Alon Eder and Band - The Future

Finally! I woke up so excited on Monday and rushed to my mom's place so we could watch the hostage release together. It felt like the whole country had stopped, and it helped that there wasn't work in most places because it was Erev Simchat Torah. Words can't explain how moving it was to see the 20 living hostages released, and to see the emotional reunions with their loved ones. Later in the afternoon, I heard and saw the helicopters bringing some of the hostages to one of the hospitals nearby. It was such a relief after I had become accustomed to hearing them only during emergencies, often carrying wounded soldiers in urgent need of care. For the first time, the released hostages didn't have to rush to send messages delivered from hostages left behind, and they didn't have to advocate for their urgent release after coming back from the nightmare of captivity. For the first time, they could focus on healing and recovery, and so can we. Now we are waiting for the bodies of 18 deceased hostages; 18 families deserve closure and a final goodbye.

I was just thinking that this will be the third October without the beloved InDnegev festival, when I saw an emotional post announcing the return of the festival in November:

Returning home and making hope bloom:

Two years since the world turned upside down for us.

We have all had two difficult and painful years, two years of dealing with endless pain and a lack of clarity about the future.

Work on InDnegev 23 was interrupted just before we reached our destination, and everything stopped.

We are excited and happy to announce that InDnegev is returning home, and we invite you to take part. 

This is a call to everyone who is still determined to create hope, determined to dream of peace and a normal life, of a positive and healthy reality. This is a call to activism, to solidarity, to everyone who still has a drop of faith - come make hope bloom with us.

On November 13-15, we will open Mitzpe Gvulot and hold a very special and limited version of InDnegev, a weekend of cultural and artistic activity, a weekend in which we will escape to reality, the one we want and can create.

For the past two years, we have said that we will stay in Mitzpe Gvulot, and that we will wait until all the kidnapped people return and the war is over before we hold the festival again. We have always seen this as part of our mission - to be part of the renewed blooming of the Western Negev, through music, art, and people.

And now, even though everything is still broken and the future is still unclear, we can see a small ray of light. It is time to start creating a space again where we can look deeply into the wounds and begin the process of healing and recovery, allow ourselves to create hope, and allow ourselves to feel compassion.

We intend to do what we have always done: create an open and respectful space, with a diverse and amazing community, with an abundance of ideas. We will set up our stages and, next to them, the conversation tents and the displays, we will bow our heads in the face of the death and destruction of the past two years and raise our heads together to the sounds of hope.

The future is growing in you

And soon it will be reflected

It's also mine, it's also yours

We'll give it a name, it will take the rest

Without a plan, without an introduction

It simply decided to arrive

It's also yours, it's also mine

And everything else feels marginal

The heart beats with excitement

In the head, everything is less simple

This is just a drop in humanity

We'll row, and then we'll learn to sail

The future is very close

I don't even have time to think

It's also mine, it's also yours

We'll give it a name, it will take the rest

Ester Rada, Geva Alon, and Maya Belsitzman - Hallelujah

I saw the excellent show "Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Yom Kippur War" last September and remember being so moved when this song began at the end of the evening, after learning how the Yom Kippur War influenced Cohen's life and music. The yellow ribbon, the symbol for remembering the hostages, lit up in the corner, and no words were needed to explain. The show took place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and before we entered, we walked through the Hostages Square, which is in front of the museum. I remember the chill down my back when I saw Aviva Siegel sharing her experiences with a circle of listeners, at the time still advocating for the release of her husband, Keith. It reminded me too much of the scenes of holocaust survivors sharing their testimonies, so we will never forget. 

When I woke up to the joyous and almost unbelievable news of the ceasefire on Thursday, I thought of all the people I knew whose lives were altered by October 7th and the war in the past two years. I remember hearing the tragic news that a niece of one of my colleagues was murdered at the Nova festival, and a friend's sister came back from it and wouldn't talk about it for weeks. In December 2023, I came to work to learn that the son of one of my colleagues had been killed in Khan Younis, a father to three young children. At the shiva, his father shared how important it was for him to bring back the security to the people living in the Gaza Envelope, and to all of us in Israel. And there was a hope among the soldiers that they would bring the hostages home. For many, it was their motivation to keep going, despite the risk and the challenges. A year and a half later, a son of another colleague began his mandatory army service in the Armored Corps, and understandably, she's been dreadfully worried about what will happen after he finishes his training. She has been going to the Hostage Square Saturday rallies almost every week since the war began, pleading for the return of the hostages and for the war to end in an agreement. And this week it will finally happen. There's a debate going on whether the agreement that was reached could have happened a year ago, or if it was really reached because of the army and the geopolitical changes in the region, as Netanyahu insists. What's clear is that an agreement was reached thanks to Trump's efforts (and we were all holding our breath that it would happen before the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winner), and Trump has repeatedly mentioned the protests that have swept the country, built on the principle that we will not tolerate a reality in which our people are abandoned and left behind. My thoughts are with the 42 hostages who were killed in captivity; for 42 families, this will be an understandably difficult time. And yet, hopefully, this will be the beginning of recovery for everyone affected by this war.

