'Messengers to unite the People'
'Messengers to unite the People'Cubis

Israeli singer Aviv Geffen and Hasidic singer Avraham Fried spoke ahead of the release of their joint song after yesterday they released a picture of the cover of their single, “Batzoret” (Drought).

"I'm here in Tel Aviv in the studio," Geffen told Fried, "the song came to me and I am completely in tears and with chills. Listen, I couldn’t have imagined it."

"When the song was written I said I wish, I wish I could sing with you and I want to say thank you very much for the courage. It takes a lot of courage to connect your whole audience to my audience and that is perhaps the most important message. The connections, unity in Israel and in the world. Thank you, it is a great honor for me,” he added.

Fried replied to Geffen, "Aviv, I pray we will be messengers to unite the People especially these days that everyone goes through what he does. If there was a need for unity all these years then there certainly is even more so now, and I have a good feeling it will successfully strengthen and unite the people."

Later in the conversation, Geffen noted that the coronavirus also connected them. "If they had asked me and you a year ago, before the coronavirus, if we would meet, we would have either avoided doing so or would have been afraid, and in the song 'Drought' we sing ‘I’m your brother do not forget.’ Since we are all essentially brothers, and this has been forgotten in all the incitement and hatred and the pain, and we became distant from one another, but in fact we are brothers."

In response, Fried told him, "It started like I told you after I saw your interview, like I felt your soul, and I think this song is not just coming from your soul, but from deep within your soul. You wrote it with so much expectation of unity and light, that it should be good. But the secret is to remember that we are brothers and hate is a very harsh word." Geffen replied, "True. It's a harsh word that leads nowhere,” and Fried added, "Enough with the hatred, we need love and that's it."

Toward the end Geffen thanked Fried, "Thank you Avraham, you sing beautifully and I am so glad that this connection has finally been made in a real and respectful way. I love you very very much. Thank you so much for the wonderful singing."

And Fried replied, "Now I'm waiting to hear your performance and we'll make it a duet. Very nice. May you succeed. That the voice should come not from the throat but from the soul."

אביב גפן ואברהם פריד שוחחו: אנחנו שליחים לאחד את העםקוביס