The Parade is Coming!

For those of you who heard Rabbi Gold's speech, you remember his story about Charlie, the dog. Charlie was the dog of a family who lived near Rabbi Gold. When the family made Aliyah, they left Charlie behind. Some time later, the family bought Charlie a ticket to join them in Israel. When Rabbi Gold heard this, he says, "that dog is making Aliyah, and I'm not?!" And he decided to make Aliyah.

Just as Charlie never new that in his zechut, merit, Rabbi Gold's family made aliyah, so too, we never know it what little, subtle way, we can be a positive influence in someone's decision to make Aliyah.

Three years ago, before the Salute to Israel Parade, Yishai had been thinking about how we could make an impact at the parade. He came up with the idea of a simple, yet powerful, message. We'd bring a bunch of people who are in various stages of planning their Aliyah, whether they are going tomorrow, or looking to make Ailyah several years down the road, and we'd march down Fifth Avenue with signs that said, simply, "I'M MAKING ALIYAH." Nothing about America and Israel standing strong together, or about remembering our brothers and sisters in Israel. Just a simple, personal, message: "I'M MAKING ALIYAH." And when the hundreds of thousands of spectators see these young, enthusiastic Jews talking about Aliyah, they'll start to talk about it too.

We marched, and it was indeed amazing. There was so much energy and excitement as we marched, sang, and handed out flyers. We did it again last year, and handed out flyers, articles, and over 5000 "I'M MAKING ALIYAH" pins to close to a million spectators. The energy was unbelievable. And both years, we can proudly say that a significant number of people who marched with us are already living in Israel.

This year, it is again up to us to play the part of Charlie, and be that energetic Aliyah spark for so many people. The theme of this year's parade is, "Let's Go To Israel Now." What could be a better theme for us? In addition, while in the last two years we marched near the end of the parade, this year we will have a prime time location in the middle of the parade, at 1:00 pm, when the spectator crowd is at maximum capacity. We'll be marching with our trademark signs, handing out pins, and having a great time.

The parade is two weeks from today, Sunday, May 23rd. Check back on the site for our exact meeting time and location. Until then, I'd like to get a good count of who will be marching with us. Please get in touch with me at ben at kumah dot org, or post in the comments here, to let me know that you'll be joining us on May 23rd. This is our biggest opportunity of the year to make an impact; please make an effort to join us.