Page 222 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

Elementary, the Reali School in Haifa, and the schools in Kiryat Chaim and Kiryat Yam. The last time we find a report on this ceremony is from 1976, and the winner was the A.D. Gordon School in Tel Aviv.
Over the years, the glory of the "National Square" in the courtyard of the National Institutions Building has dimmed. Security arrangements, transportation difficulties in the streets surrounding the building and additional factors led to the end of its usage. To put it simply, it could no longer contain the masses that would come to Jerusalem for main events. A good example is the gathering of thousands, which was organized in 1960 in order to recreate the mass joy that followed the Resolution of November 29 in the courtyard of the National Institutions Building. Overseeing this work at the time was the Jewish-American director Otto Preminger, who was filming his famous movie "Exodus" and asked to include this event in his film.
Twenty Thousand Cheer in Jerusalem for the Declaration of Independence
At first, the possibility of recreating that dramatic night at the real site, the National Institutions courtyard in Rehavia, was explored. Preminger came in, examined and determined: I want tens of thousands and they would not fit in here. The site that was chosen was the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. A set of the front of the National Institutions Building was built there, and residents of Jerusalem and Israel were invited to serve as extras in the recreated rally. The way to purchase a ticket to the "event" was original: Anyone who purchase a 1-pound lottery ticket from Mifal Hapayis that week could participate in the shoots, which lasted for hours. In addition, six of the ticket buyers who were chosen by a lottery were promised to be flown to the film's premiere in New York.
It is no wonder then that 20 thousand people responded and completely filled the Russian Compound. The lottery ticket that served as tickets to the recreated rally were a hot commodity in Jerusalem on the eve of the shoot and we are told that scalpers sold them for one-and-a-half pounds and even 2 pounds.
Nowadays the courtyard is open to the public and occasionally various ceremonies are being held there, such as Remembrance Day for the IDF Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies and more.
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