Free Hug Anyone? Going Once, Going Twice…
In the midst of a typical Tel Aviv day, 3 regular people, just like you and me, set out to make a difference. They had no secret agenda - they just wanted to get out there and hug someone, believing that it will make us all feel a lot better, and make the world a little brighter.
As one of the girls who participated in the “Free Hug Campaign” wrote in her blog (it was originally in Hebrew, so this is a loose translation):
What made me sad was that the people who seemed to “need it most” were the ones who ran away to the other side of the street or interrogated us about which political party we were representing, or what we where selling, or what we wanted. It hurt to see the suspicion in their eyes, that we only wanted to give them a hug, nothing more and nothing less… that we weren’t going to hurt them.
And then there were those who said that they “didn’t have time” to stop for a hug or that they “already hugged at home” or those who simply shrugged and said “What for?”
I respected the girl who shook her head from a safe distance and said “Sorry, I have trust issues…” or the guy who told me, “I’m too shy”. Others hugged us in pantomime from a distance or declared that they were hugging us “in theory”.
But there were amazing moments such as hugging a little girl that her father brought to me, or one beautiful girl that I guess really needed that hug because she simply started crying as if we were sent to her from heaven. There were also some tired, old ladies who were suddenly brought back to life and started hugging and laughing, a guy who got out of his car for us, a few who got off their bikes, some who came back several times and some who even came back and brought some friends.
What can I say: it opened my appetite for more…
My hat goes off to these people; it takes alot of guts to hug random strangers. But when you see the smiles on the faces of the recievers, you understand what little it takes to make the world around us a better place. A true inspiration:
By the way, all this is inspired by this dude in Sydney who gives away free hugs. The cops banned him, until a massive petition brought him back.
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Comments
I have visited Israel many times and was recently at the jerusalem hug and this hug video was such a beautiful piece. It was wonderful to see the people in Tel Aviv open like that…by the way,whose music is on your Jerusalem hug video…it’s awesome…
peace,michele
Hi Michelle,
as I mentioned on your other comment, the music for my Jerusalem Hug video is by Michael Hedges and its called “Aerial Bounderies”…
The soundtrack that the makers of this Tel Aviv clip used is called “Someone to Run With”. The singer’s name is Daniel Solomon.
השיר ברקע נקרא “מישהו לרוץ איתו”, בביצוע דניאל סלומון. -
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