Thousands took part in the "United on Purim" Adloyada [festive procession] in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.
The Adloyada was led by a display of the pictures of the hostages, who have been held captive in Gaza for 171 days, alongside a display of 134 yellow cranes, as the number of hostages.
Several of the hostages’ families led the Adloyada, including the families of Lior Rudaeff, Romi Gonen, Carmel Gat, Itzik Elgarat, Ofer Calderon, Omer Shem Tov, Uriel Baruch and Tal Shoham, who were accompanied by Mayor Moshe Lion.
The United on Purim Adloyada was adapted to the spirit of the times and its final program was approved after meetings were held between the Jerusalem Municipality and the headquarters of the hostages families regarding the nature of the event, the name of the Adloyada and the musical content.
The Adloyada featured displays of a roaring lion, the symbol of Jerusalem, on which a heroic girl rode (in a performance by an artist from a dance studio evacuated from Kibbutz Tziv’on in the north), the Tower of David turned into a huge merry-go-round, where old and new mixed at a fast pace; a three-meter-high musical troupe with a live orchestra (a performance prepared in collaboration with Lev Kreitman, CEO of Midburn, one of the survivors of the October 7th massacre, who returned from long reserve duty in Gaza), forty dancers in white dresses that will turn colorful, inspired by a popular children’s story book.
Other exhibits included a giant mechanical spider, the Anima troupe with giant puppets and an imaginary KPOP ensemble, a colored cloud machine hovering over the head of scientist Albert Einstein, a little boy floating on a giant dove of peace, a bouncy family of kangaroos (a performance prepared by evacuees from Sderot together with the residents of Jerusalem) and even the donkey of the Messiah was there.
