Hebrew Voices #42 – Here We Are

Yitzchok Meir playing his song "Here We Are" for Nehemia Gordon on Hebrew Voices. Photo by Nehemia Gordon

In this episode of Hebrew Voices -  Here We Are , Nehemia Gordon concludes a conversation with Yitzchok Meir at his home in the Judean Hills.  Musician, artist and cantor, Meir’s passion is readying hearts for the ingathering of the exiles. Meir states he feels privileged to live in these times and do his part to facilitate unity in the midst of diversity. “It’s okay to be different. We don’t all have to be the same to love and support each other.”

Gordon and Meir converse on many topics—the borders of Israel, the origins of music styles, prayer customs, as well as their favorite quotes from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). Whatever the topic, Meir never strays far from his core belief that, “Hashem is one and we are one.”

Before closing by singing “Here We Are,” Meir explains some of the personal family history that influences his music; both his grandmother and her violin survived Auschwitz, and his father was born in a displaced person’s camp. This surviving son of the Shoah has learned to question the questions and that is the message of “Here We Are.”

 

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Hebrew Voices #42 - Here We Are

You are listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Le ma’an Zion lo ekhesheh, u’l’ma’an Yerushalayim lo eshkot. (For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest. Isaiah 62:1)

Nehemia: Shalom, this is Nehemia Gordon with Hebrew Voices. I am back in Beit Zayit, Israel, in this beautiful suburb out in the mountains of Judea outside Jerusalem, with Yitzchok Meir. He is this amazing musician who put up this video of singing the Shema up from the rooftop of the Old City. And we were with him in a previous episode, and he actually played for us this beautiful song about Jewish unity. And I'm back here and, actually, I never left his living room, guys. But it was so long, I said, “Look, we gotta do this as two episodes. You know, I gotta have more.” And he agreed to do another episode, another recording, and there's so much more to share. He only shared half of what it was really all about. Shalom, Yitzchok. I am so happy to be back here with you.

Yitzchok: Welcome back, Nehemia. I just gotta tell you that, you know, you said you never really left. I lived in the Old City for seven years, in a really cool place there. And literally, people would get stuck in there for a few days at a time.

Nehemia: In your living room.

Yitzchok: In my…Yeah.

Nehemia: Wow, that's awesome. And why were they stuck there?

Yitzchok: Wow, the vibe sucked you in. First, it probably made you really relaxed and...

Nehemia: And it really is a relaxing room we're sitting in here. I want to describe for people where we are. We're sitting on this little… It's like a couch you would see, like, I envision this as like this is where Abraham was sitting when he was in his tent. And across from him were the angels. And behind him, right behind the entrance of the tent, was Sarah. And your name is Yitzchok...

Yitzchok: That's right.

Nehemia: ... which is Isaac. And they said, you know, “Your wife's gonna have a child,” and she was right behind him and she laughed. And then they accused her, and I love it in Hebrew. And she says, “I didn't laugh,” and they say, “Lo, ki tzakhakt,” “No, you surely laughed.” And linguistically, I love it, ‘cause it's one of the meanings of the word "ki.” But, you know, we're in this Abrahamic tent, which is actually his living room. But what makes it feel like a tent is like the carpets, and the little couches, and these flags. Tell me about the flags. We started talking about this in the previous episode, and I promised the people we'd come back and talk about the flags. I just love the flags. Tell us about the flags.

Yitzchok: Yeah, sure. Well, you'll have to look at the website to see a picture of some of them. I commissioned an artist named Sarah, by the way, Sarah, to make these flags.

Nehemia: Wait, wait, wait. We're in the Bedouin tent. Your name is Isaac, and an artist named Sarah that you personally commissioned, made these flags of the different tribes?

Yitzchok: Exactly.

Nehemia: Wow. And these are the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Yitzchok: If anyone would like me to link them to Sarah, this amazing artist, please let me do so because she is amazing.

Nehemia: Right, and I'm gonna post a link to where you can contact Yitzchok Meir, and hopefully he'll give me a link for Sarah, as well. And go to nehemiaswall.com, go to yitzchokmeir.com. So, tell us about these flags. Why the 12 Tribes? I've never seen this. Can I just say this?

Yitzchok: Yeah, of course.

