Public Employee Press

Jewish Heritage:
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Israel

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The DC 37 Jewish Heritage Committee commemorated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel at its 14th annual celebration June 5 at the union.

“It’s the capacity for hope that has kept our spirit alive for thousands of years,” said Rabbi Dr. Alvin Kass in his invocation. Kass, a member of Local 299, is the chief chaplain of the New York City Police Dept. “We remain militant and unrepentant optimists,” said the 40-year NYPD veteran.

The committee honored the memory of deceased Holocaust survivor Eugene Gross. Gross’s wife Maria addressed participants about his incredible effort to live and her own six years in Nazi labor camps in Germany and Poland. SSEU Local 371 President Faye Moore and HRA Jewish Employees Association President Larry Glickson made a presentation to Maria and son Richard, an activist in SSEU Local 371.

The guest speaker was retired NYPD Detective Morty Dzikhansky, one of the city’s first Orthodox Jewish police officers, who was assigned to work with Israeli security forces. Dzikhansky also served on the Torah Task Force that investigated synagogue burnings.

Dzikhansky spent five years in Israel, where he studied anti-terrorist measures. He noted a difference between the police departments in Israel and New York City: “A police officer is not protected there, they are not unionized,” said the detective. “Thank God for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.”

DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray, speaking on behalf of DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, acknowledged “the enormous contribution made to the union and the labor movement as a whole by the Jewish community.”

The musical entertainment for the evening was provided by Israeli vocalist Magda Fishman and guitarist Avram Pengas, who played traditional music from Israel. Linda Feldman, coordinator of the event, was acknowledged for her hard work by Committee Chair Dr. Leonard Davidman, president of Psychologists Local 1189.