Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCIII No. 15, April 13, 2018

VOL. XCIII NO. 15

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APRIL 13, 2018 | 28 NISAN 5778

Israel@70

A Celebration of the Jewish State and Its Special Relationship With Atlanta

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ISRAEL@70 - TABLE OF CONTENTS

michael@atljewishtimes.com

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER KAYLENE LADINSKY kaylene@atljewishtimes.com

ADVERTISING Senior Account Manager

BRENDA GELFAND brenda@atljewishtimes.com Senior Account Manager

MICHAL BONELL michal@atljewishtimes.com Account Manager

LLOYD STARK lloyd@atljewishtimes.com

EDITORIAL Editor

MICHAEL JACOBS mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com Staff Writer

SARAH MOOSAZADEH sarah@atljewishtimes.com

Contributors This Week EVAN ALBERHASKY RABBI DAVID GEFFEN YONI GLATT HAROLD GOLDMEIER JORDAN GORFINKEL LEAH R. HARRISON YOHANAN PLESNER ERIC M. ROBBINS DAVE SCHECHTER JOE SCHULMAN JUDITH VARNAI SHORER KEN STEIN

CREATIVE SERVICES Creative Design

DARA DRAWDY

COMMUNITY LIAISON JEN EVANS jen@atljewishtimes.com

CONTACT INFORMATION GENERAL OFFICE 404.883.2130 KAYLENE@ATLJEWISHTIMES.COM The Atlanta Jewish Times is printed in Georgia and is an equal opportunity employer. The opinions expressed in the Atlanta Jewish Times do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Periodicals Postage Paid at Atlanta, Ga. POSTMASTER send address changes to The Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328.

Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite Phone: (404) 883-2130 www.atlantajewishtimes.com THE ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328 © 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. MEMBER Conexx: America Israel Business Connector American Jewish Press Association Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

Three score and 10 are the years of a standard man’s life, Tehillim (Psalms) Chapter 90 tells us, so Israel’s 70th birthday is a special occasion.

It’s not that the Jewish state has a limited life span or needs all its strength just to make it to 80 years (despite the best efforts of Hamas and the Gazans attacking the border each Friday or the bad intentions of the Iranians operating in Syria). But we can reasonably conclude that most people — Jews, Israelis, Americans, Earthlings — have never lived without an independent Israel as a reality.

That’s something worth celebrating, so that’s all we’re doing with this week’s issue, timed to reach you before Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day), which runs from Wednesday night to Thursday night, April 18 and 19.

Our focus is the seven-decade-plus connection between Israel and Atlanta.

You’ll find examples of business and educational ties on Pages 17 to 19 and history highlights from Pages 20 to 29, including Rabbi Tobias Geffen’s Israel independence sermon, memories from 1948 war veterans Chaim Avneri and David Macarov, the role of CNN, and Ken Stein’s overview of Israel’s rough neighborhood.

We asked scores of Atlantans what Israel means to them; read their answers on Pages 30 to 46.

Find details about how Atlanta is marking this birthday on Pages 10 to 16, including maps of the community party at Park Tavern on April 29. And just as Israel’s secular birthday doesn’t come until May 14, so the observances don’t end in April.

Visit atlantajewishconnector.com or look for the Israel@70 calendar in each issue of the AJT to see what’s coming in May and beyond.

— Editor Michael Jacobs

On the Cover

The amazing photograph of Jerusalem’s Old City was taken in 2014 by Atlantan Jacob Ross, who tells us the story behind the shot: “I was working in the Old City. It had just rained, and I wanted to go to the Kotel, since it wouldn’t be crowded. On the way down, I noticed there was a double rainbow over the Temple Mount, so I took the photo immediately. It was taken on my iPhone. Ten minutes after I took the picture, the rainbow had disappeared.”

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PUBLISHER

MICHAEL A. MORRIS

Inside This Special AJT

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ISRAEL@70 - OPINION

Hope and Confidence

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Eva and George Varnai, my parents, reflect the 70 years of Israel, rising from the ashes of the Holocaust.

They came to Israel in 1950 after numerous attempts to cross the border illegally from Hungary to Austria just before the Iron Curtain dropped. They never lost hope to fulfill the yearning of every Zionist to build a life in young Israel.

They came with few belongings after rejecting offers from non-Zionist organizations to immigrate to the United States. With scant knowledge of Hebrew, they settled in Be’er Sheva. Their neighbors spoke 70 dialects of Hebrew, were poor, and wanted to assimilate.

Hungarian etiquette and culture ruled our lives, but we spoke Hebrew at home. My father had his wars and was wounded in the Sinai in 1956. No one was happier than he when I graduated from the IDF officers academy as a first lieutenant. I epitomized his success of becoming a full-fledged Israeli.

My mother always spoke Hebrew with a Hungarian accent and loved

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every moment of her life in Israel.

In 70 short years, the troddenupon Jews have built homes for about 7 million Jews, schools, universities, government and scientific institutions, community centers, and public parks.

They developed vast agricul-

Guest Column

By Judith Varnai Shorer

ture, industries and efficient welfare services and developed a new culture, Israeli culture, exported worldwide.

I cross Tel Aviv’s older sections to reach the cemetery where my parents are buried. I drive down Rothschild Boulevard, looking at the high-tech entrepreneurs, huddling together, busy at their laptops in corner cafes.

We are still young, with hope in the air and confidence in our future. ■ Ambassador Judith Varnai Shorer is Israel’s consul general to the Southeast.

When the Temperature Rises, Atlanta Is Here One of the best books on the history of Jews in Atlanta appeared 39 years ago. I was given the opportunity to review that volume by Steven Hertzberg, “Strangers Within the Gate City.”

I was much less into Atlanta Jewish history than I am now because my view on Atlanta Jewry before we made aliyah in 1977 was limited. Through my grandparents, my parents, my uncles and aunts, and a number of Atlanta Jews, I had heard what I thought I needed to know about the Jews in the Gate City.

The most important person I met was the widow of Harold Hirsch, one of our great leaders. She was dressed completely in black, her custom since her husband’s death in 1940. A very Reform Jew, she was a very close friend to my grandmother Sara Hene Geffen (z”l), whose yahrzeit is on Tisha B’Av. After my classes at Emory in the late 1950s and even a few years earlier, I watched them as the spiritually committed Reform Jew and most religious Orthodox Jew had tea together and a beautiful, loving meeting, as they had frequently since the late 1930s.

From my bubbie and zaydie and my parents, I absorbed what Harold Hirsch meant to our family, to Shearith Israel, to The Temple and to Atlanta Jewry. That treat — learning the history of the most committed Atlanta Jew ever — has always been with me.

All the rest I now know came from study, from the great Atlanta and Southern Jewish scholar Mark Bauman, from Eli Evans’ “The Provincials” in English and Hebrew, from The Jewish Georgian newspaper, from The Southern Israelite, from Rabbi Tuvia Geffen’s “Autobiography,” and from the multitude of stories I read in newspapers in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.

After setting the scene for the meaningful visits from the Gate City to Israel, let me proceed.

In 1950, in I don’t know how many American communities, a need was felt to bond Orthodox, Reform and Conservative Jews.

Rabbi Emanuel Feldman had not come to Atlanta yet, but the rabbis of the city — Rabbi Harry Epstein, Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, Rabbi Joseph Cohen, Rabbi Hyman Friedman and Rabbi Gef-

fen — had a close bond. Rabbis Epstein and Rothschild chose to show the spirit of Atlanta Jewry by being the campaign chairmen for Federation and by travel-

Guest Column

By Rabbi David Geffen

ing together to a young Israel.

Hallelujah.

In January 1991, the Gulf War was imminent, and the Iraqi rockets were waiting to be fired on Israel. Who came to visit Israel then? A mission of Atlanta Jewry.

“The Gate City — Atlanta Jews Will Let Nothing Deter Them” was the headline of my story in The Jerusalem Post. Atlantans were here to be inspired even in the face of war.

You cannot imagine what this meant to the Israelis. I could because my family and I lived here.

I wrote about the phoenix, the city’s symbol. Atlanta chose that bird to epitomize the rejuvenation after the Civil War. To conclude life, the phoenix dives into a fire and emerges much more beautiful than he or she was previously.

Atlanta Jewry recognized Israel was under fire, but those participants from Dixie 27 years ago made sure Israelis knew what would happen even if they were attacked: They would arise again to greater heights.

Yes, Atlanta Jewry did that here.

In the Atlanta Jewish Times, you have read Eric Robbins’ credo for Atlanta Jewry to take new steps. On Jan. 23, all Israelis could see his picture and read in The Jerusalem Post why the Atlanta Front Porch mission for leaders was coming to Israel on Sunday, Jan. 28.

He pointed out what the participants hoped to see and learn. In the midst of all that was transpiring here, this group had come to seek insights from their Israeli brothers and sisters to make the Atlanta Jewish community better.

As the history of Atlanta Jewry proves, do not just talk about Israel from afar; come see our country, your country, as it is today. Hazak hazak, I say: Be strong and carry a message from Israel back to Atlanta. ■

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ISRAEL@70 - OPINION

A Transformative Trip

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My first trip to Israel was about 35 years ago when I was 22. I had little connection to the country but knew a bit about its historical significance.

It was a family trip, and my father wanted his children to get an up-close and personal experience. While he had never been to Israel either, he had been very involved in raising money for Israel, most notably for Israel Bonds during the Yom Kippur War. As we were driving to Jerusalem on our first day, heading to my first of many stays at the King David Hotel, our guide told me something that still resonates with me.

We must have been driving through East Jerusalem because the ancient walled city was on our left, and the guide said, “On our left is the old part of Jerusalem, and on our right is the newer section.”

I looked at the ancient wall and concurred: That part of Jerusalem was quite old. However, I looked to my right and clearly saw that every building in that direction had been built before the founding of the United States.

I asked our guide to clarify what he meant by “new.”

He responded, “That’s easy. Everything to the left was built pre-Crusades, and to the right, post Crusades.”

To quote an old film, I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

It is hard to assess the depth of history in Israel without seeing and touching it. And once you have seen it, it will touch you for the remainder of your life.

Fast-forward 15 years, and I had the opportunity to spend Yom HaAtzmaut in Israel. Nothing can quite be as diametrically opposed to the omnipresent soul, air and atmosphere of the endurance of a 6,000-year-old city as the vibrant, ecstatic and in-the-moment celebration of an entire nation.

The streets appeared filled with every citizen, young, old, religious, secular, Christian, Jewish and even some Muslim, for hours.

It was a virtual street party from one side of Jerusalem to the other. Religious men hugging IDF soldiers with guns slung on their backs. IDF soldiers spraying young kids with silly string.

Ice cream parlors giving away their wares for free. Thousands of people 8 dancing with strangers in the street.

What an extraordinary island in the world.

When I came back from Israel, my Judaism changed.

I didn’t become more religious,

Publisher’s Letter

By Michael A. Morris michael@atljewishtimes.com

but I did become more passionate. I wanted to take an active role in being Jewish.

I joined American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS, which had formed just the year before. In three or four years, I became the chair.

Since then, I have held positions in JNF, Federation, Israel Bonds, ADL, AEPi, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Georgia Holocaust Commission, Chabad, The Temple, Temple Emanu-el, ARZA, Friends of the IDF and several more wonderful institutions.

I also began traveling to Israel on a regular basis, deepening my ties to the land and the people.

All of which brought me where am I today, working at the Atlanta Jewish Times, helping secure the next generation’s love, empathy and respect for and knowledge of our homeland, Israel.

Look at what one trip to Israel accomplished. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. The Talmud says that if you save a life, you save a world.

If you combine the two, it becomes very powerful.

Every time we send a person to Israel, we change that person’s perspective, and usually it’s transformative. Non-Jews see through all the propaganda and understand a thriving, entrepreneurial, democratic and free country rich with the culture and spirituality of a dozen religions. Jews begin to understand who they are and who they have been through the past 2,000 years.

That is why Birthright Israel, AJC’s Project Interchange and trips led

by Christians United for Israel are so vital for Jewish continuity as well as the safety and security of Israel. These trips transform individual lives and, I believe, ultimately help ensure the survival of our little Start-Up Nation in this vast world.

When is your next trip? ■

A Democratic Miracle Given the many challenges the Jewish state has faced, Israel’s 70th birthday is an occasion for much celebration — for how far it has come in such a short period of time and for its fundamentally democratic and liberal character.

Born after the devastation of the Holocaust and during a war for its survival, with refugees flowing in from around the world, Israel had every excuse to dispense with the rule of law and human rights. In this maelstrom, Israel’s Declaration of Independence was nothing short of a miracle: an enlightened document that laid the foundation for a democracy in an otherwise autocratic region.

The values enshrined in this text have endured for seven decades despite the many subsequent wars and existential security threats, the harsh economic times, the influx of millions more Jewish refugees, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the disengagement from Gaza, to name but a few major challenges.

Despite enmity with the Arab world, Israel lifted military rule over its substantial Arab minority in the mid-1960s. No less telling, a peaceful handover of power first took place at the ballot box in 1977, and the Knesset represents all segments of society.

Israel is a vibrant, dynamic and resilient democracy, and Israeli society under this system has not only survived, but thrived.

The state does what functioning states are supposed to do: protect its citizens (especially from terrorism), uphold law and order, and provide basic essential services.

GDP per capita has skyrocketed into the top 20 globally. Israeli technology is a marvel of the post-industrial world; the country is referred to, with good reason, as the Start-Up Nation.

Israelis have taken notice of these great achievements. In a recent poll conducted by the organization I lead, the Israel Democracy Institute, 84 percent of Israelis said the country is a good place to live, and 68 percent were optimistic about the state’s future.

Yet not everything is rosy. Israeli democracy is under enormous security pressures, magnifying the vulnerabilities of democratic institutions and values. Moreover, the past decade has witnessed a disturbing shift in trends.

Public rhetoric has grown more extreme. Even senior politicians shamefully lambaste state institutions.

Instead of governing according to consensus and the common good, the political system is widening divisions.

It is precisely at milestone moments like these that we must pause

Guest Column

By Yohanan Plesner

for reflection. Past gains cannot be taken for granted in the future.

It is imperative that Israel seriously consider reforming its political system and remedying the situation in which small sectoral actors hold the majority hostage. In addition, we must aspire to re-create a shared Israeli identity, especially given the country’s shifting internal demographics.

Israel should work toward a constitution (the state does not have one) to codify the basic rules upon which the state was founded — and upon which its democratic system rests.

Finally, the relationship between religion and state sorely needs updating, with the status quo of 70 years ago between mainstream Zionist society and the ultra-Orthodox sector fraying.

Every Jew the world over should be able to find his or her place, religiously and physically, in the Jewish state.

Above all, what is needed is a renewed connection to the principles and values laid out in the Declaration of Independence: equality, civil and human rights, freedom of expression.

For this reason, IDI has partnered with the Tel Aviv-Yaffo Municipality to build a unique Democracy Pavilion.

A 360-degree, multimedia experience encased in a large geodesic dome, the exhibit will provide the public with a history of Israeli democracy.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to visit during the exhibit’s run until the end of this year.

All will be invited to sign the Declaration of Independence, reaffirming a commitment to the values it embodies.

These values were not a given 70 years ago, yet adherence to them was the secret to Israel’s remarkable achievements. We must safeguard them in the years and decades ahead so that future generations will flourish in a strong, confident Jewish state. ■ Yohanan Plesner is the president of the Marcus Foundation-supported Israel Democracy Institute.

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ISRAEL@70 - CELEBRATIONS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18

FRIDAY, APRIL 13

Scholars in residence. Rabbi Hershel Schachter spends Shabbat at Congregation Beth Jacob, 1855 LaVista Road, Toco Hills, as part of the Seventy for 70 series organized by the Religious Zionists of America and World Mizrachi, while the same series sends Rabbi Jeffrey Saks to Young Israel of Toco Hills, 2056 LaVista Road. Free; info@bethjacobatlanta.org or 404-633-0551 for Beth Jacob details and www.yith.org/event/ scholar-in-residence-rabbi-jeffrey-saks. html for YITH info.

MONDAY, APRIL 16

Choral concert. Zimria Festivale Atlanta performs in commemoration of Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron and in celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut at 7:30 p.m. at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead. Tickets are $10; www.choralfoundation.org or 913-403-9223.

Hebrew talk. University of Georgia linguistics professor Jared Klein speaks about the history and distinguishing features of the Hebrew language at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Shearith Israel, 1180 University Drive, Morningside.

Free; shearithisrael.com.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

Picnic. Young Israel of Toco Hills holds its annual Yom HaAtzmaut picnic at 5 p.m. at Mason Mill Park, 1340 McConnell Drive, Decatur. Free; www.yith.org or 404-315-1417.

JNF jubilee. Sarge entertains at Jewish National Fund’s gala for Israel at the Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road, Buckhead, with a VIP reception at 6 p.m., a champagne celebration at 6:45, the program at 7:45 and a JNFuture after-party at 9. Tickets are $118, $180 for patrons or $36 for JNFuture; bit. ly/2GgioyG or 404-236-8990, ext. 851.

Stories and music. Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive, Sandy Springs, celebrates Israel’s birthday with funny stories and musical acts with its Beit Café at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18; RSVP by April 15 at templeemanuelatlanta.org/

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Shemini Friday, April 13, light candles at 7:49 p.m.

Saturday, April 14, Shabbat ends at 8:46 p.m.

Tazria-Metzora Friday, April 20, light candles at 7:55 p.m.

Saturday, April 21, Shabbat ends at 8:52 p.m. calendar/temple-emanu-el-beit-cafe.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

Infant party. PJ Baby and the Alefbet Preschool at Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, invite babies up to 1 year old to a party at 10:30 a.m. Free; RSVP at alefbetpreschool.com/celebrate-israels70th-birthday.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22

Family celebration. PJ Library and Israel Bonds hold a celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Ocee Park pavilion, 10900 Buice Road, Johns Creek. Free (RSVP

by April 19); www.facebook.com/ events/851778421690255.

