JCC Maccabi ArtsFest® and JWB Jewish
Chaplains Council Join to Honor Jewish Marine Killed in Iraq
Participants in JCC Maccabi ArtsFest®
in Boca Raton, Florida the first week in August dedicated
the community service portion of their program to U.S. Army
PFC Daniel Agami, who was tragically killed in action due
to an IED attack while on patrol in northern Baghdad, Iraq
on June 21, 2007. Private Agami lived in Boca Raton with his
family, and had been home just a few weeks earlier.
Agami's family was presented with multiple
medals including the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Good
Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal,
the Iraqi Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman’s
Badge. Daniel was also posthumously promoted from Private
First Class to the rank of Specialist.
Rabbi Moishe Denberg of Chabad, who knew Agami
personally, spoke first at the remembrance program. Rabbi
Barry Baron, assistant director of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council,
spoke next, addressing himself to the teens, explaining the
impact of military life on Jewish men and women in the armed
forces. A Jewish chaplain helps connect these service members
to the Jewish calendar, and to the community they’ve
left behind, he told them.
Robin Eisenberg, director of Jewish learning
and living at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton facilitated a discussion
of Jewish views on war and peace, and then the teens wrote
about issues that were important to them. The teens put together
gift packages of candies, dried apples and honey, and New
Year’s cards for Jewish military personnel. They wrote
personal letters as well, and included Polaroid photos of
themselves. Finally, Beth Schaefer, the artist-in-residence
in vocal music at ArtsFest sang songs of peace with the teens.
JCC Maccabi ArtsFest is a five-day event
for Jewish teens who are interested in the arts. The event
features home hospitality, renowned artists in various disciplines,
and a gala ending performance. More information is available
at www.jccmaccabiartsfest.org.
Reporters/Editors: For photographs and
sources for feature stories, call JCC Association Communications
Manager Miriam Rinn at (212) 786-5092 or e-mail miriam@jcca.org.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
520 8th Ave., NY, NY 10018
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
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