Come Tuesday, May 4, the Israeli flag will fly over the county building in San Jose for the first time.
That’s because Santa Clara County will hold its first-ever Israeli Cultural Day.
Sponsored by a host of South Bay Jewish organizations, the day is an attempt to emphasize the positive contributions that Israel and its people have made to the world. And since this is Silicon Valley, a large emphasis will be on Israel’s contributions in the field of high-tech.
“There’s obviously been so much negative publicity about Israel in the papers these days and we thought it was time we do something positive,” said Janet Berg, associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose. “There’s such a wonderful connection between Silicon Valley and Israel, and so many Israelis living in Silicon Valley, as well as Americans working in high-tech in Israel, that we wanted to bring that to the attention of the entire community.”
An estimated 25,000 Israelis live in Silicon Valley.
Dr. Eli Taub, a past chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the South Bay, serves on the Human Relations Commission of Santa Clara County, an advisory committee to the county Board of Supervisors. Its mission is to sponsor events that promote diversity, peace and harmony between all the different ethnic groups in Santa Clara County. Taub said that past events have included everything from Irish Cultural Day to Samoan Cultural Day.
Palestinian Cultural Day has been celebrated once each year for the last two years. According to some Jewish community members who attended, these strayed far from being cultural events and became highly political, particularly in 2002.
At that time, many Jews complained about what they felt was divisiveness and a highly political atmosphere at Palestinian Cultural Day.
“There has been a natural evolution to the point where what started out as a negative has been turned into a positive,” said Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the JCRC in San Francisco. “Starting out with a keen awareness of so many things that were done wrong when a Palestinian Cultural Day created divisiveness in the community, it has now been turned into an opportunity to create an event that will be very inclusive.”
Since then, the Human Relations Commission passed some new guidelines defining exactly what a cultural day must consist of.
With the upcoming Israeli Cultural Day, Taub hopes a model will be set for future cultural days. “We set a very high bar for ourselves, so we really fulfill our mission statement,” he said.
“A cultural day should be helping build bridges between communities, and it shouldn’t get into divisive political discussion,” said Karen Stiller, Peninsula regional director of the JCRC.
Furthermore, said Taub, “the idea is by these events, we are increasing awareness and appreciation of culture and helping to promote peace and harmony.”
The festivities will begin at noon on May 4 with the raising of the Israeli flag in the plaza. A program will follow at the Isaac Newton Senter Auditorium.
In addition to Yossi Amrani, the consul general of Israel in San Francisco, Eli Barkat, a managing director of BRM Capital, and Professor Rafi Rom from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology will highlight the connections between Israel and Silicon Valley. Israeli cultural attaché Donny Inbar will talk about the development of the Hebrew language. There will be Israeli food, dance and other entertainment.
Vahid Motazedian, a local leader in the Baha’i community, will also speak. Founded in Persia, the Baha’i faith maintains temples throughout the world, with one in Israel. Motazedian will talk about the friendly relationship between the Baha’i temple and the municipality of Haifa, where it is located.
Stiller said Israeli Cultural Day is a great opportunity to reach Jews who are already connected to Israel, as well as those who know little about the Jewish state, beyond what they see in the newspapers.
“There are some 1,000 to 2,000 county workers who may never have been exposed to Israeli culture before,” she said.
Israeli Cultural Day will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, at the County Government Center, 70 West Hedding St., San Jose. Information: (650) 961-1922