Chava Alberstein - Song of Tishrei

Closer than ever, we have reached the most fragile point. If this deal doesn't happen now, we are at risk of losing the remaining hostages, more soldiers will die in battle, and more innocent lives will be lost. For two years, a significant part of the Israeli public has felt that they have been held captive by an extreme minority government that has shown again and again that they are only interested in their own interests, and not the whole country. We're in a surreal situation where the most extreme voices in the government have not reacted to Hamas's declaration because of the Shabbat, and based on the group's vague and problematic statements, it's clear that there is going to be pushback and not everyone will be happy, to say the very least. And yet, we can't miss this opportunity, it's time to come home.

The sky is changing

before the eyes of the farmers.

The neighbors are getting ready

for the Days of Atonement.

Somebody is thinking of you

and writing down your deeds.

Come home quickly

with the cool wind.

Come home quickly

with the cool wind.

Mandarins ripen

in the orchard at their time.

The teachers cough

and go to bed early.

I've already seen a wagtail

and maybe I just imagined it-

another heat wave ended yesterday.

Summer vacation has ended.

Another heat wave ended yesterday.

Summer vacation has ended.

"What will happen and what will pass?"

ask the reporters

as along the Coastal Highway

the sea squills stand straight.

In the evening newspapers

what does the headline say?

Come home quickly

with the cool wind.

Come home quickly.

Thank you, Meeeruh, for this beautiful translation.

Yogev Glusman and Talya Dancyg - When There's Nothing to Say

It's almost the Jewish New Year, a time for summaries and looking back at the past year. I highly recommend checking out Guy Hajaj's annual end-of-the-Jewish-year playlist of his favorite Israeli songs, aptly titled 'An ugly year, beautiful songs'. I haven't been following new music as closely as I did in the past, and looking back, this is one of the songs that I remember most from the past year, perhaps because it was released just before the war with Iran, and I would often hear it on the radio while trying to somehow work and carry on. My heart breaks for Talya Dancyg, whose grandfather, Alex Dancyg, was kidnapped and later murdered in Gaza. And yet, it's hard to explain the comfort I felt when I heard her beautiful voice sing that she is not alone. Wishing a much better and different year ahead.

All the pain in the world

Lies here on my table

What should I do with it?

Time barely moves here

A trip not to here, not to there

What am I supposed to be now?

And fire

Burns inside me

It scorches - nothing can put it out

Songs

When there's nothing to say

They come, and I'm not alone

Not alone

Not alone

Between flood and tears

A box full of gifts

I could barely see

In front of me stands a girl

changed so much I could hardly recognize her

Strange face in the mirror

And fire 

Burns inside me

It scorches - nothing can put it out

Songs

When there's nothing to say

They come, and I'm not alone

Not alone

Not alone

Not alone

All the pain in the world

Lies here on my table

What should I do with it?

Check out Yogev's complete album here

LAOR - Hymn to the Soul

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".

Kol Ha'Neshama, Tehale Ya Hallelujah

Open up and fly

Open up and cry

So good to give, so good to receive

So good to live, so good to believe

So good to love, so good to cry

So good to forgive, so good to ahh

linktr.ee/laormusic

Orphaned Land - The Men Cry at Night

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".

How did she die suddenly like this

The feeling of a man covered in dirt

Who hears, who knows

A man cannot shout from the ground

A stone is placed here

On your falling body

And the only mother

Is Mother Earth

The only witness forever

There you will know for sure

What it is like to taste

The earth with your tongue

The men cry at night

Their voices are not heard

The men cry at night

A disappearing cry

The men cry at night

There is nothing to hide

He who paid dearly

Is himself priceless

She knew to take

And you are underneath

Still looking up

With closed eyes

It was not known that you came 

To the vicinity below

There you are surely crying

With sealed lips

The men cry at night

Their voices are not heard

The men cry at night

A disappearing cry

The men cry at night

There is nothing to hide

He who paid dearly

Is himself priceless

Kibbutz Nahal Oz - We'll meet again

The 12-day war with Iran is over, for now, but the war in Gaza isn't over yet, and we must do everything we can to bring home Omri Miran and 49 other hostages.

Night comes and it's quiet now

Longing comes, to see and embrace you

What I'm going through, it's more than words

I have everything here except for you.

You are going through difficult days again

How do you protect yourself and what about the smiles

What are you thinking, this is difficult in words

I have everything here except for you.

We'll meet again and it'll be good

It'll be soon, soon

The two of us together, it'll be good for us

Don't worry, it'll be soon, soon

What can I tell you and this is only a letter

What can I describe for you and how to make it interesting

What can I tell you - I can't find the words

I have everything here, except, for you

We'll meet again...

Thank you, Moshe Kaye, for the lovely translation of Arik Einstein's timeless classic, performed here by the Nahal Oz community.