Congrats Israel @ 60

Editorial

It was one of the most ambitious community celebrations ever attempted in the Vancouver Jewish community. Sunday's Israel @ 60 celebration went off without a single hitch, the attendance was excellent, the setting spectacular and even the weather co-operated beyond wildest hopes.

Most impressive of all was the people power that made the entire event one that will go down in the annals of this community as one of the most enjoyable and meaningful festivals our community has put on. The mobilization of volunteer effort was hugely impressive. Not only did the organizers – the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver – turn out throngs of apparently indefatigable helpers, a great number of community organizations erected impressive displays and staffed them with an additional army of volunteers. The list of contributors to this event was lengthy.

And the public came. Aided by the weather – and the vision of the North Shore mountains rising above Burrard Inlet – waves of Jewish and non-Jewish Vancouverites, politicians and non-politicians, poured into the festival site, downing heavenly blintzes and tasty falafels (among other Jewish and Israeli comestibles), surveying the range of informative displays, grooving to the sounds of Israeli and local talent and scooping up Judaica and works by Jewish artists.

It's not every day that this community leaves an event – any event – with apparently unanimous rave reviews. Kol hakavod to the JCCGV's Debbie Tabenkin and her team, whose management of an incredibly daunting undertaking was executed magnificently, with the support of, well, a community behind her.

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