Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • March 28, 2012 Glen Rock On Sunday, April 22, the Glen Rock Jewish Center will host a screening of “My Brother’s Keeper,” a documentary film about Israel’s fight for independence and a personal appearance by Director Ira Feinberg, who is a veteran of Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. This special presentation will be held at 3 p.m. at 682 Harristown Road, Glen Rock. The men and women who established the State of Israel, Feinberg to appear at screening of documentary despite insurmountable odds and sacrifice, are the subject of the gripping documentary. This 2010 film tells Israel’s story of 1948 through the eyes and ears of those who were there, combining historical footage with interviews filmed during the 60th Independence Day Anniversary Celebration in Israel. The film captures the untold stories of volunteers from all over the world who came to Israel after World War II and became the first commanders of the Ira Feinberg as a soldier in the 1940s. Inset: Feinberg as he appears today. Israeli Defense Forces. The one-hour film will be followed by a discussion with Feinberg. At the age of 17, Feinberg was the first American to enlist in the Palmach (Israel’s first combat forces) from the group sent by Land and Labor, the cover organization administrating and organizing American and Canadian volunteers to serve in Israel’s fledgling army. Born in 1930, Feinberg grew up in the Bronx and Brooklyn. In 1947, he enlisted in the Haganah. The Zionist Council in Brooklyn rejected his application, citing his youth and inexperience. Determined to be part of the fight for Israel’s survival, Feinberg circumvented the Zionist Council by joining a Canadian contingent of volunteers. Dispatched to southern France, he arrived in Israel in April of 1948. Together with four Canadian comrades, he joined the First Battalion Palmach in Rosh Pinah in northern Israel. After only five days of military training, Feinberg was thrown into combat and survived a deadly ambush. He later volunteered to serve as a machine gunner in the Jerusalem front in the fourth Battalion Palmach, Haportzim, on Israel’s “Burma Road,” and helped liberate the besieged city of Jerusalem of 90,000 residents isolated from the rest of Israel. Upon returning to the United States, Feinberg attended Brandeis University for two years and, in 1950, was drafted into the American Army during the Korean War. He enlisted for a three-year tour of duty where he graduated from the Army Language School in Monterey with a fluency in both Arabic and Hebrew. After his honorable discharge from the Unites States Army, he attended Queens College and graduated in 1958 with a BA in speech/theater. He later attended the Stern School of Business MBA program. As a professional spokesperson for the United Jewish Appeal and Israel Bonds, he raised millions of dollars, sharing the platform with senators, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices. In 1960, he entered the Soviet Union and reported on his clandestine findings of the conditions of Soviet Jewry. He visited Tunisia, Morocco, and covered the Algerian War. He wrote about the need for Jewish immigration from both North Africa and the Soviet Union to Israel, and that (continued on page 11)