{"id":203,"date":"2025-10-07T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T00:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/?p=203"},"modified":"2025-10-29T14:32:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:32:30","slug":"two-years-since-october-7-still-we-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/two-years-since-october-7-still-we-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Years Since October 7: Still, We Sing."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>October 7, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dear JYC Global Family,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It has been two years since October 7, 2023,<\/strong>&nbsp;the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It has also been two years since the&nbsp;beginning of<em>&nbsp;a war marked by&nbsp;unthinkable suffering:<\/em>&nbsp;tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, millions more displaced, and entire communities engulfed in terror and famine.<br><br>Since then, nearly 100,000 lives have senselessly been lost \u2014 Israeli and Palestinian civilians, activists, journalists, aid workers, and children \u2014 and 46 hostages remain in captivity.<br><br>The violence has scarred families, torn through communities, and left many of us carrying fear, loss, and uncertainty.&nbsp;<strong>As peace talks continue to unfold, we are reminded that reconciliation cannot happen only in political halls \u2014&nbsp;<u>it must begin in human hearts<\/u><\/strong>.<br><br>To those who have lost loved ones, who have felt unsafe, or who have struggled to hold on to hope \u2014&nbsp;<strong>we see you, we grieve with you, and we hold you close in our hearts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1.png 600w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-1-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the immediate days after October 7, uncertainty engulfed JYC. We questioned whether we could continue.&nbsp;<em>How could we ask our singers and their families to face each other in such a moment of raw pain and fear?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We canceled our fall 2023 tour, postponed rehearsals, and moved dialogue online. For a time, it was unclear whether we could keep going at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But keep going, we did.&nbsp;<\/strong>Not only have we kept going \u2014 but since that moment of rupture, we have deepened our commitment and grown in ways we never could have imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What has followed since October is both a pause to mourn what has been lost, and a testament to what our singers have built since: resilience, courage, and harmony that refuses to be silenced. In spite of everything,&nbsp;<strong>still, we sing.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"443\" src=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-2.png 800w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-2-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-2-768x425.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Moment to Mourn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Even \u2014 and especially \u2014 in times of war, we gather.&nbsp;<\/strong>We live with unrelenting devastation: each of us knows someone killed, kidnapped, or displaced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arabic and Hebrew songs in our ballad,&nbsp;<em>An Ode to All We&#8217;ve Lost&nbsp;<\/em>(created with&nbsp;our friend, Jacob Collier)<em>,&nbsp;<\/em>give voice to our unspeakable grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"An Ode to All We&#039;ve Lost | JYC feat. Jacob Collier\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tZ4fmx6T0BE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arabic and Hebrew songs interwoven together carry our grief into song:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>\u0641\u064a \u062d\u0632\u0646 \u0648\u0633\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062f\u0649&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; \u2013 Fi Hizn Wisa\u2019 ilMada: An Arabic setting of \u201cEmpty Chairs at Empty Tables\u201d from Les Mis\u00e9rables, iconic throughout the Arab world, reminding us of all the songs silenced in this war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>\u05d1\u05d3\u05d9\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea (\u05e9\u05dc\u05db\u05ea)&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2013 Bedidut (Shalechet): A Hebrew setting of the French classic \u201cJe Suis Malade\u201d, deeply rooted in Israeli culture, singing the pain of lives lost too soon, like leaves falling before their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the unimaginable ache we carry,&nbsp;<strong>our singers still manage to hold fast to this truth:<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>my pain does not cancel out yours<\/strong>. Only by binding our futures together can we break the cycle of violence and begin to build a just world for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Resolve to Sing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some communities rejected our story: Jewish spaces unwilling to hear about our Palestinian singers, Palestinian spaces unwilling to hear about our Israeli singers. We lost $500,000 in promised funding from USAID. We faced public shaming and personal threats from BDS.&nbsp;<strong>At times, it felt like the world did not want peace<\/strong>, did not want us to succeed, and that we were advocating for a hopeless cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And yet. Still, we&nbsp;sing.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like the Cellist of Sarajevo, who created beauty as the world collapsed around him,&nbsp;<strong>we keep singing&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2014 not primarily to be heard, but to practice who we are and to compose a future we can all share.&nbsp;<strong>Where others lay down their instruments, they raise their voices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>After October 7, EVERY single singer came back.&nbsp;<\/strong>Families voted unanimously to keep going, recognizing that if there was ever a moment when this work mattered most, it was now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-768x576.