In recent months, the Knesset Museum and the Knesset have been trying to find Yaakov Lischpitz, who was discovered almost by chance as the Knesset's first pastry chef. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small-big mystery, which began almost by accident, and turned into an exciting journey behind the scenes of the Knesset in its early years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It all started with preparations for the 60th anniversary of the Knesset and the arrival of the 50,000th visitor to the Knesset Museum on Independence Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The archive, museum, art and press staff at the Mishkan embarked on a search for treasures from the past. Among documents, protocols and faded photographs, they remembered an old album from the Knesset cafeteria, a black-and-white album, imbued with the scent of other days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album was delivered to the Knesset several years ago by brothers Mandy and Aryeh Rosenfeld. Their parents, Issachar and Leah Rosenfeld, ran the legendary Knesset cafeteria in the 1960s, back when the Knesset operated in Beit Frumin, before moving to its current location in Givat Ram. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The photos in the album show small and big moments immortalized in special cakes: historic visits, state events, and celebrations of the young Knesset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, one picture caught my eye. A spectacular cake, sculpted by a master, with the entire country's emblem made of chocolate. The cake was dedicated to President Zalman Shazar, and it read: "To our esteemed President, congratulations on the 16th year of the Knesset's establishment.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the corner of the photograph, they noticed a small, almost hidden note, which read: "Knesset Inauguration Party 1965. Made by: Lifshitz Yaakov.". <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the director of the Knesset Museum, Dr. Moshe Foxman, was asked who this Lifshitz was, he was able to say that he was the legendary chef and confectioner of the Knesset in those days. But this is where the mystery begins. Despite his central role, almost no information about the man can be found in the Knesset archives or the museum. Even the children of the Rosenfeld couple could not tell what happened to this Lifshitz, who cooked and baked for members of the Knesset, including David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol and Menachem Begin, for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Knesset, attempts began to uncover new details about the chef and they contacted the greatest chefs in Israel, including Haim Cohen, Shalom Kadosh and Micha Noy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noy, who was the first chef to star in a television cooking show back in the days of Channel One in black and white, was surprised when he received a call from the Knesset. "Do you know who Yaakov Lifshitz is?" he was asked. After a few seconds of thought, he replied without hesitation: "Of course. Yaakov was my partner in a catering company that operated kitchens at the Sharon, Four Seasons and Mandarin hotels, a few years after he finished working in the Knesset. He also has a son and a daughter, to the best of my recollection."\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of the conversation, unfortunately, he said that over the years, contact with him had been lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, when all avenues were exhausted, a decision was made to appeal to the public through the media. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana called on the general public to join the search: "We very much hope to find Chef Lipschitz, and are certain that he has amazing stories from the early days of the Knesset that must be documented in our archives. Sometimes, all it takes to open a forgotten chapter in history is one cake, a small note, and a lot of people who refuse to let the memory disappear.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few hours after the publication, Chairman Amir Ohana received an emotional message that read: "I am the grandson of Yaakov Lifshitz.". <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A conversation with Tomer, the grandson, revealed that Yaakov passed away about a decade ago, but he left behind a large family and that his 93-year-old wife, Naomi, is still alive and would be happy to tell his story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This morning (Sunday) the family arrived in full formation at the Knesset Museum. Yaakov's children and grandchildren told the museum staff about Yaakov's experiences as a 7-year-old boy who was orphaned by his parents when his mother died in his youth and his father was murdered in a pogrom against Jews in Romania. Yaakov, who was transferred to a relative in Hungary, found work with a confectioner as a young boy, which led him to his life's mission after surviving the Holocaust as a partisan fighter who also used the knowledge he acquired in the world of baking and cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""He introduced me to my first husband at the wedding," shared his widow Naomi. "We got married and haven't been apart since. I worked alongside him as a chef and saw the amazing cakes he made over the years. He was an artist who knew how to mold sugar and paint with chocolate even before they invented sugar paste.