The 2017 TZOFIM (Israel Scouts) Friendship Caravan presented a high-energy show to a crowd of more than 400 at the Eisenhower Recreation Center on Wednesday night.
The performers, 10 Israeli high school juniors, sang, danced and told personal stories about their families and life in Israel.
The show was hosted by the Villages Kibitzers Club. David Rubin, co-president of the club along with Sharon Borovay, declared it the best Caravan show he has seen.
“The shows are always good,” said Rubin, “but this one had more dancing and choreography.” In addition to the students performing, a video backdrop was used to show footage from historical events. Performer Omer Nulman said that it was the largest adult audience they had performed for thus on their summer tour. “We always try our best,” said Nulman, “but seeing the size of the audience really added to the energy of the show tonight. We, the performers, felt it from the very beginning of the show. ”
The songs performed mostly in Hebrew had the audience singing along on occasion. The songs ranged from light-hearted peppy tunes to a beautiful rendition of Hallelujah, performed after student Yuval Rotero shared the story of her grandfather, a holocaust survivor.
Audience members Leslie Schmidt-Mercier and Arlene Schwartz thought the show was wonderful. Schmidt-Mercier has seen many Caravan shows. The Friendship Caravan shows have been performed annually in the United States by Israeli student scouts for over forty years. For Schwartz, this was her first Caravan show. “I did not really know what to expect and I was very pleasantly surprised.”
Sylvia and Ken Elinoff also enjoyed the show.
“The kids have such pride in Israel. The pride in these kids is very inspiring to me,” said Sylvia.
The Elinoffs traveled to Israel in 2016. “This show really brought back memories of being in Israel, reminded me of our trip.”
