{"id":1,"date":"2025-07-11T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T00:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/?p=1"},"modified":"2025-09-23T17:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:38:20","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"A window into the world our singers have built."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 15, 2025 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear JYC Global Family,<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just two weeks ago, we gathered in Jerusalem for our end-of-year concert\u2014a celebration we weren\u2019t sure could happen.

Just days before, as rockets fell and sirens echoed, we moved the chorus\u2019 twice weekly rehearsals online.

And, when it was safe to gather again, which we only learned the day before our end-of-year concert, we did\u2014no stage, no lights, just a packed room of families and friends. Our singers stood together, shoulder to shoulder, singing out from the front of the room and from the bottom of their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What they shared was a glimpse of the world they\u2019re not just imagining\u2014but have scaffolded and built. As one of our Palestinian singers, wrote in her end-of-year reflections:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          \u201cFinding harmony within our communities starts with whispering your truth and listening to the person singing next to you, even when they\u2019re  telling a different story.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Dahlia, Palestinian Singer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our singers truly are agents of transformation<\/strong>\u2014as they\u2019ve evolved and transformed themselves. This truth reverberated throughout the evening and was echoed in the words of one our Israeli singers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201c\u2026Not everything is perfect, but that\u2019s exactly where growth happens\u2014 and the most important thing is that we go through it together.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      \u2014 Masha, Israeli Singer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether on stage or in conversation, our singers model what it means to listen deeply, to grow in community, and to build bridges that hold.

The night ended, as it always does, with our anthem Home<\/em>\u2014a song that has carried us through war, pandemic, and the everyday tensions of life in Jerusalem. For our singers, Home<\/em> is more than a closing number\u2014it\u2019s a declaration. As we often say: we\u2019ll keep singing it until the Jerusalem outside looks like the one we\u2019ve built inside JYC.<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Milestone Year for JYC<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This concert marked the close of our 13th season\u2014a meaningful coming of age across both Israeli and Palestinian cultures. For JYC, this was exactly that: a year of growth, resilience, and renewed purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of our Palestinian singers, shared:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          \u201cThe choir taught me that my voice doesn\u2019t have to be perfect\u2014it just has to be honest. And that strength isn\u2019t always in being loud; sometimes it\u2019s in the truth that comes from real pain.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Yasmin, Palestinian Singer<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That honesty, that courage, didn\u2019t emerge by chance. It was nurtured\u2014through our newly expanded curriculum, and by the global community of supporters like you who make this work possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Through an intentional and integrated process of music and dialogue, young Palestinians and Israelis don\u2019t just sing together\u2014they learn to lead together, listen deeply, and speak up and sing out for a different future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, that future felt further away than ever. But, even in a year of profound pain and political violence, our youth kept showing up<\/strong>\u2014because of their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our high school singers showed an unprecedented 95% retention rate<\/strong>\u2014spending nearly 10 hours a week together rehearsing, reimagining their world<\/strong>, and singing out for that different future<\/strong> they live each week when they come to JYC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we invest in our youth, they don\u2019t just change individually\u2014they become catalysts<\/strong>. They carry what they\u2019ve learned back to their families, their classrooms, their neighborhoods. And when they perform\u2014onstage, online, and across the globe\u2014they invite audiences to witness what\u2019s possible: shared humanity, even across deep divides<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one parent reflected after the concert: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is one of the rare cases where we adults learn from the <\/em> children  about living together.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Asaf, Parent of an Israeli Singer <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT TODAY <\/mark><\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now is your chance to stand beside our youth who are choosing a different way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every donation up to $25,000 will be matched dollar for dollar<\/a>, thanks to the generosity of Julie Sissman and Phil Richter, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means your gift goes twice as far<\/strong>\u2014fueling the transformation of each individual singer, sparking ripple effects<\/strong> in their communities throughout East and West Jerusalem, and igniting an even broader global movemen<\/strong>t for peaceful reconciliation through music and dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With your help in 2025-2026, we will: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n