By Carine Warsawski
Friday, July 25, 2008, is a day that 320 NFTY in Israel participants will never forget. That Friday was truly unique as NFTY made history in the Land of Israel. In New York City there is a group called Improv Everywhere that facilitated a 200 person freeze in Grand Central Station together for five minutes just for fun. Since then, the "Freeze" has been imitated all over the US and in 34 countries around the world. And for the last three months, my personal goal for the summer had been to recreate this spectacular street scene in Israel with our NFTY participants. So we did.

Our mission was simple: To create a scene of fun and confusion in an urban public area by freezing in place for three minutes...in Israel.

The location was indisputable: The tayellet (boardwalk) along the beach in Tel Aviv across from the Opera House on Allenby St. A prime junction for shoppers, beachgoers, and joggers alike, this boardwalk is one of the social hubs of this modern city.

The day of choice was obvious: Friday, the beginning to the weekend, a half day of work for most, providing the perfect opportunity for Tel Avivniks to catch some rays at the beach and roam the beautiful boardwalk before the start of Shabbat.

At 1:15 pm all 320 kids and staff met at the beach in Tel Aviv near our location of artful attack. We gathered on the roof of a beach side restaurant to synchronize our watches and cell phones and review our strategy. Once everyone was in sync, we laid out the plan: disperse ourselves to clandestinely hang out around the beach and tayellet until 1:45 pm.

On the second, everyone would freeze in place in a natural position - mid movement - for three minutes flat. At 1:48 pm, our cell phone and watch alarm clocks would vibrate, alerting us to unfreeze and continue about normally. Groups 7 and 8 would roam the shore; Groups 9, 11a, and 14 would wander the boardwalk; Groups 11b and 12 would peruse the fountain and shopping area across the street.

The roles were assigned: Nearly everyone would be a "freezer." Clearly an important role, those who froze in place were responsible for setting the stage and conveying the scene. Their integrity was of significant importance, for without their commitment, the whole experiment would fail.

The second role was the reactor. What we created in Tel Aviv on Friday, July 25th was art. And art is largely about generating a reaction from its audience. Those who were reactors had the responsibility of walking between the crowds of human statues playing the innocent tourist, looking confused, and staging questions to passerby asking what happened to these frozen people. Was it something in the water? In the air? It was crucial to have these few people be the key folks in instigating reactions and noting the reactions of those Israelis who found themselves in the middle of the freeze.

The third role was the videographer. In executing an artistic masterpiece, it was important that this massive scene be captured on film for review, for show, and for fun. We had a few photographers and six video cameras roaming the scene: one on the beach, one on the tayellet, two by the fountain, and two on the roof of the Opera House across the street capturing a bird's eye view of the scene.

Ready, set, action. After instructions were given on the megaphone, all the groups dispersed to their respective locations to integrate with the crowds. Without any evident signal, 320 people froze in place in Tel Aviv for three minutes of motionless entropy.

The scene the kids created is simply indescribable; to have 320 people freeze mid action was an INCREDIBLE sight. The kids were amazing. I could write a book based on the stories of their poses and the reactions they generated from passerby Israelis.

I could go on forever retelling the kids' ingenious poses, all 320 of them, crafted so carefully, so creatively and so realistically, I was truly blown away by their teamwork and also their professionalism. And as proof of our mission's success, the Israeli pedestrians who happened walking around us at the same moment we froze in place had priceless reactions of confusion and anxiety. They kept trying to ask "What is going on? What happened to these people? Who are they? Are they okay?" yet our resilient NFTY superstars never so much as even cracked a smile. But you can see it for yourself here:

At the three minute mark our cell phones buzzed in our pockets, signaling everyone to causally resume their lives. Everyone kept on walking as if nothing happened, denying that anything had even happened. It was perfect. The kids did a phenomenal job and will hopefully remember this event for a long time to come.

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