Congregation Ohr Torah hosted the community-wide observance of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut on Monday evening. The event was co-sponsored by five MetroWest shuls—West Orange’s Ohr Torah and Congregation AABJ&D, Springfield’s Congregation Israel and Livingston’s Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center and Congregation Etz Chaim—in three Essex and Union county communities: Livingston, Springfield and West Orange.
Rabbi Marc Spivak of Ohr Torah opened the program, offering poignant remarks and introducing the evening’s speakers. Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler of AABJ&D spoke about two fallen soldiers and how their religiously diverse families honor their memories together annually at their kever in Kfar Saba. He urged the audience to remain mindful of the human sacrifice it has taken to sustain the State of Israel through the years.
Rabbi Yosef Sharbat, spiritual leader of AABJ&D’s Sephardic minyan, offered the tefillah for a Jewish burial in honor of the soldiers and others who have been victims of terror, and Rabbi Chaim Marcus of Congregation Israel made a Mi Sheberach for the chayalei Tzahal, the current soldiers serving in Israel.
Keynote speaker Steve Flatow’s approach to the podium instantly silenced the room. Following Rabbi Spivak’s brief history about the terror attack in 1995 that took the life of Flatow’s young daughter Alisa, Hy”d, Flatow himself spoke. He described the events of that fateful day in more detail, focusing on the surreal quality of his and his wife Rosalyn’s recollections and the difficulty of processing them. He also noted the family decision to authorize organ donations to others in Israel before returning to the States for Alisa’s funeral. He choked back tears recalling how he stumbled on the Kiddush at the Seder that year, as it came just a few days following his daughter’s murder and caused a truncated shiva of less than two days. Flatow was personally known to many in the room, as he was a founder of Ohr Torah and has lived in West Orange for many years.
Flatow recalled that Israel’s then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin came to pay a shiva call to the Flatow family and was especially appreciative of the organ donations that gave new life to so many people. Flatow spoke of one thing that has brought comfort to the family, that “Alisa’s heart still beats in Yerushalayim.”
The Tefillah for Shalom for the State of Israel was then recited by Rabbi Samuel Klibanoff of Etz Chaim.
The program was punctuated by a festive Israeli-style meal, exquisitely prepared by Ohr Torah member Jay Goldberg and assisted by many. Arts and crafts for the kids with Areyvut, and live music and dancing, lingered long into the evening. The event that began with a sober day of memorialization ended with a joyous celebration of the State of Israel, with all it represents to us and brings to the world at large.
By Ellie Wolf
