Benaia Barabi - Sunbeam

Finally! 

Last Sunday we woke up not knowing who would be released, and by the end of the day, we were all in love with Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, so happy to see them finally reunited with their mothers. Today was just as emotional, and words can't express how moving it was to see the release of Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Danielle Gilboa, and Naama Levy, and their long-awaited reunion with their parents. And at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking of the mothers who will never be reunited with their children, and of the mothers still waiting to embrace their children, together with the children eagerly waiting to embrace their fathers. We can't stop until everyone is back.

Another lovely translation by Moshe Kaye from LyricsTranslate. There are dark clouds ahead, but let's enjoy the sunny day. ♥

Don't go,

My sunbeam

Our day hasn't ended yet

Why are you, hiding

Clouds all over.

Don't cry, like the rain

Isn't it a shame to waste the tears?

Warm hands, want

To embrace you for hours.

I'll put on songs that you love,

I'll give you a day to relax

I'm captured when you laugh

Like this at me.

Tell me what you want

So that I won't have any excuse.

When there aren't any words you get emotional

Like this at me.

Smile, 

It enhances your beauty

It makes my day.

If suddenly you fall asleep

You'll smile also when you dream

Planes in the skies,

People on trains

Don't cry, my sunbeam

This is your time to live.

I'll put on songs that you love

I'll give you a day to relax

I'm captured when you laugh

Like this at me.

Tell me what you want, 

So that I won't have any excuse.

When there aren't any words you get emotional

Like this at me.

Don't cry, my sunbeam,

Take the last verse for yourself.

How do you always say

We'll meet at first light.

I'll put on songs that you love,

I'll give you a day to relax.

I'm captured when you laugh,

Like this at me.

Tell me what you want,

So that I won't have any excuse.

When there aren't any words you get emotional

Like this at me.

Roni Dalumi and Idan Raichel - Come Back

Holding our breath.

After an anxious few days, the government finally voted in favor of approving the hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas and tomorrow three Israeli hostages will be released, the first among 33 who will be released over six weeks in the first phase of the long-awaited deal. I'm overwhelmed with joy that the agreement is finally happening, but I'm also frustrated and angry that it took so long to finalize a deal that could have happened in May, with a growing understanding that it partly didn't happen because of internal politics. We're about to begin a terrifying rollercoaster of emotions in what feels like a dark and twisted reality game. We don't know the fate of the 33 hostages who will be released, the ones alive will be in much poorer condition than the hostages released last November and an unclear number are no longer alive. My heart is with the families of the hostages, I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through. The families of the hostages who will be released in the second phase have stressed the importance of seeing the deal through, though I fear that politics will get in the way, again. I'm also worried that the next time there will be a terror attack (and there will be one regardless of the deal), there will be criticism of the deal and an even larger rift in our fragile society. On Wednesday evening a vocal protester against the deal shared that what motivated him to protest in the streets is the fact that his brother was murdered by a terrorist who was released in the Gilad Shalit hostage deal, and he will do all he can to prevent other families from having to live through a similar experience in the future. I feel for him, but I also feel for my relative who received a draft from the army and has no choice but to serve as an IDF observer, the same role as the 5 women soldiers who were kidnapped from the Nachal Oz base on October 7th. I also feel for all the families who live near the Gaza border and need to know that they will not be abandoned by the country again. When there was talk that the deal might not happen a part of me felt that I couldn't live in a country that won't return its kidnapped residents, no matter the price. It's difficult enough to live here, we need to know that we will be protected and that we will do all we can to protect each other.

This moving song was released a few weeks after October 7th and captures the longing, and dreadful uncertainty, of so many families. Hopefully, all of them will get the closure they truly deserve.

The hours of fatigue that don't let time pass by

The heavy legs that can't find a reason to move

The days and nights like the faces in the pictures

Everything stops moving when you aren't here

And I wake from a dream and feel you are close

And then call out to you from the night

Come back, come back today

I so wanted you to come

I wish that you'll show up today without advance notice

I'm a tower of light

That from the distance will appear again

I wish that you'll show up today without advance notice

Translation by Moshe Kaye, taken from LyricsTranslate