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September 10, 2004/Elul 24 5765, Vol. 57, No. 1
Israelis counter grim mood with nostalgia
DINA KRAFT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
TEL AVIV - Dancing on long wooden tables, belting out the lyrics of songs written long before they were born, young Israelis pack into a darkened Tel Aviv club where celebrating the past has become trendy.
As Israelis head into the Jewish New Year - which also marks the outbreak of the second intifada four years ago - a sense of nostalgia permeates the national mood. Young and old both yearn for the days when Israel seemed a quieter, more innocent, more united place.
"People are looking back, musing on the days when we seemed to be strong and there were not wars and suicide bombings like this," said Danny Sides, a radio talk-show host and music editor. "People are looking at the past and saying how nice it was, how we were strong, we were heroes, optimistic and innocent."
At Stage, a seaside club in Tel Aviv with orange walls and swirling lights, Monday nights are dedicated to what Israelis call "shirah b'tsibur," or sing-alongs, led by Sarale Sharon, a longtime icon of the genre in Israel.
Sharon gets the crowd, 300 or so 20- and 30-somethings, going with a rousing opening number, "I was Born for Peace." Most of the songs sung this evening are folk tunes written between the 1950s and 1970s.
Everyone in the club is on their feet, clapping, cheering, dancing and singing along word for word. Red and orange spotlights shine on smiling faces and rows of people sway arm-in-arm to the music.
With her cropped auburn hair and loose white cotton shirt, the middle-aged Sharon, from Kibbutz Ashdod Yaakov, seems an unlikely figure to have achieved near rock-star cult status among Israel's younger set.
Yet she's been known to draw crowds of thousands.
"It's about feeling a connection, about feeling at home," Sharon said.
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