Moments before the start of Passover 2023, Ishay Ribo presents his list of reasons why he’s proud to be a Jew – and an Israeli.
With strong echoes of the traditional melody of “Ma Nishtana” (the Four Questions) throughout, Ishay’s new song “Ani Shayach La’am” (I Belong To The Nation) is a strong statement of Jewish pride.
And as we’ve come to expect from Ishay, the song adds a strong dose of religious pride as well.
“So how is my nation different from all other nations?” he sings in the refrain. “All other nations neither see nor hear their god / But for the nation to which I belong / God is their ruler.”
He goes on to sing about how his nation is:
- “the oldest in the archive”
- “the one no historian understands”
- “one for which a large sea tore apart”
- “one that defies logic”
- “one that survived in every era”
Ishay wrote on Facebook that he wrote that song when he was only 16 years old.
“It was at this time that I started with the guitar,” he said, “and somehow it turned out to be a song that has remained in a drawer ever since. But my dear mother really liked this song. And every year when Pesach comes she asks me: ‘Ishay, when are you bringing him out into the world?’
“So on the last Seder night I promised her that this year I would make an effort because she was asking so much.”
Ribo added that he hopes the song can help unify the nation during these turbulent times.
“So on days like this when there is a lot of background noise,” he writes, “despite the dispersion and separation that supposedly exists between us, we belong to the same people that came out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea and endured endless tribulations, the people who returned to the Land of Israel contrary to all human predictions.”
“No, Ishay Ribo, You Can’t Say That Anymore”
The new song, however, has already generated some controversy.
In a blog post on The Times of Israel, Alon Goshen-Gottstein (founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute) writes “No, Ishay Ribo, you can’t say that anymore”:
…what makes Israel special, in the words of the catchy refrain, made all the catchier because it echoes the tune of ma nishtana: All people’s idols neither see nor hear. In other words, what makes the people of Israel special is that they alone have god, and all nations worship only idols who are lifeless.
This is absolutely terrible theology, about to be popularized by Israel’s most popular singer, at a time when religious extremism is on the rise – a song with the potential of replacing “your village should be burned” in the mouth of religious extremists.
Why is it terrible theology? Because no one – absolutely no halachic or aggadic authority – subscribes to the view that today only Israel knows God, and all others only worship idols. These biblical words have been followed by thousands of years of Jewish reflection and Jewish ruling that have established the legitimacy of at least some other religions, possibly all.
“I imagine the singer is totally unaware of the potential harm his song can cause if it rises in the charts,” Goshen-Gottstein writes. “If I can glimpse his heart through his music, his is a pure heart that seeks to unite and generate love. Yet, the message he delivers in the song has the potential of delivering hate and leading to violence.”
National anthem or “terrible theology”? Eager to hear your take on Ishay Ribo’s new song in the comments.
