Football Jewligans in Gan Sacher

It's crazy, this Jerusalem life. I was just in Tel Aviv this morning, and spent the afternoon in meetings. Then tonight, we started hearing noise--music and shouting--and sensing an increasingly assertive aroma of bonfire in the air. Since it was erev Lag Ba'Omer, which typically features bonfires, we didn't panic. Instead, we headed out into the madness, moving toward the music, which at that point had been joined by fireworks.

Arriving at Jerusalem's Gan Sacher, we expected to see Lag Ba'Omer style partying. But what we caught instead was a celebration gathering in honor of local football team Beitar Yerushalayim, which had apparently won some sort of major title. Lots of Israeli singers took the stage to sing songs about their love for the team, including well-known Israeli songstress Sarit Haddad (see video below), and football fans dressed in team colors, danced and ran around smoking cigarettes in each others' faces while consuming mass quantities of beer, hot dogs and "American ice cream." Just another night in Jerusalem.