Members of the Israeli Defense Force Orchestra gave a live performance at Temple Israel of Great Neck Sunday as part of a tri-state area tour.
Active members of the Israeli Defense Force were also at Temple Israel and spoke at the concert about their different experiences in the Israeli military.
“There’s a great importance in the understanding of people far away to know what it’s like to be a soldier in the IDF,” Sgt. Daniel Rosner said.
Lt. Roni Ehrlich said the troops had just landed in New York that morning and had already been approached by local residents who were curious about the soldiers’ experience.
“People in Israel are used to seeing soldiers,” Capt. Gal Baruch said. “Here, all of them want to take pictures and ask you questions.”
Yael Hune and Stav Tsubery, singers in the IDF Orchestra, sang for about an hour to a sold out room in Temple Israel, which clapped, danced and sang along the entire time during the performance.
Some of the songs performed were “Jerusalem of Gold” “Halleluiah” and other traditional Jewish songs.
Sunday was the third time the orchestra has visited Great Neck, according to Kym Pitlor, a spokeswoman with Friends of the Israeli Defense Force.
The two previous performances also took place at Temple Israel, the first in 2002 and another in 2009, Pitlor said.
Rabbi Howard Stecker said Temple Israel routinely partners with the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force to support the military.
The troops and the orchestra also participated in the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces annual gala dinner Tuesday, Rosner said.
The trip also aligns with the Jewish holy day of Purim, which commemorates the escape of the Jewish people from the ancient Persian empire, Pitlor said.
Ehrlich said the orchestra routinely entertains troops of the IDF as well as Jewish people around the world.
“There is one Jewish country,” Ehrlich said. “We’re defending a country that is also their country.”
The concert took place the same day as thousands of ultra-orthodox Jewish people protested in Manhattan over proposed legislation in Israel that would make strictly religious Jews eligible to the draft.
Rosner said he and other troops may not have been ready for the military at the age of 18, but said “these past few years give you a different perspective on things.”
“Managing difficult things makes you more mature,” Rosner said.
Lt. Tova Abeva said for her, “joining the IDF wasn’t a choice.”
Abeva’s grandmother was a Holocaust survivor, she said, and her parents had came from Ethiopia to Israel.
“I joined the IDF to make [my family] proud,” she said.
