Folk dancing - joy and expression of brotherhood among Jews worldwide

Through movement, hand-holding, and eye contact, dancing in a circle to the tunes of Israeli songs, with singing and dancing, in a spirit of Jewish-Israeli upliftment, and also with a sense of shared destiny and prayer for the peace of Israel.  

Our representative in the world, choreographer, creator, and dance instructor Gadi Bitton, succeeds in touching and bringing hearts closer, giving Jews living abroad, for moments, the feeling that they are walking on the soil of the HolyLand.

Many Jewish communities around the world find their way to celebrate their Israeliness through folk dancing. In the following photos, we get a rare glimpse of small moments that create a big circle of identification and genuine participation in the culture, expressing love for the beautiful Israel, this time in Argentina.  

Gadi Bitton: "My way of contributing to the global advocacy effort is through culture. Hundreds of teachers from all over South America gather for a weekend of Israeli folk dancing. My new dances are all about the situation – from 'Nahar Hadmaot' (River of Tears) by  Shlomo Artzi, through  'Zricha Shchora' (Black Sunrise) by Gefen, to 'Eize Yom Haya Li Samuel' (What a Day I Had, Samuel) by the Simcha Band. They all tell our story. And here, there are lovers of Israel eager to hear and bring these stories to their communities A mixture of emotions - joy, sadness, love, and fear of what’s to come - all on one dance floor with a sense of togetherness."   

This article was written in cooperation with Gadi Bitton