K'far Saba Concert

Thursday morning we drove about an hour outside Jerusalem to a town called Kfar Saba. Saba in Hebrew means grandfather. In this town, a club of holocaust survivors gather together each month to celebrate holidays and birthdays, while sharing stories, songs, and the latest news. During this meeting we celebrated Hanukah and shared a concert created especially for them. We also had the privilege to host Karen's close childhood friend, Lee, visiting Israel from California. Lee had the opportunity to experience what it is like meeting holocaust survivors and seeing their hearts open and joy burst forth through Grace and Michelle's heartwarming music. Pictured above, Lee stands on the left side, next to Shmuel (Samuel), a holocaust survivor from Poland, and his son, Alon, who surprised him with a visit that day. 

Samuel, on the left, is a very special survivor. He chooses to live each day as a gift filled with happiness and joy.  He shares his love of life everyday through singing. Samuel was delighted to learn that we would sing in Yiddish, as it holds a special place in his heart.  He shared a song with us on YouTube of him singing for a group of holocaust survivors and a special Hebrew song accompanied by his precious granddaughter.  With heartfelt gratitude to Gerri Patterson, who works with survivors in Dallas, the songs that the girls sang were the perfect Israeli songs to stir the survivor's hearts, love for Israel, and joy for a hope-filled future.   

Samuel began the club by sharing the importance of keeping the Yiddish language alive, as it was the language of their childhood.  He and his fellow holocaust survivor stood proudly singing a collection of various favorite Yiddish songs, accompanied by the entire group. ​

After their short program and announcements, Grace and Michelle began their concert by sharing their hearts for the survivors and letting the music speak for them. As the concert began, the men in the back were already visibly holding back tears. They remembered the girl's Yiddish songs from their childhood and the Hebrew songs spoke to their past, present, and future. 

As the girls sang Kotonti, the music deeply touched their hearts and stirred memories.  Michelle slowly walked to each survivor, held their hands and looked lovingly into their eyes.  There was not a dry eye in the crowd.  The leader of the group grabbed the microphone after the song to tell the group how her touch affected him personally.  He shared, "As Michelle touched my hand, I felt the Angel of God touch my heart. I felt God!".  There was verbal agreement around the entire room.  The girls concluded their concert with special songs for Hanukah and favorite songs like Hava Nagila that encouraged everyone to jump up and dance in circles.  There was so much joy in the room! Samuel was so excited that he immediately ran to the front to sing along with the girls while one by one, the group jumped up to dance. ​

Samuel was shocked and amazed to learn that Grace is a Christian. He was shocked that a Christian, a gentile, someone who is not Jewish, would come all the way to Israel to sing songs in Yiddish and Hebrew and show them so much love. He reached out immediately to give Grace a big hug. It was special for Grace as Samuel is a survivor from Poland and Grace's grandfather's family is from Poland. Poland lost 3 million Jews in the holocaust and has a strong history of anti-Semitism towards the Jews. Knowing this, it was special for Grace to receive love in return from Samuel.  It was an incredible feeling of forgiveness, shared love and healing for both of them.

If you hang around the shuk, you're likely to meet some interesting people! Pictured above is Rafael who is starting his own YouTube channel called, "Bro Torah", reaching the younger generation with conversations about Torah.  ​

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