Independence Day - Part II

We began our celebration of Yom Ha'Atzmaut this morning with prayers at Yakar, the Carlebach shul near our apartment. The service was pretty standard aside from Hallel, which lasted 45 minutes (as opposed to the standard 15). The tunes sung were all very nice, and a woman brought a bag of musical instruments with her, and so the service was accompanied by guitar, tambourines, and bells. It was a little weird and reminiscent of Jon's Debbie Friedman-infused childhood, but made the atmosphere very festive.

At 10:30 we made our way to the Jerusalem theater to make use of the Chidon HaTanach tickets we obtained yesterday. After making our way through tougher-than-airport security that included metal detectors, x-ray machines, chemical-detecting swatches, and interrogations, we got into the main auditorium, which quickly filled up. The stage had been turned into a neon and smoke covered game show set, with seats and microphones for the contestants and rows or tables for the judges. The host stood in front of a large video screen, which was used for film clips and interactive sections of the competition. The event itself was split into four rounds, each one thinning the crowd of contestants until only two remained, and those two went head-to-head. In between rounds the crowd was entertained by the army choir, dancers, and rock performances. We only knew the answers to a handful of questions, but watching the spectacle and an Ulpana girl make it all the way to fourth place made the whole thing a lot of fun.

In the afternoon we took a bus to Neve Daniel, where we met up with friends for the traditional Independence Day barbeque/mangal. Is charred flesh something all cultures associate with freedom and statehood, or an American import? Anyways, we had a lot of fun with our disposable charcoal bbq, and even got to roast blue and white marshmallows! How patriotic. Or unpatriotic, if you choose to dwell on the charring and melting. Fun either way.