Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Israel with a festival this weekend and a visit from a former prime minister next week.
This weekend, Israelfest will take over North Hempstead Park Beach at 175 West Shore Road in Port Washington from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, featuring live Israeli music, Israeli trivia, pita making, Israeli wine tastings, Hebrew name necklace making, beach volleyball and arts and crafts for all ages.
“During this festival, we are bringing Israel to life,” Ariel Magal, Israeli emissary working with the Long Island community through Sid Jacobson, said. Everyone who loves Israel and cares about Israel should be celebrating with us, not only the fact that Israel is 70 but also the culture, the food, the music, the people and the views of Israel.”
Magal said the festival is a community project thanks to a collaboration of UJA-Federation of New York, Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center and more than 30 partner synagogues, Jewish educational institutions and Jewish youth organizations from across Long Island, and while the festival is billed as celebrating Israel, Magal said the festival is a celebration of the community itself.
This year’s event is sponsored by Amy and Scott Jaffee, Best Market, FCE Group, Naot, New York Life and Power Home Remodeling.
Admission and parking is free. Kosher food and Israeli products will be available, including rugelaches from a Brooklyn bakery that originated in Jerusalem.
For more information, visit sjjcc.org/israelfest.
On Thursday, May 10, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will speak at the Rubenstein Theater in the community center.
Magal said while the event is nearly sold out, some tickets remain. General admission is $35, preferred seating is $50 and a VIP meet and greet with Barak is available for $500, which includes preferred seating for two, a dessert reception and a signed copy of Barak’s book, “My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace.”
The program begins at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7:45 p.m. and the VIP reception before the event at 7:30 p.m.
Barak served as Israel’s 10th prime minister from 1999 to 2001 and was the leader of the Labor Party until January of 2011.
He has also previously held the posts of minister of defense and deputy prime minister under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s second government from 2009 to 2013.
Barak, who retired from politics in 2013, is also the most highly decorated soldier in Israel’s history.
Barak also spoke at Temple Emanuel in Great Neck last year.
“It’s a chance to listen to one of the most important speakers in the history of Israel,” Magal said. “It’s an opportunity to really get a guided tour of Israel’s reality and recent history from one of the people who was at every major intersection. He was in the room when almost every major decision was made. It’s a chance to walk through history.”
For more information, visit sjjcc.org/event/conversation-ehud-barak.
