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in
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Picture In Picture

Andy Roisman
meets the subjects
of her treasured
photo.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE: Andy Roisman with
Rubinger and his “Paratroopers at
the Western Wall” photo.
TOP: Oshri, Yifat and Karasenti
with Roisman and the iconic
50-year-old photo.

M

ost everyone has
some kind of artwork
or meaningful photo-
graph in their home or office.
Many have even discovered the
history behind the pieces. But
Andrea “Andy” Roisman was
able to go two steps further.
Her copy of the iconic photo
of three Israeli paratroopers,
taken at the 1967 liberation of
the Western Wall during the
country’s Six Day War, was
gifted to her — and signed
by the photographer, the late
David Rubinger.
Then, remarkably, this past
June, five decades after the
photo was taken,
she met the soldiers
and had her picture
taken with them.
“I met David
Rubinger in March
of 2002,” Roisman
said of the man
who passed away
earlier this year.
“He became a dear
friend and I spent
time with him
every time I went
to Israel. He was
the photographer
of Israel for 50 years and Time-
Life magazine’s photographer
for [longer]. His house was
a museum of the history of
Israel. I loved this man. He was
a treasure, and I was so fortu-
nate to know him. I miss him

terribly.”
The two met
through Roisman’s
longtime work
helping to curate
the photo archives
of the late Paul
Goldman, owned
by photojournalism col-
lector and local business-
man Spencer M. Partrich.
Goldmanhad taken fascinat-
ing photos of his own, includ-
ing one of former Israeli
Prime Minister, the late David
Ben-Gurion, as a 71-year-old,
white-haired, bare-chested
gentleman in a black bathing
suit doing a headstand on the
beach at the Sharon Hotel in
Herzilya in 1957.
Rubinger told Roisman
about the day in June 1967
when he lay on the ground to
take the famous “Paratroopers
at the Western Wall” photo.
“He had also taken a picture
of Rabbi Shlomo Goren being
carried in on the shoulders
of the soldiers as they were
walking to the Wall reuniting
the city of Jerusalem,” said
Roisman, who lives in Beverly
Hills. “David was asked to
pick one picture for Time
magazine to commemorate
the moment. He picked the
rabbi, but his wife said no. It
had to be the three soldiers.
He listened to her. The rest is
history.”

Glassman Genesis

THE MEETING

This past April, Dr. Yitzhak
Yifat, Zion Karasenti and Haim
Oshri recreated their famed
poses in front of the Wall.
In June, in honor of the 50th
anniversary of the Six Day War,
they participated in a first-ever
tour of the United States, spon-
sored by Friends of the Israel
Defense Forces (FIDF).
Learning that the visit would
include a stop in Detroit,
Roisman said, “I called my
friend Keren Toby at the FIDF
office and told her I had the
photo signed by David. She
said the men would be here
on June 6 for an event (at the
Orchard Lake home of FIDF
Michigan Vice President Shari
Ferber Kaufman and FIDF
Michigan Chairman Alon
Kaufman), and she would
make sure I could meet them.
They were having lunch at
Soul Cafe [in West Bloomfield],
so I went there. They were
lovely. Two spoke no English.
The little one, Yitzhak, did.
He is a doctor, retired from
Rishon.”
After the war, Oshri became

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16

August 17 • 2017

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a chemist and also worked
for the minister of religious
affairs; Karasenti, a director
and choreographer, founded a
dance troupe and performed
throughout Israel; Yifat
became a physician.
The three men signed the
picture given to Roisman by
Rubinger. She also owns a
photo of herself with Rubinger
holding the photo of the sol-
diers, taken in his home last
year.
And now she has a photo of
herself with the former para-
troopers.
“I cried talking to Dr. Yitzhak
about David,” Roisman said.
“He, too, loved David and was
very sad about his death. He
had stayed connected to him
over the years. He did attend
his funeral.
“Meeting the three was
overwhelming,” she said. “They
are real celebrities. They rep-
resent the country, the grit
and the reality of what Israel
faces every day. I have looked
at that picture a million times.
To meet the actual men was
meeting history.” •

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