Yuval Malka, Southern Arizona’s senior community shlicha (Israeli emissary), and Daniella Ironi, junior community shlicha, have been planning events for two of the most important dates on the Israeli calendar: Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom Ha’aztmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, known collectively as the spring “Yamim” (Hebrew for “days”).
These two holidays, Malka says, “have all of our story within them.”
Malka and Ironi have been working with a volunteer committee of Americans and Israelis living in Southern Arizona on both events, along with local synagogues and Jewish agencies. The volunteers “have been working very hard, taking the lead on both events,” Malka says.
The Yom HaZikaron Commemoration Ceremony will be held on Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m. in the Jill Rosenzweig Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, with the theme, “Am Echad, One People.” Honoring Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, including those lost on Oct. 7, the ceremony will feature honored guests and community leaders from Southern Arizona and Israel sharing stories, music, and prayers. Registration is required, here.
The Israel@78 Community Festival in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut will be held on Sunday, April 26, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson J. It will include Israeli food and drinks, hands-on activities for families, a community art project and exhibit, an Israeli spices demonstration and tasting, and Israeli music and dance.
There will be a short torch-lighting ceremony, similar to the one held annually on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, honoring eight outstanding community members, Malka says, “seven for each decade and one for the future.”
At 5:30 p.m., the band Hashayara from northern Israel is scheduled to perform.
“They have a very strong message of togetherness” with a playlist that’s an interesting combination of American and Israeli songs, Ironi says, making their performances accessible to English-speaking audiences.
Registration for the festival is required and is available here.
Both Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’azmaut, says Malka, are opportunities for community members to experience a bit of Israeli culture right here in Southern Arizona.
“Now is the time to show that we’re here, we’re proud of who we are and our journey — and we’re standing together as one people, looking toward the future,” she says.
