September 19, 2012 / 3 Tishrei 5773
About one thousand people celebrated Rosh Hashana at ConnecTLV’s MEGA Tropicana Party at the Clara Club on the Tel Aviv beachfront. Among the partygoers were new immigrants, Masa Israel Journey participants, tourists – and their friends – young adults from all over the country, including Ra’anana, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
ConnecTLV is an initiative of The Jewish Agency for Israel that utilizes social networking to connect young Jews living in or visiting Israel to life in Israel’s urban centers, each other, and Israelis living in those areas.
Shai Tirosh, who is volunteering at ConnecTLV, said that these parties, which take place every few months, have become a gathering place for young, new immigrants who live in Tel Aviv, and an informal place where they can discuss and discover details about the things that are of concern to them – like housing, jobs, learning Hebrew, and more.
Promotion for the event was done through social media and the ConnecTLV website.
There were many young people at the party, which started late on the evening of 13 September 2012 at Clara, part of the Dolphinarium complex on Tel Aviv’s coast. Among the party-goers was a group of young adults from Haifa who had come especially to become more acquainted with Tel Aviv.
The group from Haifa, arranged by none other than Miki Leibovitz – founder of ConnecTLV – enjoyed a tour of Tel Aviv conducted by The Jewish Agency’s Natan Roi. They began by getting to know the history of Little Tel Aviv’s coffee shops. Later, they participated in a ceremony to dedicate a new Torah scroll for the Tel Aviv’s Conservative Community that recently opened a center of learning at the renovated Beit Lorenz, in the trendy Neve Tzedek neighborhood. They ended their tour at the ConnecTLV Mega Party.
“This was an opportunity to get to know Tel Aviv – both the geographical and entertainment aspects that the city promises her young people,” said one of the part(y)cipants from the Haifa group.
The veteran Israelis partied alongside the new immigrants, enjoying Tel Aviv’s vibrant night life until the early hours of the morning.