Nehemia: I've been in thousands of Jewish homes all over the world. I don't know that I've ever seen the flags of the 12 Tribes in someone's living room, so tell us why.

Yitzchok: Yeah, it's true. You usually see them around the aron kodesh, around the Holy Ark…

Nehemia: In a Synagogue, right.

Yitzchok: …in a Synagogue, in a Shul. I really asked her to make them for my khupa, for my wedding canopy, because I want them to be around there.

Nehemia: Really? Wow.

Yitzchok: That's right. And, sadly enough, they were not brought out.

Nehemia: Okay. It’s like, “Well, I've gotta use them for something.”

Yitzchok: But I'll tell you which flags were brought out. A different set of 12 Tribe flags made by a different artist named Sarah...

Nehemia: No way.

Yitzchok: ... yeah, were brought out during dancing. Now, these 12 Tribe flags were made for me specifically, because I am extremely, extremely, extremely involved and thankfully living in the times when we're making history of ingathering of the exiles, also known as “kibbutz galuyot,” “ingathering of the exiles.”

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: We pray for it three times a day, and we truly believe, we truly believe that the culmination of the redemption is represented by the ingathering of the exiles and the rebuilding of the House of Prayer for all nations, the Third Temple, and I'm all about it. And me, as an Israelite - and a lot of people like to call me a Jew, or like to associate me with religious activities etc., like I explained in the last interview – you know, I personally just relate to being an Israelite, a Hashem and Torah person from the Tribe of Judah. I really relate to the 12 Tribes and how they represent diversity and unity. For example, Yissakhar and Zevulun, for example…

Nehemia: That's Issachar and Zebulun, for you who read the King James Bible. Go on. And what is it in Hebrew again?

Yitzchok: Yissakhar and Zevulun. So, Yissakhar was represented by study, the house of study, and he would sit and study, and educate everyone else. And Zevulun, you could see it represented by boats and a merchant, would support Yissakhar's studying. A lot of people think, “Hey, you studying people should get jobs and you job people should study.” You know, it's okay to be different yet united. We don't have to be the same in order to love and support one another.

Nehemia: And that's actually an old Jewish tradition that says that one of these two brothers... it was a symbiotic relationship. But one of the brothers, he had the head and the mentality for it, and he spent his days studying Torah. And the other one supported him in doing that, financially.

Yitzchok: Exactly.

Nehemia: And they both got the blessing. In other words, it wasn't, “Oh, well, he's the holy man who sits up in the cave. And the other guy who works out in the world, he has no reward from God.” Actually, because he supported the one who studied they were both blessed by it.

Yitzchok: They were both blessed by it, and they shared their reward in this world and in the next.

Nehemia: Wow, that's pretty cool.

Yitzchok: It's so interesting. By our last interview, we ended up turning it into two interviews because with so much to say, the tangents on every way…

Nehemia: Make it three.

Yitzchok: … so much with each other.

Nehemia: So, please share.

Yitzchok: Yeah, you mentioned King James. You mentioned King James. And today is Shlomo Carlebach's yahrzeit, it's the day that Shlomo Carlebach died. Shlomo Carlebach, the only time I've ever heard him mention King James was once he said, “King James translated the Bible, but he made a mistake.”

Nehemia: Only one?

Yitzchok: At least one, at least according to what he was saying…

Nehemia: And again, just to remind people, Shlomo Carlebach was this amazing Rabbi who revolutionized modern-day Judaism by imbuing it and kind of putting in all these beautiful songs and music that some people, their entire prayer service is based on his songs. And you were telling me, which I didn't know, that every Synagogue in the world uses on Friday night some of his songs. I didn't know that.

Yitzchok: That’s right. He really changed that.

Nehemia: So, what did he say about King James?

Yitzchok: He composed thousands and thousands of songs. So basically, there's a famous, famous, famous Mishnah, you know, they ask Rav Hillel to say the whole entire Bible on one foot. And he said, “Love your fellow as yourself,” “Ve'ahavta lere'akha kamokha.” And he basically quoted that from the Torah, from the Bible itself.

Nehemia: Leviticus chapter 19, yeah.

Yitzchok: Yud mem. So, I think what King James's mistake was, he said, “Love your neighbor...”

Nehemia: Ah, okay.

Yitzchok: Because it's not your neighbor.

Nehemia: Wait, wait, wait. We gotta hold on a second.

