David Wilstein

Hesh Kestin listened politely as the young hitchhiker he had picked up complained about everything from the poor state of Israeli roads to the ailing national health service. Then something inside the native New Yorker--a commitment to his adopted homeland, a journalistic sense of history, or maybe just an inbred optimism--made him take issue with what he heard. "Look," Kestin admonished his passenger, a soldier. "You have peace with Egypt.

Hesh Kestin listened politely as the young hitchhiker he had picked up complained about everything from the poor state of Israeli roads to the ailing national health service. Then something inside the native New Yorker--a commitment to his adopted homeland, a journalistic sense of history, or maybe just an inbred optimism--made him take issue with what he heard. "Look," Kestin admonished his passenger, a soldier. "You have peace with Egypt.

Contrary to common belief, those huge sums given by major donors to charity aren't always easily given. For instance, at the Music Center reception Wednesday evening in The Founders, feting Gold Circle Patrons of the Arts (donations of $500,000 or more), Distinguished Patrons of the Arts (known as DPA's--$250,000 or more) and Benefactors ($100,000 or more), Peggy Parker, who this year became a DPA, noted when asked how she was feeling, "I feel very poor."

Nearly four decades ago, 18 friends came together to offer free legal services in Los Angeles' Fairfax district. They were lawyers and legal secretaries and law students and social workers, and they found themselves a storefront on Fairfax Avenue. Each month, they chipped in $5 apiece, which was enough to cover rent, electricity and phones. No one got paid a dime. All volunteered time. Theirs was a tiny operation with a name huge with hope: Bet Tzedek, which in Hebrew means House of Justice.

The Ice Capades will be putting a Westside native on ice this week. Bobby Beauchamp, who grew up in Culver City, is a featured soloist in the skating show at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood today through Nov. 2. Beauchamp began skating at the age of 9 against a lot of odds. Born with a clubfoot that twisted his left leg, he spent much of his early childhood in corrective casts and braces. In an effort to strengthen his leg muscles, his mother introduced him to ice skating.

"We either want to be first or we want to be different," mused David Wilstein, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Realtech Development & Construction Co., that owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of commercial space in Los Angeles. Wilstein was describing the Los Angeles-based company's general philosophy, particularly in relation to its latest project, the $65-million Maple Plaza, a three-story, 280,000-square-foot garden office building to be located on a 3.

At 42, Louis Rudolph was surrounded by all the trappings of success--as a major television producer he had an expensive car and a big office with a view of the Hollywood sign and of the handprints of generations of celebrities at Mann's Chinese Theater. Still, he couldn't help asking himself: "What am I living for?" "Down there all along somewhere was that question, but I had figured out a way not to deal with it," Rudolph said.

City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, offering a rare level of constituent service, is supporting 10 Los Angeles property owners in their efforts to have their homes annexed to Beverly Hills, a change that would increase the value of each home by at least $150,000.

The Heart Ball at the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom was good for the heart. Everyone was saying "Bless your heart," twirling to Joe Moshay, singing gospel and shaking tambourines (distributed through the audience) with Neil Sedaka. Even the dinner committee members--Richard J. Pearson, Richard M. Ferry and Dr. Eliot Corday--weren't stressing. The trio had sold out two weeks early. Instead, they were thanking "dynamic donors." So were dinner chairmen Mmes. Charles D.