Page 2-The Canadian Je\yish News, Thursday, April 2_5^^^_l^^^
A two-day celebration
■■■■"v By RON CSILLAG
Eight commemorative candles were lit by Jewish teenagers^ each marking a sacrifice Israel has made in its 43 years.
TORONTO -
Joyous barely begins to describe it.
Yom Hia'atzmaut, celebrating Israel's 43r(I birth-day;-was marked last week" with a festivity and merriment rarely seen.
For the first time, Is-rael's birthday- was a two-day affair,; beginning last Wednesday night with a massive turnout at BetR^ Emeth Synagogue to hear Premier Bob Rae _and others wish the Jewish state many happy returns.
An overflow crowd of some 1,500joined Rae, Israel i consul-general Benjamin Abiieah, MPs Jim Peterson and John Cole, MPPs Monte Kwinter and Charles Hamick and Ontario Citizenship Minister Elaine Ziemba in the bash.
Many of those present had come from a Yom:. Hazikaron prayer service at nearby Beth Jacob synagogue.
A candle-lighting ceremony was conducted by representatives of Jewish youth groups, who had
Premier Bob Rae and his wife Arlene at the Yom Ha'atzmaut rally;
They were loved and dear in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. . . ■ H Samuel 1:23
'^: ■■■'By:' v
GILKEZWER
TORONTO -
Whoever doesn't believe war-weary Israelis .yearn for peace should visit the country's ubiquitous military cemeteries on Yom Hazikaron, Israeli ConsUl-General Benjamin Abiieah told a solemn memorial day assembly on the evening of April 16.
There he will encounter families — mothers and fathers, wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sis- ; ters — stretched out over the 17.150 graves of loved ones who have fallen in the defence of Israel, in the country's seven, wars in its 43-year conflict with its neighbors, and in the pre-state struggle for independence, Abiieah saTd.
Read the ages on the tombstones in what has been called " the city of youth," he lamented,
"Let him; gQ,.and see, and understand that the people of Israel want-peace." ;•
Nearly 1,000 people packed the 600-seat auditorium at Northview Heights Secondary School for the sorrowful hour-long ceremony.
Conducted almost entirely in Hebrew, it was the fifth annual Yom Hazikaron memorial sponsored by the consulate.
The service began with the-lowering of Israel's flag
to half-mast by an honor guard from the city's Hebrew-speaking Tzabar Scouts unit.
Navy Lieut. Tomer Go-nen, on active duty with the "Israel Defence Force but here to attend the Association for the Soldiers of Israel's annual Yom Ha'Atzmaut celebration, read out the order of the day from Lieut.-Gen Ehud Barak;
The presence of the Jewish people in its land has been possible only by the supreme sacrifice of so many, the IDF chief of staff had written.
Most of the mourners appeared to be part of Toronto's 30,000-strong Israeli community;
Looking visibly moved, many joined Israel David in singing Anachnit Me 'o-to Hakfar, a lament over two friends from the same village,- one of whom is killed in battle.
Other' dirges in the
sombre ceremony, which incorporated memorial elements from across Israel's political spectrum, included MeSh 'Chalam(HeWho Has Fought); and the poems The Parade of the Fallen by Haim Hefer arid The Silver Platter by Natan Alterman.
The grief was palpable, eerily heightened by the occasional crying of babies, as Cantor Mpti Zingboim recited K'EI Male Racha-mim and KaddisH; ^ -
earlier marched to the synagogue waving Israeli flags.
Outside in the hall, Israel-based organizations had erected booths for an "Israexpo" of academic, youth and religious services. .
Inside, after a solemn rendition from Cantor Louis Danto, the high-spirited festivities kicked off. To cheers and applause, Abiieah said that just a few days earlier, an Israeli Hercules transport aircraft had airlifted nine tons of food aiid emergency relief supplies to Kurdish reftigees displaced by fighting in Iraq.
That, he noted, is what Israel is all about, despite constant threats from her neighbors.
Rae recounted a trip he
and his wife Arlene once took to Warsaw, Vilnius and Treblinka. He commended Israel and the Jewish community for its resilience and "love of ■ life."
MP Cole said his visit to Israel showed him "what loving and proud people Israelis are. You have much to be proud of.'.' .
The celebration was a joint effort between the Canadian Zionist Federation, B'nai Brith Canada, Canadian Jewish Congress and Toronto Jewish Congress.
The evening ended with a triumphant entirance into the hall by students waving Israeli flags and a rollicking concert of Israeli tunes from the group Hakol Over Habibi.
The next day at the Ont-
ario Legislature. Queen's Park hosted its annual toast on Yom Ha'atzmaut.
Ziemba joined CJC president Les Scheininger, Abiieah, TJC president Charles Diamond and officials from B'nai Brith in wishing Israel a happy birthday on behalf of the Ontario goveriiment.
At the northeast Jewish Community Centre, an afternoon of festivities kicked off with the raising of the Israeli flag and followed with: sing-a-longs, Israeli' food, folk dancing and a book fair. The day had been proclaimed Israel Day in North York by Mayor Mel Lastman.
Also last Thursday, the Israeli consulate hosted an independence day reception for community leaders at the park Plaza Hotel-
* * *
More than 200 people attended a separate Yom Hazikaron ceremony at the Bernard Betel Centre last Tuesday organized by the Etrog Club for Israeli" Seniors.
The Mizrahi Organization of Canada. Emunah Women of Toronto and Bnei Akiva of Toronto held a service last Wednesday at . Beth Jacob Synagogue commemorating Yom Hazikaron and celebrating _. Yom Ha'atzmaut.
More than 400 people heard Yeshivat Or Chaim student Yoni Stanleigh read the final mishnayot of Masechet Tamid. The completion of a Talmud tractate is a traditional tribute to the deceased;
Jewish students from several organizations mounted a boisterous flag-waving en-trance.. ,
Jewish news
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Members of the Tzabar Scout unit lower the Israeli flag to half-mast. [Alron photo]
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