San Francisco Bay Area Stands with Israel

The San Francisco Bay area knows how to party. And the San Francisco Bay area stands with Israel.

The Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations began with a symbolic flag raising over San Francisco's City hall

photo from Israel in San Francisco

It continued into the night with a standing room only celebration at San Francisco's venerable Congregation Emanu-El.

The event, attended by 1,600 of our closest friends featured spoken word (68 years in 68 words), a reading of the megillat Yom Ha'Atzmaut and an acoustic set by Mattisayhu.

Blue and White was the order of the day, from the Reform Congregation Emanu'el in San Francisco 

To the Orthodox Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley

Tonight, the festivities continue in Palo Alto with an Israel street party.

Israel at 68.  May she go from strength to strength

The Jews have a future because the Jews have a state.

Another beauty by Daniel Gordis

"Imagine it's January 1946. Imagine, too, that you are exactly who you are now: thoughtful, educated, worldly, rational. And then, someone says to you, "Tell me about the future of the Jews." .... The Jews have a future because the Jews have a state. There are moments when a People has earned a celebration. Yom Ha'atzmaut is, without question, one of those moments. "

Rabbi Gordis again reminds us of the importance of Israel in the lives of Jews throughout the world, how we went from a position of despair and hopelessness after World War II to where we are today:

"The simple but often overlooked truth is that what has made this difference for Jews world over is the State of Israel.

It was Israel's victory in 1967 that injected energy into Soviet Jewry and led them to rattle their cage, demanding their freedom. Post-1967, the world saw the Jews as people who would shape their own destiny. Unlike the Tibetans (or Chechnyans or Basques, to name just a few), Jews were no longer tiptoeing around the world, waiting to see what the world had in store for them.

The re-creation of the Jewish state has changed not only how the world sees the Jews, but how the Jews see themselves. The days of "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we appeared to them" (Num. 13:33) are gone, and the reason is the State of Israel.

We are a people sometimes over-inclined to indulge in hand-wringing (and at others, unwilling to do the hand-wringing we ought to). And we face our challenges. Iran is worrisome, Egyptian peace is tenuous. Hila Bezaleli's tragic death was a metaphor for the lack of accountability that plagues this country. The behavior of Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner, as well as the reactions to what he did, is also deeply unsettling.

But let us remember this, nevertheless: it is far too easy to lose sight of what we have accomplished. Sixty-six years ago, no sane, level-headed person could have imagined that we would have what we have. A language brought back to life, and bookstores filled with hundreds of linear feet of books in a language that just a century ago almost no one spoke. More people studying Torah now than there were in Europe at its height. An economic engine that is the envy of many supposedly more established countries. A democracy fashioned by immigrants, most of whom had never lived in a functioning democracy. Cutting-edge health care. An army that keeps us so safe, we go days on end without even thinking about our enemies.

That's worth remembering in the midst of the attacks on us, from the international community as well as from Jews. There's much to repair, and too often, we fail to meet the standards we've set for ourselves. All true, and they demand our continued attention, but at the same time, we dare not lose sight of what we've built. To borrow the phrase from Virginia Slims, "we've come a long way, baby." "

Celebrating 63 years of Diversity, Democracy and Innovation

"When I get older I will be stronger. They'll call me freedom. Just Like a waving flag."



Great Links for Israel Independance Day/ Yom Ha'Atzmaut


Great youtubes featuring Israel

Yom HaAtzmaut activities around the Bay ( from the J weekly)

“Voices of Israel: Celebrating Israel @ 63” takes place 2 to 9 p.m. May 15 at Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit St., Oakland. Registration required. $10-$25. Information: (510) 318-6453 or http://www.jfed.org.

In Palo Alto, the Oshman Family JCC will be holding a celebration on the actual day of Yom HaAtzmaut, Tuesday, May 10, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jessica L. Saal Town Square on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life.

The party will feature temporary kibbutzes, each one based on a real Israeli kibbutz. The kibbutz representing the Ein Gedi Kibbutz, the only populated botanical garden in the world, will host a gardening activity; Gvar’am, an agriculture-focused kibbutz, will feature a petting zoo.

There will be more than 20 stations as well as Israeli food, music and dancing. The Oshman Family JCC is located at 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto.

Israeli dancing and music by three groups will be featured at a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10 party at Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. The $5 admission fee includes a falafel dinner.

In Vallejo, Solano County’s Jewish community is throwing a big party for Yom HaAtzmaut. The event is set for May 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Israel, will feature Israeli food, merchandise, music and dancing, and a visual display of the history of the nation and the people of Israel.

The keynote speaker will be Gideon Lustig, the S.F.-based deputy consul general of Israel. The event is free and open to the public. Congregation B’nai Israel is located at 1256 Nebraska St. in Vallejo.