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Since then, we have&nbsp;not only survived \u2014 we have grown. In the past two years, we have:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Increased singer enrollment by 50%, with an 87% retention rate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expanded our curriculum from a one-year to a four-year cycle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Doubled rehearsals and weekly meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Added weekly private voice lessons for every singer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tripled our Jerusalem staff, including more music teachers, facilitators, translators, and admin support, and expanded our US team.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These milestones reflect more than organizational growth; they are a collective choice to meet fear with courage and division with connection.&nbsp;<strong>Together, we transpose stories of pain into harmonies of hope \u2014 an antidote for ourselves and for the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A&nbsp;Solemn Day in Toronto; Still, Hope Rises<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As peace talks continue to unfold between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, we offer another kind of conversation \u2014 not across negotiating tables, but across harmonies. Ours is dialogue made audible: trust, compassion, and courage, woven note by note into something the world desperately needs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After two agonizing years,&nbsp;<strong>we know that hope cannot wait for peace \u2014 it must&nbsp;<em>create<\/em>&nbsp;it.&nbsp;For us, hope is mandatory.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve carried that steadfast&nbsp;hope to Toronto for the Glenn Gould Foundation\u2019s&nbsp;<strong><em>Promise of Music Festival<\/em><\/strong>, a global congress on the social impact of music. Just last night, for opening night \u2014 which fell on the eve of October 7 here in Canada \u2014 we&nbsp;<strong>led<\/strong>&nbsp;singing circles, sharing the songs of hope the world needs most right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"625\" src=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6385-1024x625.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6385-1024x625.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6385-300x183.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6385-768x469.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6385.jpeg 1212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And today, as you read this blog, to mark the gravity of the day, we&nbsp;are gathering in a Toronto garden \u2014 surrounded by nature \u2014&nbsp;to reflect, journal, and hold space for one another. It is&nbsp;a remarkably difficult act any day, but especially today.&nbsp;<strong>Out of grief, we&nbsp;are building courage \u2014 and sharing it with the world.&nbsp;Still, we&nbsp;sing.&nbsp;<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In just two days, on&nbsp;<strong>Thursday, October 9<\/strong>, we will stand together on stage, powerfully and defiantly, amplifying our stories and harmonies of hope. Our festival performance,&nbsp;<strong><em>Hope Rises<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/promiseofmusic.com\/event\/jerusalem-youth-chorus-hope-rises\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>&nbsp;[get tickets here]<\/em><\/a>,&nbsp;feels all the more meaningful in this moment when, for the first time in a long while, a fragile sense of hope has begun to emerge globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, the very next day \u2014&nbsp;<strong>Friday, October 10&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2014&nbsp;we will be welcomed into the&nbsp;<strong>Danforth Multifaith Commons<\/strong>, to perform for the Danforth Jewish Circle and their coalition of interfaith partners\u2014 an audience of diverse voices living out the harmony we strive to build each day.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/djctoronto.com\/event\/jerusalem-youth-chorus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">There is still time to join them<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>An Invitation: Add Your Voice to the Chorus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In times when it would be easier to fall silent, we choose to keep singing&nbsp;<strong>\u2014 and your support is the harmony that carries our song forward.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is what peacebuilding looks like:&nbsp;<\/strong>not sudden or simple, but slow and steady. It takes shape in rehearsal rooms where young people \u2014 told to hate each other \u2014 choose instead to listen and sing together, cultivating authentic friendships. It grows through vulnerability shared in spaces where the world says they don\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-3.png 1964w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As Dahlia, one of our alumni and now an intern, shares:&nbsp;<\/strong><br><em>\u201cJYC has shown me the power of true human connection beyond race, language, or religion and how rare that is to find today. Our backbone is built on friendships, dedication, and the shared hope for a better future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Your support sustains this harmony and this hope.<\/strong><br>As peace talks unfold, may the courage our singers model in song guide all of us toward the just and lasting peace we seek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Support The <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2728 With steadfast resolve,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Micah, Amer, Jackie, and the Jerusalem Youth Chorus<strong>\u2728<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Still, we sing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 7, 2025 Dear JYC Global Family, It has been two years since October 7, 2023,&nbsp;the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It has also been two years since the&nbsp;beginning of&nbsp;a war marked by&nbsp;unthinkable suffering:&nbsp;tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, millions more displaced, and entire communities engulfed in terror and famine. Since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalemyouthchorus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}