Jewish community gathers in Clifton to celebrate Israel's Independence Day
CLIFTON — Members of the Jewish community from the city and beyond gathered on the patch of green outside of City Hall on Sunday to raise the Israeli flag.
The flag-raising is an annual affair, spearheaded by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. It honors Israel's Independence Day. This year marks the 74th anniversary of when the United Nations voted the state of Israel into existence on May 14, 1948.
“It’s important to raise the flag to remember the historic significance of Israel and of democracy in the Middle East, where all people can live in freedom,” said Steve Goldberg, the event coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, who served as emcee for the event.
Israel's Independence Day, or Yom Ha'atzmaut, is a day when American Jews show their support for Israel. It's sometimes celebrated with prayer and festivals in the U.S., while in Israel people often throw barbecues and light fireworks.
Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi attended the ceremony and showed his support for the Jewish community in Passaic County.
“Unfortunately, even in Clifton, our hometown, some of those things are here: xenophobia, racism and antisemitism," Anzaldi said. "Even if it’s only one [person], it’s too many.”
Clifton is currently ranked the 25th-most-culturally-diverse town in the country and the third-highest in linguistic diversity, according to Clifton's assistant superintendent of schools, Mark Gengaro, who spoke at the event.
“Our city is proof that embracing acceptance and making a genuine effort to understand cultural differences are the bedrock of a strong community,” Gengaro said.
Other speakers included Rabbi Solomon Rybak of Congregation Adas Israel of Passaic and Mark Levenson, co-chair of the New Jersey-Israel Commission.
“Israel is a beacon and leader in so many different areas,” said Levenson.
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Levenson detailed strides the Israeli community has made in the state, specifically in the world of technology and medicine. In June of last year, he noted, the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark signed a memorandum of understanding to partner with Ben-Gurion University in Israel. He also mentioned the partnership Sheba Medical Center in Israel has made with Liberty Science Center. The two institutions will collaborate to create an innovation campus called SciTech Scity.
A few miles away, in Paterson, the Palestinian community was celebrating the renaming of a section of Main Street to Palestine Way. There, speakers condemned May 15, which they call Nakba, or Day of Catastrophe. The annual event commemorates the forced displacement of 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral home with the establishment of Israel, participants said.
A street festival in Paterson was organized by the Palestinian American Community Center, which has its home base in Clifton.
At the Clifton flag-raising, Goldberg said he believes the Jewish people are the rightful owners of the land that has long been fought over, as did Booni Cohavi of the Israeli Consulate in New York.
The ceremony was wrapped up after prayers and the singing of songs in Hebrew. The flag was hoisted by three Israeli soldiers.
It will fly for a few days next to the American flag in recognition of the strong Jewish community in Clifton, Anzaldi s.
Rebecca King is a food writer for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up for our North Jersey Eats newsletter.
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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Jewish community gathers in Clifton to mark Israel Independence Day
