JERUSALEM, Israel (Press Release) – A ceremony featuring the Declaration of Independence, read with traditional cantillation at the Egalitarian Kotel, will be broadcast this evening at 18:30 to Jewish communities around the world, with translation into multiple languages.
Now in its sixth year, the event has become a new tradition during the days between Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah VeHaGevurah) and Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’Atzmaut). It gives renewed expression to the vision of the Declaration and strengthens the connection between Jerusalem, Israel, and the Jewish world.
Hosted by the office of the Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Dr. Yizhar Hess, in partnership with more than 50 organizations, the ceremony brings together Jews from across the spectrum, rabbis, community leaders, and public figures, for a shared reading of Israel’s founding document. The choice of the Egalitarian Kotel reflects the spirit of the event: an open and inclusive space that gives expression to the values of equality and freedom anchored in the Declaration.
Reading the Declaration with traditional cantillation creates a bridge between past and present, between an ancient tradition and a modern national vision. This year, the event carries added weight in light of the complex security reality. Dozens of communities in Israel and around the world are taking part, including the Jewish community of Bondi Beach, Sydney, where a recent antisemitic attack claimed the lives of 15 people.
Participants include:
Rabbi Yoav Ende, founder and head of the Hanaton Educational Center in the Galilee
Rabbi Lana Zilberman Solowey, rabbi of Kehilat KAMATZ, the Reform community in Mevaseret Zion
Rabbi Dr. Sharon Zewde Shalom, expert in Ethiopian Jewry, rabbi and scholar
Fainy Sukenik, Haredi entrepreneur and activist
Rotem Yadlin, head of the Gezer Regional Council and Vice Chair of KKL-JNF
Representatives of the Jewish community of Shelter Rock, Roslyn, New York
Einat Halevi Levin, civil diplomacy activist and advisor at Hostage Aid Worldwide
Cantor Camilo Zeitoun, rabbinical student at the Schechter Institute, born in Brazil
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, head of the Sephardic Educational Center in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem
Joshua Zaid, representative of the Australian Zionist Youth Council, joining from Bondi Beach, Sydney
Dr. Shoshan Haran, social activist, survivor of captivity, and author of Mission in Captivity
Doron Rosenblum, grandson of Dr. Herzl Rosenblum, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence
*Dr. Yizhar Hess*, Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, said:
“Precisely in a time of security and social uncertainty, there is particular importance in gathering around the Declaration of Independence, the founding text of the State of Israel. Reading it together, between Holocaust Remembrance Day and Independence Day, connects pain with hope and reminds us that the vision of a Jewish and democratic state is an ongoing mission. The event at the Egalitarian Kotel also reflects a deep aspiration for broad Jewish peoplehood, in Israel and across the world, a place where different perspectives and streams stand together around a shared story.”
Eyal Ostrinsky, Chairman of KKL-JNF, added:
“In this meeting between Israel and the Jewish world, between the Western Wall and those who seek it, we give expression to Jewish peoplehood. It reflects the deep respect of Jewish communities around the world for Israel – the state, the land, and the soil. It also emphasizes the deep respect within Israeli society for our brothers and partners in the Diaspora, who sustain Jewish life and Zionism under often challenging conditions, with deep and ongoing commitment, as one people.”
*
Preceding provided by the World Zionist Organization.