In the wake of the Wye Memorandum, San Francisco observed the third yahrzeit of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at Congregation Emanu-El on Wednesday of last week.
The ceremony, attended by an estimated 200 people, opened with a recording of the Hebrew musical adaptation of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” — which the U.S. poet wrote while mourning Abraham Lincoln. Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer translated the poem and set it to music for Rabin’s first yahrzeit in 1996.
Rabin “made it possible for us to imagine a new world, a brighter future for the Jewish people,” said Michael Jacobs of the S.F.-based Israel Center advisory committee, in his opening remarks.
Israel Consul General Daniel Shek also spoke hopefully of Israel’s future.
“The tensions in Israel may be tensions of change,” he said. “The challenge is to address essential problems without self-destructing. I’m confident that the healing process will give us strength.”
A yahrzeit candle burned on the bimah throughout the ceremony, which was sponsored by Tzavta and the Israel Project of the Israel Center of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Consulate General of Israel.
At a press conference prior to the ceremony, Mark Shickman, chairman of the JCRC, said that the Wye agreement may be something positive that came out of Rabin’s death.
“We can look at this shining moment as part of Yitzhak Rabin’s legacy.”
Calling himself a man of pictures, not words, keynote speaker Micha Bar-Am spoke briefly before giving a slide show of his work.
As for his relationship with Rabin, the Israeli photojournalist said that in the course of his work, he spent a lot of time simply observing the slain peacemaker. His personal contact was limited, although Bar-Am fondly recalled a time when Rabin came to one of his exhibits at a small gallery in Jerusalem.
“He came on his own initiative to see the face of war,” said Bar-Am, who added that he was moved by Rabin’s visit.
Quoting Israeli writer Amos Oz, Bar-Am told the audience, “`Yitzhak Rabin was not a charismatic man…he personified the spirit of the new Israel that does not seek redemption but solutions.'”
Bar-Am’s slide show of his work chronicled much of Israel’s history: Moshe Dayan talking with Palestinians, a soldier in kippah and artillery belt at the Western Wall in 1967, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat at the King David hotel, ex-Soviet emigres at Ben-Gurion Airport, Israelis wearing gas masks during the Gulf War, Rabin’s funeral.
In a musical tribute later in the service, Marsha Attie and Friends invoked both the Hebrew and Arabic words for peace. They performed “Shir Lashalom” and “Livkot Lecha.”
Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan, on sabbatical from his post as rabbi-educator at Emanu-El, led the mourner’s Kaddish. He commented on the irony of commemorating Rabin at Emanu-El, a temple founded by staunch anti-Zionists.
“The founders of Emanu-El are spinning so fast in their graves…”
The ceremony closed with “Hatikvah.”
Amy Berkowitz, 23, a San Franciscan who works at Camp Tawonga, said she came to the yahrzeit out of an attachment to Israel, where she spent four months this spring. She was touched by Bar-Am’s photos.
“His photos said so much more than if he had spoken the entire time,” she said.
Aaron Forkafh, 24, a dealer for Aaron metals, also found meaning in the service.
“Learning about Israel and Zionism is a very appropriate way of commemorating Rabin’s life,” said Forkafh, a San Franciscan who spent two years studying in Israel.
“It’s better than just lighting candles and crying.”