Two Guiness Records for Israel's 60th Birthday

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126021
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) On the eve of Israel's 60th Independence Day, which will occur next week, Jewish communities around the world will unite in a first-ever event: Thousands of Jews singing Israel's national anthem simultaneously - and setting a Guiness world record to boot.

The specific record to be broken is for "most people singing an anthem simultaneously." The effort's internet headquarters are located at http://www.livehatikva.org, and the Live Hatikva singing will be broadcast live from many locations across the globe on Israel's Channel 2, over the internet, on cellular phones, and on major newscasts worldwide. The global singing of Hatikva, the organizers stated, "will create a collage of Jews around world as they sing the Jewish anthem together."

Israel's 60th birthday has also led to the breaking of another Guiness record - the record for "largest national flag." The flag in question, an Israeli flag the size of two football stadiums, arrived in Israel last November from the Philippines, where it was sewn over the course of three weeks by six professional sewers under the direction of two designers and 40 volunteers. It was sewn as a gesture of friendly relations between Israel and the Philippines, and was accompanied by a slightly smaller flag of the Philippines.

The Israeli flag was originally unfurled near Massada, and was most recently placed across the fields near Kibbutz Shaalvim, visible from the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. It measures 18,847 square meters and weighs 5.2 metric tons, while the Philippines flag was only 18, 818 square meters. Both of them were significantly larger than the previous record-holder, a U.S. flag made in 1996 measuring nearly 12,000 square meters.