The second part of the parade weekend was a large and jubilant event held by the Jewish community as part of the Celebrate Israel march. Sweltering heat brought out thousands of flag waving revelers along the parade route on 5th Ave. from 55th to 72nd streets. This parade does a great job of uniting Israel with the Jewish community of the tri-state area and uniting all the yeshivas in the area with a common theme. This years’ theme was Back Together and after a 2 year hiatus because of Covid19 it was quite fitting. All the yeshivas from the tri state area displayed banners with various depictions of being together again.
Starting off the big celebration was the Jewish Community Relations Committee Float with a live band and dancers leading the way. Soon after a pair of Mummer String bands came up from Philly to join in on the fun. It was tough to figure out who had more fun, the Woodland String band or the Quaker City String Band. They were both pretty good. In most parades, politicians march towards the front of the parade groups. This parade had Mayor Adams and Gov, Hochel cheering on the crowd towards the middle of the parade. Two former mayors showed up including Bill DeBlasio and Rudy Guiliani, who embarassed himself by using profanity against a heckler. Oy Vay. The celebration got into high gear when the Silver Dance group showed off their moves. They were soon followed by the Royalettes.
More community groups made their way up the parade route but one that really go the crowd worked up was the Black Rabbi Rapper and his co rapper singing the Hanukkah song made famous by Adam Sandler. Of course a parade isn’t a parade unless there are marching bands and two stood out the most. One group had a mean drumline with incredible precision. The Hurricanes Marching Band was having more fun during their drum sets. All in all, it was a great parade to celebrate the unity of Israel and all the Jewish people here in the city.
NYC Parade Life 
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