During his military service as the lead singer of the Northern Command Band, Eliad Eliyahu wrote the song "Voice from the North." The band recorded the song, and upon his release from the IDF, Eliad also recorded the song in his first album.
This year, due to the situation in northern Israel where he lives, Eliad Eliyahu chose to release the song as a single, accompanied by a clip showcasing the magnificent and inspiring landscapes of northern Israel.
"As a resident of Akko and someone deeply connected to northern Israel, my heart simply breaks at the scenes we are witnessing in the north," he says. "All the fires, the abandoned settlements, the destroyed homes, the fruits on the trees left without workers – it simply breaks my heart. Additionally, the great pain is also that the issue is not being talked about enough, weeks and months go by, and the situation does not change, and no efficient and satisfactory solution seems to be on the horizon," said Eliyahu.
"When I see evacuees from the north, whether in Akko or through my work with the Jewish Agency, I feel that month by month, there is a decline in that spark of hope that the solution is near. I feel that my need to release the song also comes from a desire to encourage through music, to restore hope by sharpening our connection – the people of Israel to the land of Israel. The north, with all its beauty, uniqueness, and biblical connections, can do the work in a proper, moving, and powerful way," he continued.
Elyahu recounted: "During my military service in the Northern Command Band, I had the privilege of performing at most of the bases and outposts in the north – we cheered up soldiers alongside many memorial events. There were encounters with diverse audiences – a real mission to strengthen the soldiers through music and joy.
"The travels were one of the parts I loved very much. It was precisely during that time that I decided to be religious. I had the privilege of experiencing the northern landscapes of Israel with all their sanctity, with all the biblical stories, and it connected me to the homeland and to God. I wrote the song as the band's lead singer, and the song opened one of the biggest events in the north, 'A Salute to the Northern Command Bands Through the Generations.'
"Today, when I listen again to the song 'Voice from the North,' I am surprised at how timeless the song is. 'And the homeland will ache,' which I wrote then about bereavement and loss, takes on a more painful meaning also in the abandonment of parts of the land due to fighting, that 'Golan will still cry out to the heavens' just echoes the need for the voice of the north to be heard even louder, both as a prayer to God and to the entire nation – to raise awareness."
Eliad, who, as mentioned, works for the Jewish Agency as a Partnership director and as the representative of the Jewish Federations of Great Atlanta and St. Louis, adds that "since the beginning of the war, like every family in Israel, we have personal connections with soldiers from the family in regular service and reserves, loss and bereavement of my city’s residents, close friends, and lone soldiers also from the communities I work with.
"I had the privilege of accompanying in my role the Nahal Oz community, which suffered a severe blow during the terrible massacre, and I not only listen to and experience their sorrow and pain but also communicate it outwardly in Israel and especially in Jewish communities around the world to connect and participate in the community’s rehabilitation, and also to raise awareness of the real situation in Israel. They need that connection and those personal stories from the country, especially now with the rise of antisemitism pin general and specifically on campuses."
A voice from the North:
A journey over a green land
My eyes see light and a cry
Above me, the soul of creation
Calling to the north, calling to the north In song
That Golan will still cry out to the skies
And that the Gilboa will sing to the waters
And light will float on the Kinneret And the homeland will ache
Breathing the cold of the north
The falling star gazes in wonder
At the sight of the green quiet
And the trembling voice from afar
Of Golan crying out to the skies
And Gilboa singing to the waters
And light will float on the Kinneret
And the homeland will ache
Over the rising fire on the hills
And the wind will delight in the peaks
And God will protect in melody
And the song will emerge from the north
And the voice rises, rises, and the sea is so beautiful
And the heart will touch, will touch In Gilboa, Tabor, in the heights
And the voice rises, rises And the sea is so beautiful
And the heart will reach, will touch In the Galilee, in the Golan, in the valley
And the voice rises, rises, and the sea is so beautiful
And the heart will touch, will touch In the Kinneret, in song, in silence
A journey over a green land
My eyes see light and a cry
Above me, the soul of creation
Calling to the north, calling to the north in song