April
2008 / Nissan 5768
Dear
Friends,
The Ner Tamid
community is blessed often with opportunities to celebrate. We celebrate B’nei
Mitzvah, weddings, baby-namings and Brit Milahs, anniversaries, and other
special personal or family milestones. We have been blessed to enjoy
celebrations of a more communal nature, as well, including the dedication of a
new Torah, the ground-breaking and entry into our new building, and numerous
Annual Galas, just to name a few. Rarely, however, are we blessed to celebrate a
special milestone together with every Jew everywhere in the world. The State of
Israel’s 60th Anniversary provides for us just such a special
blessing of celebration.
Throughout the month of May 2008, Jews worldwide will celebrate the 60th
Anniversary of the modern State of Israel. To put this celebration into
perspective, the Jewish People remained without an autonomous and free homeland
for just slightly under 2000 years until the modern State of Israel was founded
in May 1948. One decade ago, Israel celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The significance of Israel’s 60th anniversary is that it marks the
completion of the first decade of Israel’s second half-century of existence!
Residing on the Arabian Peninsula, with hostile enemies on every border,
Israel’s mere subsistence for the past 60 years would be reason enough to
celebrate, as it was no small feat. However, the miracle that is Israel
lies in the flourishing of Israeli society, the innovative technology that
Israel exports to the entire world every day that enhances and preserves so many
lives, and the shining light of an undying and evermore vibrant Jewish spirit
that Israel radiates to the entire world on behalf of everyone associated with
the Jewish People.
On Sunday, May 18th, at 5:00 PM, our Congregation will begin
together a very unique evening of celebration of Israel’s 60th
Anniversary. To begin with, our festivities are offered entirely free of
charge! Included in the course of this celebration will be a Founders
of Israel Museum Exhibit that will include a special component dedicated to
the MaCHaL Soldiers who were essential to Israel’s victory in its 1948 War of
Independence. This museum is presented by Jason Fenton, one of the brave MaCHaL
Soldiers who helped to liberate the land of Israel for the sake of the Jewish
People. MaCHaL Soldiers are unique in that they were not residents or citizens
of the State of Israel, even after the war was won. The word “MaCHaL” is an
acronym that stands for “Volunteer Soldiers from the Diaspora.”
Concurrent to the
Founders of Israel Museum Exhibit, but beginning one half-hour later, at
5:30 PM, our Sisterhood will present a special Taste of Israel. The
Taste of Israel will offer an opportunity to all of our members to enjoy
samples of the variety of dishes that were brought to the State of Israel by
Jewish immigrants who arrived from all over the globe to help found the country.
This special event will also feature an opportunity to learn from the written
presentations of our CLAL students about each of the various Jewish immigrant
groups whose food is represented. The variety of food samples will be dairy and
parve – and they will, no doubt, be delicious!
At 6:30 PM, the Founders of Israel Museum Exhibit and the Taste
of Israel will conclude. All in attendance will be invited into the
sanctuary for our Main Event. The evening will conclude with a Musical
Tribute to Israel featuring our own Congregation’s Adult Choir, our Noar
Tamid Youth Choir, Cantor Radwine, and myself. We will sing songs of Israel and
Jewish songs of celebration. We will dance together, laugh together, and maybe
even shed a tear of two as we celebrate all together Israel’s 60th
birthday! In the course of the concert, we will pause briefly to honor five very
special individuals. Max Barchichat, Stanley (Buddy) Epstein, Jason Fenton,
Benno Katz, and Philip Yankofsky, each of whom served as a MaCHaL Soldier in
Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, will each receive a special award from the
State of Israel and Congregation Ner Tamid acknowledging their contribution to
the founding of the State of Israel. Each of these five courageous and committed
Jewish heroes deserves acknowledgment. It is our honor to host them and to
provide a proper setting and opportunity for their proper acknowledgment.
As I mentioned
above, this entire program is offered free of charge to our
members and our guests. We are grateful to our Sisterhood for covering the costs
of the Taste of Israel, to our Men’s Club for assisting our Sisterhood
with set-up and for decorating the Levine Community Center, to Bob Geminder and
Eric Shatzkin for assisting Jason Fenton with the Founders of Israel Museum
Exhibit, to Cantor Radwine for his contributions with regard to both the
Taste of Israel and the Musical Tribute to Israel with which we will
conclude our evening, and to Choirs, teachers, and students who will each help
to make this evening of May 18, 2008 most memorable for all of us!
I know that I
speak for all involved in planning this special occasion when I share my hope
that we will enjoy the presence of our entire membership at this special
celebration of the State of Israel’s 60th Anniversary and as we share
in celebration together with the entirety of the Jewish People, the world over.
B’Shalom
– With
Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,
Rabbi
Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader
