Philip Berger, Toronto. My father Shimmy was born and raised in Estevan, Saskatchewan. He grew up physically fighting the local antisemites. In 1947, he was a 28-year-old med- ical resident in New York City training under the renowned Jewish dermatolo- gist Dr. Marion Sulzberger. My father was aware of the pending UN General Assembly vote on partition. He did not want to miss the moment. He created a false press pass showing that he was a reporter for the Estevan Times which of course he was not. On Nov. 29, 1947, he was granted entry to the UN General Assembly under cover of his press pass and witnessed the vote in favour of partition. He was ecstatic and joined thousands of others in Times Square after the vote, celebrating and dancing the night away. Given his experience growing up, he needed no convincing about the need for a Jewish state. He always spoke about the more favourable attitude towards Diaspora Jews in the years following the founding of Israel. Though he was an ardent atheist who was contemptuous of religion, he remained a committed Zionist his entire life. And, he imparted his Zionism to his children, one of whom made aliyah and current- ly lives in Tel Aviv. Esther Stone Sarick, Toronto. Israel at 75 brings back memories of when I was at a student in the af- ter-school Hebrew Institute in Pittsburgh. We were brought down to the auditorium and asked to sit very quietly and listen to the radio. We learned this was a very important and momentous day. I was about 10 years old. We were told that what we would hear was going to be the most important and memorable day of our lives. It was. The radio was tuned to a broadcast from the United Nations. Suddenly the announcement was made that the United States of America votes ‘yes’. There was complete silence and then a burst of shouting, hugging, dancing, and crying. We were dismissed early. I walked home to find my parents being very happy in a way that I had never seen before. Shortly after that, we heard that my mother’s cousin was able to leave Cyprus Displaced Person camp to arrive safely, at last, in Israel.
David Shidlowsky, Kibbutz Gezer. I started kindergarten at Associated Hebrew Day Schools in Toronto in 1958. My connection with Israel starts from there. Both my parents had been in Zionist youth groups when they were teenagers and some of their friends came to Israel in 1948 and founded a number of kibbutzim. My father’s father was a member of Hashomer Hatzair in Poland (~1910-1913) before leaving with his family for Canada. I went to a public high school and maintained membership in a Zionist youth group through high school as well as keeping up Hebrew lessons. During the Yom Kippur war, in Octo- ber 1973, one of my classmates who returned to Israel after Grade 9, was killed in the Sinai. As soon as I heard this, I decided to go to Israel. It took almost a month to sort out some paper work and I arrived in Israel in November 1973, became a kibbutz volunteer. I have been here since. I have been a kibbutz member since 1975. Michael Brooke, Thornhill, Ont. My first time in Israel was 1987 and I was 22 years old. It was through this trip I wound up marrying a native-born Israeli in 1989. But it was during the summer of 2012 when I felt a very deep sense of connection to Israel. It was a sense that even if you
Simon Saul Berger c. 1950
Halley (Macklin) Girvitz, Calgary. I live in Calgary. We are a small com- munity and were even smaller in 1967, during the Six-Day War. The community was asked to meet at the Beth Israel Synagogue (now Beth Tzedec Synagogue). My father took my brother and me to the synagogue, where one wealthy gentleman said he would donate $2,000 to Israel. That was a lot of money then. My parents were not able to give that kind of money but my father went to the bank and borrowed some money. I never forgot that. I am 68 now and have been fortunate to visit Israel, but it was more important for both my sons to visit Israel and love it too. They have been there a few times and I went after they visited. That one event has stayed with me all these years. It made a huge impact on me.
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