This beautiful song was chosen as the chuppah song at Shir Siegal's wedding a few days ago. A moving soundtrack to an emotional moment that brought tears to my eyes and to many others - seeing Shir's parents, Aviva and Keith Siegal, walk their daughter down the aisle, a long-awaited moment that almost didn't happen. As Shir wrote, "This is the image of victory. And when everyone will be home - that will be total victory. Nothing else".
When I heard the sad news of Ozzy Osbourne's death, I thought of his last performance in Israel in 2018, as part of his farewell tour. From the footage here, it looks like it was an unforgettable night, both for Ozzy and for the lucky fans who got to see him live. Orphaned Land had the honor of opening for him, and you can hear the influence of Black Sabbath in their music, just as they have influenced so many others around the world. I came across Orphaned Land's cover of Avner Gadassi's classic a few months after October 7th. Kobi Farhi shared that they had recorded the cover before the war, and the dark lyrics suddenly became chillingly relevant. Who would have thought that they would still be so relevant almost two years later?
When I hear the song today, my first thought goes to the hostages struggling to survive in the tunnels, especially after seeing the shocking recent footage of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, who were both taken captive from the Nova music festival. We are their voice, and we must do everything we can to get them finally home before it is too late. I also think about the soldiers who have fallen in Gaza and the tragically growing number of soldiers who have taken their lives. It's not a popular opinion here, but I can't stop thinking of the innocent victims in Gaza and the very real starvation that is happening there. Yes, Hamas is responsible for them, but in this situation, so is Israel. Hamas has shown that it does not care for its people and is benefiting from the international pressure on Israel. That doesn't mean that we can just close our eyes and seal our hearts. As Nietzsche wrote: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you".