Yitzchok: It's important.

Nehemia: In Hebrew it's, “Ve'ahavta lere'akha kamokha,” “Love your re'ahk like yourself.” And in the King James it's, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And Rabbi Carlebach said, “It's not your neighbor,” which it's obviously not your neighbor.

Yitzchok: It's your fellow. And what is the actual practical difference? It's anyone who's next to you at any moment, wherever you are. Whether you're on line at the grocery shop, or whether you're waiting for the bathroom, or whether you're sitting in your classroom, or whether it's your wife in your bed, it’s “Love your fellow like yourself.” It's anyone, not just your neighbor.

Nehemia: Can I tell you why that's so profound? Because this is what I do. I go back to 1611 when the King James Bible was published, and I think like, “So, your neighbor, that was the guy in the farm next door,” or the hut next door. But those people, for the English, over there in France, “We don't love them, we hate those guys.” You know, like the English and the French always hated each other.

And certainly, there's a certain amount of xenophobia that comes from hating the foreigners, in the European culture. And I can imagine, if they wanted to translate what it actually said in Hebrew, that there was this committee that King James had commissioned, and they'd sit around and say, “Look, we're not gonna love the Germans and the Italians, we hate those guys. And we certainly won't love the Turks. So, we've gotta define this in a way where it only applies to the people we want to love.”

And what you're saying is Rabbi Carlebach, of blessed memory, who's today, as we're sitting here, it's the anniversary of his passing, which you celebrate, that he taught this. That's really profound, I love that you shared that.

Yitzchok: Yeah, and you know what's such a beautiful thing to learn from it, is that true peace starts inside. It’s that, “Listen, don't worry about the government or your surrounding countries right now. Just start with the person right next to you.”

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: Let's stop blaming other…

Nehemia: That's very Michael Jackson of you. Isn't there a Michael Jackson song about that?

Yitzchok: [sings] “Make it a better place for you and for me, and the human race.” Yeah, I forgot it. So, for you and for me. Exactly, let's start with you and me.

Nehemia: I only know that ‘cause I lived in China for a year and they're obsessed with Michael Jackson. So, let's go back to the tribes. So, you're talking about the ingathering of the exiles, and you were telling me before we started recording about how there's... You know, I'm like, “All right, the ingathering of the exiles, what does that mean to you?”

And the reason I asked you that - you don't know this - is that there's a lot of different movements out in the world who will have the same flags. And for them, the flags might mean something different than it means for you. So, tell me, you said there's a literal and figurative meaning. So, what's the literal meaning of the tribes? Judah I got. At least on my mother's side there's a tradition, supposedly, that we're descended, whatever, from King David. Who knows if it's true, right? You know, they were descended from Rashi, who's descended from Rabbi Yokhanan HaSandlar, who was supposed to be descendant of King David. So, we're Jews on my mom's side.

But Yissakhar and Naftali and Gad, what is that? Where are those guys? Like what does it mean in the literal sense for you, the “ingathering of the exiles,” outside of Judah and Benjamin?

Yitzchok: So, as we discussed, the Second Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. The House of Prayer for all nations was destroyed because of baseless hatred, sin'at khinam, and the Assyrians...

Nehemia: Actually, that was the Romans. The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, but let's not worry about names.

Yitzchok: Right, so they scattered the 10 Tribes all over the world.

Nehemia: That was in 721 BCE, the Assyrians captured the city of Samaria and spread the 10 Tribes. And then when they came back in the Shivat Tziyon, a couple of hundred years later, it was only the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. And then they were scattered by the Romans. And we're probably, many people would say, we’re descended from those two tribes. But the 10 Tribes were scattered by Sankheriv, according to Jewish tradition. And that actually lines up with archaeology, it's really interesting.

Yitzchok: I love how much you know. It really helps me deliver the message in a more factual way, which is very important, to people who worry about spelling and things like that.

Nehemia: By the way, you mentioned about baseless hatred, which in Jewish tradition is, historians would look at that and say, “Yeah, whatever, they're trying to explain why the Romans destroyed the Temple.” But you read Josephus, who's a Jewish historian who wrote history…

Yitzchok: Was he Jewish?

