RENA FULKA
Special to The Jewish News
N
eat rows of metal chairs
stood vacant in the steady
rain near the only monu-
ment on United States soil
erected as a memorial to Israel's fallen
soldiers.
But the 18,000 men and women
who died defending the Jewish state
were not forgotten on Yom
Hazikaron, observed this year on
Wednesday, April 29.
At the sounding of a siren at 11
a.m., the crowd that sought shelter
inside the Kahn Jewish Community
Center stilled for a moment of silence
in honor of those who lost their lives
for Israel's survival.
The crowd, ranging from toddlers
in strollers to Holocaust survivors,
maintained a respectful solemnity dur-
ing the lowering of the Israeli flag to
half-staff and the chanting of Yizkor
and the El Molei Rachamim.
As master of ceremonies, Janice
Starkman Goldfein of Southfield wel-
comed students of the Orthodox,
Conservative and Reform movements
who share a mutual love and respect for
Israel and the.country's fallen soldiers.
Goldfein reminded her audience that
Israeli men and women are expected to
enter the armed forces at the age of 18
to defend the Jewish homeland.
"In Israel, everybody knows some-
body or knows of somebody who was
lost," said the clinical social worker.
"This is an opportunity to spiritually,
emotionally and psychologically
understand the meaning of this day."
The 45-minute ceremony continued
with singing, poetry readings and
memorial presentations in English and
Hebrew by students from Akiva Hebrew
Day School, Hillel Day School and
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. The program
came to a close indoors just as the rain
subsided. With red carnations in hand,
audience members laid their flowers like
fallen soldiers at the base of the monu-
ment. A presentation of candles and
wreaths was made by representatives of
the three participating schools and the
program co-sponsors, Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and
the Michigan/Israel Connection. The
ceremony continued in the evening at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
After the singing of the national
anthems of the United States and
Israel, Yael Waxman, community shah-
ach and director of the Jewish
Federation's Michigan-Israel
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1998
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