Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Michael Oren and a Reverend Dance the Horah to Idan Raichel

Dinner before a pro-Israel event, $31. Subway uptown to mingle with Jews, $2.25. Watching Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and a reverend dance the horah in a cathedral to the sounds of The Idan Raichel Project…priceless.

Approximately 1,500 New Yorkers, Israelis and representatives from countries as obscure as Moldova showed up last night at New York’s Saint John the Divine Cathedral to celebrate Israel’s 62nd birthday and to catch a performance by the Israeli fusion band The Idan Raichel Project, at an event hosted by the Israeli Consulate.

What began as a somewhat serious event, ultimately devolved into a first-rate party. About an hour after the band took the stage, guests almost en masse ditched their seats for the dance floor. But just when things couldn’t get any more odd, Michael Oren — in a suit and tie with an Israeli and American flag pin on his lapel — and James Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral — in his reverend’s black shirt and white collar — started an impromptu and lively horah in front of the stage.

Lasting only a couple of moments, it will provide this partygoer with mental snapshots to last a lifetime, or at least the summer months – now that’s priceless.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.