Salute to Israel Parade 2009

Above: Israel pride. That's me in the middle.

Above: The EL AL Airline float.

Above: Super Israel Girl

Above: A clever passerby placed an Israeli flag into the arms of a Central Park statue

Above: The grand finale float.

My friend, Mike, invited me to the Salute to Israel Parade this year, and I was glad to go. While there, I learned a little about Israel, but a lot more about Judaism. Here are the top three new facts that I learned... ok, they may not be facts, but they were new pieces of information lodged into my head via conversation:

• Married Jewish men and women are not allowed to physically touch other men and women. So, let's take "Jane" for example and say she's a married Jew. She is not allowed to touch anyone except her husband. That is, if she's really religious.
• Jewish women must cover their heads after marriage. Some women do not like to wear the head coverings, so they choose to wear wigs instead. That is why so many Jewish women wear large headbands (to cover their wig tops).
• The most popular Israeli airline is called EL AL.

At the end of the parade, we went to the Israel Day Concert, where it began to rain and a falafel sandwich put me out $5.

I'd say the parade was a success. :-) After witnessing such peace and happiness, I was warned that the National Puerto Rican Day Parade is a total disaster. Last year, it apparently resulted in rape, assault, sexual harassment, and the sale of candy that contained marijuana. Wow. I'm not sure if I'll be going to that one, but if anyone's interested, it's on June 14th, 2009 at 11am, along Fifth Avenue (from 44th Street to 86th Street.

Shalom!