Jerusalem Youth Chorus Wows "America's Got Talent" - This Could Become a Big Deal
It won't cure all the ills of the world, but these sweet singers of Jerusalem are keeping alive the flames of hope - and thereby fulfilling an ancient biblical commandment.
I've long loved this group, which promotes coexistence among Israeli and Palestinian teens in Jerusalem and beyond. And their music is just great! I once attended a JYC Christmas-Hanukah concert in Jerusalem’s YMCA, their home base, and it was one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever had in Israel.
Last night they wowed the panel and audience of "America's Got Talent" with their signature rendition of the song "Home." It wasn't exactly the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, but JYC has definitely arrived and they’re capturing American hearts by the millions.
Here’s how the network described the group’s audition:
Every season, there’s a lot of musical performers who take the stage and get the crowd stirred up. That said, when we say this youth choir had the entire crowd either on its feet dancing or tearing up at their incredible voices. As if that wasn’t enough, they carried a poignant message of equality, noting they’re a group of both Israeli and Palestinian singers who believe, through music, they can create more spaces to “take a step forward to an amazing future where there is justice, and there is freedom, and there is equality and there is inclusion.”
After you watch the audition, see below their concert from earlier this week, streamed from Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. And below that, a playful melody with a lovely message from their most recent album. After that, check out their repertoire on Spotify and YouTube.
It won't cure all the ills of the world, but we all deserve to feel hopeful, if only for a few minutes. JYC provides that elixir.
I know we can’t be naive. Things are bad. Coexistence seems a pipe dream. But these kids are daring to dream it, minus the pipe.
The yearning for peace is a flame that cannot be allowed to go out. We see it in Leviticus 6:5…
The priests are commanded not to allow the flames of the peace offering, the shlamim (from the word shalom) to be extinguished. The Jerusalem Youth Chorus is putting an extra log on the fire at a time when war and political polarization dominate the news. As of early Wednesday afternoon, their AGT audition video has drawn 78,000 views on YouTube. And if the ratings hold true to form, about 5 million saw the group sing “live" on Tuesday evening on NBC, along with many others who watched on streaming services across the world.
If they remain in contention, they’ll become a story. If they become a story, momentum will build, and if momentum builds, and everyone in Israel and Gaza is too exhausted to fight anymore (and the Saudis and Egyptians play ball) … and the Olympic torch in the City of Lights adds more fuel to these flames of possibility, and…and… I’d best not get carried away. But we know that despair can turn to hope instantaneously - all it needs is a spark.
Emily Dickenson called hope the thing with feathers. That may be true, but the Torah says that hope is the thing with flames. Hope is combustible.
The priests were drawn from the Levite family, the great musicians of ancient Judaism. Maybe these sweet singers of Jerusalem can fulfill their tribal function and keep alive the flames of shalom.
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