President Reuven Rivlin To Host The Jerusalem Unity Prize Award Ceremony On Global Jewish Unity Day
Close to 2 million People to Participate in Unity Day Events Worldwide
On June 7th, winners of the Jerusalem Unity Prize will be awarded and honored at the annual Unity Day ceremony hosted by President Reuven Rivlin. Winning in the Global category of the prize is Limmud, the international network of Jewish learning communities.
The Jerusalem Unity Prize and the global Unity Day idea was developed by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, together with the Fraenkel, Shaer, and Ifrach families and GESHER, in memory of Naftali, Gil-ad and Eyal, the three teens who were kidnapped and subsequently murdered in the summer of 2014. Now in its third year, the 2017 prize will be awarded to initiatives and recipients in three categories: local, national and global.
The national prize winner has been awarded to Tzav Pius, which “works to develop an Israeli society in which Jews of differing perceptions along the secular-orthodox spectrum, share a strong commitment to Jewish and democratic values, thus encouraging social and educational changes”.
The award in the local category will be presented to two recipients. The first non-Jewish candidate for the prize, award recipient Dr. Janaan Frajj Falah has worked to advanced initiatives that bridge social gaps between women of diverse backgrounds in Israel’s North. The second winner is Kehilat Hadar, based in Haifa, which works to promote social and cultural harmony between local groups of various religions and ethnicities.
“Thank you for this prize, which honors Limmud’s 4,000 volunteers, who are strengthening Jewish life and creating unity through diversity,” said Limmud Chair David Hoffman. “Limmud communities bring together people of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate all things Jewish and dialogue in an inclusive, non-judgmental atmosphere. The Limmud model is also helping to unify Israelis.”
Since the first Global Unity Day was celebrated in 2015, its popularity exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. This year over 30 nations, 150 cities and 200 organizations across the globe will be participating in programming and events scheduled for schools, synagogues and community centers. While Israel remains the epicenter of the Unity Day activities with close to one million participating through the Ministry of Education and partnerships with the IDF and the local councils, an expected 900,000 global participants from communities as far away as Finland, Hong Kong, Russia and even Jamaica will be participating with no less passion.
Calling upon the global Jewish community, Racheli Fraenkel, mother of Naftali notes, “I don’t need the world to remember my son Naftali,” she said. “That will be the job of his family and friends. But what I do want is for the world to remember how the global community behaved during those eighteen days of uncertainty and to always remember the power we have as a people when we choose unity over division.”