Singalong, Yair Rosenblum

One of the more recent Saturday night, Motza"Sh, meaning after Shabbat, activities here in Shiloh has been singalongs.

Way back when in the early decades in Israel, singalongs were very popular social/cultural activities. There would be slides, a slide projector and a big screen or cleared off wall, so the participants could read the words. Music would frequently be provided by someone playing an accordian. When there wasn't anyone to provide live music, there would be a tape recorder. Now everything's online and via the computer. Last year when I attended a singalong, the volume was turned down and a young neighbor ended up playing absolutely everything on the piano.

This time one of our "social coordinators" combined a television program about Yair Rosenblum with some "slides" of the lyrics.

I'm not an expert when it comes to who wrote Israeli songs. I know almost nothing, except about Naomi Shemer.  In a sense they were contemporaries, since they wrote some of their most famous songs during the same time period.

Yair Rosenblum:
Rosenblum was born in Tel Aviv.^[5] He was musical director of the Israel Defense Forces chorus in the 1960s and 1970s.^[6] He directed Israel's annual music festivals.^[5][6]He conducted and composed songs for the Israel Defense Forces army and navy ensembles.

Some songs I knew, others were familiar, and some I had never heard before. It was an enjoyable evening. I'd really like a singalong of Israeli songs we used to dance to. Then I'd feel young...

Jerusalem Songs, Sing Along

Which is your favorite?

Singalong in the Shiloh Swimming-Pool

I've read that even during the worst, the most violent days of the Israeli War of Independence, people would leisurely dine and drink coffee in the cafes of Tel Aviv. Is that the sort of think that was happening this morning in our local swimming pool, here in Shiloh?

Reading the news gives the impression that the country is in turmoil, burning, but you wouldn't know it during that short hour women had in the pool this morning. The staff had some popular classic Israeli songs blasting, the kinds of songs which have been popular for decades especially at "singalongs," and many of the women did just that. We sang along together.




These are the occupations that keep us sane and give us the strength to go on.