Naomi's Grandfather
Today we reconnected with Naomi, a very sweet Israeli we befriended last year at Swarovski in Mamilla mall. Last year, after sharing about our concerts for the holocaust survivors, Naomi invited us to visit her grandparents home and meet her beloved grandfather who fought in Normandy and played a significant role in fighting for freedom and liberating Jews in WWII. Naomi has a very close relationship to her grandparents whom after meeting, you cannot help but fall in love with. This year we were very excited to see Naomi again and ask about her family. Naomi also was happy to see us, but pulled us aside to tell us the sad news of her grandfathers passing. About 10 months ago, Daniel Nadel passed at 96 peacefully with family there to comfort him. Naomi cried as she shared with us the heartbreaking news for all her family. He was an incredible man, hero, husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many and losing him has left a deep loss for Naomi and everyone who knew him. We cried with Naomi and remembered the wonderful memories of the time we shared with him last year. These memories we have documented and filmed as Daniel recounted his service in the U.S. army and Israeli police force, his tremendous work in the agricultural seeding industry both in the U.S. and Israel, his marriage to Shirley, their journey of making Aliyah to Israel, and the generations of family that have followed them. They now have 9 great grandchildren in Israel. Daniel and Shirley share a tremendous love and pride for the land of Israel that was planted in Shirley's family many generations ago. Daniel Nadel shared with us his love for his country through the song he wrote titled, "Jerusalem". He sang it to the melody of Edelweiss. This song stayed in our hearts and to this day Michelle and Grace have been singing his song in the hopes to sing it for him this year. Even now we can hear his song echoing off the walls of Jerusalem. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, every morning I pray for you, with bright sun most every day, I'm so happy to greet you..." Daniel and Shirley Nadel were so kind to welcome us into their home last year and share with us their personal stories of life and history from fighting in WWII to immigrating to Israel and
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contributing to the future of this nation. His wife boasted that Daniel could not let a day go by without singing and using his voice.
We sat down as Daniel recounted his service in the U.S. army during WWII, fighting off German subs and later becoming a lieutenant under General Patton where he fought in Normandy and many other prominent battles throughout France to stop the Nazi forces. He was one of the soldiers who liberated the concentration camps in 1945 and this affected his so deeply that as we asked him about the event, he teared up and could not share it with us. Daniel's incredible war contributions have been honored and recognized and very recently Daniel was honored as a Knight of the French Legion for his superior service and contribution.
The medals on the right are from Daniel's service in the U.S. army and the medals on the left are from Daniel's volunteer police service in Israel for 10 years. We have so much to learn from amazing men and heros like Daniel who fought hard with bravery and vision for the freedoms we enjoy to this day.
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After Daniel and Shirley shared with us their songs and tremendous life stories, Michelle and Grace had the opportunity to sing for them. They sang "Jerusalem of Gold", Hatikvah, and a special blessing. Right as we finished singing, Naomi, their granddaughter, arrived with her girls and a cake she made to celebrate Jessica's birthday. It is so beautiful to see how their caregiver Jessica is a part of their family, and in the same way, we too felt loved and a part of their family during our short visit.
We visited Naomi's grandmother, Shirley, and sang her husband's favorite song, "Jerusalem". We did a private concert for Shirley and sat and visited with her as she shared sweet memories of her husband.
We share all this in honor of Daniel and believe there is a significant reason we met him and his family and Michelle and Grace hope to share his memory through music.
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Hear Naomi's grandfather sing a beautiful song he wrote about Jerusalem to the tune of Edelweiss.
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