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Info for 2007:
Twelve cities participated as listed, included speakers
and entertainers such as Rebbetzin Yungreis and the Kol Zimra Group,
also a Siyum on a new outreach Sefer Torah.
MARCH 1, 2005 – A HISTORIC
DATE FOR JEWISH UNITY
March 1, 2005 is a date
that will one day go down as a historic date for 21st century Jewry.
On that date, a group of visionary lay leaders, benefactors, and
celebrities joined together to launch an international movement
for one of the most central values in Jewish life - Jewish Unity.
Led by International Chairman Mortimer
B. Zuckerman, leaders across the country set out to bring the ideal
of a vibrant Jewish Community, united through the pursuit of Torah
knowledge, to every Jewish home in the world. Partnering with Community
Kollels and other Jewish organizations who have adopted “The Book”
as their primary cause, they scheduled Jewish Unity Live 2005 -
an evening in which to celebrate the unifying force of the Torah
on the same date as the 11th completion of “Daf Yomi”, or, the page-a-day
study of the entire Talmud. The Siyum HaShas, or, completion of
the Talmud, brought together over 45,000 Jews in New York’s Madison
Square Garden and New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena and an
estimated total of over 200,000 Jews around the world.
THOUSANDS JOIN SHARANSKY, WIESEL,
LIEBERMAN, AND ZUCKERMAN
Jewish Unity Live 2005
participants and supporters included Natan Sharansky, Dr. Elie Wiesel,
Senator Joseph and Hadassah Lieberman, international performer Dudu
Fisher, CBS correspondent Dan Raviv, actor Josh Malina, musicians
Peter Himmelman and Kol Zimra, actor Elliot Gould and others. Leading
organizations were Atlanta Scholars Kollel, Phoenix Community Kollel
and Torah Links of New Jersey. The program was also presented through
JEP Long Island, JETT- Ottawa and on U.S. military bases around
the world.
“Jewish Unity Live was and is about
sharing the feelings of joy and unity Torah study brings to every
Jew,” says Rabbi Zvi Holland, Dean of the Phoenix Community Kollel.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center and multiple winner of Academy Awards, called
the 2005 event “one of the most significant events in American Jewish
history; it shows the renaissance of the Jewish people after the
Holocaust not only in population but in terms of a recommitment
to their heritage.”
2006 – 6,571 JEWS PARTICIPATE
IN 11 LEARNING CENTERS
In late 2005, Jewish Unity Live launched a national learning
campaign designed to encourage new commitments to Jewish learning
and to celebrate those commitments. 6,571 Jews from across North
America celebrated their Jewish learning accomplishments in 11 JUL
events. By March 2006, Jewish Unity Live had expanded to include
Arizona, California, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ottawa,
Rhode Island, Texas, Toronto, and Washington.
JEWISH UNITY LIVE TODAY
In 2007, 12 partners
will be running Jewish Unity Live Celebrations of Jewish Learning,
where an estimated 10,000 Jews will celebrate the completion of
a Jewish text. These sites include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Lakewood,
Long Island, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Phoenix, Providence, Seattle,
St. Louis, and West Palm Beach.
Jewish Unity is a value worth striving
for, and Jewish study is the path towards its achievement. The visionary
lay leaders of Jewish Unity Live are looking for like-minded creative
dreamers who will share the goal and work hard to bring it to fruition.
For more information about joining the prestigious Scroll of Honor,
participating in existing JUL programs, or bringing Jewish Unity
Live to your town, please email info@jewishunitylive.com.
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