San Diego, CA (special) -- A Father's Day Rally for Israel has been scheduled at 3 p.m., Sunday, June 17, at Presidents Way and Park Avenue in Balboa Park by a grassroots group whose members say they are through being passive.

The group of community members came together Wednesday, June 2, to
brainstorm plans for rallying local support for Israel in the aftermath of
the recent Tel Aviv disco bombing and in the face of wavering resolve
among Diaspora Jews concerning travel to Israel.

The ad hoc group numbering about two dozen persons also decided to form
solidarity missions that would leave for Israel as soon as possible,
with one tentatively scheduled to depart June 24 and another early in July.

Among the strongest advocates for the rally were Conservative Rabbi
Arthur Zuckerman of Congregation Beth Am and Orthodox Rabbi Yeruchem
Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa. 

Zuckerman told a reporter after the meeting he was aware that Father's
Day may be a difficult time to get people to come to a public event. 
"There is no question there is a passivity," he said. "We're trying to wake
people up. I am hoping 500 to 1,000 people will be there. People have to
be aware of what is going on."

A representative of Israel's Consulate General will travel from Los
Angeles to San Diego to join members of San Diego's Jewish community at
the rally, an organizer said.

Eilfort planned to arrive in Israel even before the rally, but he circulated
word among Jewish publications of his strong support for the gathering. 

"Israel is in a state of war and we want everybody to know about it ..."
Eilfort said. "We want everybody to pray for the wellbeing of Israel! We
want everybody to demand fair media coverage for Israel! We want
everybody to try as never before to unify with their fellow Jews! We want
everybody to demand recognition of PA noncompliance with Oslo! We want
everybody to stand behind Israel by visiting, and giving their strong
financial & political support..."

Besides urging members of their own congregations to attend the rally,
the two rabbis have been asking other members of the rabbinate to spread
the word. Additionally, Zuckerman said he was putting together a phone
bank to have people in the community called to come to Balboa Park to
express their solidarity with Israel.

Hosted by Marilyn Lazarus and Raquel Unger at the Lazarus home in the
University City area, the grassroots meeting decided it must do more than
vent concerns for their brethren in Israel. 

"When I was in Israel, on a kibbutz, I remember learning the saying from
Rabbi Hillel," Lazarus said, referring to the ancient sage's three
questions: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for
myself, what am I? If not now, when?" 

She added with emotion: "Who are we - we sitting here - not doing
anything? We must do something!"

Prior to the meeting, she and Unger had contacted Yaacov Schneider, the
Israeli schaliach (emissary) based at the local United Jewish Federation
offices, about their concerns. Schneider suggested mounting a Community
Solidarity Mission.

The mission will spend two days in each of three areas, Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem and in Sha'ar Hanegev, the "sister community" adopted by the
San Diego UJF. 

Unger said that one of the key goals of the mission is to accomplish the
mitzvah of "visiting the bereaved," in this case the relatives of the
teenagers who perished in the disco bombing. "If we are one family then
we must go now and as quickly as possible," she said.

While in Tel Aviv, the group will visit the school which many of the
murdered teens had attended. "Even if you can't go on the mission, please
speak about it to others," Lazarus urged.

A separate San Diego Community Mission is planned for this Fall, but the
Summer Solidarity Mission is seen as a prelude rather than a competitor
to the larger mission. 

Schneider gave an impassioned plea for participation in not only the
mission, but for encouraging members of the Jewish community to
visit Israel, to continue participation in tours and vacations in Israel. 

Leslie Caspi, who recently returned from Israel, noted that half of the
participants in her group, comprised of American Jews, had canceled. 
"The Christians continue to come. The Japanese come. But where are
we?" 

Schneider said the cost to participants in the summer mission will be
"not more than $2,000, hopefully $1,500 including hotel accommodations." 

Consensus concerning a local gathering or rally was more difficult to
achieve. Although Zuckerman and Eilfort were enthusiastic, it was noted
that the UJF was not on board as a sponsor of such a rally at this time. 

"The rally that we had seven months ago, at the beginning of this whole
mess, was very well received," reported Tina Friedman, director of
Community Relations for the UJF. 

But another rally at this time does not have similar support, she indicated. 
"The leadership is of the opinion that there are other things that should be
of a priority," she said. In particular, she mentioned encouraging
participation in the Community Solidarity Mission. 

The differing approaches in some way mirrored the lack of unanimity
throughout the Diaspora over how to respond to the continuing violence
aimed against Israelis by Palestinian militants.

Normally, Judaism's Reform Movement sends about 1,500 youngsters a
year to Israel to get in touch with their roots and to have personal
experiences with their biblical heritage. This year, however, citing
concerns over safety in the wake of the Palestinian intifada, the Reform
movement of the United States has canceled the summer's program. 

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert reacted bitterly to the news, telling Israeli
media he planned to "cut off relations with the Reform movement in the
United States" because of its decision. 

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations,
said Olmert never had been much of a friend of the Reform movement
anyway in the various controversies over Jewish pluralism. He said a
group of Reform rabbis planned to have a convention in Israel, adding that
a decision by adult religious leaders to go to Israel was different than
asking someone's children to go into what may be an unsafe situation.

Citing security concerns, the United States delegation to the 16th
Maccabiah Games asked for a one-year-delay in the so-called "Jewish
Olympics," scheduled July 16 through 26 in Ramat Gan. Except for Israel,
which hosts the games, the United States delegation typically is the
largest to attend the competition of Jewish athletes from around the
world. Maccabi representatives met on June 10 to discuss the issue, but
at the request of the Israeli government delayed a decision concerning
postponement of the games, by at least one week.

Meanwhile, Rochelle Wilner, president of B'nai B'rith of Canada, announced
a special meeting of her organization's officers will be held in Jerusalem
this year, as part of a solidarity mission open to all Canadian Jews.

"Now more than ever it is important for Canadian Jews to express their
solidarity in tangible ways," Wilner said in a statement from Toronto.