Livingston Community Celebrates Israeli Independence Day – TAPinto.net
LIVINGSTON, NJ – The Livingston Committee for Diversity & Inclusion (LCDI) joined forces with the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest to celebrate Israel’s 71st birthday at the Livingston Senior and Community Center last week. The jubilant event was packed with fun activities, community and Jewish organizations, government officials and hundreds of attendees.
Entertainment included an Israeli Jazz Trio, Golda Och students performing Israeli Dances, Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy students presenting Daglanut Flag Dancing, a children’s choir singing Hatikvah (Israel’s national anthem) and an Israeli flag-raising ceremony.
The scent of Israeli foods wafted through the hallway, courtesy of Livingston’s Jerusalem Restaurant, Liv Breads of Millburn and Super Duper Bagels, as children enjoyed a petting zoo and played sports outside, where Mike’s Ice Cream Truck was parked. Inside the building, children played in the GaGa pit, made crafts and visited with a snake, a chicken and a turtle from Turtle Back Zoo.
Sheri Goldberg, chair of the Livingston Celebrates Israel at 71 event, told the crowd that 20 Israelis from Livingston’s sister cities were present at the event. During the weekend of May 3 to May 5, those cities were targeted by 700 rockets with direct hits in Ofakim and Kibbutz Erez.
“Ofakim experienced extensive property damage and Kibbutz Erez lost a factory worker who was killed in a direct hit,” said Goldberg. “It meant so much to the visiting Israelis, especially after such a difficult weekend in Israel, to see the wide support our community showed for Israel on Israeli Independence Day, Yom Haatzmaut.”
To show his appreciation for Livingston’s commitment to celebrating Israel, the deputy mayor of Ofakim presented a “Rockets to Roses” https://www.rocketsintoroses.com/ sculpture to Mayor Al Anthony that was made out of the rockets that landed in Israel during an attack. Goldberg noted that the artist recycled and repurposed the weapon and transformed it into “a piece of beauty to inspire us to believe in hope for a better world in the future.”
Following the event, Goldberg praised the volunteer committee and attendees.
“I am very proud of the volunteer committee and the community members who came together to show that our diversity is our strength,” she said. “Livingston prioritizes having events that bring us together and celebrate our unity.”
LCDI co-chair Billy Fine said he was “proud to host this year’s amazing celebration of rich culture and diversity within the State of Israel and our own community.”
“The work which the LCDI sub-committee, Livingston Celebrates Israel, did was truly another milestone for our committee’s success,” said Fine. “While (co-chair) Keith Hines and I did significant work on the side of the township, we are truly proud of our event chair, Sheri Goldberg, who especially held the weight of running this event.”
Goldberg and Fine both commended the members of the sub-committee, whom they said were integral to the success of this event. They specifically recognized Rabbi Eli Mischel, Rabbi Simeon Cohen, Temple Beth Shalom President Mel Jacobs, Eileen Breindel, Jill Denker, Dana Gottfried, Mel Jacobs, Amanda Jones, Celine Leeds, Marla Parnes, Linda Peroff, Jennifer Romanoff and Phyllis Tait.
Fine also emphasized the significance of the celebration in regard to the wave of terrorist attacks on religious institutions.
“This year’s event was of great importance in light of the recent tragedies befalling religious communities across the country here and abroad,” he said. “With all of the hate in the world, what I am truly proud of is that we had the ability to build bridges from the Orthodox Jewish participants all the way to our Muslim ones. In an effort like never before in Livingston, we celebrated with nothing but peace and fun.”
Referencing a photo on the LCDI Facebook Page Facebook.com/LCDINJ that shows one of the Muslim leaders smiling while arm-in-arm with a local rabbi, Fine said that “this is the power of the Livingston community.”
“This is why I am always happy to say that I am from Livingston,” he said.
Fine expressed gratitude to members of the religious community as well for their support, including Rabbi Faith-Joy Dantowitz, Pastor Dan Martian and Faizan Ahmed, who delivered interfaith prayer. He also thanked the emergency services personnel, members of the Livingston Department of Public Works and the many community members who came out to celebrate the occasion.
Local dignitaries in attendance included Senator Richard Codey; Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s District Chief for the Counties of Essex and Passaic Jill Hirsch; Freeholder Pat Sebold; Livingston Board Of Education members Pam Chirls and Ronnie Konner; Mayor Al Anthony; Deputy Mayor Rudy Fernandez; Councilman/LCDI Liaison Ed Meinhardt; Councilme Shawn Klein and Michael Vieira; Township Manager Barry Lewis; Deputy Township Manager Russ Jones; Chief Gary Marshuetz and Captain Tom Smith from the Livingston Police Department; and Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Francione.
“We had a great event that brought many different people in the Livingston community together,” said Hines. “I’ve being doing this for 21 years and am proud of Livingston’s diversity. It’s important to continue to remind everyone that our diverse community members’ live and work together in harmony. We need unity here and everywhere.”
The LCDI invites the community to its next flag-raising event to be held on June 5 in honor of Pride Month in partnership with the Livingston Public Library. Other upcoming events in the works include the township’s first Women’s Veterans Day event and an Indian flag-raising ceremony with the Sanskriti community in August.