Israel's Independence Day Celebration 2005
In my last year in Ann Arbor I was approached by the Washtenaw County Jewish Federation to help with planning an Israel Independence Day celebration. Washtenaw County has not had a large scale celebration for at least 15 years if not longer. I was honored to take part in this endeavor.
In time I became the co-chair of the event and worked with Eileen Freed and the Federation staff member, Elisha Greenhood. We contacted and invited ALL the Jewish Organizations in Ann Arbor to join in the celebration and take an active part in it.
Over 30 organizations took an active role in our event which we called Celebrate Israel! There were performances from local groups which included children and adults. Merchants sold Israeli products, Israeli food, and provided other entertainment. A raffle for a free ticket to Israel was one of the highlights of the day.
Over 550 people joined us for this celebration. The event was an all day affair and the support of the community was overwhelming. Unfortunately, a few protestors joined us as well. There were about 20 protestors who harassed the participants with chants and songs denouncing Israel's right to exist.
Overall it was a great success and a learning experience for me, planning and coordinating an event as large as this.
Here is a link to the Celebrate Israel website http://www.jewishannarbor.org/celebrate
And some
articles
and blogs about the event:
From the Detroit Jewish News (check out Paragraph 5)
Celebration encounters protests
Response to previous article (2nd letter)
"Celebrate Israel" in Ann Arbor