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June 29, 2001/Tamuz 8, 5761, Vol. 53, No.39
Rally recognizes terror victims
BARRY COHEN
Editor
In response to the terrorist bombing June 1 that took 21 lives at a Tel Aviv nightclub - and to the continued sporadic violence of a tenuous cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians - Valley residents gathered June 20 to express solidarity.
About 250 people attending the Israel Unity Gathering heard readings by local rabbis; witnessed a candlelighting ceremony in memory of the victims led by Wylie Silverstein, president of the Women's Department of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix; and listened to remarks from Eitan Ben-Ami, incoming federation shaliach (messenger), who was present by phone hook-up from his home in Israel.
The Rev. Steve Grosvenor of Phoenix Christian Assembly and Yuval Rotem, Israel Consul General in Los Angeles, also spoke.
The event, sponsored by the federation and its Jewish Community Relations Council, was at Temple Beth Israel in Scottsdale.
"Right now, we face more questions than answers, more doubts than easy solutions," said Rotem. "Of one thing we can be sure. Israel and all of our friends must stand together, especially now, united with a spirit of resolve and determination."
In the phone hook-up, Ben-Ami said, "I believe that in many ways the Israelis are at home. We have a unity government and support from everywhere from Jewish communities around the world. We are going to win this struggle."
Grosvenor - who participated in a federation solidarity mission to Israel in December - said in a phone interview after the event that Phoenix Christian Assembly is "a friend of Israel and the Jewish people." He said the church contributes to a widows and children scholarship fund for the Israel Defense Force, raises money to plant trees in Israel and helps sponsor a medical clinic in K'far Gerom, an Israeli settlement in Gaza.
He also cited various "educational opportunities" at Phoenix Christian Assembly to foster Jewish-Christian understanding and to teach the historical nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Federation Executive Vice President Art Paikowsky said that people need to see Israel first-hand.
"There will be a major mega-mission on Sept. 9, leaving from Los Angeles," he said. The goal is to fill a 440-seat plane on a "dedicated flight" that would bring federations from the West together as the only passengers, he said.
In addition, said Pai-kowsky, United Jewish Communities will hold a bi-coastal rally in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 23.
"We should be getting the buses, we should be chartering the planes, we should be bringing literally hundreds to L.A. for that," he said.
Previous Israel solidarity rallies were Oct. 12, at Wesley Bolin Plaza in Phoenix, and Oct. 29, at Temple Chai in Phoenix.
Participants said they wanted to attend the June 20 Phoenix rally for varying reasons.
Jeff Geyser said he wanted to be there because a longtime friend lives in Israel. They keep in touch, he says, mostly by e-mail.
"Every time there is a bomb ... you have to wonder whether he was in the wrong place," said Geyser. "It's always something to be concerned with."
Barbara Mark Dreyfuss has family in Israel - her son, Rabbi Howard Markose; his wife, Judy; and four grandchildren.
"What (Israel is) starving for is our support. They want to hear, 'We care about you. We want to help you. What can we do?' " she said.
Answering her own question, she said that in addition to visiting Israel, "We need letter writers ... and phone calls to people in power. We cannot be silent."
Freddy Weltman agreed with Dreyfuss' call to action. "I think the community needs to react. It's important to write to your congressman. It's important to write to your newspaper," he said.
His brother, Gary Weltman, criticized a decision by the Union of American Hebrew Congregation, the Reform Movement's congregational arm, to cancel youth trips to Israel this summer. Because of the move, his nephew in San Francisco will not be visiting Israel as planned, he said.
Dreyfuss and Weltman were also disappointed by the number of participants at the rally.
"When there are events like this, the whole Jewish community should be here. There should have been standing room only," said Dreyfuss.
"I was a little saddened that there wasn't a younger turnout and a bigger turnout," said Weltman. "For 80,000 people to be in the community, and we couldn't fill this place?"
Those who attended "mourned and expressed their solidarity ... and were emotionally affected," said Philip Sheinbein, newly appointed JCRC chairman. What mattered was not how many attended but how effective the program was, he said.
Sheinbein said the JCRC will be active during the summer, "trying to increase community membership for the mission in September."
In addition, the JCRC hopes to increase the "knowledge base" about Israel in the non-affiliated and the less-affiliated and "to continue to create programming in the Valley that speaks to the community," he added.
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