Wanderers No More
by Yehoshua Dalin

Since the first Temple’s burning
And the banishment of our nation
So our people, turned to yearning
To return to our proper station

Our ethos, and our life
Came to ebb, with the loss of our throne
And the stillness of G-d’s people
Came to stink, of dry bones

When our dry bones turned to dust
And the dust, to disappear
The words of the Infinite
Made us Live! Bade us Hear!

And the dust turned into bone
On it sinew burst anew
In the only place worth being
As a nation, as a Jew

So come join me, fellow Jews, and
Let us dance upon the land
Let the desert rise to greet us
With the blossoms of our hand

We will burn the rags of exile
We will bind this open sore
We will shed this domicile
And be wanderers no more!

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To submit your poem of Jewish and/or Israeli content email bbresky@israelnationalradio.com with the subject line: Poetry Submission.

My name is Sharone Goldman. I am 13 years old. I found your website and wanted to submit the attached poem.

In the summer of 2008, Israel and Lebanon compromised. Israel was willing to do almost anything for the homecoming of their two soldiers, Ehud "Udi" Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were kidnapped on a cross-border raid and held hostage in Lebanon a few years ago. My family was is Israel during the war that ensued, and I vaguely remember hearing news of soldiers being taken as prisoners. The agreement between the two neighbors was that Israel would need to return four live prisoners, including a man, Samir Kuntar, who brutally beat a young girl to death. In addition, a few hundred bodies of dead prisoners. And they agreed to return Udi and Eldad, but we would not know what their state would be. If alive, we could only hope they weren’t traumatized or sick. But worse, was death… which was definitely a possibility. We decided to do the trade just to show our soldiers how much they meant to us. Jews and Israelis across anxiously awaited last summer, watching the news so nervously to see the state of our heroes. I convinced myself that they might be alive, and Lebanon’s refusal to tell us that was just “war psychology.” I believe all of us had a small sense of hope when it was time for Udi and Eldad to be returned. But the truth was inescapable when we were handed two coffins of our soldiers. So many tears were shed that day… we aren’t sure how they died, but it is tragic what happened to them, one way or another.

Tricked
by Sharone Goldman

Two years,
Udi and Eldad were imprisoned,
and you finally agreed to let the free.
They could be dead,
or alive,
we had to compromise.

“Four live soldiers
and a few hundred bodies,”
you said.
“For Udi and Eldad,
who might be dead.”

We didn’t know their state,
what might be their fate,
but we had to commit.
We might be tricked,
but it would be worth it.

The trade happened on the border.
Samir Kuntar was freed,
a child killer, out of reach,
and you were elated.

Then three more horrible men you received.
We held our breath,
Waiting,
Hoping,
Dreaming.

So soon we would see Eldad and Udi,
and we hoped they could breath,
to laugh,
to eat,
and prosper with children and wives.

On that terrible day,
two coffins came our way,
our two dead soldiers packed inside,
we gasped… we cried.

And we could not hold on to anymore hope.

It felt like a cruel trick,
it made me weep, it makes me sick.
It seemed definite peace could never come,
but that is certain after what you have done.

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To submit your poem of Jewish and/or Israeli content email bbresky@israelnationalradio.com with the subject line: Poetry Submission.

Shivi Keller of the band Ein Od Milvado in concert this Saturday night, Oct. 24th, in K'far Tapu'ah. The 3 of the Eighth Month, 5770. K'far Tapu'ah combination Melaweh Malkah Concerts have returned! Shivi Keller kicks the fall season off this Mossa'ei Shabbath at 7:30 p.m. For more info call 052-752-1159.

Here is a video of Shivi Keller live in concert.

Here is an intense, moody, build up album track from Shivi Keler and Ein Od Milvado, typical of his style.

Here is the Ein Od Milvado funky reggae remix and slide show.

Here is my old interview with Shivi Keller.
Injured Musician Sings of Faith, Redemption

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Got a Jewish and/or Israeli music concert you want to promote? Want to to be a gust writer on this blog? Email Israel Beat by clicking on the sidebar link.

No One Left to Blame
by Kathy Napper, 2009

This poem wrote itself late last night after one too many Holocaust documentaries plus a particularly nasty Goldstone Report, and refused to let me rest until it was out and on the page. This should be read with large doses of "Chas Ve'Chalila" and "Be'Ezrat Hashem" and an earnest plea to Almighty G-d that such a situation should never, ever, ever arise!

"Master, have you seen the papers?
Jews are dying by the score!"
"Have you nothing new to tell me?
Didn’t bother me before!"

"Master, have you heard the latest?
Hundreds of the Jews are dead!"
"Wouldn’t care if it were thousands!
Tell me something new instead!"

"Master, hear the news they’re telling!
Thousands of them slaughtered now!"
"So they’ve killed a couple 'a thousand!
Ain’t no cause to make a row!"

"Master, now they’re killing millions!
This is bad, you must confess!"
"Kill them all for all that I care!
What’s a million more or less?"

"Master, all the Jews are dead now!
Things will never be the same!"
"No indeed! What a disaster!
Now we’ve no one left to blame!"

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To submit your poem of Jewish and/or Israeli content email bbresky@israelnationalradio.com with the subject line: Poetry Submission.

Craving some old school traditional taamim or Pizmonim? Don't even know what they are?  That's OK, because now you can download them as mp3s from the brand new Sephardic Hazzanut Project web site. Built by Faraj Samra, a young Jewish-Syrian singer, this site has numerous traditional prayers and melodies in Sephardic style, the Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa who previously lived in Spain before the Spanish Inquisition. Faraj is committed to saving these songs and passing them on to the next generation. Check it out here: http://www.sephardichazzanut.com/