Nehemia: He was Jewish. He was the General of the Galilee who surrendered to the Romans and then he was a house prisoner of the Roman Emperor. And as a house prisoner of the Roman Emperor, he wrote a Jewish history. And there's a Hebrew version of Josephus' writing called Yosefun. And the original Greek that was preserved, he talks about how the Jews would have been able to hold out the Roman siege for longer than the Romans could maintain the siege.

But there were different factions, and because they were fighting amongst each other, in order to hurt each other and force each other to do certain things, one of the factions burned the storehouses of the grain. And that's why the Jews lost the war. So, literally, it was sin'at khinam.

Yitzchok: Literally.

Nehemia: Can you believe that? Like what the Rabbis taught us in the Gemara... You know, and they have the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, maybe that's a caricature. But really it was true. It was sin'at khinam, baseless hatred within the Jews that caused the destruction of the Second Temple.

Yitzchok: And it's when we will reunite and remind each other that we don't need to agree in order to love or be the same in order to love, that's when we'll rebuild the third everlasting Temple, a house of prayer for all nations.

Nehemia: May that be soon. And you were talking about the ingathering of the exiles.

Yitzchok: And you mentioned Yosefun. Now let's talk about the tribe of Joseph, Joseif or Josephus, Joseph. And you wanted to get literal about it. There is a…

Nehemia: I’m a literalist.

Yitzchok: Nice, and it says we all are, because we exist.

Nehemia: Yeah, supposedly.

Yitzchok: Right, do we exist? So, do we exist? So, you know, in 1948 when the Jews beat the British Army and basically caused them to withdraw from Israel, the British went to... Afghanistan, split it up into Afghanistan and Pakistan. They empowered the Punjabis and the Punjabis pretty much did genocide on these other people call the Pashtuns. Now, the Punjabis and Pashtuns are Arabs. And, by the way, they're also "Jewish Arabs.” Arabs does not mean Muslim, it's very important to know. The Punjabis are definitely Islamic. Now, the Pashtuns have accepted Islamic culture after thousands of years of living there. But they actually kind of have some sort of under-spoken hint to each other that they are from the lost tribes. And what are their last names? Yusufzai, which means, “Children of Joseph.”

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: And Menasseh, which means Menashe, and Efridi which means Ephraim. And these guys have traditions. Some of them light candles on Friday night. There’s a tribe of muslims called the “Waziri,” who don’t cut their hair.

Nehemia: And why is that significant for Jews, that they don't cut their hair?

Yitzchok: Because there are certain people called the Nazir, which don't cut their hair.

Nehemia: That’s Numbers chapter 6, the Nazerite. Wow.

Yitzchok: They don’t cut their hair.

Nehemia: And so, you're saying there are people…?

Yitzchok: And they’re in Afghanistan, and it’s actually a crazy story.

Nehemia: In Afghanistan, descended from Nazirites. Oh, wow.

Yitzchok: You want to hear a crazy story?

Nehemia: Let's hear it.

Yitzchok: You guys can look up these guys on YouTube. You can actually see, there’s one man, I forgot his name, but he went over there and made some documentaries and he finds archaeology over there about finding the lost ones. The Aramaic, and the Gemara and these Pashtuns probably are lost tribes. And you could also see the color in their eyes. You can see they look different. There's something different there, they don't just look like... You gotta check these guys out.

Nehemia: Wow, so you're saying there's literal descendants of the tribe of Joseph…

Yitzchok: Living in Afghanistan.

Nehemia: … in Afghanistan, that we can identify? But what you're saying is, historically that some of these people in Afghanistan who were probably forcibly at the sword point converted to Islam, might be descendants of Jews - or not Jews actually, of Joseph. And I don't know if you know this, I read this. I don't know that this is verified, but my understanding is some of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan practice eighth-day circumcision, which is very unusual. Muslims usually get circumcised at the age of 13.

Yitzchok: That’s right.

Nehemia: And there's a tribe in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, who do it, that's pretty interesting. And you said to me something really interesting, how the tribes were exiled, and they were thinned out and spread among the nations. And so, some of these tribes... I'm looking along your wall. You know, Reuven, and maybe some of those we can identify with specific groups in Asia and other places. But there’s some that we might not, right?

Yitzchok: We're still waiting to hear back from the rest. If you hear this interview and you are part of one of the 10 lost Tribes and you would like to come back to Israel, call this number now. I'm joking.

Nehemia: I don't want to joke here.

Yitzchok: Yeah, I'm serious.

Nehemia: In other words, I can guarantee you there are people out there, who I know, who feel that they're part of... They will say to me… And I've had this, I've had thousands of people in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the US. I've never been to South America or Australia, but in every continent that I've been to I've had people walk up to me and say, “I can't explain it, but I feel this pulling on my heart that I'm from one of the 10 lost Tribes.”

Yitzchok: Totally. Totally.

Nehemia: And what you're saying is that's not beyond the possibility, and it actually would fulfill or fit some of our prophetic expectations of the ingathering of the exiles.

Yitzchok: That's right. And Israel, the small little country on the map that you think, that little toothpick, that's not really the Biblical borders of Israel. Israel is much bigger than that, and if any of you are listening and actually have a coin, the 10 agura coin, 10 agurot, the smallest coin in modern day Israel. If you look on the other side, the side doesn't say “10.” The side with the menorah on it, and you look under the menorah, you will see a big piece of land. You will see, one side looks like the left side of our modern-day Israel, and you see the other side just keeps on going. You think, “Wow, that is big.” Those are the Biblical borders of Israel.

Nehemia: The Biblical border goes to the Euphrates River.

Yitzchok: That's right.

Nehemia: And may that be restored by the King Messiah soon. Let's not get into the political side...

Yitzchok: We don't need politics to do all that stuff.

Nehemia: Yeah, but just from a faith perspective, a spiritual perspective, you know, this ingathering of the exiles. I'm looking around your living room, and I feel like I'm sitting in this Abrahamic tent, and there's enough room in this tent for all of the 12 Tribes, and I hope they are gathered back. I hope those people who don't even know they're from the tribe of Reuben, and don't even know they're from the tribe of Joseph, even though their name is Josephzai, the son of Joseph. They don't know they're from the tribe of Asher, that they will return to this tent. And that's such a beautiful image.

Yitzchok: Bless them and bless us that upon their... To ask Hashem to bless them and Hashem to bless us that upon their arrival, may they remember that we do not need to agree in order to love and get along. We do not need to be the same in order to get along. And through this, we'll do a fixing for the baseless hatred, which destroyed the house of prayer for all nations, the Second Temple. May in that merit we build the Third Temple that would last forever, a house of prayer for all nations. Amen.

Nehemia: Amen. You just prayed spontaneously, and so, I'm very moved. Wow, that's amazing. I want to talk to you about your music.

Yitzchok: Sure.

Nehemia: Kind of what got me aware of you was this video that you did from the rooftop in the Old City, and you actually told me something, that that actually isn't you singing.

Yitzchok: Right.

Nehemia: So, who's singing? ‘Cause I showed that to some people, and they said, “Oh, he's just imitating how the Arabs pray.”

Yitzchok: Exactly, exactly.

Nehemia: But who is that singing?

Yitzchok: Exactly. So basically, I do not have Middle Eastern descent.

Nehemia: I mean, if you go back far enough, you do, right? But just in the last thousand years you don't.

Yitzchok: Right. Well, my last name is Malik, by the way. Malik is Aramaic for “King,” and I am from the tribe of Judah, and I am from the descendants of King David.

Nehemia: Oh, so we're cousins, pound it.

Yitzchok: That's right. Definitely, everyone's related if you go back. It's a simple equation. Each of us have four grandparents, each of them has four grandparents. If you do that back 40 generations, the number is over a trillion, which is more than the amount of people that ever existed. The same person will come up in a family tree the same time over and over, so we're all related.

Nehemia: So, if we trace you back 2,000 years we will find some ancestors in Beit Lehem, or 3,000 years. But more recently, your people came from… And I want to cut to this. This is a segue. So, I'm looking on your wall, and in addition to seeing the flags, I see this very old-looking violin. Tell us about the violin.

Yitzchok: Wow, so my grandmother, may she rest in peace, her and her family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: And my grandmother, one of the few survivors, came back to her home. And her righteous Gentile neighbors had secured some of her belongings. And among the belongings was this violin which belonged to her brother.

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: And my grandmother, of blessed memory, gave me this violin when I was a young boy.

