In The Aftermath of Fire: Music Box Museum: "We Will Reopen" - Memory of Elad Riven - Tomer Dies of Fire Injuries - Let Carmel Renew Itself

While the authorities add up the toll of the devastating Carmel fire and figure out how to compensate victims, there are some losses that can't be restored – like the destruction of a unique museum in the Ein Hod artists colony, which contained a collection of music-making boxes and equipment that  took former American documentary maker, 75 year old Nisan Cohen, 45 years to gather.

Since the 1950s, Cohen has been collecting music boxes of all sizes, hurdy gurdies, hand-operated automatic and player pianos, early gramophones, and other music-making equipment. Among his treasures were a real nickolodeon that played music of the twenties and an authentic organ grinder's music wagon with a mechanical monkey on top.  The rare pieces, imported from around the world and from several stores Cohen operated in the U.S., were all on display at his Nisco Museum of Mechanical Music in Ein Hod – which was badly damaged in the Carmel blaze. “My house wasn't damaged,” Cohen told Israel National News Monday. “But the museum was almost all burned down.”

The pieces – well over 150 of them – were mostly manufactured in the U.S. and Britain, with the oldest items made before the turn of the 20th century. Thomas Edison's invention of the gramophone ended the popularity of music boxes, which were once the only way to bring music into the home without playing an instrument.



A big draw for visitors to Ein Hod, who not only  admired the beautiful workmanship on many of the boxes and tried them out, but also learned how  they work--pins on various cylinders inside the boxes pluck the teeth of  combs to produce a melody-- the museum is now a shambles, Cohen says – but he plans to rebuild.

“We hope to be up and running again within several months,” Cohen says. “We've begun going over the pieces to see which ones are salvageable or repairable, and we plan on cleaning the ones that survived in the coming days.” After that, Cohen says, he plans to try and acquire more pieces, enabling him to rebuild in the coming months.

“Fortunately the museum had good friends who did not forsake us in our time of need,” Cohen says. Those friends are helping Cohen  - with material and other support – get the project going again. “We appreciate all the support we've received in the past few days,” Cohen said, with the optimism for which he is known, having printed original bumper stickers that say "Everything is everywhere" and "Don't postpone joy" that he sells in his museum shop.
“With some luck, we'll have the museum back up and running soon," he said.

Youth Assembly to be Held in Memory of Elad Riven

The Ministry of Education announced on Monday that it will be holding a central youth assembly in Haifa in memory of Elad Riven who perished in the blaze on the Carmel last weekend. The assembly will take place at the conclusion of the shloshim (mourning period) for Riven.

Riven, 16, was the youngest person to die in the devastating fire, the worst one in Israel’s history, that raged on the Carmel Range and which claimed the lives of 43 people. An only child, Elad was a volunteer firefighter who studied at the Re’ali High School in Haifa.
His classmates said that when Elad saw the flames in the Carmel, he called his mother and asked her to bring his uniform and take him to join his unit at the site of the fire. He was killed while trying to rescue the IPS cadets who were trapped on a bus which was taking them to evacuate prisoners in the Damon Prison.
The special assembly in memory of Elad Riven will be conducted in conjunction with Israel’s national youth movements and will emphasize and encourage volunteering among youth. The ceremony will be attended by Elad’s parents, Emil and Tzvia, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav. Also in attendance will be large numbers of teens who regularly volunteer in different organizations.
Minister Sa’ar has also ordered that following the Chanukah vacation, all school educators dedicate one classroom hour to study the character of Elad Riven, with an emphasis on the values embodied in his personality and circumstances of his death.
In addition, the Ministry of Education announced that it intends to establish memorial projects which would be dedicated to Elad Riven z”l.

Commander Ahuva Tomer Dies of Fire Injuries

Haifa Police Commander Ahuva Tomer, 52, died this morning from wounds she suffered in the line of duty during the catastrophic fire in the Carmel.

She suffered burns over 90% of her body, and though doctors fought valiantly to save her life, and even noted a slight improvement in her condition yesterday, the situation worsened overnight and she succumbed this morning. She is the 43rd victim of the fire, which claimed 36 Prison Service cadets; two other cadets are alive but in critical condition.

Tomer was caught by the flames after she insisted on following the ill-fated bus carrying the cadets into the fire. Channel Ten reporter Eli Levy was apparently the last one to speak with her in person (aside from deceased police commander Itzik Melina, who was with her in the car). After expressing concern for the mothers and children waiting behind, Tomer told Levy that she was headed towards the fire to help out – despite warnings by her underlings not to do so.
Expressions of sorrow and praise for Tomer began streaming in immediately after news of her death became known. Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch said, “Ahuva was a true example of a woman of valor, a true fighter, and a valued commander in the Israel Police.”
Police Commissioner Dudu Cohen said, “Ahuva, our friend, widely-praised commander, courageous woman of iron who overcame many difficult tests, lived and died as a heroine. The entire Israel Police family is shocked and hurting  today.”
Tomer made history when she became the first woman to head an Israeli police station – Nahariya, in 1997 – and again in 2009 when she was named to head Israel’s largest municipal police district, Haifa. In between, she successfully fought a six-year legal battle on charges of taking money illegally; the judge who vindicated her sharply criticized the internal police prosecution for not having sufficiently studied the facts.  Tomer then decided to rejoin the police, serving as Deputy Commissioner of Haifa during the Second Lebanon War, and was said to be a future candidate for National Police Commissioner.
Ahuva Tomer will be buried at 3 PM today in Haifa. Maccabi Haifa soccer players will wear black armbands in her memory during today’s game with the team from Acco.

Nature Society: Let Carmel Renew Itself

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) calls upon the government to restore the fire-ravaged north by adopting the expert opinion that says to rely on the forest’s natural ability to rebuild itself, and not via re-planting.

The SPNI notes that previous large forest fires in Israel have helped amass much knowledge as to how to correctly rehabilitate the Carmel forest, 40% of which was damaged in the just-ended calamitous fire.
The mountainous Carmel is an important Mediterranean forest center that supports a wide variety of flora and fauna. It is also an important location for hikes and leisure time in nature. The damage caused by the fire includes, most notably and obviously, the beautiful view of lush greenery that could be seen from many areas of northern Israel. Also harmed were plant life infrastructures, invertebrates, soil, and more.
Burnt trees should be left where they are at present, the SPNI says, “in order to prevent soil erosion, and to prevent the damage that would be caused by heavy machinery brought in for the purpose.
“In order not to repeat past mistakes,” the SPNI announced, “the rehabilitation must be based on the area’s natural ability to renew itself given the seed bank in the soil, and not by bringing in saplings from outside. We have to give the area a chance to renew itself naturally, with intelligent intervention on our part. We should strive to create an ecologically-varied area.”
New plantings should be done, if at all, only after ecological evaluations showing their importance, and only in small areas, according to the SPNI. “Pine trees should not be planted at all; they are generally foreign to the Carmel, and help fires spread.”