Check out my B-I-L, Kenny Borsykowsky, and Israeli President Shimon Peres!

How cool is this?

Last Monday, May 3, 2010, Kenny attended the Jerusalem International Writer’s Festival.  Shimon Peres was an honored guest.  Crowds were gathered around Shimon Peres and Kenny wanted to shake his hand or speak with him, but stayed off to the side, not really sure what to say.  Then Shimon Peres pointed to Kenny and said something like, “Tell me about you.”  And that began an almost 20 minute conversation between Kenny and Shimon Peres.

Shimon Peres asked Kenny where he was from, and Kenny told him he was from New York and that he made aliyah 15 years ago.  Kenny told Shimon Peres that he had met him once before in New York when he was about 13 years old.  At that time, about 8-10 kids who were representatives of different youth groups were invited to Shimon Peres’ hotel room to meet him.

Shimon Peres asked, “Who’s the Zionist?” and Kenny told him that his mom, grandmother and great-grandmother were Zionists and that his grandmother worked with Golda Meir.

Here’s some information about Shimon Peres that I got from Wikipedia that I thought you might find interesting:

Shimon Peres is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel.  He served twice as the eigth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister.  He has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years.

Shimon Peres took office as President on July 15, 2007.  Presidents are elected by the Knesset for one 7 year term.  The President is the head of state of Israel, however, the real executive power lies with the Prime Minister.

The powers of the President of Israel are generally equivalent to those held by heads of state in other parliamentary democracies.   The president signs every law (except those that pertain to the president’s powers) and international or bilateral treaties approved by the Knesset. In addition, he or she appoints the Governor of the Bank of Israel, judges to secular and rabbinical courts, and kadis to Islamic courts, as well as members of several councils, authorities, foundations and academies.   He  also confirms and endorses the credentials of ambassadors and receives the credentials of the foreign diplomats.

One of the things Kenny said to Shimon Peres was that he was surprised that he was at the event for such a long time (over two hours).  Shimon Peres asked, “Why?” and Kenny said, “Well, you are the President!”

VERY VERY COOL, KENNY!