Somehow Jon's program was able to get twelve tickets to the dress rehearsal of the offical Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration, so tonight he and several classmates made their way back to Har Herzl. They arrived at 5:45 to get seats together, and at 8 p.m. the program began. It was a complete run-through of the presentation that will be nationally televised on Wednesday night, only with a different guest of honor delivering the address.
The bleachers were packed with flag-waving celebrants, and none (that Jon spoke to, anyways) left disappointed. The ninety minute event, whose theme was "Israel's Children", was made up of dances, acrobatics, daglanut (flag waving) by both the military and youth group representatives, speeches, videos, music, and of course torch-lighting. The event was a masterpiece of propaganda meeting entertainment, and although there were several moments of overly-militaristic grandstanding, the artistry and excitement of the performers made the entire spectacle spectacular. Jon now understands why Israelis in North American educational institutions love to plan assemblies - having grown up with fantastic displays of patriotism like this, prancing and setting things on fire is in their blood.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment