May 7, 2007 -- Hundreds of Yeshiva University students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and friends marched up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on a glorious day to celebrate Israel's 59th anniversary of statehood in the annual Salute to Israel Parade. President Richard M. Joel and his wife, Dr. Esther Joel, led the YU contingent that accompanied a parade float with live music performed by the popular Jewish rock group Blue Fringe. The float was crowded with student leaders who handed out YU T-shirts to parade onlookers, many of whom were alumni. Estimates at the event on Sunday put YU's participation at around 1,000, which included representatives from the University's undergraduate schools and affiliated high schools, and a large contingent from YU's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. For photos from the parade, click here.