Anatomy of a Parade
Image by esther rabinowitz
By Charlie McLagan, Josh Nathan-KazisMay 31, 2012
Zionist Bikers: Youth groups and day schools dominate the annual Israel parade in New York. But there?s room for bikers, too. Image by esther rabinowitz
New York City’s Celebrate Israel Parade is one of a kind. An annual Zionist promenade up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, the 47-year-old festival is a Jewish take on the classic New York City ethnic parade. There’s nothing else quite like it in the country. In fact, it’s probably the biggest annual celebration of Israel in the world, outside of the Jewish state itself.
But what is the parade, besides countless Israeli flags, glad-handing politicians and oceans of day school kids? The Forward has crunched the numbers. A picture emerges of an event that is largely Modern Orthodox, heavily suburban and mostly made up of groups of young people.
This year’s parade, organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, is scheduled for June 3. The day begins with a Celebrate Israel Run through Central Park at 8 a.m. The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, and will air on local television station WWOR channel 9.
Read the Forward’s profile of Ted Comet, the founder of the parade.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
News Trump would eliminate antisemitism envoy in proposed State Department overhaul
-
News Harvard’s Jewish president, in new lawsuit, says Trump crackdown has ‘nothing to do’ with fighting antisemitism
-
News Pope Francis, who advanced church’s relationships with Jews, dies at 88
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.