Wow Riff, thank you for sharing your pain and singing from your heart. Exactly what I needed to hear ♥ Discover more about Riff here. You can't fill it You can't change it You can't make up for it Only wipe the tears I walk here and there With a hole in the heart And inside it pain You can't fill it You can't change it You can't make up for it Only wipe the tears A hole in the heart A hole in the heart A hole in the heart And inside it pain I walk around day and night With a hole in the heart And inside it pain You see, this is what I live with Ever since childhood Being a w ..read more

There's recently been a flood of new Israeli music, a welcoming sign, but I still find myself drawn to the familiar classics which have given me comfort in the past nine months. Shalom Hanoch wrote this beautiful song in memory of his nephew who died during his military service in a training accident in 1980. While I was aware of the song in the past, the lyrics understandably resonate differently, especially on uncertain days like today. Brilliant translation by Youtube user @Trans_Lator: For my song's echo resonating My own postcard for sending Course of life in bliss Things I miss Pray ..read more

When Tamir Grinberg released this touching song way back in January he wrote:  When I wrote this song, I didn't think I would release it. I didn't there would still be hostages. I wrote it while the first hostage release deal was taking place, thinking this way or another, they would all come back. Now, I'm releasing this song to sound this message - bring them home, bring you home.  Now. It's our duty and responsibility." It's been 6 months since then and a few days ago he released this beautiful live version, the words still relevant today. When I listen to the song I think of t ..read more

Ran Danker's bold new single speaks for itself but here are parts from an interview he gave earlier this week which provide a bit more context: "This song was written a year ago, during the legal revolution. There was an internal urge of mine amidst all the anger and frustration to add to it and say 'What a fear, we're in a free fall and we don't see that we're losing our language with each other'. And then October 7 came and made it more tangible". Listening to his song, I'm reminded of how I felt when I went to bed on October 6th, not fearing a security incident, but fearing how the ..read more

Overwhelmed with joy to hear of the stunning rescue of four hostages abducted from the Nova festival: Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. ♥♥♥♥ With all the happiness and excitement, 120 hostages are still held in Gaza. We can't forget them and we can't turn down a hostage deal that will bring all of them back. Oh child, time passed You went to search far away from here And I'm waiting for you Oh, my child in this world A human bird like everyone else Looking for the horizon Every plane that flies in the sky Every star lighting the eyes Reminds me of you Wagtails ..read more

Yehuda Poliker released this song in 2001 during the Second Intifada and sadly the lyrics, written by Yaakov Gilad, have never felt more relevant with the tense situation in the North and the dire situation in the South. I came across this moving performance from a concert Poliker gave a few weeks ago, here is what he says at the beginning: "We're going through a difficult time. It's not clear whether the war in Gaza is over or not. But what it means is that the hostages still aren't here and our heroic soldiers are still getting hurt over there. I call from here for the return of all the h ..read more

Earlier this week at the Memorial Eve ceremony at the city square I was struck by how different the atmosphere was from last year. Last year it was a moment to stop day-to-day life and acknowledge the heavy price of the soldiers who lost their lives, it was a sad night but I remember talking carelessly afterward with a friend, discussing our Independence Day plans and moving on. This year it felt that there was no day-to-day life to stop, it was more like a darker day among dark days, in which we heard the painful stories from our fellow city residents, our neighbors, who for them it was the ..read more

When the 10th season of Rising Star started at the end of November I don't think anyone thought that we would still be at war by the Eurovision final and that there would still be 132 hostages in captivity, among them an unclear number of living hostages. And yet, here we are. We did know that we would still be coping with the aftermath of October 7th and the songwriters who wrote Hurricane for Eden Golan, the winner of Rising Star, knew that the Eurovision semi-final and final would be held during the reflective days of our memorial week which started last Sunday with Holocaust Memorial Day ..read more

Ninet Tayeb wrote this chilling and beautiful song before October 7th and was asked to share it for the must-see documentary "Screams Before Silence". As she wrote in her Facebook post, "It was clear to me the song had found its purpose, music that is part of the tragic and unbearably difficult story of those women and girls who experienced the worst of all. Their story is the story of us all. On October 7th, it seems that the entire nation of Israel felt the need to be reborn". When I'm scared of myself I can't make a sound And if I'm trying to talk My head meets the ground I'm laying righ ..read more

Tuna is back with a moving song that manages to capture the feelings of instability and uncertainty that we've all felt in one way or another in the past six months. Tuna being Tuna, he also offers much-needed comfort during this challenging time, which in many ways feels more difficult than the chaotic weeks right after October 7th. I posted a while back Tuna's mega-hit 'This Too Shall Pass' and recently discovered that it's one of the songs on a playlist created by Carmel Gat's friends, of songs that she loved and would share with them. Carmel, an occupational therapist, was taken hostage ..read more