19-20 Tishrei 5780
18-19 October 2019
TODAY’S BLOG
A Wild, Crazy, Wonderful Time At Thursday’s Jerusalem March!
It is always exciting and fun to support Israel. But in all my years of Israeli activism, nothing was as much fun as Thursday afternoon at the Jerusalem March.
My wife and I left Ashdod by bus for Jerusalem at about 12:30 pm, and arrived in our capital at 2:00. From there we walked downhill for 20 minutes until we reached Sacher Park which was packed with fervent Israel supporters from more than 100 countries all over the world ready for the Jerusalem march which was to begin at 3:00.
The first person we talked to outside the staging area. We became instant friends.
At first, things didn’t go so well. After surreptitiously squeezing our way through a police barricade in order to get to the entrance of the staging area, we were confronted by security guards who told us we could not get in without a security wrist band.
A photo I took from outside the staging area of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Can you recognize the flags from different countries?
Not only did we not have a security band but also there was no way to get one. Apparently, one needed to buy one beforehand from the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem which is one of the main participants in and organizers of the march.
After we said that we just wanted to walk in the parade, we were told by a policeman that we would have to wait until all of the groups in the park had started walking until we could tag along behind–and he pointed us to an area where we should go stand.
That didn’t sound very good to us as we stood in the middle of the intersection at Betzalel and Sderot Ben Tsvi streets. Fortunately, at that precise moment the parade began and the first groups–one from China and one from Bezeq (an Israeli phone service)–walked by.
Your humble servant’s wife standing where we shouldn’t have been–at the intersection of Betzalel and Sderot Ben Tsvi.
Your humble servant standing at the same place as the Chinese contingent started to walk by:
Then a policeman told us we had get off of the street and go over to the place that the other policeman had pointed to.
But then we saw the huge Brazilian contingent coming out of the park.
So, instead of following the policeman’s directions, we decided to crash the parade and join the Brazilians.
But on the way to joining the Brazilians, whom did I run into?
None other than my old friend, Knesset member and Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Amazingly, Yehuda still has his red hair.
In Delhi we have more than 200 orthopedic doctors and surgeons located in various areas here generic cheap viagra of a guy’s body may be one, medications number 2, drug exploitation number 3, immoderation in lots of numerous human behavior. This problem arises when a man is something that is very irritating and can hit a man’s life brand cialis for sale at any point of time. It is however, known to have side effects like hypertension. buy viagra italy Typical events they are used for include all events the American Quarter Horse online viagra uk is used for.
Then we entered the “country” of Brazil. Or maybe I should say the “moving party” of Brazil.
Just to get a sense of how large the Brazilian contingent was here is a photo while I was standing in the middle of the group–note the sea of yellow all the way far down the street:
What a wonderful group of people! What energy! What revelry! What noise! What happiness! What a hoot!
Amazingly, though we spoke no Portuguese and they spoke little English or Hebrew they decided to adopt us and made us “Brazilians for the day” after only a few minutes, giving us Brazilian flags and Brazilian soccer scarves.
For the next three miles, we sang and danced our way up and down through Betzalel, Hillel, and King David Streets toward the Begin Center.
All the while we were cheered by the thousands of Israelis and others from around the world that lined the route. Believe me, Brazilian enthusiasm is contagious and all-embracing. People were hanging out of apartment windows waving Brazilian flags, and “Brazil, Brazil” resounded through the streets.
Note there was a Brazilian man on the right (beside the yellow balloon) who was handing out Brazilian hats, flags, balloons, and candy.
But it wasn’t just about the Brazilians.
As I noted before, there were representatives from more than 100 countries. At the rear of the Brazilian group, I made friends with these Israel supporters from Portugal:
We became friends even though we could only speak one common language: “Israel”!
From Israel there were marching bands, dance troupes, IDF groups, and large inflatables:
You can’t see it from this angle but there was an American flag on this “Uncle Sam’s” hat.
All in all it was a veritable sea of humanity who only had one thing in common: a passionate love of Israel!
Click here for a final video of our Brazilian friends and others chanting “Israel”!
You must come to Jerusalem next year for the annual Feast of Tabernacles parade!
What unbelievable fun!!!
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.