Each week, a group of bereaved fathers whose children were killed in terror attacks or fell during their military service, unite in song. The fathers work together to cope with their difficult and unimaginable loss. The choir meets at the OneFamily Jerusalem Center - together they compose and perform Israeli songs and songs of their loved ones.
On the third night of Hannuka, the OneFamily Bereaved Father’s Choir performed in the streets of Mamilla Mall in central Jerusalem. Their voices rose and fell in unity – spreading joy to hundreds gathered for the annual menorah lighting with Chabad of Talbiya, in memory of and in solidarity with Israel’s 17,000 victims of terror.
The night opened with the lighting of the menorah by Moshe Holtzberg and his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Rosenberg. On November 26, 2008, terrorists murdered Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Chabad emissaries in Mumbai. Rabbi Rosenberg shared of his children, their life, and of their light that will continue to brighten the world.
Each week, a group of bereaved fathers whose children were killed in terror attacks or fell during their military service, unite in song. The fathers work together to cope with their difficult and unimaginable loss. The choir meets at the OneFamily Jerusalem Center - together they compose and perform Israeli songs and songs of their loved ones.
The idea for the men's choir was initiated by Dina Kit, a bereaved mother, and OneFamily office manager. She initiated the choir after noticing her husband, Omer, suffering from loneliness and anguish after the death of their son. The couple lost their son Ofir, a Givati infantry soldier, in an attack in Gaza in 2001. A few years earlier, another of the couple's sons, Yisrael, died of illness.
Dina shared, "our process of coping as bereaved families is difficult and complex, and includes many ups and downs. The pain and the longing are endless, and we need to do something through which we touch upon hope and happiness in order to survive – something like singing. It is very difficult, but we are trying to express our sadness and pain through song."
"I don't sing because it makes me happy," says Omer. "If I succeed, in my situation, in making someone else happy, then I have done something…We are seen and heard – but they are remembered."
Ami Yifrach, whose son Dani was killed in an attack at the Nahariya train station, never thought that he would sing in a choir. "My son, Dani had an amazing musical ear," he says. "He always laughed at me that I was really off-key and didn't remember the words to songs. I wouldn't have dared join a choir, but OneFamily interested me in this. Suddenly I discovered that I can sing."
As the Hannuka candles shone brightly on the faces of the choir members - you could sense the urgency to spread joy to the audience. Their voices raised in unison, reminding everyone the hardship of our nations' past and the resilience of our future.
Beyond singing, the choir helps its members deal with their mourning, as a sense of support has developed through the exchange of personal stories, which has brought the group closer.