MONDAY, APRIL 23

Women at the Wall. Israel Religious Action Center Director Anat Hoffman speaks about religious rights at the Western Wall at 7 p.m. at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown. Free; www.the-temple.org or 404-873-1731.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

Food trucks. Celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut

with the Marcus JCC, including kosher food, Israeli dancing, live music, performances by day school students, games and crafts, at Liane Levetan Park at Brook Run, 4770 N. Peachtree Road, Dunwoody, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Free admission; www.atlantajcc.org.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29

Israel@70 Atlanta. Jewish Atlanta holds a community celebration from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with games, exhibits, activities, food, and music from performers including the Billy Jonas Band, Joanie Leeds and Taking the Time at Park Tavern at Piedmont Park, 500 10th St., Midtown. Admission is $10 per or $18 per family in advance, $18 or $25 at the door; jewishatlanta.org/israel70.

BeltLine bar crawl. Birthright Israel alumni have brunch at 11:30 a.m. at Mariposa Lofts, 100 Montag Circle, Inman Park, and stop at a few bars on the way to the community celebration at Park Tavern. Tickets are $36, including brunch, four drinks and Israel@70 Atlanta admission; jewishatlanta.org/ birthright-bar-crawl or 678-222-3746.

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Jewish Atlanta Uniting For 70th Birthday Party

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The Atlanta Jewish Times is the presenting sponsor for Jewish Atlanta’s community celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday Sunday, April 29, at Park Tavern at Piedmont Park.

The birthday party, running from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., involves more than 70 organizations.

Activities include Israeli and camp dancing, cooking demos, face painting, soccer, an Israeli boot camp experience, an all-day community art project, an exhibit of Israeli technology, games on the lawn, tea in a Bedouin tent, and music from Joanie Leeds, the Billy Jonas Band, Paz and Israeli TV contest winners Taking the Time.

The AJT plans to set up a booth where you can record a 70-second video celebrating Israel’s 70 years at the Jewish Times Chill Zone.

The event is priced so that everyone can participate: $10 per person or $18 per family (two adults and unlimit-

ed children) in advance; $18 per person or $25 per family at the door.

Drink tickets are $7 (good for two soft drinks or one alcoholic beverage), and kosher food will be sold by such vendors as A Kosher Touch, Cinnaholic, For All Occasions and More, FuegoMundo, LiquidX, Quality Kosher and The Spicy Peach.

The event co-chairs are Karl and Julie Altmann and Scott and Leslie Alterman.

Parking is available at parking decks near the Midtown park, such as 1320 Monroe Drive, 1155 Peachtree St., 1217 Spring St. and 933 Peachtree St., but Federation recommends the use of MARTA or ride-share services (Lyft and Uber).

Visit jewishatlanta.org/israel70 to get tickets or more information, including the full schedule.

Maps of the festivities are on Pages 12 and 13. ■

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ENTRANCE

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ISRAEL ART EXHIBITS

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ISRAEL BINGO

ISRAELI DANCING

ISRAEL@70 - CELEBRATIONS www.atlantajewishtimes.com

MUSICAL PERFORMANCES & CHOIRS

JOANIE LEEDS 11:15AM

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ISRAEL@70 - CELEBRATIONS

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ISRAEL@70 - CELEBRATIONS

Representatives of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and dozens of other Atlanta Jewish organizations visit Yeshivat Har Etzion during the community leadership mission to Israel in January and February.

In one of the highlights of the community leadership mission to Israel, Eric Robbins prepares a tree for planting on Tu B’Shevat.

Federation partnership city Yokneam is a source of pride and inspiration for Jewish Atlanta.

Seeing Israel With New Eyes at 70

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When I was growing up in Pittsburgh’s most Jewish neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, Israel always made my heart swell. When I sang Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, there was a catch in my throat at the words “lihiyot am hofshi b’artzeinu” — to be a free people in our land.

My pride was rooted in Israel’s inspiring story of nationbuilding, resilience and creativity. And it still is.

So as Israel’s 70th birthday approaches, I have a radical thought. Maybe, just maybe, Atlanta needs Israel more than Israel needs us.

Here’s what I mean.

I mean that we all need to put Israel on our destination travel list. If you haven’t been to Israel in 10 years or more, you really haven’t been to Israel. So much has changed.

Federation offers incredible opportunities to see Israel with fresh eyes. See our mission list at www.jewishatlanta.org/missions and come to Israel with us. You will be powerfully moved and impressed by what you see and the people you meet.

I mean that all of us can be uplifted by Israel’s innovative mindset, which refuses to say no to big challenges. That mindset turned sea water into drinking water, invented drip 14 irrigation, and created the first USB

flash drive and the Waze app.

Let’s build more reciprocal relationships with Israeli innovators and changemakers so we can collaborate on big ideas that make the world better.

I mean that we all can be inspired by the prosperous, successful and capable Israel I have now visited so

Guest Column

By Eric M. Robbins

many times since becoming CEO of Federation. It’s an Israel still grateful for our support but less reliant on us than ever before, solving problems with its own resources and ingenuity.

We are moving to a peer relationship, not a purely philanthropic one, and it feels good.

I mean that we must reach out and build stronger relationships with Atlanta’s Israeli community, estimated at 10,000 and still growing. Let’s find more ways for Israelis and Atlantans to interact and truly know each other.

This year we welcomed two young Israelis, Or Shahan and Lior Bar, to our community as shinshinim — service volunteers. In just seven months they’ve interacted with 1,000 kids

in our camps, preschools and day schools. They’ve had a real impact.

Next year we’re welcoming eight shinshinim to Atlanta.

I mean that everyone can take a lesson in resilience from Israel. This tiny nation has mastered the ability to rebound from terrorism and live with the constant threat of attack and now teaches the world how to do the same.

The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, which our community leadership trip visited in February, has helped tsunami and earthquake victims and even the Las Vegas and Parkland shooting survivors.

I mean that there’s tremendous wisdom for all of us in the Torah texts and Bible stories that every Israeli schoolchild knows, even the secular ones. Torah is not just for the Orthodox. Let’s build our Jewish literacy.

One pillar of our work on the Front Porch is that Torah can be a manual for living for every Jew, no matter what the level of observance or literacy.

I mean that we should all take pride in the progress our partnership cities, Yokneam and Megiddo, have made in assimilating Ethiopian refugees since the early 1990s. Yes, Federation support played a part, but the bigger story is Yokneam’s attitude of acceptance and commitment to a better future for Ethiopians.

We’re excited to share that story

in a new film about the Ethiopian aliyah in Yokneam and Megiddo that Federation will preview this summer.

I mean that we must make it a priority to help young Jews have an authentic and unique relationship with Israel. Let’s create safe spaces where we can have dialogue about Israel, respecting all points of view.

Let’s do it through immersive exchange programs, through Birthright Israel offshoots like Honeymoon Israel and through internships for college students like Hillel’s Onward program.

I write all this as our Atlanta Jewish community gets ready to throw a big, bold and beautiful 70th birthday bash for Israel on Sunday, April 29, at Park Tavern in Piedmont Park from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be food, music, technology, art projects, exhibits and sports — something for everyone!

More than 70 organizations have planned Israel@70. What a great opportunity to come together and celebrate the miracle, and the complexity, that is the modern state of Israel.

Tickets are priced so everyone can come, including a flat $18 for family groups with kids. You can buy tickets at jewishatlanta.org/israel70. I look forward to seeing you there! ■ Eric M. Robbins is the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

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ISRAEL@70 - CELEBRATIONS

JNF and Israel@70

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Did you know that the first JNF blue box was Theodor Herzl’s hat?

In 1901, with the circulation of Herzl’s own top hat at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, the first pushke was created, and Jewish National Fund was founded. The declarative slogan Im Tirtzu — “If you will it, it is no dream” — became the clarion call for Zionists around the world, and the process of turning a dream into a reality had begun.

The world has never been the same since.

This month we will witness a special jubilee year as Israel celebrates her 70th birthday.

At 70 years old, Israel is more than twice as old as I (and JNF is 3½ times as old as I am). As a student of history, I’m fascinated by how interwoven everything truly is, and the more I learn about the symbiotic relationship between JNF and Israel, the more clearly I see JNF for what it is: a nation-builder.

Did you know that Jewish Na-

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tional Fund was started with the sole intention of buying and developing land in Ottoman-controlled Palestine?

From 1901 to 1948, the organization charted a course that was envisioned by Herzl and carried out by

Guest Column

By Evan Alberhasky

his ardent followers, purchasing the first tract of land in 1903 and owning 12.3 percent of all the land of Israel by 1948. Trees were planted by the tens of thousands, building both physical and metaphorical roots in an effort to make the desert bloom.

When I lived in Israel from 2012 to 2014, I met a distant relative who was part of the first Jewish resettlement of Be’er Sheva in the British Mandate period. It’s funny to think that my great-grandfather’s cousin may have lived on land purchased by JNF. She could have planted a tree as a

The classic JNF pushke has helped connect Jews around the world to the land of Israel.

When Theodor Herzl passed his top hat around the Fifth Zionist Congress, he launched the fundraising that helped JNF buy 12.3 percent of the land of Israel by 1948.

child that is still growing there today.

After the establishment of the state, the Israeli government began selling absentee lands to JNF, and it quickly became clear that owning the land was one thing, while managing it and making it work for the people who lived there was something entirely different.

With the help of numerous onthe-ground partners in Israel, JNF shifted its modus operandi from land purchases to land reclamation and development. Jewish National Fund

became embedded in Israeli society while remaining true to its original mission as a caretaker for the land and people of Israel.

The roots had taken hold, and the saplings had turned into forests.

As we approach Yom HaAtzmaut, Jewish National Fund is as relevant as ever. One of the things that differentiate JNF from other organizations is its ability to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of the country it serves. Thanks in part to dynamic and revolutionary leadership, Jewish National Fund is so much more than just trees and blue boxes and has become deeply entrenched in everything Israel.

Did you know that JNF focuses on seven areas that have been prioritized as necessary for the long-term survival and growth of the country? Community building, forestry and green innovations, disabilities and special needs, heritage site preservation, research and development, education and advocacy, and water solutions.

JNF is equipping Israel, its people and the world with the tools for success.

Herzl dreamed big in 1901 when he started collecting funds, and he would be proud to witness Israel today on the eve of her 70th birthday. At JNF, we always dream big, and the future for Israel is bright and beautiful.

I hope you’ll join me Thursday, April 19, at the Buckhead Theatre for our Israel@70 Platinum Jubilee to celebrate all that we have accomplished over the years. Tickets can be purchased at www.jnf.org/atlisrael70.

Become a part of something special and let Jewish National Fund be your voice in Israel. ■ Evan Alberhasky is the Atlanta campaign executive for Jewish National Fund.

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ISRAEL@70 - BUSINESS

Israel-Atlanta Business Ties Have Bloomed Since ’92

By Joe Schulman Israel faced many challenges in 1991, from Scud missiles flying from Iraq during the Gulf War to immigrants pouring in from the collapsing Soviet Union.

American Jews wanted to help.

“Charities could put food in the refugees’ mouths and roofs over their heads,” said Tom Glaser, the founder and former president of the AmericanIsrael Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region, now Conexx. “For the immigration to be successful, the Israeli economy needed to expand sufficiently to provide job opportunities for new Israelis.”

The Chamber was founded in 1992 and, with Glaser at the helm, looked for ways to create jobs while helping Israel build business connections.

“In the beginning, nobody really had much idea about what we were setting out to do,” Glaser said.

Convincing American businesses to invest in Israel was tough at first.

The country’s unemployment rate was high, and the images of missile at-

Tom Glaser, shown roughly a decade into his time with the AmericanIsrael Chamber of Commerce, retired in 2013 and now lives in Savannah.

tacks were fresh in people’s minds. But Glaser and his team started to make inroads. He credits the Atlanta Jewish community for stepping up to help.

Two big wins in the early years paved the road for future success. A Jewish dentist connected Glaser with BellSouth, and the telecom company got to set up Israel’s second cellular phone network in 1994. That same year, Home Depot earned recognition from the Chamber for importing do-ityourself products from Israel.

The willingness of organizations such as Home Depot to work with Israel helped persuade others in the Atlanta area to invest in Israel.

“Atlanta wasn’t what it is now as

a major center of investment,” Glaser said. “But we did have these corporate players who were leaders in their sectors. As we got more success stories and testimonials, people started believing and listening and saying they needed to meet the Chamber.”

Over the years, Atlanta, as well as the rest of the Southeast, gained a reputation for building corporate partnerships even as Israel’s economy was growing.

The highly skilled workers who arrived in the early 1990s were leading the charge. Israel’s economy was fostering innovators, and it was growing into a country that embraced technology.

“In the early ’90s, the Atlanta Jewish community looked at Israel in a paternalistic way,” Glaser said. “Nobody expected our program to help Atlanta.”

But Israel’s economic successes led companies to expand outside the country, and scores of them have found homes in the Southeast. Mergers and acquisitions have gone in both directions, such as Tel Aviv-based Verint Systems purchasing Roswell-based Witness Systems in 2007 and Atlanta-

based Global Management Technologies in 2011, Alpharetta-based McKesson buying Israeli company Medcon in 2005, Duluth-based NCR acquiring Ra’anana-based Retalix in 2013, and Alpharetta’s EndoChoice merging with Caesarea’s Peer Medical in 2013.

Conexx has facilitated high-level business missions to Israel, including trips with Georgia Govs. Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

Today, Israel is known as the StartUp Nation, and Conexx continues to build connections between Israel and the Southeast. Glaser retired in 2013, and Conexx honors his contributions by presenting the annual Tom Glaser Leadership Award, which in March went to Israeli entrepreneur Benny Landa.

Israel and Atlanta are connected now in a way that many thought was impossible a quarter-century ago.

“We don’t look at Israel in a paternalistic way anymore,” Glaser said. “We are aligned with Israel because Israel is important to the American economy.

It’s a true partnership now. It’s a very satisfying relationship.” ■

Mazal Tov Israel

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APRIL13 ▪ 2018

Looking forward to celebrating many more years with you

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ISRAEL@70 - EDUCATION

Gap Year Programs Tie Diaspora to Israel

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Spending extended time in Israel is the antidote for what ails the lurching Diaspora Jewish community. Gap year programs (GYPs) are the coruscating change agents.

If you want greater assurance your children will live Jewish-centered lives, send them to study here. There are no guarantees, but it is seemingly the one strategy about which Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular Jews agree.

In my experience, Orthodox high school graduates come for a year or two to learn in a yeshiva or seminary, building a base of Jewish knowledge, honing learning skills, tethering to rabbinic authority, cementing their faith through greater observance of halacha and staving off human desires until marriage, all to build Jewish families.

Most religious students return home, while a small number will make aliyah. Some follow both paths, returning later in life and sending their older children to learn in Israel.

Others send students to Israel to expand their knowledge of Jewish history and culture, making it real, shaping faith in G-d, building commitments to tikkun olam and valuing Jewish communal life.

GYPs help students mature enough to return to Diaspora communities and college campuses as Israel advocates. GYPs are their opportunity to embed achudus (togetherness and solidarity) in their hearts and souls with the Jewish people, their people.

My granddaughter attends a seminary adjacent to a children’s foster home. The seminary women work long hours restoring confidence to the children. I have gap year students volunteering as English teachers and assistant teachers for Eritreans, Somalis and other refugees. They undertake internships in startup companies and Magen David Adom.

One young woman from Spain speaks six languages without reading or writing English. I partnered her with American and English students.

She interned at The Jerusalem Post. By the end of her gap year, she published four articles under her byline.

A young woman from Canada in my business class created a résumé to help her secure an internship with a government minister. Her goal at 19 years old is to become the prime minister of Canada.

18 These are experiences we hear

about across the panorama of GYPs. They are a mini Peace Corps. They make a difference.

Do not give short shrift to the jaunty experiences in the gap year abroad. Young Jewish adults live on

View From Israel

By Harold Goldmeier harold.goldmeier@gmail.com Masa Israel (www.masaisrael.org) is a central repository for Israel’s gap year programs.

their own, make decisions for themselves, get homesick, explore and hook up with family they never met.

Here are some issues when considering a GYP in Israel: • GYPs are expensive, but there are innumerable scholarships and grants from the Israeli government and Jewish Diaspora organizations.

A former student with little money and less Jewish knowledge has a Christian friend whom he told about his unattainable desire to spend a gap year in Israel. The church his friend attends raised the money needed, and with other scholarships the young Jewish man spent his year in Israel.

• Israel is nature. It is bustling cities. It is an Old City where tourists see the sites and miss the humanity.

There’s no other place where the fields and plains, caves and waterways, and urban life collide with history.

Read the soon-to-be-released “Jerusalem Drawn and Quartered” by The Times of Israel’s Sarah Tuttle-Singer to appreciate the five senses offered your children by spending time in Jerusalem and across Israel.

• Israel is modern, urban and safe. It fractures Diaspora stereotypes.

Arabs and Jews shop side by side in malls, men with kippot and Haredi women work in the same office or laboratory, and life resounds in restaurants. They can call you any time from anywhere, and they do.

Our 21-year-old army volunteer son tells us: “I can’t call you for a few days. We’re going someplace we’re not allowed to bring our cellphones. They track us like we track them.” Comforting.

Then two nights later he calls, whispering, “Hi, Dad.” “What’s going on?” I ask in a whisper (don’t ask me why I whispered).

“We’re camped in some rocks for the night, and everybody’s calling their moms and girlfriends because my unit’s made-up of children away

for the first time. I’m the oldest one here. My commander is 19. So how you doing?” he asks me.

