“The question that must be asked,” he says, “is: To what extent can American Jews sustain an interest in Israel when the real things that bother Jews today are not external but internal? The meaning of Israel has been that in a pinch, Jews can rely only on themselves. We have not sufficiently explored what we share in common as Jews. Are we heirs to a common tradition of Judaism? Do we share a set of beliefs and a value system? Or are we so radically different now that we share nothing more than the fact that a common fate may await us?”

Several weeks after the dinner at Lauder’s apartment, Adelson traveled to Israel. Doing the project right would require prodigious amounts of time -- and, of course, prodigious amounts of money -- and he wanted to gauge the level of commitment. After meeting with Netanyahu and other top officials in Jerusalem, his fears were allayed. “I left feeling much more comfortable,” Adelson told me from his ranch in Aspen. “The prime minister said to me that he believed the project was important and he was behind us on it.”

With Netanyahu’s backing, Adelson returned to Los Angeles and went to work. He didn’t wait for any money to come from Israel. He didn’t even wait for a formal written confirmation. He couldn’t afford to. Time was critical. They had only eighteen months, and he and Josephson had already begun developing American-style megaplans for the celebration.

There would be a huge stadium show featuring lots of A-list celebrities televised live by satellite from Ramat Gan stadium, just outside Tel Aviv, to countries around the world. Corporate sponsorships would be sold, just as they are at the Olympics. And the show would be produced by David Wolper and Gary Smith, Hollywood veterans whose experience with extravaganzas included the opening ceremonies at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Elie Wiesel, named a co-chairman of the anniversary effort, would head a Nobel-laureate committee and help organize a gathering of Jewish Nobel Prize winners in Israel. NBA commissioner David Stern was enlisted to head up a sports committee. Donna Karan would handle participation in the fashion community; Ronald Lauder, in the art world. Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, would preside over the gathering of Jewish parliamentarians from around the world. In London, Lord Jacob Rothschild would help with British participation. The world’s top Jewish doctors and researchers would also be brought together in Israel for seminars on medicine. Likewise Jewish lawyers. And on and on it went.

But the brightest jewel in this glittering array was an ambitious plan to bring 50,000 Jewish teenagers to Israel -- mostly Americans -- for at least a month this summer. To assist in planning the airlift and securing the best air fares, United Airlines CEO Gerald Greenwald signed on to help.

“This was really the most meaningful thing we were working on,” says Adelson. “You know, people of my generation all grew up with Israel and its battle for independence and the wars for its survival. It’s bred into us. But for the younger people, who haven’t been through those days, it’s much more difficult to instill these same kinds of feelings in them for Israel.”

Quickly, however, there were warning signs that all was not what it should be on the Israeli side. Shortly after Josephson and Adelson agreed to become co-chairs of the anniversary committee, they found out that Edgar Bronfman had also agreed to take the job. It had been offered to him by Israeli foreign minister David Levy. Eager to avoid a public conflict, Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, graciously bowed out.

But no sooner had that obstacle been removed than other, larger ones loomed. Implementing the extravagant plans laid out by Josephson and Adelson required staff. People were needed to write letters, work on scheduling, make phone calls, handle travel arrangements, and tend to the thousands of details that go into pulling a project like this together. Adelson decided he couldn’t wait for money to come from Israel. So he began to do what needed to be done, using his own money.

“I had a lot of faith,” Adelson says. “I’ve been involved with Israel for years. Sometimes it gets a little complicated over there, but sooner or later they seem to do the right thing. And during this period, I was in Israel every six or eight weeks, and Marvin and I were meeting with all kinds of significant people: The president. The finance minister. The tourism minister. We continued to get approvals, and we continued to get told we should go ahead and do these things.”