The Kennedy Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building was packed with more than 200 legislators, Jewish leaders and their supporters who participated in a bi-partisan celebration of American Jewish Heritage Month to recognize the many contributions of the Jewish people to the United States.
As President Ronald Reagan declared in 1981, when he first established Jewish Heritage week, “American Jews have contributed significantly to the spiritual and cultural elevation of our society since the founding of our Nation. Jewish immigrants and their descendants have brought dignity and distinction to every field of American endeavor. Our Jewish citizens have served America by fighting for her freedom, building her industry, striving for her goals, and nurturing her dreams.”
In 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month, an initiative led byRepresentative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the late Senator Arlen Specter. Each subsequent President has continued this tradition. The Friedlander Group and Project Legacy have been sponsoring a special tribute on Capitol Hill for the last several years.
Among those feted this week were Holocaust survivor and author of the acclaimed book,A Candle in the Heart, Judith Kallman of Greenwich, CT, who was lauded for her efforts to convince students to stop the hate by Senator Richard Blumenthal;
Chief Rabbi of the Bukharan Jewish community, Itzhak Yehoshua, the President of the Bukharian Rabbinical Council of America was also honored. He immigrated to the United States in 1987, and successfully built the American Bukharian community from what was once a small group into a vast community with over 65,000 members.
To recognize the importance of civil rights, the program featured Mark Meyer Appel, founder of The Bridge Multicultural and Advocacy Project, an organization that unites people of every racial, ethnic, cultural and religious background.
The event also noted the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” Selma March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge an event that was a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, and in which countless Jews were involved.
Also honored was AISH International, one of the largest Jewish outreach organizations of its kind in the world, which aims to connect Jews to their ancient heritage in a warm, non-judgmental environment. In the words, Senate Resolution AISH was singled out for praise for reinforcing “that in the United States, people may freely connect with their culture and religious heritage and contribute to the fabric of life in the United States”. Several of their supporters received special recognition including: Ruth Hyman,Bob and Michelle Diener, Gary M. and Pennie Abramson.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, and Greg Rosenbaum who chairs the Jewish Heritage Month Celebration, emceed the event with a strong dose of humor.
The standing ovation of the day was given to Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights hero who came to the microphone and remembered the marches in the south, reciting the words of the Bible and the lyrics of the classic, “Let My People Go”.
He reminded those in the audience of the days when Jews marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the fight for human rights, and recalled three young men he knew who did not die in Vietnam. They did not die in the Middle East or in another foreign country fighting for freedom-they were arrested and lynched fighting for freedom in the United States. They were Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner and James Earl Chaney, lynched by the KKK in 1964.
Other speakers included Sen. Bill Cassidy, Sen.Tim Kaine, Sen. Kelly Ayotte , Sen. Ron Johnson, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. Eliot Engel, Sen. Ben Sasse, Rep. Ted Deutch; Rep. Lee Zeldin.
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