David! I'm writing at the suggestion of Zohar Manna, and I have a
somewhat unusual request. (In fact, let's face it, my request is
really weird. But I do wish to ask a favor and I hope you won't
resent this intrusion.)

I don't know whether Zohar has mentioned this to you at all, so I'll
start from scratch. I've been spending weekends writing a book
related to the Bible, taking a "random sampling" approach. To make
a long story short, the idea of this book is to make a thorough study
of Chapter 3, verse 16, of every book in the Bible. (And to understand
how these verses fit into their context and into the whole, of course.)
I've been scrounging theological libraries all over, looking for
what has been said about this small sample of verses in ancient days as
well as the present. The whole thing has been extremely interesting,
informative, and exciting for me.

There's also another important part of the project: Each of the verses
is being illustrated by an outstanding calligrapher. I've got simply
stupendous artwork from all parts of the world so far---except Israel.
(Well, I don't have any Arab work either.) And I've received artwork
for all but two of the verses, plus a firm promise last week about one
of the two exceptions.. The one remaining verse is Nehemiah 3:16.

Now comes a neat coincidence: Nehemiah 3:16 is about rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem after the exiles came back from Babylon. It talks about
specific archaeological features that can still be seen in the City
of David. So naturally it would be optimum to have a calligrapher
in Jerusalem do this verse. (That would also eliminate my Israeli gap
in the set of calligraphers.)

My friend Hermann Zapf has been suggesting names of the world's best
calligraphers, and most of them have now contributed. Hermann's original
list included Sharon Binder from Israel, but she declined my invitation.
He made further inquiries and gave me the name of
	Mrs. Lea Shalem
	22 Shimoni Street
	Jerusalem, ISRAEL 92623
so I wrote to her. But she may not have received my letter; anyway I
have had no reply.

I asked Zohar for help, hoping that a more direct communication (through
a path of people who know each other) would be more effective than
mail between strangers. Zohar made some inquiries, perhaps writing to
her himself, but then he said that you might be the best person to
contact her.

If you have time to do this, please let her know that I have a chance
of producing a book she will be pleased to be a part of. You might
also mention that many other fine artists will be included in this
book; for example, Ismar David of New York has contributed an absolutely
stunning rendition of Leviticus 3:16.

Failing that, if you have any ideas as to the finest Jerusalem calligraphers,
I would really like to have Nehemiah 3:16 done by somebody "from the source".

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you can't spare the
time, I would appreciate advice about another person to approach.
Surely the shortest distance between me and Mrs. Shalem, in the
graph of people who know each other, cannot be too great?