■ Not for the first time, Pastor John Hagee, one of the most influential of evangelical Christians, will be honored by the Jerusalem Great Synagogue. Hagee is a longtime friend of the synagogue’s president Malcolm Hoenlein, and they did many things together when Hoenlein was the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Hagee, who has raised millions of dollars for Jewish and Israeli causes, also did fundraising to help Ukrainian Jewish refugees get to Israel after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Three years ago, Hagee was honored by both the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and the Great Synagogue.. Now the Great Synagogue is honoring him again, once more at Hoenlein’s initiative – because few are as aware as Hoenlein of the amazing things that Hagee and his wife Diana have done for Israel and the Jewish people, on their own and through CUFI (Christians United for Israel), the huge movement which Hagee founded. The Jerusalem Great Synagogue ceremony honoring him again will take place on Monday, April 28, in celebration of his 85th birthday.
The new ambassador
■ HAGEE HAS done a little honoring of his own and was among the first to honor Mike Huckabee, who is now officially the United States’s ambassador to Israel.
Since his arrival just over a week ago, Huckabee has hit the ground running with one event after another, beginning with day one when he placed a note in a crevice in the Western Wall. In this respect, he was a courier. The note had been given to him by US President Donald Trump, with instructions to deposit it in the Kotel.
This evening, Huckabee will be the guest of honor at the annual memorial ceremony for fallen North Americans who lost their lives in defending Israel or who were murdered by terrorists. The event, organized by the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, takes place at the AACI Memorial Wall at Sha’ar Hagai and is attended by bereaved families and American, Canadian, and Israeli officials.
The keynote speaker at the event will be Rabbi Shai Finkelstein of Jerusalem’s Nitzanim Synagogue.
Unfortunately, new names are added each year to the list of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. This year is no exception. Eight new names have been added.
The “Beautiful Six”
■ SONGS ARE often an individual or collective means of expressing grief, joy, determination, and resilience. They are also a way of paying tribute to people who died unnatural deaths. Emotions will come to the fore tonight at Safra Square in Jerusalem, in an evening of Song and Unity dedicated to freeing the hostages in Gaza and to remembering the “Beautiful Six” who were murdered in the tunnels of Rafiah: Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmi Gat, and Alex Lebanov whose families remain united in their efforts to bring about the release and return home of the remaining hostages.
The families believe that national unity, free of political differences and arguments, will serve to influence Hamas.
A need for unity
■ THERE IS also a need for unity among American Jewish entertainment personalities, some of whom are pro-Israel and have actually shown their support by visiting Israel at least once during the past 18 months; some who are fence-sitting, and some of whom are siding with the Palestinians.
Among those who are pro-Israel are: radio personality Sid Rosenberg and actor Michael Rapaport, who this week are being hosted by the One Israel Fund. Rapaport, who has been to Israel several times during these harrowing months, is a dedicated advocate for Israel.
Since October 7, 2023, Judea and Samaria have faced increasing challenges. The One Israel Fund ensures that in the face of these pressing difficulties, Judea and Samaria not only survives, but thrives.
OIF is taking the two entertainers on what is being termed an “inspirational” trip that includes a private ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They will also attend the Remembrance Day for the Fallen ceremony on Mount Herzl and will be present at Independence Day ceremonies, in order to catch the spirit and strength of the country, both in days of commemoration and days of joy.
Labor Day
■ INDEPENDENCE DAY falls on May 1 this year, coinciding with Labor Day – a date that is still observed by Communist and Socialist movements, some of which organize conferences and parades to celebrate the occasion.
Just before that, on Monday, April 28, are the Canadian Federal Elections, which will be followed by the Australian Federal Elections on Saturday, May 3. Both countries are hotbeds of antisemitism and anti-Israel activities, despite legislation against all forms of racism. (The legislation is more in the nature of words on paper than anything else.) The Australian Jewish community, of which the majority traditionally voted Labor, is moving to the Right in protest at the pro-Palestinian stance by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Australian Jews were both horrified and angry in January of this year, when Wong, together with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, was chosen to lead the Australian delegation to Poland to participate in the multi-national ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Today, they are even angrier with Dreyfus – who is Jewish and a member of the Labor Party – for giving his second preference votes to the Greens, who are decidedly hostile to Jews and to Israel, and who favor the Muslim community, which to a large extent, will be voting for the Greens. Jewish politicians in the Labor party are in a bind as to whether they owe their first loyalty to the party or to the Jewish community. In fact only one Jewish Labor politician, Josh Burns, has declined to give his preference to the Greens.
In speaking to relatives and friends in Australia, the Australian-born writer of this column has received comments such as: “Any Jews who vote Labor must be out of their minds” and “Most Australians are not happy with any of the parties and the outcome might be decided by the true independents. Football is still the most important thing at this time of the year. One has to have their priorities in the right order. At least we can understand the game. We definitely don’t understand the politics.”
POLAND IS also gearing up for elections in May. The Polish presidential elections will be held on Sunday, May 18. President Andrzej Duda who, on Thursday led the March of the Living together with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, is ineligible to run again, which may be just as well as he is at odds with the political administration. If none of the candidates receives 50% of the votes, there will be a second round of voting on June 1.
The March of the Living was not Duda’s last hurrah as president. Next week, Poland will celebrate Constitution Day, which is a major national holiday.
March of the Living
■ THERE WAS record participation this year in March of the Living partially because this is the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War, II and partially because remaining Holocaust survivors range from being in their 80s to over 100 years of age, and few are able to take on the physically difficult march.
It was also a moment of triumph for those survivors who were accompanied by children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, including Righteous among the Nations who risked their own lives to save those of Jews. Many groups – especially youth groups – arrived in Poland several days before the March to visit the death camps which the Germans had set up on Polish soil.
Among the youth groups was a 30-member delegation from Magen David Adom Youth volunteers. MDA sends an annual mission of this kind to Poland.
The delegation held a special commemoration ceremony at Block 10 in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Nazi doctors examined and experimented on Jewish prisoners The group also visited gravesites and memorials in Poland, including the cemeteries in the city of Kielce, where over 40 Jews who had survived the Holocaust were murdered in a pogrom in 1946.
Among the members of the delegation was MDA youth volunteer Nicole Beiser, whose brother, Cpl. Nick Beiser was kidnapped on October 7 and whose body was discovered during an IDF recovery operation.
“It was important for me to go on the trip to understand more about what happened there to the Jewish people,” said Beiser.
“My great-grandfather was in the Red Army and helped liberate the camps. Seeing this place with my own eyes was very challenging. It’s hard to believe that such horrors actually occurred. We visited the children’s cemetery; it’s hard to imagine that these things happened to little children. This journey matured me. My older brother Nick, of blessed memory, was killed in the Swords of Iron War. He wanted so much to participate in the journey to Poland, but didn’t make it. I felt like I was doing it for him, too.”
“There were many powerful, moving, and sad moments on the trip, but the ceremony we held in Auschwitz touched me the most,” said another delegate and MDA youth volunteer, Daniel Gerit.
“Standing in the place where doctors used their professional knowledge to cause suffering was truly sobering. As a teenager who volunteers at MDA, an organization that sanctifies life and human dignity, I felt the true essence behind this mission – a profound reminder to bear witness to the truth and enduring history. I am sure that what we saw on this trip isn’t even a small fraction of the horrors that occurred here.
Hagai Colton, who manages MDA’s Carmel Region Volunteers, accompanied the mission. “It is extremely symbolic that our teenage volunteers, who dedicate their time to humanitarian activities, are today wearing MDA’s Star of David emblem at the sites where our Jewish brothers and sisters were murdered,” he said.
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