Gesher Shira L'Yisrael
Bridge of Song With Israel
December 25, 2006 to January 7, 2007
Reflections of a Choral Director
Our initiation into both the spirituality and the troubles that beguile Israel were immediate upon arrival. Staying up north in Tzfat, the birthplace of Kabbalah and spirituality, we performed for and with other youth choirs in Kfar Blum and Kiryat-Shmona. Engaging socially with these superficially happy-go-lucky Israeli kids, who we knew had been traumatized in the recent war with Lebanon, was to become the first of many emotional highs. From thanking us for the snow that had fallen that day, to playing games, including a version of speed dating when emails were exchanged, to learning each other's songs and performing them for and with each other, the tears and the laughter flowed interchangeably. The kids spoke to each other in Hebrew or English and when that failed, they communicated through song and even dance. Personally I had to pull myself together during the concert while conducting "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the musical expression of the purpose of our trip. Indeed we named the trip Gesher Shira L'Yisrael' - Bridge of Song with Israel.
Other concerts included Beit Halochem in Tel Aviv where the musical prayers of Oseh Shalom brought cathartic tears of healing equally to both performing Torontonians and disabled Israeli veterans. We sang at the Yoseph Tal Hospital in Eilat with all doors open to the corridors so that bedridden patients could hear our songs. Shalva and Yad Lakashish in Jerusalem, each had their own special meaning.
Shalva is an organization that caters to the needs of the disabled child, a fun loving learning centre, that kids come to for 24 hours a week and one Shabbat a month, giving their parents some respite to live normalized lives with their other children. Beyond the incredible staff and facilities which push the creative envelope in dealing with the many needs of these kids, were the wonderful kids themselves. They taught us that their humanity and their loving ruach (spirit) was the domineering force in their lives and overcame anything we, the outsiders, would consider disabilities. We sang for them, they sang for us and then we tumbled on the floor together with affection and laughter.
Yad Lakashish is an organization that gives employment to the elderly poor, teaching them to produce crafts for sale. Catering to the highest level of Tzedakah, (teaching individuals to become economically independent) we went into the shop out of duty, but shopped till we dropped because of the incredible quality and workmanship of the crafts. We were humbled by the emotional reaction to our concert by these cultured, elderly Russian immigrants, who could otherwise not afford to go to a concert.
There were so many highlights to this musical, spiritual adventure. The most emotional moments were our impromptu concerts. After scaling Massada, hearing and seeing the history retold, hearing how our good looking security medic, Ben (who had served in the recent war with Lebanon) had to scale this mountain after basic training to vow that Israel would never be put in an indefensible position again, we met up with Birthright Israel. Hearing that we were a choir, they insisted that we sing. We performed a beautiful four part, a cappella version of an Israeli song for peace, 'Amen.' It had won honorable mention at the Eurovision Song Festival and while it is not well known in North America, all Israelis know it. In addition, the acoustics on top of Masada were miraculously beautiful and our sound rang out and resonated from the top of the mountain, out through the hills and beyond. It was an overwhelming moment, both emotionally and spiritually and after tears and cheers and with feet not on the ground, we danced the hora with our Israeli peers. Unified we expressed the solidarity between Diaspora and Israeli Jewry for the world to hear. WOW!
There were so many other WOW moments: the singing of Hatikva at the gravesites of Paula and David Ben Gurion,, the father and first Prime Minister of Israel; another tearful song for peace as we overlooked the Golan, a site of the 6 Day War; an impromptu performance for our host in the Bedouin tent who happened to be a Master in Musicology. These were merely the musical interludes of an incredible tour that sent us all through the country.
From the beginning, our trip to Israel exceeded all my expectations. We built bridges with groups of people all over Israel and I'm happy to report that both choirs from the Golan are hoping to come to come to Toronto. Yad Lakashish also has plans to come to Toronto for a fund raiser and has asked us to sing. Beit Halochem awarded us a trophy, they were so touched by our singing.
So how did a bunch of Canadian kids and their parents respond to all of this? We thought we were coming to Israel to perform community service, but we were the ones who benefited so much in the end. We arrived in Israel as individuals participating in a choir tour and ended up as family coming home together to Eretz Yisrael.