Bring Your Mom

On a balmy April morning, Yoram Gutman emerges from the depths of Pan Pacific Park’s evergreen bowl. You can tell he has a certain élan before he says a word. On this day, in his black motorist’s cap and an intense Technicolor shirt that rivals his bright blue eyes, the jovial Gutman could easily be a cheerful character in a scene from “My Little Chickadee,” stuck on the 18th hole somewhere with a wisecracking W.C. Fields.

In fact, some character comes with the territory when one assumes the responsibility Gutman undertakes every year. For the past five years, the 53-year-old Israeli native has overseen the annual Israel Independence Day Festival, one of the city’s biggest cultural events. As he leaves an on-site meeting to discuss the logistics behind this year’s 52nd anniversary celebration, Gutman is all enthusiasm; he looks out across the underpopulated park, and you can see him envisioning the entire event in his gaze, filling up the park with thousands of Angelenos.

The sanguine Gutman is sure that this year’s festival will better its predecessors, especially since the day-long celebration on May 14 will fall on Mother’s Day. Among Gutman’s ideas are a Mother’s Day essay contest, a fashion show for mothers and children, and flowers to be handed out to every mother who attends.

This happy coincidence is no conflict for Gutman; if anything, this year’s festival will only lend an extra layer of purpose to a day honoring mothers (and what could be more Jewish than honoring mothers?).

Pointing to the south end of the park, Gutman indicates where a children’s stage will be erected. He then gestures to the north side, where musical entertainment will be headlined by Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon, the Pini Cohen Band, the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble, and a reprise of the 50th anniversary festival’s sky-diving show.

Gutman also promises the same successful formula that has attracted in excess of 50,000 people to Pan Pacific Park in recent years: a Heritage Pavilion; a myriad of kiosks with all manner of ethnic foods, a children’s area featuring amusement park rides, entertainers and animals; and dozens of booths showcasing arts and crafts and a cross-section of local and national Jewish organizations and institutions (including, once again, The Jewish Journal).

Now the father of three grown children, Gutman had no thought of organizing such a major function when he immigrated to the United States in 1973. Yet he has managed to put together the festival, in addition to running an irrigation equipment company, since 1996, when he assumed the mantle of festival organizer from the original group of Israeli transplants who used to celebrate Independence Day informally and realized the appetite for such a celebration in L.A.’s Israeli community when their annual house parties attracted hundreds.

Over the years, the official Independence Day festival has jumped around, from the North Valley Jewish Community Center to Hansen Dam three years ago, steadily building its numbers into five digits. Two years ago, with the help of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles on the occasion of Israel’s 50th anniversary, the festival was able to make the leap to the expansive, centrally located 4.8-acre Pan Pacific Park, where it has remained ever since.

“The profile of this festival is very big,” Gutman says. “We learned that outside of Israel, this is the biggest Israeli Independence Day festival anywhere. And that includes New York.”

Gutman believes that the festival has developed over the years into a culturally significant institution for not only the local Israeli community but for all of L.A.’s 600,000 Jews. He has been working since November to shepherd this year’s festival to May 14, and he welcomes anyone in the community who would like to volunteer. He also points out that under the auspices of the “Promoting Israel Education and Cultural Fund,” all financial contributions to this nonprofit event are tax-deductible.

Gutman praises L.A.’s Cultural Affairs and Parks and Recreation departments for their assistance and support of the Israeli Festival, especially in light of some parking complications involving Farmer’s Market that are specific to this year’s event. Yet even as he works to eliminate the logistical bugs, Gutman promises to make this year’s festival the best one yet, and he has no regrets about the time and energy he has devoted to the festival over the years.

“It’s very gratifying, because the community really comes out and celebrates,” Gutman says.

For information on volunteering or contributing to Israel’s 52nd Annual Independence Day Festival, contact Yoram Gutman at (818) 757-0123 or go to www.Israelfestival.com.