Friday, October 11, 2013

Ha'am Sheli: A Musical Tribute to the Unity of the Jewish People


Lazer Lloyd, an Israeli guitarist and singer/songwriter, wrote a song entitled "Ha'am Sheli" (meaning "My People" or "My Nation" in Hebrew) in response to the frictions and tensions between different groups of Jews - especially in Israel. 

Lazer explains, "Before the Jewish people make peace with the world we first have to learn to love each other with all of our differences while not forgetting the unbelievable place of the Jewish people in the history of the world".

Other Israeli musicians heard the song "Ha'am Sheli" as Lazer sang it with his acoustic guitar. They were moved by the message of love for all of the Jewish people and believed that the song has power to open hearts and bring about greater unity. A generous sponsor financed a recording of "Ha'am Sheli" at Supersonic Studios in Jerusalem with Lazer on electric guitar and vocal, plus the great voices of Gad Elbaz, Shlomo Katz, Naftali Kalfa, and Aaron Razel, a full band, and rich orchestration (composed and arranged by Aaron Razel). 


All the artists donated their efforts to the song as part of the "Ha'am Sheli" (My People) Project aimed at fostering a dialogue and educating the various people of Israel to love and appreciate each other and accept their differences with understanding.

The video takes the viewer on a moving journey to meet the real folks that make up the loving face of the Jewish people. The guitarist visits a study hall, restaurant, kitchen, construction site, playground, city street, shuk, music store, and wherever Jews gather.

The song is in Hebrew with English subtitles. There are also subtitles in the closed caption section on the youtube video in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, all prepared by volunteers. Click CC to choose the subtitle you prefer).


Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)

4 comments:

  1. absolutely beautiful song and music...very spiritual. Loved seeing all the people of Israel in all walks of life

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  2. What does his note say at the end?

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  3. A beautiful message beautifully sung and enacted.

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  4. It says "L'yeshuat ul'ahdut Am Yisrael" (For the salvation and the unity of the Nation of Israel). It's the start of a fundraising project to spread the song worldwide. Lazer Lloyd, an Israeli guitarist and singer/songwriter, wrote the song "Ha'am Sheli" (My People) in response to frictions between different groups of Jews. These tensions came to a head in a number of highly publicized negative incidents that took place in the last year 5773 (2012/2013). The "Ha'am Sheli" project was inspired by a desire to take positive practical action to bring Jews to a greater understanding of each other and increased unity in this new year just begun, 5774 (2013/2014). You can see details of the project, interviews, and videos at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lazerlloyd/haam-sheli-my-people-jewish-unity-music-project.

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