Remembering Gilad through song
Singer and songwriter Achinoam Nini memorializes Gilad Mishiker through a special song she wrote in honor of Gilad Mishiker, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1997.
Behind her and around her are ancient and sacred texts that are historical evidence of the blood connection between the land and its inhabitants. Before her sits living evidence. A woman. A bereaved mother.
Several hours previously, Nini was performing in Haifa. This performance however, is different.
In the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, there are no chairs and no audience. Here there is only an improvised office chair and one witness: Yael Mishiker, whose son Gilad was killed in the February 1997 helicopter disaster.
Gilad
SSgt. Gilad Mishiker was 20 years old when he died. He served as a combat medic in the engineer company of the Nahal Infantry Brigade and was one of 73 soldiers who were killed on their way to Lebanon when two helicopters collided.
After the disaster his mother found refuge in art. "A year and a half after Gilad was killed, I told myself I would look for meaning," said Yael.
Yael went on to complete two degrees in art, volunteered at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and her home became populated with a variety of sculptures she created.
"Suddenly things came out so strong and deep that I did not know what to do with them," she says. "I did things related to the spaces, to the void, and at a certain point I stopped, I could not cope with the intensity, and I returned to that two or three years ago."
Nini and Yael look at pictures of Gilad, his image smiling at them from the past. When telling stories about Gilad, Yael always returns to the figure behind the uniform; the humanity of Gilad as a son, friend and person.
"Once, I was invited to Milwaukee to speak on the eve of Memorial Day in front of 900 people in English, not my mother tongue," said Yael. "I wrote that Gilad was not the best at mathematics, did not play the violin well and he was not a chess prodigy like other genius Jewish children. But he was a person."
Nini: "A mensch. This Yiddish word is irreplaceable."
Yael: "Exactly. I wanted to relate to them the depth of the humanity that was in this child. During one of the memorials we did, one of Gilad's friends said something amazing—'Only today, when we are 41 years old, I am starting to understand the things Gilad knew then.'"
During the 20th anniversary of the helicopter disaster, a memorial was held in honor of Gilad with his friends from school and the army. "The character that came up was so full of love—a good friend and a person with such human qualities," said Yael.
Nini: "When I hear your stories about Gilad, I'm sure he was a mensch and I know where he comes from. I understand that it is worth it to fight for this beautiful place, for a meaningful life and a life of peace here in Israel. I will continue to fight for this so that great light can come from great loss."
Once upon a time at Boyer…
Nini herself was once a student at Boyer when she came back to Israel from the United States as a child. While she did not know Gilad at school, as there were seven years between them, she did know Yael surprisingly, who was her guidance counselor.
After hearing of the tragedy and reuniting with Yael, Nini decided to honor Gilad by writing a song in his memory.
During their encounter, Nini explains the song and her motivations to Yael. The notes, she says, are meant to demonstrate moving through moments in life—childhood and joy, maturity and the army.
"I tried to imagine what it was like, how you felt, how you thought about it 20 million times. Your anger, the fear. At the end, the song wants to be sung, the life it represents wants to be lived," said Nini.
After the encounter between the two and hearing the song, Yael said, "I couldn't have expected anything stronger, more amazing or more true. This dream of going back with Gilad, and walking with him, and waking up is a dream that, whether you like it or not, you dream all the time."
