Eighteen

BREAKING: @LASchools just unanimously passed the first-ever resolution recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage Month. Thank you @NickMelvoinBD4 for introducing this resolution and recommending @eighteenorg’s new educational series, “What Is”, as a classroom resource. The best way to combat antisemitism is through education.

Read the resolution ⬇️

BREAKING: @LASchools just unanimously passed the first-ever resolution recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage Month. Thank you @NickMelvoinBD4 for introducing this resolution and recommending @eighteenorg’s new educational series, “What Is”, as a classroom resource. The best way to combat antisemitism is through education.

Eighteen Foundation seeks to fight antisemitism, defend Israel, and inspire Jewish pride.

I was honored to be invited to participate in an extraordinary event: Letters Light and Love to raise funds for Kibbutz Beeri. The event was beyond moving. A group of incredible Jews and allies, reading letters and singing songs telling Jewish stories throughout history, near and far. The stage at Carnegie Hall was electric. I was also honored to have been asked to sing this epic song.. And quite mortified if I’m honest. My life works in mysterious ways, often moving from 0 to 100 in a blink of an eye. I used to be a singer… If you’re an Israeli, you might even remember that. But I haven’t done that in years and to be thrown onto stage at Carnegie Hall, with THAT song of all songs, felt like a huge responsibility. So I educated myself about the history of this beautiful anthem of hope. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg — two sons of Jewish immigrants who escaped pogroms in Eastern Europe. And of course it became the marquee song for the movie The Wizard of Oz. It talks about the longing for a home… For a world that is better. For a “land that I dreamed of once in a lullaby”… when you understand the history of these two extraordinary Jewish people and their families, you can understand the song better. You can also feel the direct line between the old Jerusalem, the programs in Europe, the establishment of the state of Israel, the devastation of Kibbutz Beeri, and the hope that we all feel today when we celebrate 78 years of renewed independence in our indigenous homeland. We are an unbroken chain. This song, like our past and our future, like every Jewish person and every human around the world, is both darkness and lightness, hardships and triumphs, joy and pain. And above all - we keep going. We never stop. And we never will. Happy birthday, Israel. I love you.

Tonight marks the beginning of Memorial Day in Israel, in which the country mourns the soldiers who died defending their country and the civilians murdered in terror attacks. #YomHazikaron Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90