Putting the hostages’ tragedy in perspective through song
By Bonnie K. Goodman, BA, MLIS
Being in Israel now is quite challenging, but the outpouring of support from the Diaspora over the senseless deaths of the six hostages is heartwarming. I have come to understand that if we are not here to witness Israel, the war, the pain, and the joy, we cannot truly understand it. While this understanding may be well-intentioned, it ultimately amounts to mere conjecture, an attempt to comprehend the incomprehensible. I have been here for nearly two months; I can hardly claim to be an insider, as many others claim to be upon arrival, and I may never truly understand what it’s like for Israelis who have endured so many wars, terror attacks, threats, and deaths.
With two terror attacks in the West Bank before Shabbat, the streets of Jerusalem were eerily quiet on Shabbat and after the news broke of the hostages deaths, except for the protests near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the center of Jerusalem. Sunday was almost just as quiet, with protests in front of the government buildings and the memorial at Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Baka. The normally bustling Emek Refaim was almost silent, the buses were empty, Israeli Arabs occupied most of the stores, and the majority of Jews were either angry or in mourning.
Hersh had the most signs in Jerusalem dedicated and advocating for his return. While the lives of all the hostages are precious, Hersh, an American-Israeli with outspoken parents who advocated just as recently at the Democratic National Convention, was a face that most Jews knew more personally and were more invested in his story and survival. As I walked the streets and passed the bus stops, I wondered why not the others? There were 120 living hostages when I arrived; now there are 101. Although their family and friends give their lives more significance, we Jews should care about all of their lives in limbo.
Surprisingly, I could have gone to the memorial in Baka, as I am within walking distance. I had intended to do so, but I find death difficult. I faced it too early in my life. With my father dying when I was sixteen and losing my mother not even two years ago, I feel like the wandering child alone in the world, still mourning my own loss — the loss of the last remnant of a family, stability, reliability, and support. When I first visited the Kotel, I said the Mourners Kaddish prayer for my parents. You do not need to be a vocal advocate; attending rallies, protests, or memorial services can help you empathize with the pain the families are experiencing. This pain is particularly tragic due to the brutality of their recent deaths, which have cut such young lives too short.
We can learn so much about ourselves from the tragedies, putting our lives and challenges in perspective. I have been struggling to find a way to rent an apartment in the city I fell in love with, while also grappling with the guilt of abandoning everything my parents, especially my mother, have saved and worked for her entire life in Montreal. Unlike some others who relocate to Israel and Aliyah, I am forced to make a decision; I cannot afford to maintain both and live in both worlds. All while hearing from all the naysayers discouraging me, who believe that Aliyah is only for the wealthy, forgetting the religious, spiritual, and historical reasons we as Jews decided on that journey. However, my problems seem insignificant when you consider how quickly young lives can end after enduring months of torture.
Last week, I attended an event at the Ginor Hair in the German Colony for young olim. Entitled “Israel Rocks,” most attendees believed it was a local rock concert. Instead, it was a musical presentation by musician David Fenster, who has been in Israel for over 35 years. It was a trip through the history of Israeli music and the major international rock musicians who dedicated songs and music to Israel, with the Beatles, the BeeGees, Don McLean, and Bruce Springsteen figuring prominently.
Almost prophetic, Fenster discussed Noami Shemer’s version of a Beatles song, Let it Be. Writing as the 1973 Yom Kippur War broke out, Shemer was intending to write a Hebrew translation of the Beatles’ song; instead, she was asked, as she was in 1967, to write a song appealing to the broader war and feeling in the country. Shemer, triumphant after the Six-Day victory in 1967, wrote Yerushalim Shel Zahav. However, as the country was now in mourning and less triumphant, the direction of her song changed. It became Lu Y’hi, still based on Let It Be. Fenster showed us the draft of the song Shemer wrote, with Let It Be and the Beatles crossed out. The original song included a verse about a messenger arriving at the door, a verse that has never been sung since. This is because a messenger now signifies the death of a soldier or a loved one, a sentiment that the families are currently experiencing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJMc1OIJIq0
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, the song has had a resurgence. I went looking for a version of the song I could play, because nothing captures the feeling now more than those words. My favorite cantor, Azi Schwartz of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, had two versions: one sung publicly just days before the pandemic shut down the world in 2020 and another from a memorial service in October 2023. I found the 2023 version and video striking, as it included snippets from speeches by New York politicians, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams and PAS senior rabbi Elliot Cosgrove. The lines clearly and rightfully blamed Hamas for the attacks, deaths, and hostages.
As I write this, I’m listening to Lu Y’hi on repeat. Tel Aviv has witnessed a massive protest that has escalated into violence. The city will be on strike, with over 30 arrests, unions joining forces, schools closing, and Ben Gurion Airport stopping. The striking will be more limited in Jerusalem, but there will be a processional song the route from the Goldberg-Polin’s neighborhood and through the street I am staying on all away to the Givat Shaul Cemetery in Jerusalem to support the family as they lay their son to rest many years too early this afternoon.
The country holds Netanyahu and the government responsible for the hostage deaths, arguing that they could have reached a faster agreement given that four of the hostages were on the release list. The public believes that politics over the Philadelphi Corridor caused their deaths. As Alanis Morrissette once sang, “What part of our history’s been reinvented and swept under the rug? What part of your memory is selective and tends to forget?” Netanyahu did not pull the trigger. We must return to October 2023, a time when our unity was strong and we were aware of our common enemy. We have to unite again; divisions only feed and embolden terrorists. I only wish I would find the strength this afternoon to support and join the mourners, as we all should do.
Bonnie K. Goodman, BA, MLIS, is a historian, librarian, journalist, and artist. She is pursuing an MA in Jewish Education at the Melton Centre of Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of the recently released “On This Day in History…: Significant Events in the American Year,” and “A Constant Battle: McGill University’s Complicated History of Antisemitism and Now anti-Zionism.” She has a BA in History and Art History and a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University. She has done graduate work in Jewish history at Concordia University as part of the MA in Judaic Studies, where she focused Medieval and Modern Judaism. Her research area is North American Jewish history, and her thesis was entitled “Unconditional Loyalty to the Cause: Southern Whiteness, Jewish Women, and Antisemitism, 1860–1913.” Ms. Goodman has been researching and writing about antisemitism in North American Jewish History, and she has reported on the current antisemitic climate and anti-Zionism on campus for over fifteen years.
She is also the author of among others, “Silver Boom! The Rise and Decline of Leadville, Colorado as the United States Silver Capital, 1860–1896” (2008), “On This Day in the History… Of American Independence Significant Events in the Revolutionary Era, 1754–1812” (2020), and “We Used to be Friends? The Long Complicated History of Jews, Blacks, and Antisemitism” (2020). She contributed the overviews and chronologies to the “History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008,” edited by Gil Troy, Arthur M. Schlesinger, and Fred L. Israel (2012). She is the former Features Editor at the History News Network and reporter at Examiner.com, where she covered politics, universities, religion, and news. She currently blogs at Medium, where she was a top writer in history, and regularly writes an “On This Day in History (#OTD in #History)” Feature. Her scholarly articles can be found on Academia.edu.
