Students chanted and swayed along with Hebrew lyrics under blue and white balloons, while hundreds of students sampled Israeli food, art and music in the College Avenue Gym Sunday night.
The Third Annual Israeli Cultural festival featured The Idan Raichel Project, a popular Israeli band, who performed as the finale to the festival.
"The band represents multiculturalism," said Eytan Morgenstern, a Rutgers College senior who was part of the Rutgers Hillel students who put together the event. "It's a good mixture of Israeli and Ethiopian music."
Although the band was the main attraction at the event, members of Hillel featured other modes of entertainment.
Members were decked in face paint and beads, as they worked to sell T-shirts and glow sticks, and vendors outlined the College Avenue Gym with tables of Israeli artwork, travel programs, jewelry and bongo drums.
"From all different communities, people came together to celebrate a nice occasion like this," said Steven Brukner, a Livingston College senior.
The event was expected to have a turnout of over a thousand students and was not just for members of the Hillel community, said Hillel member Judah Levenson, a Rutgers College sophomore.
"It's supposed to be nonpolitical event, welcoming all Middle Eastern cultures," Levenson said. "It doesn't deal with any Middle Eastern conflicts."
Hillel invited Jewish organizations and college students from the metropolitan area using posters, Facebook.com, 2,000 palm cards and their Web site. A bus of Princeton students also joined in on the festivities.
"Students organized every aspect of this," said Hillel Executive Director Andrew Getraer. "They worked with facilities and got the special lighting system, which is the same system they use at Madison Square Garden."
Hillel wrote grants for donations, and the Rutgers University Programming Association co-sponsor the event, Getraer said. Hillel has been working since June to put the entire event together, Morgenstern said.
"It's important to create positive feelings around Israel regardless of where you come from. Israel is a great connector," said Orly Elstein, a Rutgers College junior. "This is a great way for all different kinds of Jews to come together."
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