More than 3,000 attend Israel Fest celebration in Boca Raton

More than 3,000 people, many waving blue and white Israel flags, attended the Israel Fest celebration in honor of the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel’s independence, which took place at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton .

The three-hour free community celebration was organized by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County as well as many sponsors of the event.

The event was highlighted by “The Shuk,” a Jewish fusion music band, playing their hit songs in the genres of jazz, klezmer, and ethnic music for one hour, amid the many attendees who walked though Mizner Park sampling a wide variety of kosher food items, such as barbecued chicken, cinnamon buns, falafel, hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream, among other foods.

The evening began with many children’s activities, such as face painting and other arts and crafts, climbing a recreation of the Masada Wall, building a Kotel, a Kibbutz Petting Zoo and the nearby Boca Raton Museum of Art being open for the evening, offering free admission to attendees of Israel Fest.

Prior to the joy and celebration, there was also a commemoration on the Mizner Park stage of video slides of Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were killed in defending Israel in numerous conflicts over its 70 year history, along with readings, prayers and a Mourner’s Kaddish for the Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day) commemoration.

Elected officials from Palm Beach County, representatives from Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and Lior Haiat, Consul General of Israel in Miami, all welcomed attendees to Israel Fest.

“It is thrilling to look out and see thousands of you tonight. What an honor it is to be here. Tonight, we gather for one purpose ,to celebrate our homeland’s 70 years of statehood,” said Larry Feldman of Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

“Together, we will raise the ruach (Hebrew for spirits) so high, it will spill over from this amphitheater into our community and far beyond,” said Feldman to a standing ovation.

“Tonight we mark an incredible moment in modern Jewish history together, the miracle of Israel’s phenomenal transformation from a pioneering nation under siege into today’s creative, dynamic, culturally vibrant state,” said Matt Levin, Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

“This is a special year in Israel. We call it the year of Jubilee. Today we commemorate 70 years since the creation of the State of Israel. From my point of view, there’s no bigger miracle than the creation of the State of Israel,” said Haiat.

“We also commemorated 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem and we have received the best gift we could have hoped for this anniversary: the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as our capital and to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” said Haiat to a standing ovation.

The Israel Memorial Day ceremony was dedicated by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County to their sister community in Israel, Zichron Yaakov.

To learn more about the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, 9901 Donna Klein Blvd. in Boca Raton, call 561-852-3100 or go to www.jewishboca.org.