On October 7th, Yael Elkayam, guitarist in the all-women haredi ensemble “Breishit” lost her beloved sister-in-law Einat Levi Elkayam, murdered at the Nova dance party. Einav’s husband, Or, is still being held hostage in Gaza.
The pain, worry and unspeakable tragedy could easily lead inward to utter darkness, but Yael was able to find a spark of light and a way to make it glow. She decided to create a unity performance that crosses all sectors in Israel. A night of healing, of connecting, of the desire to mend the feeling of being torn apart from the inside and the outside.
And tomorrow, Monday, July 15th, at the Tel Av port’s Beit Hayotzer, that is going to happen.
The Breishit Ensemble is a phenomenon to begin with. The group composes, arranges and performs energetic, optimistic and exciting music that reflects the different styles of its members – Israel, Jewish, Jazz, pop, blues and even the Beatles! The members have been performing at festivals, conferences and at home concerts since 2019 and are now producing a project called “Breishit and the feminine stage” whose goal is increasing women’s creativity in line with halakha.
And naturally, that said, they appear only before women.
The ensemble turned to Mali Levoi-Gershon, non-religious model, actress and singer to join in producing a performance to be held in Tel Aviv – an intentional choice of venue. Mali was happy to join the initiative and another story developed.
It turns out that Mali had been a childhood friend of the ensemble’s vocal soloist, Keren, but their paths diverged as they made different life choices. Keren became observant, a baalat tshuva, while Mali realized her dream of becoming an actress and model. Twenty five years later they met again at Breishit, where they kindled their friendship anew.
And that story is part and parcel of the optimism on the subject of unity, on working together how no matter how far apart you have become, no matter how different you are – because this land that we love is our only land.