For thousands of years, Jews have lived all over the world, spread across five continents. In this dispersion, which was sometimes by choice and sometimes by obligation, the Jews began to create and to establish themselves. The history of Jewish heritage as a nation began outside the land of Israel; and the formation of Medinat Israel is the result of a series of relationships, contacts and migrations to and from the land of Israel.
From 1948 on, relations between Jews in each place where they settled and the Land of Israel and with the Israeli government have always been dynamic and changing according to the needs and ideologies of each generation.
The “Domim-aLike” project is a joint initiative of the reform movement and the Israeli government, which aims to express this unique, continuous and complex relationship through a new chag, a new festivity.
From 2015 (5776) a new holiday was added to the Jewish calendar: “The Day of Unity of the Diaspora and Israel”. This festival is celebrated every year on the seventh of the month of Cheshvan (the day when it is asked for rains in Israel, giving enough time for everyone to return to their places of origin safely, without rain, after the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Sukkot feast).
In this festival, thousands of years of Jewish life are extolled in different places on the planet, it is a day to recognize the contribution of Jews from all over the world and to draw attention to the wealth of the Jewish people and the existence of the state of Israel and, in by contrast, Israel’s importance and centrality to all Jews in the world,
Our Yozmah community, in Modi’in, Israel, is a sister kehila of several communities, mainly in North America, and we are visited by communities from all over the world. For this reason we believe that, it is our responsibility to create a link between the Jews of the world and to be a bridge of ideas and, experiences.
Every year at the nearest Kabbalah Shabbat on the seventh of Cheshvan, we invite the communities of the world to celebrate the fraternity together with our community, the challenge and the pride of being Jews. This year has been special, the current situation has brought us in an exciting way, most of the synagogues and people have become accustomed to using technological means to be connected. This new reality allowed us to celebrate on November 6 with more than 100 devices connected worldwide: Israel, United States, Argentina, Brazil, The Netherlands, Australia, among other countries.
We hope to continue celebrating together as a people for many more years, at a distance and very close!
Rabbi Nir Barkin
Rabbi Deby Grinberg-Wajnberg
Kehila Yozma www.yozma.org.il
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We invite you all to visit “Massechet”, a website created especially for that day. Access the link:
English:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/5044d6_a3cb07668dbc4467bafdc52e55626273.pdf
Spanish:
https://69d3e67f-7669-4306-841c-4cb78b900cf4.filesusr.com/ugd/92aff0_f7e47d3c650a40f19de1b6f536c840ea.pdf
Hebrew:
http://www.reform.org.il/heb/impj/report.asp?ContentID=3300
