Ramatayim Men’s Choir of Jerusalem
Photo: V. Roth
Spreading international harmony
Men’s choir from Jerusalem brings message of peace, love to Welsh festival
TEL AVIV - You’re standing in a festival field in the middle of rural Wales and you hear that there are bombs going off in London. What does an Israeli choir participating in a music festival do?
The Ramatayim Men’s Choir of Jerusalem heard the news of the London bombings on the third day of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, when they were due to represent Israel in the gala concert.
Surrounded by choirs from Russia, Hungary, Africa, India, Spain, Poland and New Zealand, they were the only ones to dedicate their performance to the victims of Britain’s worst-ever terrorist atrocity.
Their rendition of ‘Lo Teida Milchama’ – translated for the audience as ‘Let There Be No More War’ - was met with a standing ovation.
Says Richard Shavei-Tzion, Ramatayim’s Musical Director: “Everywhere we went, and in every interview we gave to international media, both before and after the bombing, we conveyed a message of peace and love – we sang with other choirs and tried to show that Israelis are caring, peace-loving people – so different from the image they see on TV.”
The Choir didn’t win any prizes in the competition, which brings together the best choirs in the world, but they won over plenty of hearts. Lone Jewish families in the region, local Christian groups, and members of the 50 other choirs competing, all responded positively to theimusical message of harmony.
Members of the choir were moved to see Israeli flags being waved in the 4,000-seat auditorium.
Music bridges international barriers
Richard was surprised by the lack of security in England. Members of the choir took it upon themselves to check their vehicles for suspicious packages each day, and every member of the group carried a whistle.
But the only surprises they found were nice ones – two Welsh Christians came to wish them well and apologize that they had missed their performance, so the choir stood in the festival car park, huddled under umbrellas in true British style – and gave them a private performance of ‘Baruch HaBa.’
Another aspect of the Eisteddfod was the opportunity to sing (and even dance) together with the members of choirs from the four corners of the world.
A choir from the Sakhalin Islands, east of Russia, joined them for an impromptu rendition of ‘When Israel Was in Egypt’s Land.’
Says Richard: “We couldn’t speak a word of each other’s languages, but we were able to sing together and bridge international barriers through music.”
“We sang 70 songs during the week all around the United Kingdom, in the most unusual settings – in the Llangollen Council Chamber we were asked not to sit in the Lord Mayor’s seat, at the Festival we sang in tents being battered by the rain, and in one of the U.K.’s oldest and most beautiful shuls we gave a private performance of wedding songs for the family who had arranged our Birmingham visit.
It was a wonderful opportunity for us to take the music of Israel to an appreciative international audience.”
