Invite Justin Bieber to your seder

April 9, 2011 - 8:23 PM by David

It’s going to be a busy week in Israel. Not only are southern residents dodging missile fire from Gaza with no end in sight, Israelis all around will be busy cleaning their homes and removing hametz this week in anticipation of Pessah. But for many thousands of mostly young, female Israelis, this is the week that Justin Bieber is coming to town.

The American teen heart throb will be arriving midweek to give a much-anticipated performance on Thursday night in Ramat Gan’s Hayarkon Park. Since the show was announced a couple months ago, promoter Gad Oron has been inundated with emails and phone calls – not from the logistical angle of putting on an expensive open-air show.

“I’ve been getting over 100 emails a day and dozens of phone calls – not just from young girls but from grandfathers and mothers – all saying something like if their daughter isn’t able to meet Justin, her world will be destroyed,” said Oron last week,

Despite the frenzy of Biebermania, it hasn’t translated into ticket sales, according to media reports last week. While the park can hold upwards of 40,000 spectators, Oron was quoted as saying he’d be happy if a still-respectable 25-30,000 people attended the show.

To aid that goal, ads last week announced a special deal whereby if two general admission field tickets were purchased for NIS 240 a piece ($75), then a parent would receive a free ticket as a chaperone. The promotion will likely help boost the sales in the final days leading up to the show.

In an interview with Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun, which was published in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal last month, he intimated that Bieber was interested in attending a Seder while he was here. But according to Oron, he hasn’t been approached by Bieber’s staff about it and isn’t aware how long the singer is expecting to stay in Israel. His next scheduled show after Tel Aviv is three days after Seder night, on April 21 in Malaysia.

“We’ll be happy to organize anything that he wants,” said Oron.

So, if you’d like Justin Bieber at your family seder next week, there’s still a chance.

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