Dudu Tassa - Emmanuel

 

When the siren catches me outside, I'll take shelter either in a community shelter, a store, or in another building, whatever's available. I was walking my dog this morning when it happened, and found myself sitting next to a man with two young children, and realized that he was taking on the "Life is Beautiful" approach I've seen many parents adopt in the past few weeks, calmly saying to them "It's meet the neighbors time, and look, we have a special guest and her cute dog, how fun!" I lifted my eyes from my phone to smile at them and tried to remove any hint of worry as we patiently waited for the all-clear. I thought of this video, which was such a delight to see yesterday on my feed amid all the posts about the war. Here is what Dudu Tassa wrote: "A new video for Emmanuel. In a chaotic world that doesn't give quiet and doesn't allow for a routine, I wanted to stop for a moment and see things through the eyes of a little, innocent girl, who looks at everything with curiosity. I hope she still doesn't feel all the wars that are happening around us."

Watching it, I think of the little girls like Emmanuel over here and in Iran, in Lebanon, in Gaza, and in the West Bank, hoping they will grow up in a much more peaceful world.

Emmanuel laughs at
A bird in the garden, at light and shadow

At the man who walks with her in the city

Emmanuel is a little girl

She doesn't remember what was

She doesn't know that the heart is fragile

Eyes open to see

A smile through the tears

And she always falls asleep

With another song

What Emmanuel dreamed of

No one will know

No one asks

And she doesn't have words yet to explain

Emmanuel

And all the windows are open

In the skies of the city of angels

Only you see them blooming slowly

Emmanuel with the sunrise

Quietly, quietly and not crying

Sees how a shadow passes over the face

Slowly reaches out a hand

One woman and one man

Sleeping deeply between the sheets

And all the windows are open

In the skies of the city of butterflies

Only you see them blooming slowly

dudutassalink.lnk.to/newalbum

Tamouz - I Don't Know How to Tell You

I was very sad to hear today about Meir Israel's death at 73, after battling cancer. Meir was one of the country's leading drummers and was a member of the legendary rock band Tamouz, together with Shalom Hanoch, Ariel Zilber, Yehuda Eder, and Ethan Gedron. I immediately thought of this song and how the drums play such an important part here, echoing tense heartbeats.

I don't know how to tell you

Words cannot express

I am simply a boy who sings to you

Songs will not say anything.

I don't know what is eternity

Words cannot express

I am simply one who surely

Doesn't know anything

Maybe tonight there is no way

There is just injury and pain

I don't know how to tell you

How much I love you

Don't know what happened to me

Words cannot express

And I am alone and sad

And you don't say anything

I am sitting here, waiting for you

Waiting for you and writing

Because I don't know how to tell you

How much I love you.

Thank you Moshe Kaye for the translation.

It's day three of the war with Iran, and I have a feeling we have many more days ahead. I'm still getting used to the new but familiar reality of living with the sirens, but I'm hopeful that this is the storm before the calm, and that there is a chance that we will have a safer reality on the other side of this.

Matti Caspi - A Place for Worry

Rest in Peace Matti Caspi, you are already dearly missed.

Matti's talent for composing shines in this timeless and haunting song, written by Yehonatan Gefen after the Yom Kippur War.

At the edge of the heavens and the desert

there's a far place full of wild flowers

a small place, wretched and insane

a far place, a place for worry.

Over there they tell what will happen

and think of all that has happened.

God sits there and sees

and guards over all that He created.

It's forbidden to pick the garden flowers

It's forbidden to pick the garden flowers

and worrying, terribly worrying.

Translation from Hebrewsongs.com

Rita - Waiting

"It's a dream that may be slowly becoming a reality. The protesters there are paying the highest price, the price of human life, with everything they have, in fact. These are very brave people who deserve appreciation for what they are doing against all odds. After all, they are dealing with dark forces that throw anyone they want into prison, and kill without reckoning. If the war they are waging now ends in a revolution, and the regime in Iran falls, I feel that the whole world will become brighter - certainly our lives in Israel. There is so much beauty, depth, and color in Persian culture, and I pray that one day all of these will return to be the face of Iran. Of course, I support those who are protesting, am proud of them and pray for them."

I wanted to share these words of hope from Rita, who immigrated to Israel from Iran when she was eight years old and has become one of Israel's top singers, always proud of her Persian heritage. These are days of tense uncertainty. I'm terrified of the fate of Iranians if the regime stays in place and the brutal crackdown that will follow, and how things will play out over here if there's an escalation. As a person who values freedom and secular rights, I can only hope that one day things will be different.

One day it will happen

Without our even noticing it, something will change

Something within us will calm down, something will touch us

And there won't be anything to fear.

And it'll come, like a line engraved in the palm of your hand

It'll come, self-assured

As if it had always been there, waiting for us to notice.

And it'll come, you'll see

Your tightly clutched hands will open

And the heart that guards us from pain will beat regularly again

It'll come, like nature is accustomed

To be at peace with itself.

One day it will happen

Without our even noticing it, something will change

Something within us will calm down, something will touch us

And there won't be anything to fear.

And it'll come, like a line engraved in the palm of your hand

It'll come, self-assured

As if it had always been there, waiting for us to notice.

And it'll come, you'll see

Your tightly clutched hands will open

And the heart that guards us from pain will beat regularly again

It'll come, like nature is accustomed

To be at peace with itself.

And it'll come, you know

Not everything will shake us

Not everything will strike

And what will open up for us

Waits.