• Israelis’ doors are always open.

They meet students from around the world and invite them to join their families when programs are on hiatus or just for Shabbat.

Our lone soldier was in a taxi driven by a Moroccan woman who invited him for dinner when she heard he was a lone soldier. And he went.

• Let them experience having a vehicle stop on the Tel Aviv highway for 10 minutes to let a loose donkey exit. Or sit next to a black man in a leather jacket, jeans, motorcycle boots and state trooper sunglasses with a bandanna who answers his phone “Ma nishma?” (What’s new?) and tells the caller, “Kol b’seder” (It’s all OK).

• All the universities have programs for English speakers. So do many colleges. At the College of Law and Business, graduates receive a B.A. in business administration.

My American grandson and his wife are at Bar-Ilan’s degree course in engineering for English speakers. They pay 10 percent of a quality American college. She’s preparing for medical school in Tzfat, and he’s working through a placement program for a New York Stock Exchange company.

Masa Israel is a partnership between the Jewish Agency and the Prime Minister’s Office to sponsor most of the short- and long-term study abroad programs. In the past decade and a half, more than 120,000 students from more than 60 countries have participated.

Masa helps with logistical support, tuition and fees for GYPs and higher education.

A study in 2010 by one of my professors at Harvard, Steven Cohen, concluded, “Participation in a semester or year program in Israel is directly linked to stronger Jewish affiliation and leadership — regardless of the

Jewish background growing up.” With subsequent Israel experiences, “the level of Jewish engagement rose significantly” in matters such as: • Choosing a Jewish spouse.

• Returning to Israel.

• Affiliating with Jewish organizations.

• Taking leadership roles in Jewish life.

• Feeling attachment to Israel.

• Making aliyah (for a small number).

Cohen’s study is confirmed by findings from subsequent studies.

One barrier to the success of these programs is that a small percentage of Diaspora Jews have ever visited Israel.

The nightly news helps give velocity to purposely false fulminations and toxic pieties about Israel.

Moreover, they are reluctant to send their children to tour and study.

Take note of Tuttle-Singer’s personal experiences in coming of age concomitantly with her Israel experiences in Jerusalem and love for the Old City.

GYPs are not the sole answer.

Home is where the heart is, so what parents expect of their children begins at home. Jewish camps and education are critical components of the Jewish community development complex.

At the least, Diaspora Jews ought to be able to make informed choices (see the AJT’s list of GYPs from Nov 30, 2016, at atlantajewishtimes. timesofisrael­.com/filling-israeli-gaps).

Perhaps Dr. Seuss said it best: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” ■ Businesses and community organizations interested in scheduling speaking engagements this summer with Harold Goldmeier can contact him at harold. goldmeier@gmail.com.

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ISRAEL@70 EDUCATION

Rabbi Michael Broyde will spend much of the next academic year studying religious courts in Israel with the support of a Fulbright grant.

“It’s been a long time since I spent a long time in Israel, so that’s good,” Rabbi Broyde said, especially because the Toco Hills resident has two children who live in Israel.

Rabbi Broyde will be on a one-year sabbatical from his position as an Emory law professor with help from the government-funded Fulbright award.

He’ll work on a follow-up to his 2017 book, “Sharia Tribunals, Rabbinical Courts, and Christian Panels: Religious Arbitration in America and the West.”

Beit dins and other venues for religious arbitration have no government support in the United States, but he wants to explore such courts in countries with established religions, such as Israel and the United Kingdom. He’ll spend time in England, but most of his sabbatical will be in Israel.

“The question of what exactly should the religious courts do is very fascinating,” Rabbi Broyde said. “Do we want them to be private or public, and if we want them to be public, what do we want public courts to do?”

He said his work shines light on the importance of the U.S. Constitution’s free-exercise clause rather than the establishment clause when it comes to religious freedom. An established church isn’t a problem as long as a state lets people worship as they please.

A beit din veteran, Rabbi Broyde said he’ll observe religious courts, read about them and talk to people.

“Sometimes the way things work in theory is not the way they work in practice. That itself is sort of a very fascinating realization,” he said. “When you get to spend a long time thinking about it, you get to see things you never saw before. That’s what I hope to do.”

In addition to the rabbinical courts, he’ll study Christian tribunals in Israel much more than Muslim courts, Rabbi Broyde said. “They much more resonate with what could happen in America. … What’s happening in the United States broadly is the evangelical Christians are going through a thought process about how much participation do they want in secular society. They’re starting to privatize, and privatization is sort of interesting.” ■

Yokneam to Get U.S.-Style Jewish Camp

By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com One goal of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s participation in Partnership2Gether is to strengthen the ties between Atlanta’s Jewish community and Federation’s sister region in Israel, Yokneam and Megiddo.

The launch of the American-style Jewish camp Kefiada in Yokneam this summer will contribute to that goal.

The camp is part of Federation’s mission to build passion for Israel through programs and long-term experiences, said Roey Shoshan, Federation’s Israel and overseas director.

Kefiada, which means “fun Olympics,” is a way for Federation to reflect Yokneam and Megiddo’s support for Atlanta, Shoshan said. “They always host us and offer ideas for programs, and it’s great, but we wanted to do something for them.”

The three-week camp, starting in late June, would like to enroll 40 to 50 kids, he said. It will help improve the Israeli youths’ English, transfer the experience of an American summer camp

Kefiada is accepting applicants until April 15. Visit jewishatlanta.org/ kefiada, or email Roey Shoshan at rshoshan@jewishatlanta.org.

to Israel, and strengthen Atlanta’s relationship with Yokneam and Megiddo.

Each day counselors will come up with 10 English words to teach the kids through games or songs in the style of American Jewish camps, Shoshan said.

Smile

The counselors will stay with host

families to familiarize themselves with

MORE MORE REASONS REASONS TO TO

the community and go on organized weekend trips. They will receive free airfare and a stipend for expenses.

Shoshan hopes by late April to select four counselors ages 20 to 25 who have a passion for Israel and experience in summer camps. They will be paired with Israelis and receive training from the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Apply at jewishatlanta.org/kefiada.

Each counselor will lead a bunk with about 12 children ages 9 to 12.

“I have no doubt that these counselors will come back after spending a month in Israel as great advocates for the program and our community,” Shoshan said. “Camp is all about forming relationships, and these kids are going to remember us forever.”

Shoshan hopes that within 10 years the program will produce a cohort of 40 people who stay connected and mentor the next generation in the region.

“We would really like to see more Israeli kids in our local camps,” Shoshan said, “and I think the program is a great way to introduce them to that.” ■

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APRIL13 ▪ 2018

Religious Courts Call To Broyde

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ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

‘We Here Must Mobilize All Our Forces’ Rabbi Tobias (Tuvia) Geffen delivered the following sermon at Congregation Shearith Israel on Washington Street in Atlanta on Shabbat on May 15, 1948 (6 Iyyar 5708), the day after Israel declared its independence. The parshah that Shabbat was Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27), and the haftarah was from Amos.

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.”

Thus prophesied the holy prophet Amos thousands of years ago. And thus have his words been fulfilled, for in this year, on the 6th of Iyyar, 5708, we read Amos’ prophetic words in the haftarah this week. Indeed, the prophet’s words are fitting for this day, the day on which it was decreed that the Jewish people has gained its independence.

This is the day when the renewed emergence of the Jewish people has been proclaimed after so much suffering and torment, after so many victims have fallen — the best children of the nation. Finally our prayers have been answered, and our deeds have been found acceptable.

We know that the birth pangs of the Messiah have not ceased. Much water still must flow before we are privileged to see the kingdom of Israel rise upon its foundations. But, as in the past, now, too, we have seen the miracles and wonders along every single step of the way.

Before our eyes the miracles of the Hasmoneans are repeated: the miracle of “many into the hands of the few and the impure into the hands of the pure.”

While we are full of joy, we also pray to the Guardian of Israel that He might preserve and protect the courageous Jewish youth standing in the Judean Hills and the Galilee and battling

This is a receipt for a donation Rabbi Tobias Geffen sent to the Diskin orphans home in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Tobias Geffen

Rabbi Tobias Geffen made a collection for the land of Israel at a celebration for the completion of a section of Talmud in January 1911, and this is the receipt sent to him by Torat Hayyim Kollel in the Old City of Jerusalem.

against the enemy with devotion.

Our words are penetrated with deep sorrow and dreadful pain for the millions of pure and holy people who died as martyrs. May G-d take vengeance before our eyes for His servants’ blood, which has been shed.

Indeed, ours is a miserable generation, which has seen the dreadful destruction. However, we also bear in our heart a deep feeling of consolation that this very generation has been privileged to see the revival of the nation and the establishment of the Jewish state.

At this festive hour, when the Jewish heart

is overflowing with worry and joy, it is the duty of all Jews from all our strata and varieties to help bear the historical responsibility and to perform the greatest task in the history of the Jewish people.

Let us not rest until the security of the Jewish state is assured as it is attacked from within and without, as is the Yishuv in the land of Israel. Indeed, we here must also mobilize all our forces and be prepared to offer our souls and our property for the mighty mission: the establishment of the Jewish state for the Jewish people.

For hundreds of generations the Jews have

hoped and prayed for this sacred hour, but to our great sorrow they did not attain it. Thanks to Divine Providence, we have been privileged to see with our own eyes the beginning of the kingdom of Israel and the state of Israel. Let us give praise and thanks to the Creator of the world, who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time!

Let us also pray that we shall be strong enough to withstand all the trials we can expect in the path of the Jewish state. May the Jewish state in the land of Israel live! May the sun shine again upon the kingdom of Israel! Long live our holy Jerusalem!

May we all merit full redemption with the advent of our Righteous Redeemer.

And may the prophecy that we have read this morning be fulfilled immediately: “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” ■ Rabbi Geffen delivered this sermon in Yiddish. Dov Levin, a Geffen family cousin, translated it into Hebrew. Rabbi David Geffen commissioned Jeffrey Green, a professional translator, to translate the Hebrew into English.

Atlanta’s Early Zionism

By Rabbi David Geffen

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

After the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, organized by Theodor Herzl, a Zionist chapter was founded in Atlanta in early 1898 with 50 members, led by Louis Charnason as president.

The next local Zionist organizations founded in the early 20th century were the Ahavath Zion Society and the Daughters of Zion, which joined the Federation of American Zionists, the predecessor to the Zionist Organiza20 tion of America.

During the next few years, the Atlanta Zionist Society, Dorshei Zion Society and a branch of the Labor Zionist Farband were founded, and in 1914 they participated in the first Southeast Zionist Convention, held in Savannah.

They worked to provide a sanctuary for the oppressed.

Those early Atlanta Zionists believed they had a place in the United States. They studied Hebrew and Jewish history and collected money for Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael.

They even produced plays such as “Promised Land” and invited Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold to Atlanta.

According to historian Steven Hertzberg, prominent personalities Louis J. Levitas, Rabbi Tobias Geffen of Congregation Shearith Israel, Morris Lichtenstein, the Rev. Sholom Clein, Ahavath Achim Synagogue President Joel Dorfan, AA Rabbi Joseph Levin, and Rabbis Julius Loeb and Hyman Solomon of Congregation Beth Israel were the Zionist leaders before 1914.

There was a newspaper called the

Jewish Sentiment. The editor, Frank J. Cohen, wrote: “When the Jews learn that in unity only lies their safety will they be able to cope with opposition.

To advocate and aid Zionism does not necessarily prove lack of patriotism … or the desire to move to Palestine.”

The beginnings of Zionism in Atlanta were communitywide except for The Temple, whose membership followed the views of Rabbi David Marx, who opposed Zionism in the belief that it was incompatible with the desire of Jews to assimilate as Americans. ■

ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

Gen. Edmund Allenby dedicates the new Jerusalem YMCA building on April 18, 1933.

Today in Israeli History

APRIL13 ▪ 2018

Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details.

April 13, 1948: Arab forces ambush a medical convoy en route to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, a month before Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Seventy-nine people, mostly doctors and nurses, are killed in the attack.

April 14, 1976: David Elazar, who served as the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces in the early 1970s, dies at the age of 50 after a heart attack.

April 15, 1940: Weightlifter Yossef Romano, one of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics, is born in Benghazi, Libya.

April 16, 1988: Palestine Liberation Organization leader Khalil al-Wazir, also known as Abu Jihad, the architect of several notorious terrorist attacks against Israelis and an organizer of the First Intifada, is killed by Israeli special forces in his home in Tunis.

April 17, 2006: Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, a leading history scholar and Jewish communal and religious leader who served as the American Jewish Committee president and World Jewish Congress vice president, dies from heart failure at the age of 84.

April 18, 1933: The Jerusalem YMCA, previously housed in a facility near the Damascus Gate, is opened by British Gen. Edmund Allenby in front of an overflow crowd on St. Julian’s Way (now King David Street). Allenby says the building, designed by the same architectural firm that designed the Empire State Building, is “a gesture of friendship” to Muslims and Jews as well as Christians.

April 19, 1949: Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, a stalwart of American Zionism and the Reform movement, dies at the age of 75.

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ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

1948 War Veteran Haunted by Experiences

By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

When you ask Cobb County resident Chaim Avneri what he remembers about the Israeli War of Independence, he says he tries not to. But the sacrifices he and others made to ensure Israel’s birth can never be forgotten.

Born in Russia in 1927, he and his family fled in 1929 in a small boat to Marseille to escape communism. The family resettled in Tel Aviv in 1931.

He is the youngest of six children, all of whom served in the Israeli military, although the others are now dead.

Avneri was 16 when he decided to enlist in a special Haganah unit without his father’s knowledge. As a major in the underground, Avneri helped refugees arriving from European death camps and countries such as Iran, Egypt and Syria settle in the land of Israel, often risking his own life.

Many people were unhappy with the British Mandate in Palestine and sought to drive out the occupiers by speaking to them in a language they understood, which usually meant threats and violence, Avneri said.

He also fought off Arab attacks alongside the Irgun, led by Menachem Begin, and Lehi, led by Avraham Stern.

He was among the first 10,000 soldiers in the War of Independence, his wife of 49 years, Penny, said during an interview.

Avneri served in the Haganah until it became the Israel Defense Forces with the independence of the Jewish state in 1948. He served with the IDF until 1950.

Avneri began his military service as No. 10701 and was one of 18,900 men who entered the war with limited arms.

His unit had the support of nine obsolete planes but no cannons or tanks.

He was a member of the mobilized special forces that fought for Latrun, Jerusalem and the eastern Galilee under chief of operations Yigael Yadin and helped capture Tiberias and Haifa and open the roads to Jerusalem.

One of Avneri’s scariest moments during the 1948-49 war came when his unit mistakenly left him alone in the barracks.

He woke up surrounded by Arabs, he said, and had to find his way back to his comrades undetected, which also meant avoiding being shot by comrades who were unaware he was missing and weren’t expecting a fellow Israeli to approach them.

22 “If anyone says that war isn’t

With his rifle slung across his back, Chaim Avneri is ready to defend Israel while waiting for a ride in Tel Aviv.

Chaim and Penny Avneri have been married for 49 years.

Chaim Avneri served in a special unit in the Haganah in the days leading to the War of Independence.

Chaim Avneri wears goggles to protect his eyes while driving a jeep. The soldiers did not have official uniforms at the time.

scary, they’re lying,” he said. “Any time you are facing death or could be killed, there is always tension and fear.”

Avneri still has nightmares about his experiences in the war, Penny said, and often wakes up shrieking in the middle of the night. She said he lost many friends and cousins.

Avneri noted the number of female soldiers who were killed in the war and said, “They were the ones who gave us courage.”

After the war, Avneri entered the diamond-cutting business, learning the tricks of the trade from a Holocaust survivor from Holland. He also served as a lifeguard and was an expert skier, tennis player, swimmer, yachtsman and sailor.

After he turned 26, however, he began to look for new horizons overseas. He eventually immigrated to the United States and went to work for the jeweler Harry Winston in New York.

He met Penny in a cocktail lounge, he recalled, after she asked him to get the bartender’s attention for her, even though she wasn’t a drinker. Avneri offered his seat instead, and after watch-

ing from afar as she danced in the seat, he approached her and asked whether she could do the same thing on the dance floor.

After the couple married, they moved back to Israel and served as volunteers during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. They lived in Ramat Gan for seven years, then returned to the United States and lived in Redondo Beach, Calif., for 16 years before moving to Georgia.

Avneri has never forgotten the stories Holocaust survivors told as they entered Israel. To honor them and the memory of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, he used his background as an artist to sculpt a memorial at Chabad of Cobb.

The six points in the center of the sculpture represent different stages in a life lost in the Holocaust, while the flame in the form of the letter shin symbolizes the blood of 6 million reaching up to G-d.

With the support of a donor, Avneri also provided sketches for the Victory Menorah that stands in memory of IDF soldiers.

Chaim Avneri’s comrades help him climb into a hole in the wall. The soldiers had no ladders and were in short supply of arms during the war.

Seventy years later, Avneri remembers the War of Independence as patriotic and is glad he served his country.

He said he did his best to suppress his fears when called to duty.

Avneri said the Jewish state is better equipped than ever to defend itself with its strong military. “I wasn’t born in Israel,” he said. “But Israel is my home.” ■

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ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

Atlantan Led Air Force’s Coded Communications

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Atlanta native David Macarov, a member of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, served in the U.S. Army in India in World War II, then made aliyah with wife Frieda in 1947 and served as a major with Israel’s new military in the War of Independence. Macarov, who died in Israel two years ago at age 97, oversaw coded communications for the Israel Air Force.

The following are excerpts from his memoir “A Small Cog: Tales From My Two Wars.”

I remember exactly how I became a Zionist. Every boy and girl in our Atlanta Jewish community joined Young Judaea at the age of 12, and so did I. On the way to my first meeting, I heard someone mention that Young Judaea was a Zionist organization.

