On January 29th, outgoing Knesset Member Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz and his aide Baruch Gordon, both from Bet El, Israel, will deliver post-election addresses to a Miami Beach audience.
Since the previous elections, Ketzaleh was the key figure working towards a unification of the two existing national-religious political parties: the Jewish Home and National Union. In late November 2012, thanks to his perseverance, the two parties merged and, according to recent polls, the combined faction stands to triple its representation in the Knesset to some 15 seats.
Ketzaleh and Gordon are guests of the Eliyahu Kramer Foundation and Cuban Hebrew Congregation. The event will take place at 8:00pm on January 29th, 2013 in the social hall of the Cuban Hebrew Congregation in Miami Beach.
Event organizer Rina Kramer promotes Jewish unity in her locale via community-wide events. She is an ardent advocate of Jewish rights to the entirety of the Land of Israel and is promoting high attendance at this special event to expose the community to the inspiring and positive perspective of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
Ketzaleh became a national hero in the Yom Kippur War when he sustained a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade to his thigh while serving in an elite IDF unit. He spent 6 months recovering in a hospital and married a medical volunteer who treated him. He went on to found the town and yeshiva of Bet El on a barren hill in Samaria, and later to establish the Arutz Sheva media network, commonly referred to as the Israeli version of Fox News.
Gordon, who is a director at the Israel Defense Forces Preparatory Academy in Bet El, founded the English services of Arutz Sheva (IsraelNationalNews.com) and managed it for 14 years. He also authors the Bet El Newsletter which publishes pro-Israel and Jewish spiritual content unattainable anywhere else in English.
Ketzaleh and Gordon are neighbors in Bet El and have spoken at many synagogues across America.