A child survivor of the Holocaust, a Milwaukeean serving in the Israel Defense Force and a performance by a rising Israeli singer will be among the features in “Yamim 2015: Journey of a People.”
This is how the Milwaukee Jewish community will mark the three modern Jewish remembrance days (yamim in Hebrew): Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day, Israeli legal date April 16), Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day, Israeli legal date April 22) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day, Israeli legal date April 23).
This is a joint project of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and many of its associated agencies and the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, where all the events will be held.
“The eight-day journey from Yom HaShoah to Yom HaZikaron to Yom HaAtzmaut reflects the great journey of the Jewish people — from winter to spring’s renewal, from slavery to freedom, from victimization to sovereignty,” according to the brochure for the events.
The series will begin with the program “Yom HaShoah: Memorial to the Six Million, Remembrance of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and All Resistance” on Sunday, April 19, 3 p.m.
The keynote speaker will be Rabbi Philip Lazowski, rabbi emeritus at Beth Hillel Synagogue in Bloomfield, Conn.
Lazowski, 85, was born in Belitza, then Poland, now Belarus. When he was 11, he escaped a Nazi ghetto and lived in the forests until liberated by the Russians in 1944.
He came to the U.S. in 1947. He is the author of a book about his experiences, “Faith and Destiny” (2006), and 12 other books about aspects of Judaism.
The event will also pay tribute to Sandra Hoffman (1948-2014). She was a child of Holocaust survivors who for some 30 years was active with Milwaukee survivor and children-of-survivors communities and efforts to remember, and educate about, the Holocaust. (See September 2014 Chronicle.)
“She really was the glue” that held the communities and efforts together, said Leo Kleiner, co-chair of Milwaukee’s Yom HaShoah commemoration with Rachel Baum, Ph.D. “She is sorely missed by the community. All of us were shocked and saddened when she passed.”
The event will also announce the winners of the annual Holocaust Youth Essay Contest sponsored by the Habush Family Foundation.
At 1 p.m., prior to the commemoration, there will be a program for teens, “History Face to Face: Talk with a Survivor.”
This is coordinated by the Milwaukee Jewish Youth Council, formed in 2014 and comprising local members of BBYO, the North American Federation of Temple Youth, United Synagogue Youth and that National Conference of Synagogue Youth.
Yom HaShoah events overall are coordinated by the MJF’s Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and the JCC.
The community will mark Yom HaZikaron — Israel’s Memorial Day for the fallen in wars, other self-defense actions and terrorist attacks — on Wednesday, April 22, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
According to Rabbi Hannah Greenstein, MJF vice president of Israel and Overseas and director of the MJF Israel Center, the commemoration this year will honor people from the Milwaukee community who serve in the Israel Defense Force.
The keynote speaker will be one of them, Uri Minash, son of Sara and the late Sandy Minash. Greenstein said that Minash fought in last summer’s Operation Protective Edge that Israel carried out against the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and lost a friend in that action.
In addition, four members of the Sovev Kinneret (around Lake Kinneret) region of Israel died in that operation.
The Milwaukee and Madison Jewish communities are partnered with the region through the Partnership2Gether program of the Jewish Agency for Israel and Jewish federations.
Therefore, this year’s Yom HaZikaron event will include the showing of a video made in the region about these four soldiers. In addition, the event will provide audience members with an opportunity to write to the soldiers’ families.
“I think that’s a really heartfelt piece of this Yamim,” Greenstein said.
A delegation from the P2G region will also be participating in this and the Yom HaAtzmaut events. (See accompanying story.)
The co-chairs of the Yom HaZikaron commemoration are Monica Arnstein and Amy Bazelon.
Finally, the series will climax with a celebration of Israel’s independence on Sunday, April 26, co-chaired by Alex Blumin and Laura Graupe.
This will include a performance by Ester Rada, a rising Israeli singing star and composer. She was born in Israel of Ethiopian immigrant parents, and according to press reports she has created a distinctive sound that blends influences from Ethiopia, Israel and U.S. jazz, funk and R&B.
In addition, the annual Walk for Israel, beginning at 1:30 p.m., will travel a more public route than did last year’s. This route was chosen because “we feel it’s really important to show to the larger community that we support Israel,” said Greenstein.
The many celebratory activities will follow from 3 to 6 p.m. Greenstein said they will include:
• An opportunity to take an “exercise bicycle ride through Israel,” via the use of a video of Israeli scenes.
• Israeli food from local vendor Ronny Stroli and his Falafel Guys, who will kasher their falafel truck for the occasion.
• The building of a map of Israel with recycled art items, a project presided over by Israel emissary to Milwaukee and artist Amit Yaniv-Zehavi.
• An Israeli-style shuk or market whose proceeds will be donated to Leket Israel, which is described on its website as Israel’s “largest food rescue organization” that “works to alleviate the problem of nutritional insecurity among the growing numbers of Israel’s poor.”
For additional information about these events, contact:
• Mona Cohen, director of adult programs and services at the JCC, 414-967-8249, MCohen@JCCMilwaukee.org.
• Shay Pilnik, Ph.D., executive director of HERC, 414-963-2719, ShayP@MilwaukeeJewish.org.
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