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shir and Ron, his grandson, spoke excitedly about the bar mitzvah cake his grandfather made for him and about working alongside him when he was young. "He did amazing things and we were so excited to find out that they were looking for him.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the fascinating conversations with his family members, which were documented and will be transferred to the Knesset archives, the museum staff brought Naomi to the restored mythological Knesset cafeteria complex, where they surprised her with a breathtaking cake dedicated to Jacob's work, designed by baking and pastry artist Liron Taco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naomi, who was moved by the gesture, told Taco: "Yaakov made Queen Elizabeth's wedding cake and the peace cake for Sadat.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Knesset Museum, which was launched just eight months ago in the Frumin House, which served as the home of the Knesset from 1950 to 1966, is celebrating the 50,000th visitor with a variety of special events during the Independence Day celebrations, alongside a special display of the cake prepared in honor and memory of Jacob Lipschitz, a Romanian-born survivor of the Holocaust, who was the pastry chef of the first revenues and prepared some of the most important cakes in the history of the country in its early years.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u05d1\u05db\u05e0\u05e1\u05ea \u05d5\u05d1\u05de\u05d5\u05d6\u05d9\u05d0\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05db\u05e0\u05e1\u05ea \u05d7\u05d9\u05e4\u05e9\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d7\u05d5\u05d3\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05e9\u05e3 \u05e7\u05d5\u05e0\u05d3\u05d9\u05d8\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e4\u05e9\u05d9\u05e5, \u05de\u05d9 \u05e9\u05d4\u05db\u05d9\u05df \u05d0\u05ea \u05e2\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05e4\u05d0\u05e8 \u05e9\u05dc \u05d4\u05db\u05e0\u05e1\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d5\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea. \u05d4\u05e9\u05e4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05d1\u05db\u05d9\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05e1\u05d9\u05d9\u05e2\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d7\u05d9\u05e4\u05d5\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05e8\u05e7 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8 \u05e4\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4 \u05dc\u05e2\u05d6\u05e8\u05ea \u05d4\u05e6\u05d9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e0\u05e4\u05ea\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d4\u05ea\u05e2\u05dc\u05d5\u05de\u05d4. \u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1 \u05e0\u05e4\u05d8\u05e8 \u05dc\u05e4\u05e0\u05d9 \u05db\u05e2\u05e9\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d1\u05dc \u05d4\u05d1\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d2\u05d9\u05e2\u05d4 \u05d0\u05dc \u05de\u05d5\u05d6\u05d9\u05d0\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05db\u05e0\u05e1\u05ea \u05d0\u05dc\u05de\u05e0\u05ea\u05d5 \u05e0\u05e2\u05de\u05d9 \u05d1\u05ea \u05d4-93 \u05db\u05e9\u05d4\u05d9\u05d0 \u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e4\u05ea \u05d1\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u05d9\u05d5 \u05d5\u05e0\u05db\u05d3\u05d9\u05d5. \u05d1\u05de\u05d5\u05d6\u05d9\u05d0\u05d5\u05df \u05d7\u05d9\u05db\u05ea\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d4\u05dd \u05d4\u05e4\u05ea\u05e2\u05d4; \u05e2\u05d5\u05d2\u05d4 \u05e2\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8\u05ea \u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05de\u05d4 \u05d4\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05e9\u05ea \u05dc\u05e4\u05d5\u05e2\u05dc\u05d5 \u05e9\u05dc \u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1. \u05e0\u05e2\u05de\u05d9 \u05e9\u05d4\u05ea\u05e8\u05d2\u05e9\u05d4 \u05de\u05d4\u05de\u05d7\u05d5\u05d5\u05d4 \u05e1\u05d9\u05e4\u05e8\u05d4: \"\u05d9\u05e2\u05e7\u05d1 \u05d4\u05db\u05d9\u05df \u05d0\u05ea \u05e2\u05d5\u05d2\u05ea \u05d4\u05d7\u05ea\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4 \u05e9\u05dc \u05d4\u05de\u05dc\u05db\u05d4 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05d6\u05d1\u05ea \u05d5\u05d0\u05ea \u05e2\u05d5\u05d2\u05ea \u05d4\u05e9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd \u05dc\u05e1\u05d0\u05d3\u05d0\u05ea\"","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":1046817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[64862,12120,43718],"class_list":["post-1046815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-95","tag-64862","tag-12120","tag-43718"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n