Israeli Music Today: Transcript
Today in Israeli Music, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed in Israel and throughout the world. This is MyIsraeliMusic.com, I’m Josh Shron, and here’s your Israeli music news for Thursday, May 2, 2019.
The Yom HaShoah siren makes it impossible to forget the Holocaust in Israel
Yom HaShoah 5779, and in Israel, it is SO much more real, I would argue, than anywhere else in the world. While young people around the globe are, by and large, forgetting the atrocities of the Holocaust, Israel makes sure that you feel it, beginning of course, with the piercing siren heard nationwide.
“Eva Stories” puts the Holocaust on Instagram
But this year, some Israelis are making sure that young people do not forget. What if a girl in the Holocaust had Instagram? a new project asks. And so, Eva Stories was introduced the world yesterday on Instagram, and as of this afternoon, boasts 995,000 subscribers. The fake Instagram account follows the life of a real person, 13-year-old Eva Heyman, who kept a diary of her experiences in Hungary in 1944.
Eva was ultimately murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz, but her legacy lives on in this brilliant use of social media. The video series was created by Israeli tech entrepreneur Mati Kochavi and his daughter Maya, and has been promoted and endorsed by everyone from Prime Minister Netanyahu, to celebrities like Gal Gadot, Bar Refaeli, Sarah Silverman, Stephane Legar and so many more. The videos are riveting, they are terrifying, they are exactly what the world needs right now. What an incredible way to make Holocaust education relevant to the next generation.
Israeli singers open up about the Holocaust
Your favorite Israeli musical artists have taken to their own social media accounts to share their unique reflections of the day. And this is yet another reason why Israel is the most amazing country on the globe. In Israel, EVERYONE mourns today, and even the grungiest performer makes no secret of his or her sorrow on Yom HaShoah.
From Harel Skaat: “How everything changes when you bring a child into the world. I promise to tell the story to my children, to explain and to sing so that they will never, ever forget the roots of their Jewish nation.”
From Shiri Maimon: “Since I became a mother, this day…it has only gotten worse. I can not catch the evil, the cruelty. Small children, babies. Entire families were wiped out. We will never forget, we will never forgive. We are here to remind the world.”
And from Static: “Why should we take a day of our lives, which are already full of difficulties and troubles, and bring in sadness that took place long before many of us were born? But that’s the point: our children soon won’t have a grandfather with numbers on his arm. They won’t have a grandmother who was hid in a monastery and told to act like a Christian. They won’t hear the stories firsthand. Do we have to immerse ourselves in sadness on this day? Not at all. But watch one movie, hear one song, read one book…because these are the stories you will tell to your children, and our generation will ensure that we never forget.”
Yehuda Poliker performs a 31st anniversary tribute to his iconic “Ashes and Dust” album
And finally, 2018 marked 30 years since Yehuda Poliker released “Afar V’avak”, Ashes and Dust, an album of songs influenced by the Holocaust. So last year, Yehuda performed a concert marking the 30th anniversary of the iconic album. He thought it would be a one-night-only event, but the public had other plans. And so, he’s been performing the same concert ever since, all year long. Well, tonight was the final performance for real this time, and Galgalatz radio carried it live on Facebook.
We can only hope that the imagery of the day has left a powerful impact on young and old, Jew and gentile, in Israel and around the world. May the memory of the six million Jews who perished be a blessing to all of us, and may we never forget.
That’s your Israeli music news for today! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss an episode of our show. Check out our latest podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And finally, this show is now available as an Alexa skill! More details at our web site. Until next time, I’m Josh Shron…Al Tafsiku Lashir.
