Long Beach Temple celebrates Irish History Month

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There was a little bit of the green at Temple Emanu-El of Long Beach last Friday as the temple celebrated “Shabbat for Irish History Month” to connect the Jewish and Irish communities on the barrier island.

“It’s really such an important slice of our mission to really demonstrate and reach out to all parts of the community,” Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft, the temple’s spiritual leader, said. “Long Beach has a very strong Italian community, Irish, African American, Latino, Asian and so many others. So in this age of divisiveness, we really want to create togetherness.”

Zanerhaft said an Irish heritage Shabbat during March was one of those things that can help make those connections.

The Hagen-Kavanagh School of Irish Dance put on a performance. The school has two locations in Long Beach and Rockville Centre.

“This year’s turnout was above our average attendance,” Zanerhaft said. “Especially with the dancers, who are young girls and had friends in the congregation. Because of that, we had a little bit of a younger crowd which was very nice to see.”

Zanerhaft talked about how Jewish refugees ended up in Ireland in the 1800s. They immigrated from Germany, Latvia and Lithuania to Ireland. He also noted how Dublin’s first Jewish Lord Mayor, Robert Briscoe, rose to prominence as well as pointing out Israel’s sixth President, Chaim Herzegovina was born and raised in Belfast. 

“We are trying to bring all different people together in our city,” Zanerhaft said in a previous interview. “It’s about building bridges and showing that our similarities outweigh our differences. The temple continues to build bridges with all segments of our community, and we are proud of our mission to accentuate our similarities and bring all people together in fellowship and understanding”.

Cantor Lisa Klinger-Kantor sang Danny Boy last year, an iconic and meaningful song in the Irish community, during the worship period.

“For a lot of the kids there, the dancers and their parents, it was their first time in a Jewish house of worship,” Zanerhaft said. “We wanted to create a comfort level to where everyone can feel comfortable here.”