Shishi Tarbut is, sort of, a spinoff of ShabbaTarbut which has been running for a long time in cities around the country. It is a cultural event where the host interviews politicians or other people in leadership positions and they discuss various issues of current events. Shishi Tarbut is a spinoff in the sense that some places wanted to be more inclusive and include the religiosu public, and religious politicians and other leaders who would not or could not participate on Shabbos, so they moved it to Friday.

Aliza Bloch brought Shishi Tarbut to Bet Shemesh, in her attempt to improve the level, and amount, of cultural events happening in the city.

I missed the first one a few weeks ago, but decided I wanted to go to the one scheduled for this past Friday, especially considering the powerhouse lineup. The event was scheduled for interviews with Moshe Gafni, Gideon Saar, Moshe Kachlon, and local city councilman Moshe Shitreet.

I was a little disappointed that the hall was relatively empty. I expected with such a lineup of interviews the place would be filled to capacity. It was only about 25%-30% full, and some people were coming and going. I get that it is a new event and many possibly do not yet know about it. Perhaps it needs to be marketed better.

Regarding the interviews, they were as interesting as expected. Moshe Gafni is extremely sharp and witty. Gideon Saar is very measured with his words, very thoughtful and stately. Moshe Kachlon is very down to earth and straightforward. Moshe Shitreet spoke about local affairs and is very open and thinks very broadly in scope. Aliza Bloch opened the event with an introduction, and all the interviewees mentioned during their talks about having met with her and working to improve Bet Shemesh and spoke, briefly, about specific issues they would be helping the city with in the future due to her efforts.







The plan is to have these regularly, though I do not know how frequently. It was mentioned that the next one will be in two weeks, but I originally thought this was mean to be once per month. I guess pay attention to the announcements around town...