08/29/2023
Cleveland, Israeli Pride Shines at One World Day
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Members of the Cleveland and Israeli Jewish communities represent Israel and the Hebrew Cultural Garden during the parade of flags at the 77th annual One World Day Aug. 27 in Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens. CJN Photo / Courtney Byrnes
COURTNEY BYRNES | CJN
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
The Cleveland and Israeli Jewish communities were well-represented at the 77th annual One World Day Aug. 27 in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens as the Greater Cleveland community came together in a showcase of its diversity.
In the Hebrew Cultural Garden, the first of the cultural gardens to be built and dedicated in 1926, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland organized activities, from an origami foldie with facts about the garden to music by the Yiddishe Cup Klezmer Band. The garden was the vision of Leo Weidenthal, founder of the Shakespeare Garden and publisher of Cleveland’s Jewish Independent newspaper, a predecessor of the Cleveland Jewish News.
“Cleveland was built by people from all over the world, and this is a special day to honor all of our contributions and the strength of our diversity,” Ann Garson, Federation’s assistant vice president, family philanthropy and foundations, told the CJN.
The day served as an opportunity to get the word out about what work the Federation does with not only the Jewish community, but also the general Cleveland community. People traveled from garden to garden with a passport that would get stamped after completing an activity.
During the Parade of Flags, the Hebrew Cultural Gardens was represented by community members, the Federation, Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland’s Horvitz YouthAbility group and the 2023-24 shin shinim as they waved Israeli flags and donned its colors. The shin shinim, Israeli teen emissaries, arrived in Cleveland Aug. 14 to spend the next 10 months bringing the Israeli culture to the community.
“It’s wonderful to be here,” Kimberly Kootsouradis, Federation’s administrative specialists for campaign and Women in Philanthropy, told the CJN. “There’s so much pride in the culture – the Hebrew culture, the Israeli culture and just the American Jewish culture. It’s so nice to just put it on display, share it with others and just show the positivity that is in the community.”
