04/22/2025
Cleveland Community to Celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut May 1
Family and friends watch as students from the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School in Beachwood perform a flag dance during the 2024 Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike. CJN Photo / Abigail Preiszig
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland has invited the community to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s 77th Independence Day, on the evening of May 1 with music, dancing, food and more.
“It’s really important to celebrate our heritage, all the things that that make Israel unique as a state, unique as allies of the state of Israel and to take a moment – especially in this last couple of years of some traumatic and painful events – to also celebrate the strength and love and everything that Israel has given back to the world,” Amanda Mayan, event co-chair, told the Cleveland Jewish News.
It will be an opportunity for the community to gather in a celebratory fashion following “heavier” commemorations like Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 23, and Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day on April 29, Eric Marderstein, event co-chair, told the CJN.
“There’s a lot of people in Cleveland that want to connect to Israel, so, it’s naturally a day where people can come together and do that,” he said.
Israeli delegates will attend for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayan, a Shaker Heights resident, said. Attendees can interact with members of the Israel Defense Forces education corps and The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Youth Futures mentorship program for at-risk children
“They’re tasked with helping thousands of members of Israeli society recover from painful and traumatic experiences and realities post Oct. 7 and they’re eager to share more about their work at this meet and greet,” she said.
Another first, Congregation Mishkan Or at 2600 Shaker Blvd. in Beachwood will host the event. The congregation was formed in July 2024 through a historic merger between Beachwood congregations Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple and The Temple-Tifereth Israel.
Parents of teens and young adults, Mayan and Marderstein, co-chairing with their partners Haim Mayan and Cari Marderstein, respectively, made it a goal to attract the demographic, and include activities and spaces that are comfortable and appealing to all ages, they said.
In collaboration with local shin shinim and BBYO, the co-chairs gathered input from teens across the community to create a dedicated space, Marderstein, a Pepper Pike resident, said. The consensus was a dedicated space just for teens with arcade games and a collaborative playlist, slime table, photo booth, challah braiding workshop and more.
For the 21 and older crowd, the free celebration will include an $18 wine tasting, featuring four pours of Israeli wine, Mayan said.
Marderstein
“We didn’t want to overwhelm the adults with things that they had to do,” Mardenstein, a congregant of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike, said. “It’s basically as an area where people can go and hang out with their friends and relax.”
The main area will feature traditional opportunities for children and families, including Israeli music and dancing, flag dances by local Jewish day schools, activities and crafts for all ages, plus face painting, flower crowns and art projects, food from Mendel’s Kosher BBQ available for purchase and a shuk, or market, featuring merchandise from Israel’s border communities until 8:30 p.m.
“There’s a welcome ceremony at 5:30 p.m., so we’d love people to be there to kick off the event with that (and) show your Israeli pride by wearing blue, white and your favorite Israeli themed gear,” Mayan said.
“Just come,” Marderstein said. “There’s going to be something for everyone.”
To register, visit bit.ly/4lElHUk.