When I approached our meeting room, my club leader was standing in the doorway. I charged up to him and asked, “Is Young Judaea a Zionist organization?”

“Sure it is.”

“Do you want to go to Palestine?”

“If all my family and friends are there, that is where I want to be.”

That made sense to me, and I became a Zionist.

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(Note that he never came to Palestine nor Israel and spent his retirement playing golf in Florida.) …

We heard Ben-Gurion announce the establishment of the state over our small radio and were surprised, and pleased, to learn that it was called Israel. There had been speculation about the name — some people thought it would be called Judaea, and others something else, perhaps Zion. Of course, we were thrilled at the establishment of the state and waited with bated breath until we learned that both the United States and Russia had recognized the state.

We have heard accounts, and seen pictures, of the celebrations that took place to mark the emergence of the state, but in Jerusalem the Arabs were still firing from the Old City walls, mortar shells were still landing, and any crowd was a good target. So we heard the announcement on the radio and stayed home. …

It took quite a while to get used to the differences between life in besieged Jerusalem and that in Tel Aviv. Food was available, cultural life carried on, and I walked to Air Force headquarters

Photo courtesy of the Cuba Family Archives at the Breman Museum

David Macarov (right) poses with painter Emmanuel Mane-Katz in Israel in 1948.

every day, without fear of snipers or mortar shells.

However, one day we were all advised not to take the straight route to headquarters because a ship named the Altalena had beached off Tel Aviv, and not only was there fighting going on with the Etzel, who had brought the ship in and refused to hand the arms on it over to the Israel Defense Forces (which is what the official army of the state of Israel was called), but there was danger that the ship might explode, either from outside fire or from Etzel sabotage.

The next day, when I took over the corner room that was to be my headquarters in the Air Force building, I was shown what seemed to be gouge marks in the wall. “Don’t let their propaganda fool you,” said the soldier who was showing me the room. “These are bullet marks from Etzel members who fired into this room from the roof of the Plaza Hotel across the street, in order to keep us from attacking the Altalena. And they say they never attack other Jews.” …

One of the things we had trouble adjusting to was the normalcy of life in Tel Aviv after Jerusalem. Movies played, cafes were open, and nightclubs were crowded. The Yarden Hotel had its own nightclub that opened onto the street, and as it was summertime, many of the patrons sat at outside tables. The orchestra was louder than it was good and seemed to play until the last pa-

tron decided to leave.

The noise from the orchestra was very disturbing, especially since the heat, even at night, required that windows remain open. Some of the pilots billeted at the hotel complained to the owner several times, but their pleas were ignored — perhaps because they, too, could not get his bill paid. They tried to explain that they flew, often to overseas, all day and needed their rest to be able to function adequately the next day. Nothing helped.

So one night the pilots got together and at 11 o’clock went down to the nightclub, pulled their pistols and ordered everyone home. They then told the orchestra leader that if he ever played with the doors open after 11 o’clock, they would come down and put a bullet hole through every instrument in the band. We had no more noise trouble. …

Although my job was in charge of codes and ciphers, I was really only in charge of encoding and enciphering, not the reverse — cryptanalysis, or breaking enemy messages. That was a good thing, too, since the short course in New York would not have been nearly sufficient to make me even a clerk in such an operation. Breaking codes and ciphers took a mathematical mind, with a good ration of physics thrown in.

Hence, I was glad to be introduced to a British physicist who headed the codebreaking section. He was dead

scared of what the British would do to him if they knew he was using his knowledge for Israel, and we were forbidden to ever mention his name or acknowledge that we knew him.

However, I was taken to his operations room, where long lines of girls sat with earphones, being fed intercepted messages and attempting to break their codes. One girl had a large picture pinned over her desk — not of a movie star or a sex symbol, but of a rather ordinary-looking older man.

My eyebrows expressed my surprise, and she leaned over and kissed the picture: “My sweetheart, the French ambassador.” Her team had broken the French diplomatic code and was reading their messages as fast as they were sent. …

I have never been able to acquire information from the British Open Information Act to allow me to know whether they had ever broken the codes we were using. However, almost the last message that arrived while I was still in the codes and ciphers service was not broken by either the Arabs or the British, but came in clear language from one of our own army information officers.

It seems that during our air raids on Egypt in the final phases of the war, either the British government or the British commanding officer or some rump British pilots decided to fly over the air battle that was going on.

It is not clear whether they were seeking and communicating information to the Egyptians or just observing or actively engaged in the fighting, but their presence in the middle of air battles between the Israelis and the Egyptians was not benign, and — there being no possibility of clarifying the matter during the battle — the Israeli pilots took things into their own hands and attacked the unauthorized foreign planes.

Consequently, the Israel Air Force observer on the spot became so excited that he forgot security completely and sent an urgent message in clear language (English) reading, “We have just shot down five — repeat five — British — repeat British — planes.”

I rushed the message to the head of the Air Force, and all of our military and diplomatic services held their collective breaths waiting for the British response.

There was none. Evidently the British realized that their planes had no business being over Egypt at that time, and rather than be embarrassed or have to explain and perhaps apologize, they preferred to ignore the incident. ■

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ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

Israel’s Neighborhood Has Gotten Rougher In January the veteran Arab journalist Rami Khouri made this assessment of the Middle East as a region: “Never before has the Arab region been so fractured, violent, volatile and vulnerable to the whims of desperate citizens, powerful autocrats, renegade militants, durable terrorists and predatory foreign militaries.”

By comparison, when Israel came into being 70 years ago, its neighborhood was hostile but relatively tranquil. Middle Eastern states were young, having just emerged from the post-World War II period.

Not today.

Middle Eastern countries have vast unemployment and massive numbers of people displaced. Many are ripped by sectarian and ethnic rivalries, tribal contests, and religious intolerance.

Arab national fabrics are imploding. And there is no apparent commitment of regional leaders to stem the bloodletting or restore a semblance of order between states.

Sitting on a sliver of land on the eastern Mediterranean as a nonMuslim, non-Arab state gives Israel almost no influence in shaping the region’s structural realignments, save for protecting its borders, citizens and

sovereignty.

In terms of strategic vulnerabilities, Israel is more troubled by myriad uncertainties of Arab state survival than by resolution of the Palestinian issue. In unsettling times, by way of guidance about the retention of territories — the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Golan Heights — remarks made

Photo by Fritz Cohen, Israeli Government Press Office

Israeli Government Press Office Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion talks with President Dwight Eisenhower in the White House in 1960.

Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

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Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Ambassador Abba Eban present a menorah to President Harry Truman in 1951.

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Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Gerald Ford, both of whom left office in 1977, meet at the White House in January 1976.

Guest Column

By Ken Stein

by two former Israeli generals, Moshe Dayan in 1977 and Raful Eitan in 1996, have contemporary relevance. (See their comments below.)

On balance, with context as a teacher, Israel by the numbers is better off strategically in 2018 than it was in 1948. Its $315 billion annual GDP and its potent and highly sophisticated military provide it levels of deterrence that founding Zionist generations could not have dreamed of in the late 1940s.

It has a population of 8.4 million, not 650,000. About 20 percent of Israel’s population is below the poverty line. The country is producing vast

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin share a joke during Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.

amounts of exportable hydrocarbons that are cementing trade alliances with Mediterranean and southern European states.

With the exception of the Carter and Obama presidencies, 11 of 13 U.S. administrations have treated Israel reasonably well the past 70 years, though each had at least one major bone to pick with Israeli foreign policy.

Many of those issues were not resolved, including acquiring a nuclear weapon, using force to pre-empt an enemy’s attack and managing the territories taken in the June 1967 war.

Still, Israel has a deep and mutually beneficial strategic relationship with the United States that is enshrined in law and custom.

Less promising for a small country like Israel is the steady reduction of America’s footprint in the region in the aftermath of the Cold War and of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Soviet Union was a distinct and feared Israeli Cold War enemy from the 1950s to the 1980s, but so far its successor state, Russia, has sought to avoid a confrontation with Israel over who might control the lands north of Israel. Russia apparently recognizes that Israel has a red line that cannot be penetrated to the point where Israel’s northern populations will be held hostage by Iranian or

other proxy groups.

Where Egypt and Jordan have peace treaties with Israel, Turkey, the first Muslim country to recognize Israel, is jousting for control of lands that sit close to Israel’s northern reaches.

Iran, once a key strategic ally and source of oil for Israel, has replaced Egypt of 50 years ago as Israel’s most potently troublesome enemy. Iran and her proxies are diabolical opponents of Israel’s very existence. Insurgencies and their offshoots, as well as terrorist organizations not present on Israel’s border areas seven decades ago, are embedded in territories on all sides of the Jewish state.

Oil revenues, not a lubricant for cultivating intolerance seven decades ago, continue to bankroll autocrats, religious extremists and radical groups.

Israel’s map of unfriendly folks in its near and distant neighborhood is more cluttered now. To fend off its foes, Israel requires cutting-edge intelligence gathering and the same sort of innovation and inventiveness that it needed to smuggle people and materials into the state-in-the-making.

Vexing for some in Israel and some of her supporters as she turns 70 is striving to find a path toward an accommodation with the Palestinians.

Israelis have not been able to move forward because of enormous

Photo by David Eldan, Israeli Government Press Office

Photo by Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office

President Lyndon Johnson and Prime Minister Levi Eshkol meet in Texas in January 1968.

Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

It wasn’t all tough talk and frayed relations between President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Menachem Begin, as seen in this photo from the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem in March 1979.

Prime Minister Golda Meir visits President Richard Nixon at the White House in March 1973, about seven months before the Yom Kippur War would test the U.S.-Israel friendship.

Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Shimon Peres talk in the White House in September 1986.

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY Dayan told Carter, “No independent Palestinian state in the territories and no PLO involvement in the coming negotiations.”

Israel was not going to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization as long as it did not recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Dayan had participated in secret talks with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s emissary.

Both Begin and Sadat were gearing up to test each other’s intentions for an agreement, and not necessarily with History as Context American involvement.

On Oct. 4, 1977, at the Dayan’s soliloquy beginning of a four-hour continued: “My attitude meeting at the United Nais that for the first time tions Plaza Hotel, Israeli Egypt is ready and the Foreign Minister Moshe others may not be. If you Dayan, the celebrated take one wheel off a car, general, outlined in exit won’t drive. If Egypt cruciating and unacceptis out of the conflict, able detail for President there will be no war. We Jimmy Carter and memcan’t make peace on all bers of his administrafronts now. Israel won’t tion Israeli government pull back from all of Israel’s biggest threat today, unlike 70 years ago, is off policies about the content the territories. Nowhere the map to the east: Iran. But it is asserting itself in of any negotiations bewill Israel go all the way. unstable nations much closer to Israel’s borders. tween Israel and her Arab … We can get a West neighbors.

Bank agreement, and there will not administration predicted a Begin vicDayan told Carter that Israel be annexation, and there will be no tory — and would thereby guarantee would not exchange land for peace as sovereign rule of others there, and we speedy negotiations for a Palestinian quickly as Carter anticipated. will keep our military installations entity in the West Bank and Gaza and settlements.”

Strip. Wrong.

Menachem Begin’s Likud party ideological division within the Palestinian community itself and because of the flat-out unwillingness of a significant segment of Palestinians to accept Israel or its Jewish majority as a reality.

In addition, Palestinians themselves have a disdain for their own leadership; a recent poll shows that only 33 percent of the Palestinians are satisfied with their president’s performance, and 68 percent demand his resignation.

had just replaced the Rabin-Peres Labor coalition governments that had ruled Israel for her first 29 years.

Carter was the first U.S. president to call for a “Palestinian homeland.”

He had blindly hoped that the Labor Party would win the May 1977 elections — in fact, no one in the Carter

Dayan then presciently made this estimate about the Gaza Strip: “If Israel were to leave Gaza, what would they do? Then the terrorists would come in again, and there would be the refugees and no jobs, and it would be an impossible situation. We have to sit down and try to work out the future of Gaza. We can do without Gaza, but there are problems of 400,000 people there.”

In 2005, Israel withdrew 9,000 settlers and its military presence from the Gaza Strip. A year later, Hamas took control of area.

Today, there are 2 million Gazans, 500 percent of the population in 1977.

Hamas today, like the PLO 40 years ago, refuses to recognize Israel’s existence — no Jewish state.

As for the Golan Heights, while Bashar Assad’s father was in power in Damascus, and no one had a clue about the rules governing Syria 20 years later, former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Raful Eitan said on Sept. 20, 1996: “You cannot trust (Assad) a dictator. Today he is here, and tomorrow you can’t know who will be in his place. If we think the 1973 Yom Kippur War was something, what will take place following an Israeli pullout from the Golan Heights will make the war look like a game.” ■ Ken Stein is the president of the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled. org).

Photo by Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office

Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and President George H.W. Bush meet at the White House in December 1990.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin calls on Jordan’s King Hussein at the Royal Palace in Amman in 1995.

Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office

Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gets a warm welcome to the White House from President George W. Bush in June 2008.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama share a light moment at the White House in March 2012.

Photo by Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meet in New York in September 2017.

Photo by Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office

Peace talks in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, bring together (from left) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah in 2005.

Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump spend time together at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 25, 2018.

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Photo by Tsvika Israeli, Israeli Government Press Office

Prime Minister Ehud Barak (left) and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa flank President Bill Clinton in January 2000 during peace talks in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

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ISRAEL@70 - HISTORY

CNN Went to Jerusalem; Israel Came to Atlanta

By Dave Schechter dschechter@atljewishtimes.com In late 1989, Atlanta-based Cable News Network was ascendant.

Ted Turner’s 9-year-old creation had proved there was an appetite for around-the-clock news on television — and this was a year before its coverage of the Gulf War would make CNN an international phenomenon.

In the same period, Benjamin Netanyahu was ascendant, the deputy foreign minister a rising star in the Likud party.

Beginning with his tenure as Israel’s United Nations ambassador in the mid-1980s, Netanyahu, who lived in Philadelphia as a teenager, had become the English-language face of Israel’s government.

He appeared often on CNN and, when visiting Atlanta, would participate in what’s known as an “editorial board.”

In addition to Netanyahu, seated around the table would be CNN executives, international desk editors, producers of programs focusing on international news, and others with ex-

Photo by Kobi Gideon, Government Press Office

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes a Democratic congressional delegation led by Nancy Pelosi to Jerusalem on Monday, March 26. Netanyahu’s political rise paralleled CNN’s surge in importance in the 1980s, and he was a regular CNN guest.

perience and knowledge in the region.

I fell into the last category, having been the Jerusalem bureau producer for the better part of two years from 1985 to 1987.

Editorial boards generally were off the record, meaning that a diplomat could speak less diplomatically than during an on-air interview.

After one such visit to CNN, I rode along as Israel’s deputy consul general

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APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

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in Atlanta drove Netanyahu to Hartsfield International Airport.

(The deputy consul general and I, along with our wives, were friends. Our daughters had been born within a few months of each other, timing that repeated with our sons a couple of years later.)

About this time, the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta was rumored (not for the last time) to be at risk of closing.

When that subject came up during the ride, I suggested that closing the consulate would be a mistake, if only because it provided Israel the opportunity for face-to-face contact with CNN executives.

CNN’s first home, at 1050 Techwood Drive, once housed the Progressive Club, established in 1913 by Jews of Russian descent (also referred to as Yiddish Jews), who felt unwelcome at the Standard Club, whose membership predominantly descended from German Jews.

CNN moved into its current home downtown in the summer of 1985, and today the building at 1050 Techwood is part of Turner Broadcasting’s campus.

The network premiered at 6 p.m.

Eastern on June 1, 1980.

CNN’s first “live via satellite” transmission came a half-hour later from Jerusalem, where correspondent Jay Bushinsky reported on political problems facing Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

That the CNN bureau was in Jerusalem was noteworthy, as ABC, CBS and NBC maintained their primary Israel offices in the Tel Aviv area.

Into the late 1980s, most reports were recorded on videotape cassettes that were driven to Ben Gurion Airport and put aboard late-night flights to New York, and the bureau there would transmit them on a fiber line to Atlanta.

Back then, reports that touched on security issues required approval by a military censor, a conversation that on occasion became testy.

For an important story, the international desk in Atlanta, which communicated with the bureau by telephone or telex machine, might agree to spend money and feed the story by satellite.

Yeshlanu lavion (Hebrew for “we have a satellite”) generally meant that a long day would become a longer night — no small matter, considering the seven-hour time difference between Atlanta and Israel.

As the years went on, censorship became rare, computers replaced typewriters, satellite feeds became less expensive and more common, and, eventually, digital technology made writing, editing and transmitting less cumbersome.

The importance of Israel, and in particular Jerusalem, for Jews, Christians and Muslims explains why the number of foreign correspondents posted in Israel exceeds that of all but a handful of world capitals.

Most reports filed from Israel involve its government, politics and military, relations between Israel and the Palestinians, and relations with neighboring Arab nations, as well as terrorism and conflicts ranging from street clashes to war. The necessity for such a focus — more common after the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in December 1987 — has precluded greater coverage of religious and cultural subjects.

CNN has been criticized by American Jews and, as the channel became available in country, by Israelis, often over the context in which events are presented. Similarly, Palestinians have complained that CNN’s coverage is bi-

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ased in favor of Israel.

A former Israeli consul general in Atlanta, who asked not to be identified, offered his perspective on the relationship between the network and his nation.

“I found an open door and a fair attitude from the senior executives of CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Those senior executives exercised genuine willingness to listen and to being briefed on current affairs developments and strategic developments in the Middle East from senior Israeli officials whom I invited to Atlanta for working and official visits and from me personally.

When major events in the Middle East took place during these visits, they also showed their interest to interview these officials on these events,” the former diplomat said.

