Atlanta Reflects on Israel@70
Young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish, people share what Israel means to them.

Israel marks its 70th birthday on Yom HaAtzmaut, which falls on April 18 and 19, then can celebrate again on May 14, the anniversary on the secular calendar of David Ben-Gurion’s announcement of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Part of the story of the modern state’s first 70 years is its ever-strengthening connection to Atlanta and the Southeast. So the AJT asked Jews and non-Jews, young and old, Atlanta residents and some who made aliyah, a question that is both simple and complex: “What does Israel mean to you?”
We sought a range of views with one limitation: Everyone had to love Israel. This is, after all, a celebration.
We could have filled this section with thoughtful responses from Atlanta’s pulpit rabbis, but as much as we value and usually welcome their opinions, we decided to seek the views of more laymen and skipped active congregational rabbis with the exception of Mendy Gurary, whose Chabad center targets his fellow Israelis.
We’ve included the dean of Atlanta rabbis, Alvin Sugarman, and asked for responses from Atlanta rabbis who made aliyah. Not everyone had the time to respond at this busy time of year.
Here are 60 answers from 63 people (including three couples). Click on the name to read the response.
- Aliza Yona Abusch-Magder
- Scott Allen
- Marita Anderson
- Opher Aviran
- Tali Barel
- Mort and Edie Barr
- Chuck Berk
- Perry and Shirley Brickman
- Cobi Cohen
- David R. Cohen
- Michael J. Coles
- David Fisher
- Rabbi Adam Frank
- Lois Frank
- Sherry Z. Frank
- Robbie Friedmann
- Rabbi Aaron Fruchtman
- Newt Gingrich
- Beth Gluck
- Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
- Rabbi Mendy Gurary
- Arnold Heller
- Jan Jaben-Eilon
- Michael Jacobson
- Meliss Jakubovic
- Wendy Kalman
- Daniel Kaufman
- Mitchell Kaye
- Steve Labovitz
- Rachel LaVictoire
- Eti Lazarian
- Zack Leitz
- Michael A. Leven
- Bernie Marcus
- LaVon Mercer
- Rachel M. Miller
- Eran Mordel
- Sam Olens
- Yossi Ovadia
- Beth Paradies
- Josh Pastner
- Eyal and Aviva Postelnik
- Norman Radow
- Lois Reitzes
- A.J. Robinson
- Judy Robkin
- Doug Ross
- Maayan Schoen
- Rachel Schonberger
- Steve Selig
- Roey Shoshan
- Rabbi Russ Shulkes
- Garry Sobel
- Harry Stern
- Rabbi Alvin M. Sugarman
- Guy Tessler
- Rachel Wasserman
- Dov Wilker
- Patrice Worthy
- Jessica Katz Yonatan
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