Ida Nudel spoke with two presidents Sunday, starred in a festive concert in Tel Aviv, and considered ideas for a coast-to-coast lecture tour of the United States, which industrialist Armand Hammer wants to arrange for her.
“I was a little nervous: he is only the second president I have ever spoken to,” Nudel said after her four-minute phone call to President Ronald Reagan from Jerusalem to the hospital in Maryland where his wife, Nancy, is recovering from surgery.
With Secretary of State George Shultz at her side, Nudel thanked the president for his personal involvement in her case and wished his wife a full recovery.
Earlier, she lunched with President Chaim Herzog — and sat in a chair bearing her name that had been kept symbolically vacant at the president’s residence for the past five years.
In the evening, escorted by Tel Aviv Mayor Shlomo Lahat, Nudel joined the Herzogs and other dignitaries at the Israel Philharmonic’s festive concert in Tel Aviv marking the 13th anniversary of the opening of the Mann Auditorium, the city’s main cultural center. Guest soloist was pianist Maurizio Pollini. Nudel spoke to the audience briefly from the stage — and was greeted with sustained applause.
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