“I also found amongst these CNN executives an open mind and readiness to accept, usually rare, criticism on certain elements of the CNN reporting, either by the poor choice of words and clearly unbalanced narratives of its reporters, especially from those based in Arab capitals, and/or poor choices of archive video footages accompanying certain reports. When I shared such a complaint about certain reporting, my complaint was seriously addressed and a correction made to make the report balanced in its wording and the accompanying footage,” he said.

Tom Johnson understood the perils of Middle East coverage before he became chairman of CNN in August 1990 — starting the job one day before Iraqi troops rolled into Kuwait, the precursor to the Gulf War. During his tenure as publisher of the Los Angeles Times (1977-90) and at CNN (1990-2001), “news coverage of Israel was one of the most controversial of all topics for me and our news executives,” Johnson said, recalling advertiser boycotts and canceled subscriptions over the Times’ coverage of the September 1982 massacre of Palestinians by Christian Phalange militias in the Lebanese refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. (An Israeli commission of inquiry found Israel to be indirectly responsible for not deterring the militias.

Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was found to bear a measure of personal responsibility, leading to his eventual resignation from that post.)

“At CNN, our reporting about Israel was at times no less controversial,” Johnson said. “Various CNN staffers, including former bureau chief Robert Wiener, occasionally received blistering criticism for coverage. Criticism was especially intense during the first war in the Gulf in 1991. Israeli military

authorities felt that our live coverage of incoming Iraqi Scud missiles provided Iraqi military with targeting guidance.

We adjusted our reporting so as to not identify precisely where Scud missiles struck.

“One major Atlanta-based Jewish leader called my close friend Erwin Zaban to criticize CNN and me personally for our reporting.

“Both at Los Angeles Times and at CNN, my mandate to our staff was to be accurate in all our reporting. Ted Turner (the founder of Turner Broadcasting and CNN) gave us only one explicit rule: Be fair.

“At all times, I did my best to make certain that we were as accurate and as fair as humanly possible. We tried our very best, often at great risk to our

correspondents and staffs, to present truthful reporting from all the countries and leaders in the region. We were often criticized for interviews with Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders, and yet fairness demanded that the points of view of the fiercely different leaders were represented.”

Self-styled media watchdog groups, such as HonestReporting and CAMERA, routinely critique what they see as biased reporting by CNN and other news organizations.

Over the years, the large, red CNN sign outside CNN’s offices at the intersection of Marietta Street and Techwood Drive has been a rallying site for protesters on a range of issues, including pro- and anti-Israel rallies.

Andy Segal, a former senior pro-

ducer in CNN’s documentary unit, who worked on programs about Israel, said, “I was well aware that the management knew CNN was under a microscope by Israelis, Palestinians and the American Jewish community.

“My only marching orders were to report and write stories as comprehensively, accurately and fairly as I could.

If someone thinks there’s a CNN agenda, I never saw it.

“Did everyone on the production team always agree? No, but there was a premium placed on talking through the issues until there was consensus.

Did we always get it right? No, and when we became aware of a problem, we fixed it.”

Segal added, “I’m proud of the work.” ■

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS

Atlanta Reflects on a Milestone The AJT wanted to get 70 thoughts on Israel’s 70th birthday. We asked Jews and non-Jews, young and old, Atlanta residents and some who made aliyah, a question that is both simple and complex: “What does Israel mean to you?”

We sought a range of views with one limitation: Everyone had to love Israel. This is, after all, a celebration.

We could have filled this section with thoughtful responses from Atlanta’s pulpit rabbis, but as much as we value and usually welcome their opinions, we decided to seek the views of more laymen and skipped active congregational rabbis with the exception of Mendy Gurary, whose Chabad center targets his fellow Israelis.

We’ve included the dean of Atlanta rabbis, Alvin Sugarman, and asked for responses from Atlanta rabbis who made aliyah. Not everyone had the time to respond at this busy time of year.

Here are 60 answers from 63 people (including three couples).

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Aliza Yona Abusch-Magder, Weber School junior Divine understanding and rever-

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ence of the Torah begin in Israel, the place where we are able to relive, relate to and physically connect to our fantastical tradition. The Torah seems to mirror the fairy tales we love so much as children — filled with giants and spies and many supernatural events. Unlike a fairy tale, however, the Torah does not take place in a fictional land; the Torah takes place in Israel and the surrounding area.

Being in Israel, the setting of our beloved story, makes the Torah feel more real and therefore more powerful. In the Dead Sea Valley Rift stands a salt pillar, identified as the solidified body of Lot’s wife, who against G-d’s instructions looked back at the burning city of Sodom. Though it still seems like an obscure story, its moral lessons are easier to grasp as you stand in the shadow of her choice to disobey G-d.

Spirituality is often described as a semitranscendent experience, one

which solely resides in some higher realm of being, but I understand spirituality to be tangible, grounded in location. My spiritual connection to the Jewish tradition is strengthened as I stand on Jerusalem stone in the Old City, where Yitzchak was nearly sacrificed by his father, or overlook the port of Jaffa, the same sea where Jonah fled G-d, only to be swallowed by a whale.

Scott Allen, executive director of Israel365, a Georgia network of Christians for Israel There is a new breed of Christian out there, and I am one of them.

Israel means everything to me because I can trace every blessing I have back to Israel and the Jewish people — my Bible,

Scott Allen, wearing an Atlanta Braves hat, gives an American flag to an Israeli soldier during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

my faith and my freedom. I didn’t feel that way until my wife, Karen, and I went to Israel in 1999. We went as tourists and came back Zionists.

Our eyes were opened to see the Jews really are G ­ -d’s­chosen people, the land of Israel belongs to them, and the miracle of Israel today is proof of it. G-d awakened us to our sins against the Jews: the persecutions, pogroms, Crusades and most recently the Holocaust.

We have now been to Israel nine times.

When the 2006 Lebanon war broke out, we flew to Israel with Christians from eight states, standing with Israel at the Kotel, bomb shelters and front lines on the Lebanese border. There we walked up to a column of Israeli tanks

ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS

Marita Anderson, Jewish chaplain and Temple Emanu-El rebbetzin My 11-year-old son recently interviewed my grandmother about her life. She described a life of difficulties that are unimaginable to my son’s generation: survival of World War II, life in Siberia, existence as an orphan at a young age, oppression under the Communist regime, anti-Semitism and more. She made aliyah from the former Soviet Union at the age of 56, starting from scratch and learning a new language in which to teach physics and math.

My son asked her the most difficult part about immigrating to Israel.

Her response: “Nothing.” She didn’t think it was difficult at all. She was grateful for the opportunity.

My grandmother is 82 now. I have visited Israel almost as many times as the years my grandmother has lived there, including longer stays to study in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Being in Israel helped me recover lost threads of my people’s history and atrophied parts of my own story. I collected whispers of heartbreak and yearning, lamentation and joy, fear and hope, pleasure and sin. I learned and relearned the language of my people’s ancient prayers, the language of their dreams and even the language of their neighbors.

For me, being in Israel is coming home. It’s coming home to a place that has given my family new life and an identity based on a living, flowing and irrepressibly hopeful Judaism. It is a noisy, colorful, tight-knit home not without its secrets, old wounds and conflicts. As with all relationships, the one with Israel requires attention and the persistent choice to stay close.

Opher Aviran, former Israeli consul general to the Southeast Israel — my birthplace, my country and the centerpiece of the Jewish people —

has always been a great source of pride.

My five-year posting in Atlanta as the consul general of Israel to the Southeast was the pinnacle of my 33 years of diplomatic service. In that position, I fulfilled my dreams and lived out my values. It is often said that diplomacy is all about relationships, and my family and I were fortunate to give and receive so much from the community.

Israel, the state of the Jewish people, must continue to be a humane society and a beacon of tolerance for Jews and non-Jews alike and for all forms of Jewish expression. We cannot and should not expect moral and material support from the committed American Jewry without respecting its diversity.

Israel, the Start-Up Nation, should first preserve its Jewish-universal values, then become a striving nation militarily, economically and academically.

We endured hardship before and after independence in 1948, and we cannot forget our core values.

We should be proud of our great achievements in 70 years, but not become arrogant. We should embrace minorities and combat incitement and divisiveness. These scourges have taken hold in Israel, and we should express zero tolerance to them, in much the same way we demand that others show no tolerance for anti-Semitism.

Let us all pray and make every possible effort to make our grandchildren proud of us and of the nation we love.

Mort and Edie Barr, former Atlantans who made aliyah We are privileged to live in Israel.

Here we experience daily the Jewish people’s past, present and future. Wherever one lives in Israel, one senses the connection to our patriarchs, matriarchs and biblical history. One inhales 3,000 years of Jewish existence and exhales a direct contribution to Jewish destiny.

Here in Beit Shemesh, one senses the Tanach. We overlook the Elah Valley, where David slew Goliath. We can imagine the battle scene from I Samuel 17, with Saul and the men of Israel massing on one hillside, the Philistines stationed on the opposite hillside, and the valley between them.

We are a stone’s throw from an archaeological site called Shaarayim (Two Gates), a key strategic location in the Kingdom of Judah, on the main road from Philistia and the coastal

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ready to invade, handed each soldier a flag and said: “We are Christians from America. We stand with you during this time of trouble and are praying for you.” They were obviously shocked and appreciative.

When friends are in trouble, you run to them, not from them. Millions like me are now standing with you declaring, “Israel, you are not alone!”

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plain to Jerusalem and Hebron, where King David established his most forward fortress near the land of the Philistines. Samson is buried here.

We are a short drive from Latrun, where the Maccabees defeated the Seleucids in the defining battle en route to the miracle of Chanukah.

What’s more, Israel, a country the size of New Jersey with few natural resources, has the third most companies on the NASDAQ, trailing only the United States and China. It is a global leader in high technology, agriculture, manufacturing, cybersecurity and counterterrorism. Israel manifests what it means to be a Jew: Tanach on one hand and innovative modernity on the other.

Tali Barel, Haifa native and longtime metro Atlanta resident Israel is first and foremost home — the place my grandparents came to 100 years ago and the birthplace of my parents, myself and my children.

Israel for me is sweet childhood memories, a special vibe on the streets during the holidays. It’s memories of growing up on Mount Carmel, spending summertime at the beach, serving in the Israel Defense Forces, and later moving to Tel Aviv, where I studied, fell in love and started a family of my own.

David Ben-Gurion once said that to be realistic in a country like Israel, one must believe in miracles. Israel, for me, is indeed a miracle, a source of patriotism and pride. A country I taught my children to cherish and to never take its existence for granted. A country that, despite its lack of resources, developed a thriving economy, with countless achievements in technology, water, transportation, defense and medicine.

A country where, despite its social diversity, almost everyone serves in the IDF and actually sees it as a privilege. A country that, despite its security challenges and the hostility of most surrounding countries, has developed a vibrant democracy and has successfully exported progress to the world.

Israel for me is the center of the universe, a part of my DNA, a place where I can go at any time, feel part of it and know that part of it feels mine.

Chuck Berk, Republican Jewish Coalition co-chair I was born less than a year before 32 May 14, 1948, when Jewish leaders es-

tablished the state of Israel. When I was a child, the Passover phrase “next year in Jerusalem” was an abstraction, but as I matured, I came to understand how Jerusalem and Israel have been the epicenter of the Jewish people’s identity — their national and spiritual life since King David in 1003 B.C.E. Establishing the state of Israel finally gave Diaspora Jews an officially recognized home, a state, after thousands of stateless years.

After basically lying fallow for thousands of years, Israel came to life, and over 70 years it developed a culture that should be admired by all, coupling education, hard work and acts of charitable giving. It has its faults and blemishes, as all countries have, but the progress of its people and its achievements are remarkable.

Since its founding, Israel has built a society that protects the rights of its citizens and ensures that all religions have freedom to worship and have access to their religious sites. It protects minority and women’s rights and a free press in a part of the world where such rights and protections are alien.

In a letter, Danny Danon, the permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, summarized why Israel is unique and a key reason I admire and support Israel: “The ancient Jewish principle of tikkun olam, repairing the world, has always guided the Jewish people toward helping others. This commitment runs through the veins of the modern State of Israel in the form of innovation and global aid … and seeks to improve the lives of others.”

Israel is impressive. I admire the people, culture, society and possibilities.

Perry and Shirley Brickman, longtime community leaders A trip to Israel always gives us a feeling of wonderment. We’ve been there 25 times since 1967. We are proud of our Jewish homeland. It’s our destiny.

In 70 years Israel has accomplished so very much: renowned high-tech institutions and world-class universities, music, art, science, medicine, 12 Nobel laureates, hundreds of yeshivas.

From the excitement on Ben Ye-

huda Street to the quiet beauty of the reclaimed Negev desert, Israel captures our heart and soul.

We’ve visited with young soldiers on the Syrian border in the north and the next day touched down at the Red Sea resort of Eilat, a favorite destination of European vacationers.

Tel Aviv continues to explode with innovative initiatives. In March, Google began operating its new accelerator, its first machine learning program outside the United States.

Only an hour away, we find ourselves in Jerusalem, our spiritual home, where we walk the familiar cobblestone streets leading to the Kotel. We feel safe as we mingle with uniformed 18-year-old boys and girls, just out of high school and proudly protecting their country. We could almost hear them saying, “Enjoy the sights; we’re looking out for you.” You want to hug each one of them — and their Uzis.

We have childhood memories of our parents teaching us to lovingly place coins in the JNF pushke, the money going to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Palestine. Now we have Israel Bonds, JNF, Federation and so many others. Am Yisrael chai!

Cobi Cohen, Marcus JCC senior digital marketing director, who helped launch JNFuture in Atlanta Israel represents hope, resilience and the self-determination of our people.

David R. Cohen, former AJT associate editor and Maccabiah athlete Israel will always be a special place for me, not only for my spiritual connection, but also for the many opportunities it offers.

The first time I visited was as a 16-year-old on a BBYO trip in the summer of 2006.

It was only three weeks, but I saw enough sights to be hooked. I knew I had to go back for longer.

Four years later, I enrolled in the semester abroad program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I spent that summer and fall living in, studying in and getting to know the real Israel, not just the parts they show you on tour groups. I also joined the Jerusalem Lions Rugby Club and competed in Isra-

el’s countrywide rugby league. During that trip, I learned a lot about myself and gained a deeper appreciation for the people of Israel.

My next trip was as a member of the U.S. rugby team that competed in the 2013 World Maccabiah Games. The trip was unlike any of my previous excursions, and my jersey and the bronze medal we won are still hanging on my wall at home.

More recently, I had the privilege to accompany a 2016 Conexx business mission to Israel and report on it for the AJT. It was yet another new perspective.

To me, Israel means the freedom to express your Judaism any way you see fit. From observing Yom Kippur at the Western Wall to spending lazy days on the beaches of Tel Aviv, Israel offers something for every one of us.

Michael J. Coles, Hillels of Georgia president I did not think my first trip to Israel in 1999 would have much effect on me. In preparing for the two-week journey, I focused on the logistics, not on what it might come to mean. We traveled as part of Project Interchange, an initiative sponsored by American Jewish Committee.

For the first week, we met with government and university officials and media, civic and religious leaders. For the second week, we traveled with Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes on a trade mission to meet scientists, technology leaders and medical experts.

This trip completely changed my perspective on being Jewish. Flying into Tel Aviv, we saw nothing but sand, then all of the sudden was this vibrant patch of green — Israel. It is hard to believe that this small country has done so much to help the world in technology, environmental innovations, medical discoveries and humanitarian aid.

The most moving thing I remember during that first trip was visiting Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Gov. Barnes and I were invited to lay a wreath at one of the memorial sites, and it turned out that it was for the town in Poland where my mother’s family was murdered.

After the trip, I had a much better understanding of my heritage and the source of my own strength. It also shaped my current work as the president of Hillels of Georgia. Today, the anti-Israel movement, which is a veiled

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attempt to legitimize anti-Semitism in public discourse, is growing. I will do whatever is necessary to combat this corrosive movement. Little did I know that my trip in 1999 would profoundly shape that commitment.

David Fisher, former Birthright Israel Foundation president Israel often serves as a beautiful and complicated backdrop for personal exploration of my spiritual and Jewish journey.

Beyond its individual appeal and pull, at its best Israel represents a shared ideal for many Jews who want to be part of and connected to something far greater than they are as individuals.

Like America or one’s own family, Israel is imperfect. However, it is our imperfect, and we share in its imperfection and in the responsibility of its aspiration to be the best representation of its (our) values always!

Like family, Israel has responsibilities and obligations to us as well: to lead us, to protect us wherever we are, and to provide safe harbor should we need it. My children know they can always come home, even if just for a visit.

Thankfully, we all have a home to come back to, one that will nourish us, inspire us and fulfill us.

Even if just for a visit.

Rabbi Adam Frank, native Atlantan who made aliyah Israel is the source of stability and security for my Jewish identity. The Jewish people is distinct in its history and unique in its purpose, and the state of Israel emboldens my confidence to remain distinct with purpose.

Far from a utopia, it is a country constantly in tension in its attempt to preserve and honor religious ritual traditions while remaining relevant to a varied world Jewry. Israel is the conflicted soul of the Jewish conscience and the nonconflicted prioritizer of Jewish interests first.

Israel embodies my sense of what is a Jew: distinct in ritual, driven by Torah’s ethical impulse that is sometimes clear and sometimes complex, fulfilling an essential mission to push humanity to think and act with integrity.

Lois Frank, Israel advocate and community activist “What does Israel mean to me?” is the same question as “Why be Jewish?”

It is our opportunity, our challenge, our hope: to be a light unto nations.

Sherry Z. Frank, former American Jewish Committee regional director I feel blessed to live at the time of the rebirth and flourishing of the Jewish state.

