When you think of Passover, you don’t usually think of bungee jumping, yoga sessions and reggae music.Unless you were at Nitzanim beach, near Ashkelon, this week.
That’s where the ninth annual New Age festival, Boombamela, took place during three intermediate days of Pesach.
Inspired by the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival, Boombamela draws ten of thousands of Israelis, most of them in their 20s, for 18-hour-a-day seminars with imported Indian gurus, performances by rock bands, and nude beaches. And sesame sumo bouts, roller skate courses and karaoke.
Kosher food and prayer services are available, too.
Boombamela, according to its organizers, is a “place for meeting, experiencing, crossing borders and transcending social limitations through music, creation, and connection with music.”
Israelis, above, dance during Boombamela. A bungee jumper, right, dangles over the beach, and a peace activist, inset, bears a sign that states “Peace starts from me.”
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