Photo courtesy of Masa Israel Journey
Masa Israel Journey kicked off the 2018 General Assembly (GA) in musical style Oct. 22 with a big song-and-dance celebration in Tel Aviv.
The organization that prides itself on staging immersive international experiences in Israel for adults ages 18 to 30 brought 3,000 Masa participants and other GA attendees to Yarkon Park to dance to Clean Bandit’s chart-topping song, “Rather Be.”
Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency; Michael Siegal, chair of the board of trustees of Jewish Agency for Israel; and Rabbi Dave Felsenthal, chief innovation officer of Our Services (OU) were among those in attendance.
The event is inspired by the fast-growing movement called Koolulam, which “recruits large and diverse groups of Israelis to sing in unison and share viral videos of the mass singing events on social media,” according to a statement from Masa Israel Journey.
This year’s GA theme is “Israel and the Diaspora: We Need to Talk.” Masa hopes that the event can bring together people through one universal language: music.
“Music is and has always been one of society’s greatest connectors,” Masa CEO Liran Avisar Ben-Horin said in a statement. “Our event promises to provide a groundbreaking moment of solidarity so desperately needed in the Jewish world today.”
Masa, since its birth in 2004, has served more than 120,000 young people from more than 60 countries offering programs that inform Jewish young adults about Israeli culture, society, history and politics.
Recently, anti-Semitism on college campuses and around the world created a growing gap between Israel and the Diaspora. Ben-Horin hopes that this musical initiative unites the Jewish communities all around the world.
“The effort to unite thousands of Jews in song will underscore the continued and crucial partnership between Jewish Federations, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Masa Israel Journey, who continue to come together to invest in the next generation of Jewish leaders in North America, Israel, and worldwide,” Ben-Horin said.