Israel has been a part of my Jewish identity since I put coins in the JNF blue box as a child. Israel continues to play a central role in my life as a Jewish professional and community volunteer.

When I think about Israel, I reflect on the countless memories I have of sacred moments I witnessed: • Singing Hatikvah as the plane descends and we see Israel out the win-

dow.

• Chanting Shehecheyanu as we stand on a hilltop viewing the Old City.

• Welcoming Shabbat at the Kotel with song and dance and prayer.

• Witnessing the dedication of the National Council of Jewish Women’s Institute for Innovation in Education on Mount Scopus.

• Dancing on the tarmac with Soviet Jewish olim as they depart the plane.

• Shopping in the Cardo with our AJC Mission Undaunted participants weeks before the Gulf War. • Hearing Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” read by Christian leaders in AJC’s Project Interchange.

• Sharing new insights and camaraderie on Federation missions and Congregation Or Hadash trips.

• Marveling at the spontaneous basketball games that developed when bringing African-Americans to Ethiopian absorption centers.

• Studying on the rooftops in Jerusalem until dawn on Shavuot.

• Celebrating with friends for their children’s b’not mitzvah celebrations on top of Masada.

• Participating in heated political discussions during home hospitality when traveling with my Black/Jewish

Sisters Group.

• Kvelling when my granddaughters returned enthusiastic and inspired from their Davis Academy and Weber School trips.

Happy 70th birthday, Israel!

Robbie Friedmann, Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange founding director Israel is nothing short of a miracle, which should not be taken for granted as Israel continues to face existential challenges where her very right to exist is being delegitimized and the country is under constant attack.

Israel was established against all odds and has faced ongoing threats ever since. The foundations of the country were laid down starting in 1882, and it had all elements of a nascent state well before 1948. The War of Independence resulted in an unprecedented development in all areas, yet constant wars and massive terror attacks ensued.

Yet look at the tremendous

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 33 achievements in education, agriculture, industry, high tech, innovation, space exploration, medicine, science, absorption of immigrants, influential cuisine, and the list is long. Israelis have won 12 Nobel Prizes. No other country’s achievements match those of Israel in such a short time and from such a disadvantaged starting point.

Indeed, it is much more than just the Start-Up Nation. Israel now is a vibrant, modern society with new and ongoing challenges, yet there is a spirit of humanity, fairness, kindness and assistance to those in need.

Israel is not perfect. No country is.

But as Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary, the sense of achievement and the pride are well deserved. Above all, Israel is an island of democracy in a sea of hostile countries and groups, and its spirit soars well above matter. Israel is glad to share its experience and knowhow with those who seek it and is indeed a light unto the nations.

Newt Gingrich, former U.S. speaker of the House One of the great miracles of my lifetime is the establishment, survival and increasing prosperity of the state of Israel.

I was honored as speaker of the House to host a celebration of Jerusalem’s 3,000th anniversary.

The continuous history of the people of Abraham and David is one of the great stories of human achievement.

The hard work, continuing emphasis on science and technology, and relentless entrepreneurship are making Israel one of the most exciting places on the planet. Even now I am studying the breakthroughs in Israeli water policy, which may help hundreds of millions and end very dangerous water conflicts around the world.

Anyone who visits Israel should remind themselves that the age of miracles is far from over.

Beth Gluck, JNF Atlanta executive director There is no chicken-and-egg quandary as to the origin of my connection to Israel and then Jewish National Fund.

My grandmothers’ stories of “a return to Zion” and dropping quarters into JNF’s blue boxes set me on a course to passionately care about the young state and to eventually assume the role of executive director of JNF Atlanta.

I visited Israel at a young age and spent two years there as a student, social worker and girlfriend to the man who is now my husband. It was then that I evolved from a visitor looking in on Israel to a partner in building the country.

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Rabbi Aaron Fruchtman, native Atlantan who made aliyah When I was 17, I spent two months studying in Israel in a program called the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. As a senior in high school, I think my focus was to have a good time and meet as many girls as possible.

Because I wasn’t such a ladies’ man, I failed in my main goal, but the program introduced me to the 3,000-year-old, unique and fascinating story of the Jewish people. That story, all the events we have been through and all the things we have accomplished, made me feel as if I am a part of something larger than myself, which is what living in Israel is really about.

By living in Israel, I feel that I am actively involved in the course of Jewish history and taking part in our special relationship with G-d. Now I am proud to be a part of an innovative initiative called Avratech, which

integrates ultra-Orthodox men into the high-tech sector. In this position, I hope that I can help the Jewish people and Israel continue to thrive and develop.

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A 2014 delegation of American law enforcement officials organized by GILEE visits the Israeli police commissioner’s office. The Hebrew inscription on the wall is from Deuteronomy 16:18: “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates.”

Israel connects me to my past, enriches my life and is the platform from which I work to ensure a future for the Jewish people. She offers me the chance to live a Jewish life in a state of opportunity and vision. While Jewish history is laden with fear, Israel exudes energy, accomplishment, change, challenge and vision. I am in awe of the opportunity before me to be an active player in all this energy!

Israel is where I choose to leave my greatest impact on our imperfect world, and while I will not finish the task before me, I will continue to take advantage of the luck of my lifetime to live through the development of a Jewish country to call home.

Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman, Ahavath Achim Synagogue emeritus rabbi who made aliyah Israel for me is the integration of tradition and modernity. It is an amalgam of the old and the new, of the timeless and the timely.

Great institutions of Torah exist side by side with outstanding modern universities. It is here that Hebrew has been revitalized and successfully functions as the official language of our modern state.

Come Friday afternoon, I literally sense the Shabbat Queen slowly descending into our midst. Traffic thins out as final preparations are made to celebrate Shabbat or simply to acknowledge our historic day of rest.

Here, Saturday, our Shabbat, is the official day of rest.

Tradition and modernity guide us as we wend our way through life.

Tradition is the compass that points the way to a moral and ethical life. Israel, aptly named the Start-Up Nation, has brought us great innovations like Waze, the amazing app that enables us to find our way as we travel about our cities and countrysides worldwide.

Israel puts its technological capacity in play when it is a first responder after a natural calamity in any part of the globe. At such time it employs the techniques and tools that are the products of modernity, but the motivation to extend a helping hand has its roots in our tradition, which mandates we take action to help others in times of need.

Israel’s embrace of the old and the new is a paradigm of the challenge faced by every traditional Jew striving to make his/her way in our modern world. Israel is a model for me as I em-

brace the new while seeking to hold tight to the old. It’s a tension that defines the drama of my life.

Rabbi Mendy Gurary, Chabad Israeli Center Atlanta director I grew up in Israel in the city of Holon. Even though I was a member of an ultra-Orthodox family, being that my father was the chief rabbi of the city, we lived in Holon. Because Holon is not among the Haredi cities in Israel, this created many opportunities for me as a child to meet neighboring children and families who are not observant.

My father always taught us and was a daily example of respecting others as he greeted people and showed ahavat Yisrael (love of a fellow Jew). His example inspires me to this day. The variety of Israeli experiences I had as a child contributes to my role as community rabbi in Atlanta at the Chabad Israeli Center-Congregation Bet Reuven.

The land of Israel, the Torah of Israel and the people of Israel are the connecting threads throughout my life. Even today, when the land of Israel is not at my fingertips as it was in my childhood, the connection to it is strong. We maintain this connection through Am Yisrael and Torat Yisrael with the people we encounter daily at the Chabad Center.

The land of Israel is the home of the Jewish people, and we will always aspire to return to it. For me personally and for many in our community, this is also their parents’ home and their childhood landscape. I have been living in the United States for more than 16 years, and still, when I come to visit Israel, I come home. No matter the distance and years away, I will always feel at home in Israel.

Arnold Heller, Atlanta-Ra’anana Sister Cities Committee chair I am 72 years old; Israel is 70.

We have grown up together and matured into comfortable, youthful elder status.

Because of an aversion to imposed rules and authority, I am not a religious man and have been waiting my whole life for the Jewish thunderbolt to strike me. I can’t blame it on the three

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Continued from page 34 nice congregations I joined, the multiple talented rabbis who served me or the beautiful synagogues I prayed in: Religiosity simply did not take root.

Jewishness, though, is at the center of my being and soul, and the Jewish state has been the source for spiritual expression. This, to a degree, is what sparked my involvement in Sister Cities International programs — as a Jew, to be a light unto people and nations and help bring them together to live in peace, cooperation and prosperity.

In 1991, I became director of a secondary-level global business education program and needed international learning tools. Sharon Flexner, the chair of the Atlanta-Rio de Janeiro committee, invited me to become a member. Soon, my students were flying down to Brazil to develop friendship and trade. The program spread to four other countries and won an SCI Educational Leadership award.

In 1998, I decided it was time to bring the international business program to Israel, and a Jerusalem think tank steered me to Ostrovsky High School and its Young Entrepreneurs Program in Ra’anana (population 80,000). The mayor’s office invited us for a schmooze. I observed Zeev Bielski, a get-things-done mayor, and his efficient staff after three years of Rio’s “after the elections and Carnival.”

I knew I’d found my perfect expression of Jewish soul: building friendship and trade between the two cities, each about the ninth-largest in its country.

Developing the Atlanta-Ra’anana committee as its chair has been a 20-year journey to create a lasting friendship and partnership between America and Israel, Atlanta and Ra’anana.

The empowerment from the city of Atlanta and the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs has been a great privilege. It also has been a fabulous pleasure to engage in meaningful joint programs and projects with the municipality of Ra’anana.

My Jewish soul has been nurtured beyond my best expectations by giving back to society and supporting Israel. In my own way, because of Israel, I have been self-actualized as an American Jew, and I thank G-d for that.

I hope that Israel’s existence will be eternal, not just lasting a lot longer than I do. Israel has become part of me, and that is why it is important. Happy 70th birthday.

Jan Jaben-Eilon, AJT contributor who made aliyah and returned To roughly paraphrase Yehuda 36 Halevy, I am here in America, but my

heart is in Israel.

I recall seeing a full moon over the Old City of Jerusalem the first time I was there.

Earlier — much earlier — that day, I had seen that full moon descend from the top of Masada, brightening in a morning sunrise. Another time, I recall seeing a full-moon total eclipse over the Old City wall from the restaurant where my husband took me on our first date.

I often need to remind myself of those special moments, to try to overshadow my deep disappointments in the country. I often quote my Sabra mother-in-law, who says, “This isn’t the country I fought for during the independence war.” It’s also not the country I made aliyah to over two decades ago.

I loved my life in Israel, as challenging as it was to be an immigrant there. I loved the vitality, the friendships, walking from our apartment to all parts of Jerusalem. In those days, despite the occasional terrorist attack, there was hope, there was a positive passion. I remember exactly where I was, on the road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as I finally accepted that it was OK to criticize Israel — out of love.

Today my friends and relatives in Israel struggle to stay afloat economically and emotionally, trying desperately to live their lives in self-created bubbles. I miss the country, yet I don’t.

It’s easier to protect my broken heart living here in America.

Michael Jacobson, co-president of JNF in Atlanta Serving as co-president of Jewish National Fund affords me the opportunity and responsibility to communicate my commitment to Israel. Usually, I start with the fact that I grew up in a small town in North Carolina where Jews were literally few and far between. We were a tight community, and being such outsiders pulled us closer together. I remember vividly, as I was preparing for my bar mitzvah, the concerns and then the relief of my parents as the IDF was victorious in the Six-Day War. Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East. This is one aspect of the country of which I am most proud. I also believe that all Diaspora Jews have a responsibility to help ensure Israel is

and will continue to be a strong, secure and prosperous state for all Jews. This commitment means that Israel is a part of my everyday life, and my role is one of leading others, through JNF, to support her development.

Meliss Jakubovic, Israeli dance instructor and choreographer Although I am an Atlanta native, my heart is in Israel. Israel is my home.

I was 7 years old when I started Israeli folk dancing. Each week my mom, who is also a folk dancer, would bring my sister and me to the dance IFD sessions. Over the years I fell in love with the music, dance steps, people, culture and community.

When I was 16, I took over the group that I still teach. Many of my dancers have known me since I was 7, and some have been in the group even longer. I’ve traveled to Israel to lead dance tours, dance in festivals and participate in dance sessions throughout the country. Twice a year I visit dance camps, where we dance for 18 hours a day, four days straight. We learn new Israeli dance steps from famous Israeli choreographers.

Israeli folk dancing is in 35 countries around the world. Because each song has a specific choreographed step, you could go anywhere in the world, and everyone in the room will know the same steps.

Israel has given me so much: dancing, global friends, steps that give me purpose, a connection to Israeli music, the Hebrew language, an understanding of the culture. It has brought the world closer to me and made me feel at home.

For 18 years I’ve taught Israeli dancing to children, teens, adults and seniors, spreading my love and joy for this cherished art. My sons, Ilan, 9, and Shai, 11, are also folk dancers. L’dor vador.

Wendy Kalman, AJT blogger who lived in Jerusalem When I was in 10th grade, I read “Exodus” by Leon Uris and had to visit Eretz Yisrael. After college graduation, I spent the summer and felt as if I had found my people. Being in a country where we were not a minority, not an oddity, but where everyone from bus

drivers to shopkeepers to CEOs and presidents was just like me was a feeling unlike any other.

A yearlong volunteer program and a wedding later, and I was hooked.

I lived in Jerusalem, sent my sons to a mamlachti-dati (governmental religious) yet progressive school. I loved the way religious and secular alike live the Jewish calendar. Mini-neighborhoods below buildings sprout up during Sukkot. People dance in the streets during Simchat Torah. Bicycles fill the roads on Yom Kippur. Kids wear Purim costumes. Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaShoah sirens stop people in their tracks.

Moments of silence, like school and public ceremonies, are taken to heart.

Today, we connect — to foods, music, culture. I belong to Hadassah, blog for the AJT/Times of Israel and am active with a Jewish-Muslim women’s group. Proud of Israel’s heart and brain, I also devote time and thought to its moral and geographical future; this requires nuanced thinking I wish I saw more often.

As well, within the context of today’s global anti-Semitism, I wonder if we need to reframe how we think about life in the Diaspora. Are we, as we were in Egypt, just sojourning?

All this is to say that Israel means identity and a home to me.

Daniel Kaufman, Maccabiah baseball coach and Israel Baseball League pitcher in 2007 When I think about Israel, my mind takes me in several different directions. During my four trips there in the past decade-plus, I’ve had unique experiences each time, whether living in Tel Aviv while playing professional baseball in the Israel Baseball League, traveling for Birthright, sightseeing for my grandmother’s 90th birthday or coaching Team USA baseball to the gold medal at the 20th World Maccabiah Games while living in Haifa.

The one constant is that I’ve never been anywhere else in the world where I’ve felt more welcomed. One memory strikes me from when I lived in Tel Aviv. Some friends and I were spending time on the beach when we struck up a conversation with some of the locals. Within minutes, we’d been invited to their house for Shabbat dinner that coming Friday. That was one of the many times over the years where I felt as if I wasn’t in just another country,

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 36 but in my home country.

When people ask me about my trips, I explain that Israel to me is a completely transformative and lifechanging place. In fact, it’s not just a place but an experience. I truly feel that no matter what your religion — Jewish, Christian, Muslim or something else — everyone should visit. Israel has history and innovation and offers so much to learn. This should be a bucket-list trip for everyone in the world.

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Mitchell Kaye, former state legislator from East Cobb Im eshkachech Yerushalayim tishkach yemini! Jerusalem, indivisible, eternal capital of the Jewish people.

Heart and soul of Israel, center of the universe.

Apple of G-d’s eye! It speaks to us Jews from our inner core, our kishkas. It is the essence of who we are. Mama, we’re home! We are a unique people bonded together for a divine mission. A nation before a homeland! B’nei Yisrael, children of Jacob, children of Israel, inseparable from Eretz Yisrael, given by G-d over 3,300 years ago.

Mahane Yehuda, Shabbat dinner in the Old City with Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, Mayanot, Ben Yehuda motzei Shabbat, Adam’s bar mitzvah at Yochanan ben Zakkai shul with Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, Mendel, Ellen and Elliott Kaye, and Don Lind. Eicha in the Hurva and a march around the walls on Tisha B’Av, Birchat Kohanim on Chol Hamoed Pesach at the Kotel, Ir Dovid, Har Zeitim and the Valley of Dry Bones. Tvarya and kivrei tzadikim, Rabbi Akiva, Rambam and Meir Baal HaNes. Tzfat, Kabbalah, ascent, Jared’s bar mitzvah at the Holy Arizal’s shul with Rabbi Silverman and Kaye grandparents, Ruth Rimonim and Nachum Ish Gamzu. Hevron with Rabbi Danny Cohen, Machpelah and our patriarchs.

Shabbat with Rabbi Yosef and Esther Piekarski on Nittel night in Tel Aviv.

Maccabiah at Ramat Gan, Amy’s silver in tennis, Jenna’s gold (shopping) in Mamila and Cardo, shawarma in Kfar Saba, horseback riding on a beach near Havatzelet HaShoron, golf at Gaash and Caesarea, Hamat Gader, Masada, Gamla, the Dead Sea and Eilat.

Cousins in Beit Shemesh, Kohav Yair, Zichron Yaakov, Kibbutz Lavi, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem. Weddings: Eyal and Naomi; Sivan and Tal in June; Topaz and Matan in August. Recently departed cousins 38 Hemda and Avi Kreiser, may their

Sheri and Steve Labovitz serve as bus leaders for Federation’s centennial mission of several hundred Jewish Atlantans visiting Israel in November 2005.

memories be for a blessing! Am Yisrael chai!

Steve Labovitz, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival board chairman To me, Israel means history. Israel is a place where one and all can learn about their religious heritage. Israel also means hope and advanced technology. Israel is a place where the desert has been turned into fertile soil and technological advances abound.

Finally, Israel means a place of refuge for the Jewish people, where all those who want to immigrate can and become part of Israeli society. While challenged by an unsettled neighborhood and diverse populations, Israel inspires hope for the future.

Rachel LaVictoire, former IDF lone soldier I remember sitting at a Panera with my mom and brother when I was maybe 15 years old. We were getting lunch before a doctor’s appointment, and I knew vaccines were on the schedule. In a panic about the impending injections, I told my mom I was calling Grandma. “What’s she gonna do?” my mom asked. “She’ll come get me,” I said.

Grandma lived in Florida, but that was irrelevant.

I get asked about my relationship to Israel a lot, and usually, in thinking of that moment, I tell people, “Israel is like Grandma’s house.” When you’re young and up against the biggest and scariest thing you could ever possibly have to deal with (yes, I was that afraid of shots), you call Grandma. When you’re a bit older and start facing bigger and scarier things like, well, the brink of adulthood and the meaning of

life, you go to Israel.

Like Grandma’s house, Israel provides a warm and endearing sense of protection. Though once alarmed, I’m now comforted by the men checking bags at mall entrances and the number of soldiers I see in Jerusalem. Like Grandma’s house, Israel always has someone to listen. I’ve never struggled to find a friend, even a waiter on occasion, to sit with for hours over a cup of coffee or a beer, trying to sort out priorities in life or what the next step should be. Like Grandma’s house, in Israel no one cares how you look or what you’re wearing. Sandals and cargo shorts are acceptable attire for people of all ages and genders. And finally, like Grandma’s house, in Israel challah French toast is the only kind of French toast.

So visit often.

Eti Lazarian, Israeli native who operates Spring Hall Israel, the gem amid a turbulent region. She’s perhaps a little rough around the edges, but she shines bright like a diamond. Israel feeds my spirit and soul.

She is an intoxicating mélange of sights, smells, tastes and sounds.

From Jerusalem stone to the buoyant Dead Sea to the mouthwatering falafel stands, Israel awakens my senses.

Israel has a magnetic pull and an inexplicable appeal. A fresh Jerusalem breeze can tell 3,000 years of history, as the aged man in the shuk hands me a basket filled with Shabbat candles, his eyes brimming with wisdom and soul. Israel with outstretched hands welcomes and cradles the traveler and countryman. There is something here, something that cannot be heard or touched but is somehow absorbed.

Israel seeps in through the pores of its people and spreads throughout the body.

Jerusalem has a holiness in the air that is unexplainable. There are really no words that capture the feeling you receive as you walk through the gates.

My skin gets goose bumps as I wander the limestone our ancestors once walked with my daughters, hoping to get a piece of their neshama attached to our soul.

The smells of the neighboring quarters tell another story of three religious groups living as one, in harmony within the mystical, magical walls of the Old City I call home. Israel is my safe place, where I rest. Israel is my shelter for my

soul. Happy birthday, my beautiful Israel, wishing you many more!

Zack Leitz, University of Georgia student and founder of the Backpack Project This past summer I was blessed with the opportunity to live and work in Israel for several months through Birthright Excel. My personal goal for this experience was to connect with Israel and its people on a deeper level than I had during my previous trips when I was just a tourist. What my Israeli peers, colleagues and friends taught me during this time was that maintaining the state of Israel is a labor of love. While Israel is one of the strongest and most innovative nations on Earth, she is the product of the collective effort of Jews from around the world who lend their support in various ways but primarily the result of continuous effort and sacrifice by its citizens.

In my heart, the existence of the state of Israel is synonymous with the safety, security and longevity of the Jewish people. Israel does so much for Jews around the world, and I believe we have an inherent responsibility not to take that for granted, but to give back to her in meaningful ways. There are many global avenues through which we interface with Israel daily, such as business, philanthropy and politics, but we don’t regularly engage and collaborate with Israel to the extent that we should.

I say with certainty that Israel is a home away from home for all Jews, including myself. To the extent that Jews from the Diaspora, such as Atlanta, are willing to support Israel proactively, I truly believe that Israel, which has existed for 70 years already, will be here for many generations to come.

Michael A. Leven, Georgia Aquarium CEO What does the state of Israel mean to me? Since 1948, it means pride in Israel’s success as a democracy, as a military, as scientists, as technological achievers, as a home for Jewish people who were either forced to leave another country or chose to live in a democratic Jewish state — all

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 38 of this and more.

Israel means that the Jewish people have their own place now and forever. Israel means that we are free to be Jews wherever we are. Israel means that no matter what happens, there will be Jews to live, to learn, to contribute to not only ourselves, but also to the world around us.

All of us should support Israel in every way we can — financially, emotionally, in our homes and in our social environments. We should acknowledge through our efforts that Israel is the insurance policy guaranteeing our survival, and we should not involve ourselves in dictating Israeli politics. Leave that to Israelis; they can handle it!

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Bernie Marcus, Home Depot cofounder and philanthropist Prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, Jews in America were not full-scale citizens. There was no corporation in America that Jews worked for. There were no banks that Jews worked for. That’s why Jews had to open their own law firms and business on Wall Street. I was not able to get into medical school because they had a 10 percent quota on Jews, and it kind of crushed me at that time because I always wanted to be a doctor.

Life changed as the people in America began to realize that Jews were fighters and were willing to put their lives on the line to create the state of Israel. It was not an easy task for them, and the world watched with amazement as this small group of people was able to overcome millions of people who were antagonistic to them.

What happened afterward is history. Slowly but surely, corporations,

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banks, law firms opened up to Jews, and we became full citizens after some period of time. So being Jews in America, we owe everything to the state of Israel. And I worry about our young people who don’t really remember this story or know anything about it or are given misinformation in their colleges or universities. We should all be concerned as Jews that Israel remains the home of the Jews and the one place that Jews will always feel safe.

LaVon Mercer, Spelman College basketball coach and former pro basketball player in Israel With a heart filled with truth regarding my personal joy about my second home, Israel, I share my why and what from my time living there.

Seeing is believing in milk and honey after living in Israel for 14 years. My first trip to the Holy Land was really confusing, being that the only true father I knew, my “grandfather,” who was a Baptist minister, was open-hearted and had a connected view of all people and their religious beliefs.

Believe it or not, my love for the flowers, fruits, history and, most of all, the diversity of the Israeli people is stronger than love itself.

Love is the basis of everything that Israel embodies and was provided to me freely. You see, my love for Israel comes from the place of a young black man who at one time was homeless and had to fight for everything to survive.

My love for Israel is due to all the Israeli brothers and sisters who embraced me — for the person that I was and for the person they saw me become.

Thank you, Israel, for letting me be part of your 70th birthday and sharing all of it with me.

Rachel M. Miller, director of ORT America’s Atlanta Region For me, Israel is the past, the present and the future of the Jewish people. It is the center of the Jewish world. When I am there, I am so proud to be Jewish and to feel that, through my work over many years with Jewish nonprofits, I have helped the state of Israel to grow and prosper.

Two of my most memorable trips to Israel were with my nephew and niece. Introducing them to a land that I love dearly and watching them as they saw Israel for the first time and interacted with Israeli citizens was an unbelievable joy.

To me, Israel is synonymous with opportunity. I am committed to helping Israeli students succeed by giving them access to education and training no matter where they live. My fundraising efforts with ORT America to

LaVon Mercer lifts a championship trophy for Maccabi Tel Aviv, which he led to six Israeli basketball league titles in seven seasons from 1988 to 1995.

support our Kadima Mada education program is an outstanding example of how ORT prepares thousands of students each year for careers in Israel’s emerging industries and helps ensure Israel’s strong and vibrant future.

Kol hakavod, Israel!

Eran Mordel, former IDF lone soldier Israel is the refreshing cup of iced coffee on a warm Tel Aviv day and the breathtaking Jerusalem air on a beautiful summer night. It is the excitement of exploring its crowded markets and the safety of seeing its mighty air force flying overhead.

Israel is the constant war to survive as new threats are broadcast daily and the peace of the beautiful beaches as the sea gently meets the shore.

Israel is the elbow in your side as people push by, yet it is also the hand extended out if you ever need help getting up. Israel is familiar energy and tension and laughter and love.

But above all, despite its faults, Israel is an absolute acceptance and an unequivocal guarantee that I belong and that I am safe. In other words, Israel is home.

Sam Olens, former Georgia attorney general Saturday, Oct. 6, 1973, was a very important day in the life of the Jewish people. Americans woke to news that Israel had been invaded by Egypt and Syria.

Congregants came to synagogue that morning with cash and checks for the Jewish state.

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 40 The joint surprise attack, coupled with Egypt and Syria’s early military advances, led to the realization that Israel could no longer count on military superiority alone to survive and thus led to the Camp David Accords.

My family was not directly affected by the Holocaust. My maternal and paternal ancestors came from Belarus to Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century. Both these traumatic events, however — the Holocaust and the Yom Kippur War — cause me to be firmly committed to the Jewish homeland.

The Yom Kippur War also shattered the perspective that Israel could succeed without America’s assistance.

Several years ago I heard state Rep. Ed Rynders speak at a program sponsored by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He referenced a traveling exhibit that he attended in Lee County and the effect it had on him and his constituents. His speech, describing the lessons learned from the Holocaust and the role Georgians must take in speaking out against hate, genocide and racism, was inspiring.

Israel is a thriving democracy in a part of the world where democracy doesn’t otherwise exist. Its promotion of religious pluralism, free-market capitalism, and emergency financial and technical assistance is astounding.

I first visited Israel when I was in college. It is a magical nation where you walk through history. I marvel at the Jerusalem stone, the Kotel and Tzfat­, just to name a few cherished sites.

Opponents often confuse Israel with the party in power, similar to politics in our country. No country is or ever will be perfect. Demands that Israel return to the pre-1967 borders are unrealistic.

Israel is a beacon of justice, freedom and liberty. Let us celebrate her continued success for many more years.

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Yossi Ovadia, native Israeli and longtime Atlanta resident I was born a Sabra four years after Israel claimed its independence. I was raised in and around Tel Aviv and served four years in the Israel Defense Forces, and Israel is a part of my spirit and soul.

Wandering Israel, I see the Tanach (Bible) unfolding in front of my eyes; such a small and fascinating place, his42 toric and beautiful, she occupies a huge

place in my heart.

As a teenager, I didn’t think Israel would survive because of our many enemies physically surrounding us and those around the world who threaten our daily existence. While all the world’s empires have risen and fallen, Israel and her people have survived. Her advancements in all arenas — science and medicine, technology, defense, and more — are truly miraculous. Few countries have accomplished in 70 years, much less their first 70, what Israel has; we are unique and unparalleled.

In her 70th year, let us celebrate that we have a strong, democratic Israel with high morals and ethics. I think about and pray for Israel every day of my life, for its prosperity and peace, as well as for my children and grandchildren living there. As the poem says, “My heart is in the East, and I am in the furthest reaches of the West.”

Israel is only in its infancy among nations, but we are among the most fortunate of hundreds of generations before us to have a state to call ours.

Josh Pastner, Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach I can very much relate what Israel means to me as a reflection of my profession and personal values in being a former basketball player and a current Division I college coach.

Israel to me is persistent in continually facing challenging situations as a society and country; driven, dedicated and disciplined in maintaining the importance of culture, core values and many years of tradition; a positive influence on its youth and people; a continued belief in the goodness of individuals; and an attitude and pride of greatness as a whole.

On a much lighter note, Israel also has great basketball leagues and programs; the country values basketball as a sport. Being involved in basketball my entire life, I can appreciate Israel’s interest in my career and favorite sport.

Beth Paradies, a founder of AJC’s ACCESS I traveled to Israel for the first time almost 40 years ago, never imaging that participating on this trip would significantly affect the rest of my life. As a young teenager, I was so eager to travel with other young teens — to see the sights, taste the food and experience the culture. As I reflect on that initial summer in Israel, I appreciate how that seemingly innocent teen tour set me on a true Jewish journey that continues to illuminate my life and enrich my Jewish experiences. I became more attached to my Jewish roots, cultures and traditions. I felt at home among family.

Family has always been of utmost importance for me, that for which I am most grateful. Being grateful for the state of Israel, on its 70th birthday and every day, is at the core of my being because to me it is analogous to being grateful for my family.

Our Jewish homeland is far more than a physical place on the map. Israel represents the heart and soul of our Jewish faith and strengthens our entire Jewish community throughout the world.

I will always treat Israel like a family member, supporting our holy land in every way I can. For Israel represents our faith’s past, present and future.

Eyal and Aviva Postelnik, East Cobb residents from Israel Israel is the home state for all Jews from all over the world We are called B’nei Israel (Israel is the name Jacob our father was called). G-d took us for a journey of 400 years from Isaac’s time until Moses led us back to Israel, for the purpose of understanding and appreciating freedom.

We were sent to exile for an additional 2,000 years, as said in the Israeli national anthem, experiencing the destruction of our Temples and survival of the Holocaust. Israel symbolizes and serves as the homeland for all of us, spiritual and physical.

David Ben-Gurion stressed his vision that the state of Israel would be a moral and social lighthouse for the entire world and thus realize the vision of the prophets: History has not spoiled us by force, wealth, vast areas and people, but it has given us an unusual moral and intellectual quality, and it authorizes and obligates us to be a light unto the nations. Israel is the state we inherited from our holy fathers; it is ours to keep, save and build from inside and outside.

We live in the United States and built here our home country, but Israel is our homeland by right and not by grace.

We are proud to be Israelis and support Israel in all that we can.

Norman Radow, RADCO Cos. founder and CEO When I was less than 10 years old in May 1967, my parents and I watched mobs on our little blackand-white TV — 100,000 people or more — on the streets of Cairo, chanting and screaming wildly, “Death to the Jews.”

I had never seen my mother afraid before. She said, “It’s happening all over again.” When the news broke of the start of the Six-Day War, the only news was from Arab sources. They said Tel Aviv was in flames. Arab armies were advancing on all fronts. For three days, we were worried sick. My dad helped organize the purchase of an ambulance from our working-poor neighborhood, while I went door to door collecting money. If Jews were going to make a stand, the line would be Israel.

The Six-Day War’s outcome was a miracle to me. I was certain G-d had intervened to save us, as he often did in the Hebrew Bible. I never felt prouder to be a Jew. Today, I feel just as proud and just as protective of our holy land. It’s a country of contradictions, yes, but also of daily miracles. Cancer cures, water technology, computer chips, cellphones, agricultural leadership and of course Iron Dome (whose protection I witnessed firsthand) all happen there.

Many of these inventions and discoveries are improving lives across the world.

I go to Israel often, and each time I discover something new, something amazing. And all this is accomplished despite Israel’s nearly unlimited resources devoted to its defense while compromising little of its democratic underpinnings.

To me, Israel means history, our history. It means birthright, our birthright. It means family, our family. Israel is a light unto the nations, and I take pride in her many accomplishments.

Lois Reitzes, host of “City Lights” on WABE-FM Israel will turn 70, and I’ll soon turn 65.

Though I was not around to celebrate the joy of its founding, vivid

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childhood memories relate to Israel.

Not surprisingly for a young American girl, these recollections are rooted in popular culture.

I was 8 years old when I saw the movie “Exodus.” I would understand the history in due time, but the dramatic and emotional intensity of the story made an immediate, profound impact. In the darkened movie theater, my 8-year-old self sensed that the desperation of Jews seeking refuge and a homeland could have been mine. I was spared their tragedies but shared their religion, their heritage, their souls.

One year after seeing “Exodus,” I was enrolled in Hebrew school. My teachers were concentration camp survivors. They taught us to read and sing prayers, but their very presence was the most powerful lesson of all. When they spoke of Israel, the Holocaust experience was palpable, and the need for a Jewish state unquestionable.

I return to popular culture for another vivid memory. In 1962 my parents took me to the Broadway musical “Milk and Honey.” They were excited to see Molly Picon, the great star of Yiddish theater. The backdrop of the story is Israeli Independence Day. My favorite moment is the song “Shalom.” A minor-key waltz (that European style Jews excelled at writing) forms the haunting melody, while the lyrics convey the many meanings of this one-word greeting: “It means a million lovely things, like peace be yours, welcome home.” Happy 70th, Israel, and may peace be yours.

(Jerry Herman wrote the music and lyrics for “Shalom,” and the excerpt I reference is this: “It means a million lovely things, like peace be yours, welcome home. And even when you say goodbye, if your voice has ‘I don’t want to go’ in it, say goodbye with a little ‘hello’ in it, and say goodbye with shalom.”)

A.J. Robinson, Central Atlanta Progress president My first impression of Israel came on a family trip back in 1967, just after the Six-Day War and three months before my bar mitzvah in the spring of 1968. I was struck by how different the country was from America: IDF soldiers hitchhiking everywhere, the ability to get from one end of Israel to the other in a short period of time, and, of course, Jerusalem and the newly opened access to the Western Wall.

As a 12-year-old, it took a while to

get used to eating cucumbers, tomatoes and hummus for breakfast.

I have returned to Israel many times since then on business and with family. I feel like every trip brings something new to my understanding of the Jewish people and the importance of Israel to our past, present and future. I am struck by the opportunity and the importance for every Jew and non-Jew to build a personal and meaningful relationship with Israel. That relationship can be grounded in subjects like politics, history, arts, religion, music, charitable work, commerce, and, yes, even food.

The success of Israel at 70 is inspirational to many who live there and to those who visit. Its very existence speaks to the determination of the Jewish people to fulfill their covenant with G-d and to be a light unto the nations.

As Jews living in the Diaspora, we are blessed that we have an Israel to visit during our particular time on Earth — an Israel to study, to immerse ourselves in, and to build a relationship with on whatever level we choose. We all truly can be “next year in Jerusalem.”

