Tonight I saw the worst and the best of Israel. The worst of it I saw on the news, and I don’t have to repeat them to you. Suffice it to say, as the woman in the Yiddish lullaby sings to her little Yankele, “It will cost me and your father many tears before you become a mensch.” But the best of Israel doesn’t get seen so much, so I’m very happy to get a chance to point them out. First off, it was an evening for Eliya http://www.eliya.org.il which is in English http://www.eliyausa.org here. It is an association for preschool blind and visually impaired children and two of the ‘graduates’ performed – one, a seventeen year old singer, and the other a thirteen year old pianist. They were both impressive, the products of a great deal of personal care and direction. Their parents were even more impressive, in their quiet steadfastness. The organization – which now has three schools – is run by voluteer Michael Segal, who has quietly developed and expanded the institution for almost twenty years. He succeeded Haim Sanderson, the father of Danny Sanferson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Sanderson who also contributed an extended appearance tonight, to the great joy of the audience. Danny Sanderson is not only one of the major contributors to Israeli music, but he is Ezi’s absolute favorite. His first group Kaveret http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaveret and the others that have followed, have had long lasting influences on poetry and music, and the audience – young and old – knew all the words.
Opening for them was a group called Tararam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tararam full of energy and invention. Dance and drumming groups are really good here, for numerous reason i will go into soon.
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