The skydive was organized by world champion skydiver, author, and coach Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, who shared a video from the jump on social media on Monday.
By Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner
A total of 50 skydivers gathered to form a human Star of David in the sky in solidarity with Israel amid its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Skydivers, with only a three-day notice, gathered at the skydiving center Skydive Perris in Southern California for the jump that took place on Nov. 11, Veterans Day. Most were locals, but others traveled from San Francisco, Arizona, Denver, and Iowa. They managed to create the Star of David in just one jump.
The skydive was organized by world champion skydiver, author, and coach Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, who shared a video from the jump on social media on Monday. Brodsky-Chenfeld has led the USA’s four- and eight-person skydiving teams to multiple world championships, and also set a new world record for the largest freefall formation with a team that he assembled of 300 skydivers.
“Hate has a loud voice. Love needs to be louder,” Brodsky-Chenfeld said of the show of solidarity with Israel. He shared on YouTube last week an extended video from the jump, titled “Skydivers United Against Hate.” The clip shared the message that “skydivers are welcoming & inclusive. We embrace everyone who dreams of human flight. But the haters have a very loud voice. We will not stay quiet. This is us speaking out.”
Brodsky-Chenfeld talked to the Israeli news outlet Ynet about organizing the project.
“In the past year, there have been numerous instances of antisemitism in the United States against Jews and Israelis. Following the black Saturday on Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza, all the hatred and antisemitism intensified significantly. Everything became much worse, and I wanted to do something about it,” he said.
“It was amazing,” he added about the jump. “It involved a complex jump with six connected triangles. The last and only time I performed such a jump was in 1997 for a fundraising project for the Los Angeles Jewish community. We were fortunate because just a day after the scheduled jump, I had to undergo shoulder surgery, and our first jump turned out perfect, so everything worked out excellently.”
He told Ynet that out of the 50 skydivers who participated, only five were Jewish but everyone felt “a strong sense of unity and a desire to do something positive.” He said the non-Jewish skydivers who joined in are his “good friends, skydivers of all ages, who love Israel and stand for humanity, against hatred and bigotry.”