I couldn’t attend Omer Adam’s concert last night at Place Bell in Montreal, but my sister sent me regular updates on Facetime.
From the few clips I saw, the concert, sponsored by the local Jewish Federation, had a wild party atmosphere. It was intoxicating.
But it was also jarring.
Here were thousands of proud Jews with Israeli flags dancing, reveling, rejoicing, as if the news never reached them about the global hate movement toward Israel.
As if they didn’t hear about the midterm elections in the U.S. that showed Israel’s standing at its lowest point in decades.
As if everything is so OK with Israel all they have to do now is celebrate.
Then I realized something. Maybe these Zionist partiers knew exactly what is going on with Israel, and this was their response.
Maybe they had the victims of the Nova music festival in mind when they jumped in ecstasy.
You hate, you murder, we party.
Even through a smart phone, I could feel that defiance.
It’s hard to capture with words the transcendent power of music, especially when it’s live and the vibe is communal.
A million words have been spoken about how to fight the alarming rise of antisemitism. What I saw last night felt more powerful than words.
As I saw glimpses of the concert, infused with the swagger and spirit of a performer who led the crowd, no one seemed to need words to strengthen their Zionist pride. The adrenalin was enough.
Education of course is crucial. The thing with education, though, is that it reaches only our brains. When our hearts and souls are opened, we’re a lot more likely to open our brains.
And nothing opens our Zionist hearts and souls like an unabashed celebration of Israeli music.
The road is long.
A little time-out for joy gives us the strength to keep going.
Shabbat shalom.
