When the Milwaukee-area participants in the coming “Community Walk for Israel by BBYO” step off on Thursday, May 12 at 4 p.m., each will be able to bring an Israeli with him or her — symbolically.
In what Milwaukee’s Israel emissary Alon Galron called “a lovely idea” from the local B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, participants will be able to receive a tag with the name of an Israeli living in Sovev Kinneret, Milwaukee’s Partnership 2000 region in Israel, which includes Tiberias and the area around Lake Kinneret.
Because the inhabitants of that region will know about this event, the event becomes not just a walk for Israel, but a walk with Israel, because “we are walking with them,” said Galron. Chair of this event is Jeff Schuster.
This will be just one of the events planned for the two-day “Milwaukee Celebrates Israel 2005” event on May 11-12, at which the Milwaukee-area Jewish community will mark Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day).
The commemoration will begin on Wednesday, May 11, at Congregation Beth Israel. At 6:15 p.m., the community will mark Yom HaZikaron with an event, chaired by Adina Altshull and Yoni Zvi, which will remember those who died in Israel’s defense and will honor the women who serve in the Israel Defense Force. Representing these women will be:
• Featured speaker First Lt. Orel Galula, who, in spite of suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, has become the first disabled officer in a wheelchair to serve in the IDF.
• Twelve local women who have served in the IDF and who will light the 12 torches to mark the transition between Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut.
Yom HaAtzmaut events will begin with a concert by a musician who played a role in Israel’s history: Shuly Natan.
When Natan (also sometimes spelled Nathan) was a teen, her singing impressed renowned Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer, and Shemer asked Natan to sing a relatively new Shemer song at a Yom HaAtzmaut song festival.
The time was May 1967; the song was “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” (“Jerusalem of Gold”); and Natan’s rendering of that song became the anthem of the Six Day War that broke out weeks later.
Natan has traveled the world singing a large repertoire of Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and other songs of Jewish communities worldwide.
Her performance in Milwaukee begins at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Israel. General admission is free; a $100 patron ticket includes two reserved seats.
The Yom HaAtzmaut celebration, co-chaired by Aaron Geist and Oded Cassuto, continues the following day at the Karl Jewish Community Campus, beginning at 3 p.m. and lasting to 8 p.m. Activities will include:
• Performances on the main stage, showcasing the King David Drummers from Israel; such local performers as Joel Eckhardt and Chanan Posner, the Milwaukee Jewish Day School Jazz Band and the Congregation Beth Israel Choir; and a flag exhibition from Hillel Academy.
• Food at an Israeli café and a food court.
• A children’s stage featuring “Kreepy Krawly Kritters” and “Lenny’s Magic Show.”
• A shuk (marketplace) featuring Israeli products, including works by four visiting Israeli artists.
• Various games, rides and arts and crafts projects for children and young adults.
• A blood drive sponsored by Magen David Adom USA that will take place 2 to 7:30 p.m.
“Milwaukee Celebrates Israel” is hosted by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and the Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Honorary chair of the event is Mark Brickman; general chair is Moshe Katz.
For more information, call 414-390-5705 or 414-967-8217.
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