Enthusiastic Israel supporters showed up by the thousands to participate in and to watch the Celebrate Israel Parade on Sunday, June 3. But far and away, the largest group of marchers at this year’s parade was comprised of students, faculty, and other members of the Yeshiva University community. Over 1,500 marched the parade route from West 58th Street to West 74th Street in Manhattan amidst singing, dancing, and music.
The Yeshiva University group included marchers from Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, the Yeshiva University High Schools, Sy Syms Business School and YU’s Executive MBA Program, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Cardozo School of Law and various other YU graduate schools. In addition, the rabbinical seminaries, yeshiva, and kollels were represented by the various roshei yeshiva (yeshiva heads). The front of the YU marching group included Rabbi Dovid Miller, Mashgiach Ruchani of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), Rabbi Mordechai Tendler, rosh yeshiva at RIETS and Rabbi Yona Reiss, dean of RIETS.
A decorative float moved along with the group, and YU’s president, Mr. Richard Joel, walked along with the float while continually dodging in and out of the crowds along Fifth Avenue, shaking hands with alumni and parents and family members of YU students who lined the street.
The preparation for the parade generally starts quite early for YU as the June event is treated as an essential rite for students of Yeshiva University— undergraduates, in particular. A spokesman for Yeshiva University said: “What is truly amazing is that this year’s parade took place a week after school ended and yet the students took off from their vacation and rallied together and came out on their own time.”
In a commencement speech at YU recently, Ambassador Yehuda Avner, author of the Prime Ministers, reminded the crowd wherever he goes in Israel, he finds more graduates of Yeshiva University than of any other institution of higher learning outside Israel.