ESRA Modiin and Hadassah-Israel Levonah Chapter at the Modiin Hashoa event ... (from left) Jackie Klein, Sandy Regev, Ruchama Berkovitch, Mimi Nadelbach, Rivkah Cooper, Harriet Spitzer, Cynthia Barmor, Carol Lipman and Evelynne Cherny
In order not to split the community for such an important event in Israel’s calendar, ESRA Modiin joined with the English speaking Levonah Chapter of Hadassah-Israel in the city to organize an evening to mark Yom HaShoah. With the backing of the municipality, members of both organizations, many of whom are dual members, packed the room in the local cultural center to hear two amazing speakers talk about their two mothers who were in the Kindertransport prior to the outbreak of WWII.
Greetings were brought by Sami Attar, CEO of Sachlavim, the municipal organization which oversees all informal extracurricular activities in Modiin. He was standing in for Deputy Mayor Shlomo Passy, who had been called away at the last minute. Sami was followed by Carol Lipman, Membership Chair of ESRA Modiin, whose late mother, Eva Covo, an only child, had been spirited away to the UK as a teenager. Carol’s eloquent account of her mother’s enormous resilience was awe-inspiring and one could hear a pin drop throughout her moving account of their family’s story.
Left: Sachlavim CEO Sami Attar .. addressed the audience and (right) Mimi Nadelbach...lost her parents and a sister in the Holocaust
Following a brief Q&A session, Gerry Wine led the 100-strong gathering in a rousing rendition of Hatikvah- a perfect end to an extremely powerful and unforgettable evening.