I’ve always wanted to play basic guitar, at least enough to accompany songs.
Guitar playing (by others) was part of my high-school dorm days and my army time as well.
Now that my reserve duty is home-based, why not try it now?
So I downloaded a guitar-teaching app. Did you know that SimplyGuitar offers FREE services for Israelis? With so many displaced families, kids, and adults who are out of their routines, this provider rose to the occasion to encourage healthy, skill-building entertainment and instruction.
Songs are more than just entertaining… they are educational.
One of my favorite educational activities I ran in various settings in Israel and abroad was “Jerusalem Songs” which explored our relationship to Jerusalem through the years as heard, seen, and expressed through songs.
One of the ways that I guide the vast Mt. Herzl military cemetery is by using a portable speaker. As we sit amongst the graves, I play one song per decade/per war, and through its lyrics and melody we discover the development of Israeli society’s inner aspirations and mechanisms.
And today's war?
If you go right now to YouTube and search for Hebrew “Gaza songs,” (click the link), you will find a slew of Israeli songs produced within the past few weeks. The main genres are rap, trance, and hip-hop. The lyrics include simplistic phrases like “we’re gonna conquer Gaza,” “Hamas – you losers… the IDF is gonna bury you alive in your tunnels.”
Although somewhat lost in the rapid-fire speed of rap, some lyrics are highly educational.
Some relate to general concepts. Like the understanding that the world beyond October 8th can never again be the world of before October 6th. The 7th was not just an event that sparked a war. It was an event of paradigm shifts. A moment of reckoning. A wake-up call to dismiss old concepts and create new ones.
Lyrics like: “[shouting] ‘free Palestine’ is no longer free…”
Israelis are fed up with anti-Zionist rhetoric. There is a price to pay for genocidal speech, and the time has come to collect the fee.
Here in Israel, we are now aware that the “freedom marches” on the Gazan border, and many other Hamas activities, were all preparatory for this grand invasion.
Israelis are saying: No more.
Abroad, the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic bias of countries, societies, and institutions is being called out. As seen in the UN and on university campuses.
Jews are saying: No more.
Some have even deeper sociopolitical meaning: “left, right, left, the entire country is in uniform” – a comment on how our polarized left-right divide is now marching in unison to the classic left-right-left, military step.
The general theme of all the songs is clear. We are united. And because we are united, we will win.
The tempo doesn’t just capture the action, it calls for action.
Here in Israel, we are caught up in getting by during a very trying war routine. But even as we are swimming upstream, I wish to utilize my blog, for myself, and for you, my dear readers, to lift our heads above the water, and remind ourselves of “big picture” issues as well.
For this, I will use a song we all know…
“HaTikva”
Israel's national anthem contains this powerful line:
“To be a free people, in our land”
Let's understand this line a little deeper.
To be. A free. People. In our land.
To be.
We want to live. To create. Grow. Raise families and establish communities. We may also lead the Hi-Tech world and develop cherry tomatoes, but at the very least, at our foundations, we just want to be.
Free.
We want to be free. Not of obligations. Not free of responsibility. But rather free to fulfill our destiny and free to pursue our dreams. Free to be who we are meant to be.
People.
A people is much more than an assortment of individuals. As a people, we share a common history. We live a collective present. And we dream of a mutual future. We have been a people for 4000 years. Despite the past 2000 years where circumstances drove us apart, unbreakable bonds keep us together.
Our land.
Menachem Begin said, "We are not here by the right of our might, but rather by the might of our right!"
Modern Israel haters may shout "From the River to the Sea..." but God promised us a land "...from the River of Egypt till the Great Prat River..."
This reminds me of the famous quote... and quote extension:
Nietzsche: "God is dead!"
God: "Nietzsche is dead!"
When asked by the League of Nations regarding the Jewish people's claim to the land, Ben Gurion famously held up the Hebrew Bible and proclaimed, "This is our deed!"
If I have to choose between siding with God, or Nietzsche and BDS groups, I think my mind is made up from the letter “G.”
It is indeed unfortunate that after 75 years of independence, we still do not have permanent, recognized borders, but the amazement of achieving independence, after 2000 years, within any borders, teaches us a lesson in being humble in the face of time.
I find that these modern songs may be a call to action, a call to the "WHAT", but the anthem is a reminder of the "WHY."
In summary:
When I think about my life during “Josh’s War” - even when I’m on my feet during an eight-hour guard-duty shift, I try not to lose sight of the larger goals as well.
The process is in the “here-and-now” but the goals are lofty.
And my guitar skills… (I'm glad you asked...)
Well, my favorite performer, Harry Chapin, has something to say about this… and you can click here and listen to him speak for 43 seconds about calluses. (Really - you need to listen)
So I'm not sure about my skills, but I can tell you that my fingertips hurt. They are sore and blistered. But I’m developing calluses.
Songs. That seems to be my focus for week 11.
Yes, there are lyrics. (Figuratively and literally)
Indeed there is a melody. (Figuratively and literally)
But right now it’s all about the fingertips. (Figuratively and literally)
Even if right now it hurts, WE WILL... I WILL develop those calluses. (Figuratively and literally)
(And like Harry says, I plan on being, in life, very effective) (Literally)
[This caption reads: Singing HaTikva on the Gazan beach] (Figuratively and literally)