Judy Robkin, Atlanta artist My husband, Shai, and I made aliyah in 1976, three weeks after we

were married. We were there for eight years until family illness brought us back to Atlanta. During those wonderful years, I founded two experimental kindergartens through the Hebrew University. We opened the first bookstore/coffee shop in Israel (called Sefer veSefel), had two of our three children, helped found a synagogue, made lifelong friends who would become family, and Shai (we!) served in the IDF. Israel was our user’s manual. It taught us what we were capable of and then taught us to reach beyond that. Although we are not living there permanently, we own an apartment in Jerusalem, continue to be members of a shul and visit at least once a year. Our home in Atlanta is filled with Israeli art and Israeli music. All three of our children have spent numerous years in Israel as adults, and our youngest son, Ayal, served in the IDF. Israel formed and informed who we are and what we stand for. It taught us to be proactive in life, to fight for the things we believe in, and, most of all, to

live life with passion and commitment.

Doug Ross, Atlanta AIPAC chair, Birthright Israel Foundation Atlanta chair and national board member I was born seven years after the establishment of Israel, so the reality of her existence is all I have ever known. Still, I am profoundly moved, grateful and humbled to be living in this special time when the deepest hopes, dreams and prayers of my ancestors have been fulfilled.

I feel a sacred obligation to do everything in my power to protect Israel and strengthen the ties between her and the Jewish people. These powerful impulses inform my daily commitment to Birthright Israel and AIPAC. This is not just an obligation or a responsibility, however; it is an honor and a privilege.

Israel is my heart and soul, my passion, and my compass. She is a jewel and a blessing to the Jewish people and the entire world. Nothing expresses my

Continued on page 44

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 43 feelings better than the words of her national anthem, Hatikvah (The Hope).

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

Maayan Schoen, Atlanta Jewish Academy senior I’m 18 years old; I have never known a world without the state of Israel. For me, Israel has always meant knowing that there is one place in this world that is irrevocably mine, where I will always have a stake, full of leaders who ensure that I’ll forever have a place to go.

I can touch the stones that my ancestors touched and pray where the words were written.

Israel means that when I learn of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition and the Holocaust, I do not have to fear for my own long-term safety. It means that I believe in miracles.

It means that my superheroes wear olive-green or khaki fatigues and are right around my age. It means that I can feel personally proud of technological innovation, of disaster relief and of peace efforts, knowing Israel is at the forefront. It means that I read the news with a critical eye, hypersensitive to the media’s skewed portrayal of Israel, and that I am forced to search further for the truth so that I can make it known.

It means autonomy. It means that my heart is in the East, and that I can hop on a plane to follow it. Now, Israel means that I will take a year between high school and college to study, immersed in my heritage and culture, learning ancient texts and no-longerancient language, as I begin to build a life among my people.

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Rachel Schonberger, Hadassah Medical Organization chair The birth and success of Israel are 20th century miracles. Hadassah has been integral to Israel since 1912, when Henrietta Szold’s “Practical Zionism” brought modern health care to Palestine.

I went to Israel in 1954 with my parents. Syrian gunners shot Kfar Blum farmers from the Golan Heights. The Tel Aviv-to-Jerusalem one-lane road wasn’t safe for night travel. Jerusalem was divided by barbed wire.

The airport “terminal” was a Quonset

hut. The food supply — marginal. Hadassah Mount Scopus, the Mideast’s premier hospital, was surrounded by Jordan and unreachable. Israel had the only electron microscope between Rome and Australia. Despite its struggling Third World economy, Israel welcomed every refugee Jewish community returning to Zion.

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 by and for Jews on sand dunes along the Mediterranean seashore. In 2018, residents of diverse ethnicities go about daily activities in boisterous streets.

There are music, theater, open-air markets, skyscrapers, falafel stands, kosher McDonald’s, universities, Hadassah clinics, international business moguls, street sweepers, swimmers, lovers, mourners, passionate political discussions. It’s a vibrant city in a country that is succeeding against all odds. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway is busy 24 hours a day. A high-speed train is faster.

Today, Hadassah’s two hospitals embrace Jerusalem. Our Youth Aliyah villages provide a future for children at risk. The country is peppered with Hadassah clinics, parks, playgrounds, reservoirs, schools. I’m part of that.

I am a Zionist. Israel is not my “just in case,” my “what if.” It’s the homeland of the Jews.

Steve Selig, president and chairman of Selig Enterprises For thousands of years, the Jewish people had nowhere to go. Our people were persecuted and homeless. There was no haven. Then a miracle happened.

Israel happened. Israel is the haven and the homeland for Jews everywhere. It is the oasis of freedom and democracy in a troubled world. I feel such pride in belonging to the Jewish people.

Israel has enriched my life just by being there. I have had the privilege of going to Israel many times over my life, and every time I visit, I come away energized and committed to help make Israel a better place.

We need to advocate for Israel so that all those who live there can live with the dignity they deserve and the comfort and care they deserve. Israel is like our home, a place where we can love and dream and teach and lead. A place where we can touch people’s lives and make a difference, even as they are touching ours.

When I am in Israel, I feel like I’m with my family. A family that is diverse and exotic. A family that has come

from so many places, yet with the same thread of history running through us.

It’s a democratic country with such a strong military that we, the Jewish people, can proudly say to the rest of the world, “Never again!”

much more. As the Jewish world for the most part is bifurcated between two Jewish centers — the United States and Israel — Israel many times plays the trump card in directing the future of Jewish thought and practice.

Roey Shoshan, Federation’s Israel and overseas director When I moved to Atlanta seven years ago, Israel was the place I came from. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about what it means to me.

Today I have a much better answer: Israel means everything.

It’s not just my family, my friends, the food, the culture, the language, the beautiful beaches and green mountains. Israel is about what it has become in only 70 years. To be Israeli today means you are proud of your country’s achievements in high tech, agriculture, science and medicine.

You feel proud when it is the first country to send help anywhere in the world when needed. You see the brave soldiers of the first and only Jewish army protect Israel’s citizens every day. To me, Israel is home, a place you go back to at the end of the day when you need to relax — not be judged, but loved. A place where every Jew from anywhere in the world can feel the same. A place where they stop everything three times a year to commemorate the Holocaust and our Memorial Day. In many ways Israel today is a success story. Yes, it’s not perfect, but we never said we want to be. Keep in mind that only 120 years ago we were just an idea in the minds of the Zionist movement, and only 100 years ago we got recognized by the British Empire, and only 70 years ago we declared independence.

If that’s not something to be proud of, I don’t know what is.

Garry Sobel, FIDF Southeast chairman and national board member In one word, “everything.” For me, as a proud Jew, Israel means the world.

It is our past, our present and our future.

As a people, this is our Jewish homeland. I’ve been to Israel six times since 2013: four times with Friends of the Israel Defense Forces to meet the brave soldiers who ensure the safety and security of Israel and Jews everywhere; last summer by myself to further explore my passion for Israel; and, as I write, with my 11-year-old daughter, Jessica, on her first trip.

Seeing Israel through Jessica’s eyes has been remarkable.

In Jerusalem, I couldn’t be prouder while watching Jessica weave her way alone through a massive crowd in the women’s section of the Kotel to put 30 notes in the Wall for Epstein classmates, friends and family. Her determination to conquer her fear of crowds to make it to the Wall was incredible. She would not be denied. As she walked back, she had a smile from ear to ear.

There were many other firsts experiencing Israel with her.

Watching Jessica fall in love with Israel and all its beauty is something I will never forget, and neither will she.

Jessica represents our future. And our Jewish future is bright indeed. Am Yisrael chai!

Rabbi Russ Shulkes, Hillels of Georgia executive director I cannot understand the modern state of Israel as a separate phenomenon apart from Zionism. While Zionism enjoys many definitions, for me it is the movement that recognized the historical need to establish a home for the Jewish people based on the failure of the experiment of galut (exile).

However, the state’s very existence has allowed it to become so

Garry Sobel’s daughter, Jessica, prays at the Kotel after overcoming a fear of crowds to make her way to the Wall this year.

Harry Stern, former Marcus JCC CEO Israel means stepping off the

Continued on page 46

Celebrates with Israel 70 years of innovations and contributions to the world

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ISRAEL@70 - WHAT IT MEANS Continued from page 44

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

1970 El Al flight as a new immigrant on a hot June day. Israel means six months of Hebrew studies at an absorption center. Israel means Russian immigrants welcomed, arriving from gulag prisons and institutions. Israel means Shoshana, the florist, thrusting Shabbat bouquets at me for our daughter.

Israel means witnessing Anwar Sadat’s plane descend for a Menachem Begin meeting.

Israel means passing the Israel Museum and Knesset daily on my way to Hebrew University. Israel means the universal center of Jewish life.

Rabbi Alvin M. Sugarman, emeritus rabbi of The Temple Though I am thousands of miles away here in Atlanta, Israel is with me with every beat of my heart. It has been that way ever since I first looked out the window of the El Al jet and saw Israel’s coastline for the first time 42 years ago.

After we landed, as we were walking on the tarmac toward the BenGurion terminal, one of the passengers in front of us was a young, blind Israeli with one arm, accompanied by his guide dog. Approaching him was a beautiful, young El Al employee saying in Hebrew, “Ani Leah” (“I am Leah”) “may I help you?”

I will never forget that moment because I believe her reaching out to this young man represents the bond we all should have with our brothers and sisters in Israel. Not that Israel is perfect, for as so many of us know, she still has a long way to go to fulfill the prophetic vision. But given the context of her existence, like Leah, we need to keep our hands and hearts extended to her as we walk with the people of Israel on their journey to fulfill the prophetic dream.

No one has ever articulated this kinship with Israel more clearly than Mrs. Janice Rothschild Blumberg. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Janice would periodically go over to the TV station behind our Temple to get an update on the attack.

Eventually, one of the reporters, sensing her deep concern, asked Janice, “Do you have family in Israel?” “Yes,” she replied. “Everybody.”

Guy Tessler, Conexx president Being born in Haifa, growing up in Jerusalem, serving in the army, living on a kibbutz on the northern bor46 der and then in the Tel Aviv area — Is-

rael is where I was forged. Israel is where my values, friendships, work habits, expertise and passions were created.

My biggest joy today is bringing business leaders from the Southeast to Israel and watching them immerse in the coexistence of bleeding-edge innovation and deep historical significance. This can happen only in Israel.

My deepest sadness is seeing dark forces trying to turn this great country into a fanatic, intolerant society. My biggest hope is that light will prevail over darkness, and I hope that in some way I am still contributing to this cause.

Rachel Wasserman, Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta executive director When I go to Israel, I always feel as if I’m going home. There is an indescribable comfort in being surrounded by the language, food and customs of the Jewish people.

It seems impossible to walk around and go about day-to-day business without being reminded of the history and meaning behind everything around me. Even when I am technically surrounded by strangers, somehow everyone feels like family. Israel holds a special place in my heart, and every time I leave, I feel unsettled until I know when I’ll return again.

Dov Wilker, AJC Atlanta regional director Zionism. Hope. Leadership. Since my first memory of Israel as a 6-yearold in Jewish day school, my first visit to Israel on the eve of the First Gulf War and through all of my trips over the years with family and friends, those are the words that I keep returning to.

I used them as a guide when my wife and I decided to make aliyah. They were with me when I chose my career path in the Jewish community. And they direct me as I encourage my children to appreciate, love and value the state of Israel.

Too often today Zionism has a negative connotation. I fundamentally believe that we need to encourage discussions about what Zionism means to

you and create a better understanding of how diverse a concept it is. Zionism positively influences religion, culture, politics and so many others.

Israel provides hope to our community. She creates and innovates unique ideas, showing the global community what is possible, regardless of your resources. There are countless examples of how Israeli innovation has provided hope to others. But less told is the story of the Israelis who have left their homes to support and create hope in others.

And none of this would be possible without leadership showing the way for what is possible, encouraging others and teaching us how to grow and improve. It is the individuals who make Israel a haven for leadership, a country where challenging the status quo is not only accepted, but encouraged. Zionism. Hope. Leadership.

Patrice Worthy, AJT contributor who has reported from Israel During a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight that carried 233 olim, I waited until nighttime to walk the aisles of the plane. I observed the excitement of the youths joining the IDF. I witnessed the anxiety of parents who were moving their families to live in the promise G-d made thousands of years ago.

I realized the hopes we have for Israel today are the same hopes that filled the Hebrew people when Moses relayed G-d’s message of freedom: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17).

Israel was a symbol of hope for the Ethiopian Jews who crossed Sudan to escape death. It was hope for the Russian Jews who escaped oppression and the Yemenite Jews who escaped persecution.

It is a symbol of hope for me, who felt at home among the colorful people of Haaretz. As Israel celebrates 70 years

in existence, I am reminded that we are a light unto the nations. Israel is a symbol of hope not only to Jews, but to the world. As the world watches Israel grapple with its own issues, sometimes we disappoint those who look to us as a guide. But there’s always hope, as more Jews call Israel home. Our visions continue to shape Israel’s destiny, giving the world and each other a new start.

Jessica Katz Yonatan, Birthright Israel Foundation associate regional director of Atlanta Israel has always played a special role in my life.

It was a destination I traveled to many times. From becoming a bat mitzvah to studying at Tel Aviv University to chaperoning trips to Israel for teens and young adults, I developed a yearning to live in Israel. I always had this indescribable feeling of belonging when visiting, and I knew I would have to make one of those visits permanent.

Eventually, I became a resident and could call Israel home.

Israel is a place to connect to my Jewish roots — the historical sites, people, and customs and traditions. When a holiday is approaching, you feel it everywhere, and it is part and parcel of everyday life. The bus and cab drivers wish you a chag sameach. Almost everything shuts down.

The beauty of the land, from the luscious North to the arid South, is unmatched. Even after making 13 trips and living there for years, I always have something new to discover. I enjoy sharing these discoveries with others and helping them plan trips to Israel, whether a first-timer or a returning traveler. Part of me lives vicariously through them!

Even though I’m back in Atlanta, my love for Israel remains strong, and the importance of its existence is reinforced for me. Both personally and professionally, I have opportunities to share my love of Israel with others and to continue building bridges between American Jews and the land of Israel. ■ Temple Rabbi Alvin Sugarman (left), accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, is welcomed to Jerusalem by Mayor Teddy Kollek (right) and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir for a Martin Luther King Day address in January 1986.

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ISRAEL@70 - ENTERTAINMENT

Israeli Innovations Build Bridges, Save Lives

By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com Israel is the size of New Jersey, but the innovations emerging from the small country are massive.

The determination and creativity Israel’s pioneers showed in transforming the agriculture of the land of Israel are being applied toward countless innovations today that have the potential to help millions of people in Israel and abroad, writes Middle East expert and entrepreneur Avi Jorisch in the book “Thou Shalt Innovate.” (Jorisch spoke at Congregation B’nai Torah on March 21 as part of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ Israel 70 Speakers Series.)

Jorisch highlights technological advances such as the PillCam, invented

by Gavriel Iddan, which is swallowed to take diagnostic pictures of a person’s gastrointestinal tract, and ReWalk, created by Amit Goffer, which helps paraplegics walk again. The PillCam’s manufacturer, Given Imaging, had its U.S. headquarters in Duluth before a couple of corporate takeovers made it part of Medtronic.

The human ramifications outweigh the inventions themselves.

For instance, Simcha Blass’ introduction of drip irrigation, which helps farmers produce plants twice the normal size as water is transported directly to the roots, is being used across the globe. The innovation helps farmers

grow crops in dry regions and helps Israel establish partnerships with countries that otherwise might hold negative views of the Jewish state.

To that end, Jorisch explains that Israeli innovations have helped Arabs become entrepreneurs as part of the next generation of inventors who want to enroll in Israeli technical schools or launch startups.

The ambucycle, for example, which helps medics get to emergency patients much faster, has enabled Israelis and Arabs to work together and save each other’s lives.

The book’s short chapters make “Thou Shall Innovate” an easy read that includes the sources of inspiration behind Israeli innovations. Jorisch writes that while some people experienced traumas that led them to create devices, others responded to the Jewish call for tikkun olam to help repair the world and save as many lives as possible. ■

Thou Shall Innovate

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Films for the 70th One way to celebrate Israel’s birthday is to see how the rebirth of the Jewish nation has been portrayed on film. Some of the top options: • “Exodus” (1960) — Otto Preminger’s 3½-hour epic about the postwar smuggling of refugees into Israel and the fight for independence won an Oscar for Ernest Gold’s score and features a great scene in which a British soldier laughs at the idea that the character played by Jewish star Paul Newman could be Jewish.

• “Cast a Giant Shadow” (1966) — Kirk Douglas stars as American Army officer Mickey Marcus, who finds love but tragically never learns Hebrew while organizing the young Israel Defense Forces into a military that can defend and supply a foothold in Jerusalem.

• “Above and Beyond” (2014) — The best documentary about Israel’s War of Independence, the opening film from the 2015 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival focuses on how individual Americans helped launch Israel’s initial air force.

APRIL 13 ▪ 2018

• “Sword in the Desert” (1949) — Filmed while Israel’s survival in the war was still in doubt, this is the story of a freighter captain (Dana Andrews) who smuggles in Jewish refugees, then is drawn into the struggle. Jewish actor Jeff Chandler gets to play a rare Jewish role.

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• “Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer” (1955) — The story of four people trying to hold a hill outside Jerusalem on the eve of a U.N. cease-fire represents the birth of Israel’s film industry.

• “A Woman Called Golda” (1982) — Ingrid Bergman won an Emmy for playing Golda Meir in this TV biopic, which provides a glimpse at Israel’s pioneer days and the political side of the independence fight.

• “A Tale of Love and Darkness” (2015) — Natalie Portman stars in her directorial debut, which tells the story of writer Amos Oz’s youth in the years before and after independence.

CROSSWORD

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70 Years Later

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