Meir Nachshoni of West Bloomfield and Norman Klegman (Mr. Silly) of Southfield

Alexandra Grossman, 7, of West Bloomfield

'Transported' To Israel

Akiva celebrates Israel's birthday in "style."

Pessie Busel Novick
Special to the Jewish News

uestion:
On May 8, celebrated as
Israel Independence Day, where
could you scale the heights of the Golan,
explore kibbutz life while eating a pita
that was freshly baked in an outdoor
hearth, participate in a desert kumsitz
—singing and dancing and drumming
an ancient darbuka — create traditional
Israeli jewelry and offer a prayer at the
Kotel (Western Wall)?
(Hint: passports required!)
Answer:
At Yeshivat Akiva's spectacular Yom
HaAtzmaut Happening in Southfield (the
actual holiday was on 5 Iyar or May 10).
Akiva was transformed into a replica
of the State of Israel. Upon entry, Akiva
students and other "tourists" registered
for Israeli "passports" that were expedited
with efficiency, complete with ID pictures
for Akiva students.
Upon leaving Passport Control, visi-
tors toured Israel station by station in the
Akiva gym, "carpeted" in blue and deco-
rated with balloons and colorful posters
representing Israel's industries and the
many commodities it exports.
The stations represented the many
facets of Israeli life, among them an army
base where students ran an obstacle
course under the guidance of two uni-
formed soldiers. Other stations included

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May 15 • 2008

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a Tel Aviv jewelry factory, a Golan Heights
rock-climbing exercise, a casino where
visitors tried their luck by spinning a
roulette wheel and answering questions
about a variety of topics dealing with the
geography and history of Israel, and a
replica of the Kotel where visitors were
invited to submit their fondest prayers
(these will be personally delivered to the
actual Western Wall in Jerusalem).
And this was only the beginning ...
From the gym, one could visit Pita
Junction, gather round the fire, join a
kumsitz in the Negev and sample kibbutz
life. The latter activity included pony
rides, a petting zoo and a photo station
where tourists were invited to dress as
chalutzim (pioneers) and have their pic-
tures taken.
At 6 p.m., festivities moved to Akiva's
Hyman and Dolores Brown Synagogue.
Rabbi Yigal Tsaidi, Akiva's educational
director, announced that Akiva's students
Dovi Nadel and Elizabeth Goldmeier, who
had been chosen to represent the United
States in the Hidon HaTaNaKh, the annu-
al Worldwide Bible Contest that was held
in Jerusalem earlier that day, had both
finished in the top eight, with Dovi Nadel
taking second runner-up, a position that
had never before gone to a contestant
from the diaspora.
Rabbi Pinchas Amior, who is coordina-
tor, teacher and mentor of Akiva's Hidon
program and who had, earlier this year,
been acknowledged by the Jewish Agency

Joshua Grossman, 10, of West

Bloomfield

for Israel as the top Moreh Shaliach in the
world, was called up to the stage where
he received his award from the Jewish
Agency as well as a bouquet of flowers
from two of the students in Akiva's Early
Childhood Division.
The program continued with a gala
concert, featuring performances by stu-
dents in grades 1-3 and by the Gedalya
Mitchel Kol Haneshama Youth Choir and
Dance Group, under the direction of Anat
Nachshoni. Students sang a Yemenite
song as the closing number. They were
joined on stage by three traditionally
garbed Yemenite men; one of whom bore
a strange resemblance to Rabbi Tsaidi.

Said Akiva parent Julie Sherizen, "This
is the next best thing to celebrating in
Israel."
This program was the brainchild of
Ayelet Safra, whose husband, Rabbi
Bezalel Safra, is the head of Kollel Torah
MiTzion. It was implemented by the
members of the Kollel, the Bnot Sherut
Leumi (Moriel Kaplan and Inbar Namir,
who are fulfilling a requisite year of
national service by working at Akiva),
and the Morim Shlichim (teachers who
are emissaries of the Israeli government)
along with the assistance of Akiva's
teachers, students, parents and friends.
The project called for endless creativity
and countless hours of work, particularly
on the part of Ayelet Safra and the Bnot
Sherut.
"We wanted to give people a taste of
Israel," Ayelet Safra said, "not only as an
exciting way to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut,
but also as a means to whet their appe-
tites so that they will consider visiting
Israel in the near future'
Rabbi Tsaidi said, "This is my life's
dream, to see the students, parents and
friends of Akiva coming to our school
and feeling as though they were in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I pray that next
year, we will celebrate again, not in the
virtual State of Israel, but on its very
soil."

❑

Pessie Busel Novick is a teacher at Yeshivat
Akiva.