Want to See What Israel’s Burning Man Looks Like?

Image by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Israel’s answer to , the quirky, sustainable ‘Midburn’ (a play on the Hebrew word for desert ‘midbar’), took place last week, despite conflicts with Israeli police, who threatened to cancel the event.
For five days, thousands of Israelis lived in temporary structures, exchanged gifts, wore their shortest and most flamboyant clothes and partied in the Negev near the Sde Boker kibbutz.
According to the festival’s Facebook page, some people waited for up to 7 hours in their cars to get into Midburn. But judging by these pictures, it was a resounding success.
A psychedelic love nest?
Hasidim scarecrows!

Image by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Image by Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images

Image by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images


Image by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Image by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli version of Avatar?

Image by Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images
We don’t know where this guy is going, but we’d like to hitch a ride with him!

Image by Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images
So, Midburn 2016, anyone?
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
