keep up the amazing work!” Peres told him.
Flick, a retired gastroenterologist, evidently had the feeling in his kishkes that as good as the House of Israel has become, there still is more to do. Peres agreed to put together a list of possible subject areas for the House of Israel to explore, either by adding small items or videos to its permanent exhibit or perhaps by having rotating temporary exhibits.
Agriculture was first on the veterinarian’s list. He said modern Israel can boast the “highest-yield” dairy cow; similarly prolific fruit vegetables and flowers, which are grown utilizing moderen technology and genetics; and wines that have won international competitions; olive oil and honey. He noted that his country invented such agricultural devices as the Kav Noa water-power propelled irrigation sprinklers and drip irrigation.
Mention also might be made of Irael’s success in the advanced desalination of water, and, in addition to the biotech products already on display at the House of Israel, such as a camera one can swallow like a pill, Israel development of advanced coronary stents.
Peres said HOI may choose to emphasize such topics as “the economy,” which Israel was able to keep strong even as the rest f the world’s was foundering, and the growing presence of Israeli firms on the New York Stock Exchange and other stock markets. He said “tourism” is another topic for exploration. In addition to Israel’s amazing history and archeology, tourists will find the “lowest spot on the earth” at the Dead Sea, he said. Additionally, there are the products from the Dead Sea which include components for cosmetics and medicine, and the energetic nightlife of Tel Aviv, which he described as a “bubbling, non-stop city” and one of the top-ten entertainment destinations of the world.
Other topics Peres listed as possibilities for display were “ecology,” including the desalination and recylcying of water, use of the electric car, and increased use of solar energy; “education,” featuring a subsidized school and university system, with a high number of college graduates; “culture,” especially as represented by Israel’s high-velocity book industry, which publishes approximately 20 new books a day, and Israel’s bevy of Nobel Prize winners.
He also suggested that HOI could highlight Israel’s efforts to improve lives around the globe, whether those be in such efforts as the Israeli doctors and technicians who went in teams to Haiti and Japan, after natural disasters befell both countries; or in ongoing efforts at home to build peaceful relations in the Middle East as exemplified by the Peres Center for Peace, founded by his father before his election to Israel’s presidency. Among projects of the Peres Center for Peace has been one with San Diego State University to develop an olive oil blending olives from Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
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While in Balboa Park, Peres also visited the sprawling San Diego Air & Space Museum, which is jam packed with aircraft and memorabilia of the amazing men and women and their flying machines. Peres noted with pride that Israel also was represented in this museum’s display, with insignia from the uniforms of its Air Force on display with those of other nations. There also is a display concerning one of the saddest episodes in U.S. and Israel’s space history, the 2003 crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia on which Israeli Col. Ilan Ramon died along with India’s aerospace engineer Kalpana Chawla and five U.S. astronauts: Rick D. Husband, the mission commander; Wiliam C. McCool; the pilot, and Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown and Laurel Clark.
Peres’ two-day visit to San Diego also included meetings with friends and a brief tour of the San Diego County Fair at Del Mar. The veterinarian gravitated almost immediately to the livestock and small animal exhibits. In addition, he expressed wonderment–and perhaps a little bit of shock– over the kinds of things people actually want to eat from the booths along the Midway, including deep fried candy bars.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com