Hi All,

It was wonderful and heartwarming to see the whole Jewish community come together last night, especially for such a happy occasion.  I think you will all agree that it was a tremendous success. 

Elise and Suli did an incredible job pulling together such a spectacular event.  Many people helped them, but I am particularly proud of the contribution of our very own Israeli-Contingent, which for the first time came together as a distinct group.  We set ourselves the challenging goals of bringing out the Israelis and adding an Israeli flavor to the event.  As attested to by the sound of Hebrew heard everywhere, Israelis came out in droves.  Upbeat Israeli music filled the air and got people shaking and moving.  Everyone, kids and adults had fun with the Israeli dancing.  We also spearheaded an initiative to create an Israeli Chavurah for our area, a sort of virtual Israeli Center.  I think we succeeded in both our goals!

Thank you Nava and Nitzy for an outstanding (and time consuming) job with the music.  It added tremendously to the atmosphere and everyone loved it.  (Some asked where they can buy the CD!)

Thank you Iris, Ronen and Andrew for the beautiful Hebrew signs and for setting up the sign-up stations.

Thank you Vardit for so ably coordinating the volunteers and to Hillit, Iris, Moti, Miki, Anat, Merav, Hagit, Arnon, Eitan & Tal, and the Israeli emissaries who manned the stations.  It all worked beautifully. 

Thank you to all those involved in our task-force, those who came to our 'spirited' meetings and those who could not come but sent encouraging emails and offers of help.  Every little bit helped. 

Looking ahead, please watch out for the follow-up to the Israel Connection.  We would like to put together a small task-force/board to set up the group and brainstorm ideas on 'where to go from here'?

Toda le'kulam for a job well done.

Relly
226-8739

P.S. Checkout the photos I uploaded onto at the Israel60 group's website:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/israel60ct/
If you have photos, please upload them or email them to me to upload.