What started as just a few people marching through the streets of New York City has become an annual gathering of more than 40,000 marching up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue celebrating Israel.
Joining the parade this year will be the Baltimore Jewish community, with transportation sponsored by Beth Tfiloh Congregation in partnership with the Baltimore Zionist District and Maccabi.
“Last year, it happened that I stumbled on YouTube video of the parade, and it was just so overwhelmingly beautiful,” said Regina Leybengrub, a member of Beth Tfiloh’s Israel Committee. “It showed how it united people, how it encourages other people to come out and not to hide, and be proud and celebrate as well. And it just got so deep in my heart that I really wanted us to go.”
Leybengrub, originally from Ukraine, said she was inspired by the unity she saw when moving to the United States and wants to pass on her Jewish pride to her children and the Baltimore Jewish community. “It was just such an amazing feeling that so many Jews are not hiding and they get together, they celebrate holidays — something that I’ve never had in Ukraine.”
“I always think of people who, during the Second World War, after everything they went through, the Holocaust, they didn’t go into hiding,” Leybengrub added. “They came out and they created the one and only Jewish state that we can be so proud of because it’s a leading country in technology, in medicine, in so many different fields that adds so much to this world. This tiny country that is hard to spot on the map, it gives so much to the world. So, I feel really proud, and I want other people to feel that way.”
The parade, organized and hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, was originally called the Celebrate Israel Parade, but was renamed in 2024 to Israel Day on Fifth. It has seen participation from the Israeli prime minister, a delegation of members of Knesset, New York’s governor, the New York City mayor, U.S. senators and congressional representatives, New York City Council members and many others.
In 2024, the first Israel Day on Fifth Parade after Oct. 7, the theme was “One People, One Heart.” The parade saw a record-breaking 100,000 participants wearing shirts saying, “Bring Them Home Now” and chanting for the release of the hostages.
According to Huppit Miller, co-chair of Beth Tfiloh’s Israel Committee, Beth Tfiloh is sponsoring a bus for up to 50 people to attend the parade on May 31. Spots are still open but limited.
“I am Israeli, I’ve been in the States for almost 30 years now,” Miller said. “I feel like [Israel] should be in the heart of every Jewish person, regardless of where you are in the world. So, this is another activity that we can be part of and really feel close [to Israel]. I feel like 30 years ago, maybe the gap between a Jew living outside of Israel and Israel was much bigger than what we’re seeing today.”
“I feel like we need to show that we are strong, we’re proud, and we’re not scared of anything that’s going on,” Leybengrub said. “We have to show up in numbers also. We have to show how many of us are standing against antisemitism and against people being anti-Israel.”
Miller added that anyone looking to join Beth Tfiloh can register at bethtfiloh.com/register by April 30. Tickets are $36 and include transportation to the parade and back and an official event T-shirt.
“For anybody who wants to [participate], $36 for an individual to get on the bus and get there in New York and get a T-shirt and … have this whole experience, I think that’s something that I’m very happy that we made possible for our community here,” said Miller.
“When we hear and feel and experience antisemitic actions around us, it really throws people back to before World War II … we feel something different needs to happen,” Miller added. “For us as a Jewish community, when things like this rise, and people are afraid, and maybe it takes them back and they’re thinking ‘maybe history is going to repeat itself’ … feeling proud and strong and with numbers and excitement and all this, maybe that will be something different.”
