Over the past few years, the Negev district branch of the Histadrut has sponsored nearly a dozen cultural evening “tributes” to various ethnic communities.

Negev residents originating in Tunis, India, Iraq, Russia, Iran, South America, Yemen, the Caucases (Kavkazi), Romania and Morocco have all had their turn (sometimes more than one turn) to produce musical presentations and salutes to the community, events which were often accompanied by culinary offerings.

Last month, it was the turn of the Anglo community with, "A Tribute to the English-Speaking Community of Beer Sheva and the Negev." This was the first time the contribution of area English speakers has been officially recognized.

There is a significant Anglo presence in Beersheva and the Negev at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in the medical and teaching professions, agriculture, the arts and in local industry. But English-speakers here are hardly similar to other ethnic groups.

As Amotz Asa-el commented in a recent Jerusalem Post article on the Anglo Saxon contribution to the country, “the lack of a group identity among Israel's Anglos runs so deep that, unlike the members of so many other ethnic groups, they never gauge the success of their absorption by counting the number of prominent Israelis who emerged from their tribe.”

Nevertheless, when Negev district Histadrut chairman Meir Babayof approached the Light Opera Group of the Negev (LOGON) to produce a tribute to the region's Anglo community, the veteran English-speaking musical theater group leapt at the chance. Babayof admits that before they started planning the evening he hadn’t realized there were so many residents of the Negev who come from English-speaking countries.

“We've sponsored evenings for every ethnic

group there is in the Negev, some of them twice,” says Babayof. “Finally, we ran out of groups. I was wracking my brains trying to think of who else we could approach, and then I remembered that there's a group of people here who seem to get along without any help, who are educated and generally in the higher socio-economic level.”

He turned to LOGON, which every year leases the Histadrut-owned Hehal HaTarbut hall in Beersheva for its annual musical show.

That was how it happened that the English-speaking community went ethnic for the evening, (though without the culinary aspect).

Community members who have made outsanding contibutions were awarded certificates of recognition by the Histradut, and LOGON provided the entertainment, a musical extravaganza.

LOGON itself has a unique place, not only in the South, but the entire country. Founded in Omer in 1981 by a small group of enthusiasts to perform Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, LOGON today produces an annual Broadway musical, performed throughout the country. It has also provided a musical “family” for many new immigrants from the English-speaking world.

The show offered selections from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and Broadway musicals, including The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, Hair, The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, Singin’ in the Rain, Pajama Game, and Most Happy Fella.

Stephen Howden, co-producer and a soloist, says the performers first wanted to perform their traditional repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

“Although for one reason or another we no longer put on G&S as full productions anymore, our audience still wants to see LOGON perform what it was founded to do. That part was decided on before anything else.”

“Then we decided to stage what we considered highlights of the Broadway shows we’ve produced over the years since LOGON began performing musicals,” says Howden, whose wife Rosa, directed and choreographered. “We also wanted to perform some numbers LOGON could never hope to perform, either because they are too off-the-wall, or too ambitious, like The Rocky Horror Show.

For 2004, LOGON’s 2004 production will be Annie Get Your Gun, to open February 9. This will be the first time the 1999 Broadway revival version of the show will be performed in Israel.

Honored at the Salute were psychiatrist Prof. Haim Belmaker, regional medical officer Dr. Ilana Belmaker, composer Max Stern and community activists Allan and Sheila Warshawsky. A joint award was also presented to Brenda Glick, Hannah Horowitz, Shoshana Silbert and Miriam Rottenberg for their work in establishing the charity Keren Yad l’Chaim which helps local residents in need.

Dr Ilana Belmaker, the Ministry of Health regional medical officer, has implemented health care program for the Bedouin, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia and development town residents. A BGU senior lecturer, she is known for her work in maternal healthcare, infectious diseases and environmental health.

Professor Haim Belmaker, a leading world experts in the field of manic depression, is a BGU professor of psychiatry and deputy head of the Beersheba Mental Health Center. He served several terms as the chair of the psychiatry department, and held important positions in national and international organizations in biological psychiatry. The Belmakers – of St. Louis, Missouri and Miami, Florida – arrived in 1974.

Allan Warshavsky was a founding member of ICN, the first business incubator in Israel, promoting entrepreneurship among new immigrants

and young industrialists. He serves on the BGU Board of Governors and is a former member of the Omer local council. Sheila Warshavsky, an active member of the BGU Center for Women’s Health Research, was a founder of the Women’s Network in the Negev and is very involved in promoting women’s health in the Negev. Coming from Long Island, New York in 1979, they both strongly encourage improvement of the Negev's quality of life.

Anglos have long held the tradition of volunteering. Keren Yad L’Chaim, was founded by four Beersheva women in the 1970s to help immigrants from the CIS, and today helps a wide range of local residents in distress.

Brenda Glick came on aliya from Cincinnati, Ohio in 1973; Hannah Horowitz arrived from London, UK in 1958 and Shoshana Silbert came from New York City in 1957. Polish-born Miriam Rotenberg was an "honorary" Anglo for the evening. Together, the four women have more than 150 grandchildren, all of whom are in Israel.

Composer and conductor Max Stern has written more than 40 musical works, performed by Israel’s leading orchestras. Stern, from New York, established a music conservatory in Yeruham, and created the BGU music department.

Stern derives much of the inspiration for his symphonic and choral works from biblical sources, including Baalam and the Ass, for which he received the 1990 Lieberson Prize, and Beresheet. Stern also writes music reviews for the Jerusalem Post.

The event was a wonderful way to show appreciation for a group of people who have made such important contributions to their community.