I\u2019ve just returned from my first visit to Jerusalem \u2014 and I\u2019m still catching my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything I\u2019d imagined about this region \u2014 its magnetism, its tension, its layers of beauty and complexity \u2014 came to life in ways I couldn\u2019t have anticipated. To walk its streets, to share meals with our staff and singers, to experience this place not as an outsider, but through the lens of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus \u2014 it was an honor I\u2019ll carry with me for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of this trip,\u00a0I joined our staff\u00a0and high school singers for\u00a0a three-day music and dialogue intensive<\/mark><\/strong>\u00a0in a remote kibbutz in the north.\u00a0Designed and led by our Jerusalem-based staff, this intensive\u00a0was a masterclass in what JYC does best: creating a space where young Palestinians and Israelis can connect deeply \u2014 through song, through story, through the hard work of being real with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were moments of joy and laughter:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And there were moments of intensity and transformation:<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n One conversation, in particular, stayed with me. During a third-year dialogue, the group\u00a0grappled with military service<\/strong>\u00a0<\/mark>\u2014 a deeply personal and painful topic, especially as some of our older Israeli singers face their impending drafts into\u00a0the IDF.\u00a0Palestinian singers shared how hurtful and personal\u00a0their friends’ enlistment\u00a0feels. Israeli singers shared their own conflicts, perspectives, and sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was raw. It was hard. And then \u2014 it was human.\u00a0At the end of this dialogue session, two of the most vocal participants in this conversation wrapped each other in an embrace and walked together to dinner.<\/mark><\/strong> This is the work of JYC.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what it means to use music not just as expression, but as a container \u2014 a vessel strong enough to hold pain, contradiction, joy, and hope. Week after week,\u00a0we bring together young people whose societies tell them to fear each other, and ask them to sing. To listen. To lead.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n JYC is far more than a music ensemble. We are building a youth movement of Palestinians and Israelis raising our voices for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality. Singing together allows us to transform the way we see ourselves, one another, and the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we can\u2019t do this without you.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Right now, we\u2019re navigating a significant financial challenge following the sudden termination of our USAID funding. But a generous $75,000 matching gift from JYC supporter Sally Gottesman means that\u00a0every dollar you give will be doubled<\/strong>.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n With 82% of our annual budget going directly to programming, your gift has a direct impact on our singers \u2014 on their education, their community, and their courage to keep showing up for one another.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve ever believed in the power of music to create change \u2014 now\u2019s the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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This moment didn\u2019t erase the pain in the room. It didn\u2019t resolve the deep injustices or lived realities that each singer carries. But it reflected something vital: the courage to stay in the room,\u00a0even when it hurts. At JYC, we don\u2019t ask our singers to agree \u2014 we ask them to listen, to feel, to imagine. And in doing so,\u00a0they are creating something rare: a community that doesn\u2019t deny the truth, but dares to hold it – together<\/mark>.\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s the kind of leadership the world needs. That\u2019s the kind of change we\u2019re building, one voice, one story, one song at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-34-768x1024.png\")
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