2
Jun/18

70 AND SABABA! CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE

2
Jun/18

celebrate israel

CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
57th to 74th St. up Fifth Ave.
Sunday, June 4, free, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
celebrateisraelny.org

On May 14, 1948, “The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel” proclaimed, “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” Israel’s existence has been fraught with controversy since the very beginning, and there have been recent issues involving President Trump and the move of the embassy to Jerusalem, but the nation perseveres, and on June 3 its seventieth birthday will be honored with the annual Celebrate Israel Parade. This year’s theme is “70 and Sababa!” As the official parade website explains, “When Israelis say something is Sababa, they mean it’s awesome, fantastic, super! In just seventy years, this tiny, arid country with few natural resources has grown, developed, and prospered beyond belief and expectation. With incredible landscapes and seascapes, gigantic skyscrapers and beautiful cities, amazing technological, medical, and agricultural advancements, Israelis have been at the forefront of it all, and the whole world has benefited. Israel: You are Sababa!”

On Sunday, tens of thousands of marchers are expected to make their way from Fifty-Seventh to Seventy-Fourth St. up Fifth Ave. Among the performers will be Ninet Tayeb, Omri Anghel, Paparim Ensemble Dancers from the Israeli Dance Institute, Kosha Dillz, Mitzvah Clowns, Milk & Honeys, Yarden Klayman, Six13, Lipa Schmeltzer, SOULFARM, Yakov Yavno, and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene playing excerpts from its upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof. The grand marshals are Dina and Jonathan Leader, with honorary grand marshals Jonathan Lipnicki, Siggy Flicker, Eyal Shani, Lipa Schmeltzer, and Liel Leibovitz. Special guests include members of the Israeli Knesset and numerous American public officials. In addition, the unaffiliated Israel Day Concert in Central Park is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary with a free show in Rumsey Playfield (2:30–7:00) that this year pays tribute to the seventieth birthday of the State of Israel. There will be live performances and speeches by Izzy Kiefe, Marcos Molinaro. Rita Cosby, Jules Wainstein, Chele Farley, Siggy Flicker, Chaim Kiss, Mordechai Shapiro, Ken Abramowitz, Helen Freedman, Aaron Klein, David Weprin, Rory Lancman, Stacy Kessler, Morton Davis, Martin Oliner, Mort Klein, Pete Hegseth, Danny Danon, Dani Dayan, Yehuda Glick, Tal Vaknin, Shuali Muallem, Oded Forer, Yoel Hasson, Avraham Fried, Shlomie Dachs, and more.