Nehemia: Wow, so that was your grandmother's brother. Your grandmother survived Auschwitz and she gave you this violin, this Auschwitz survivor. Wow, that's amazing. And you're a musician, because I'm looking around and I see more musical instruments than I can count. But that one kind of stands out. It was like this, I don't know, guitar-looking thing that looks like something Led Zeppelin would play. And there's like some traditional thing I would see in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Yitzchok: There's a bass, a banjo, a mandolin, a guitar, a violin, and a bunch of…

Nehemia: But this violin is very special. So, you say your people came in the last few hundred years from, I think you said what today is Slovakia, although it probably changes borders all the time.

Yitzchok: Right, it's a village called Kossarzyska, which was disputed territory of Czech and Slovakia, but they speak Hungarian there.

Nehemia: And by the time this is broadcast, it might be part of some other country. It's not even a joke, it could happen…

Yitzchok: It could happen, yeah.

Nehemia: … with what's going on. It might be part of a new Syria, and that's a different story. So, this Rabbi was up on the… Or you were up on top of a rooftop and you were proclaiming...

Yitzchok: That's right, and I wanted this message that Hashem is one and that we are all one. Not only to the Jews, who would understand if I did it with my voice, but I wanted even our Muslim cousins to know that we believe that Hashem is one, which means that we are all one and we should stop killing each other. And I wanted them to know this.

And so, therefore, I found a recording of a Sephardic Middle Eastern descent Rabbi who, by the way, I still cannot find. If anyone who knows who he is, please get in touch with me.

Nehemia: Yitzchokmeir.com, contact him through there.

Yitzchok: Yeah, yitchokmeir.com, Y-I-T-Z-C-H-O-K M-E-I-R.com. I even got in touch with my friend Shirat Isaac, who works in publishing and copywriting and she used to walk around these coffee shops and find out which music they're playing to make sure they have rights. And so, I asked her, “Can you help me find this guy?”

Nehemia: Wait, she’s like a music industry spy?

Yitzchok: Yeah, a music industry spy. And she could not even track down this man's voice. So, I took this voice from a video that has over a million views. They’re pictures of different people saying Shema. And they got in touch with me, and they were like, “Hey, give the man credit.” I'm like, “Well, you didn't give him credit, you didn't write who it is. If you can please tell me who it is, I would love that.” I would love to give this man credit for his voice, because his voice is a recognizable voice, I would say, not only by those who come from European or American Western descent, but also from Eastern, Middle Eastern descent. [sings] One of these voices, you know?

Nehemia: So, he's singing the Shema in this Middle Eastern style. And here's the interesting thing we were talking about before, that a lot of people from America especially, who I've been talking to about this, say, “That sounds like he's imitating Arabs.” And the interesting thing is that the Arabs might actually be imitating the Jews.

We know a lot of instances there are cases where... And this whole history thing. This is my thing. Like for example, they did this research on the Gregorian chant, which is this Catholic type of singing. And they did this study and some people came to the conclusion that actually, it is a continuation to a throwback to possibly the chanting of the Levites in the Second Temple. And so, this thing that's the most Catholic thing you can think of, actually was influenced by Jews.

And it's very possible that we hear this guy singing the Shema and it's so beautiful, it really is. And the context in which you presented it, it really was moving to me, I actually cried when I saw that video, because the Shema is special, you know, Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear o’Israel,” as you say, “the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” By the way, when he says Hashem, listeners who don't know, Hashem is the Hebrew word for "the name,” which refers to the tetragrammaton, the Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, which is in the original Hebrew of the Shema.

But it's very possible that this style that we hear the Arabs doing over their loudspeakers, that that was stolen from Jews, that style. And this Rabbi, whose name we don't know, who's doing the Shema, it's very possible they heard that 1500,1600 years ago, and they said, “We're gonna steal that just like we stole all these other Jewish things.” You know, in the original Islam, they used to pray in the direction of Jerusalem. And then, when Muhammad saw he couldn't convert the Jews, this is what historians say, he changed it to pray in the direction of Mecca.

But if you think, even the concept of praying in the direction of a certain city, where does that idea come from? It comes from the prayer of Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 8, where Solomon is on his knees at the Temple, and he's praying in the dedication of the Temple. And he says, “When people are far away, they'll turn towards this place in other countries, and they'll pray towards here.” And so, the Muslims stole that from us.

Yitzchok: Gosh, just sitting with you I learn so much. And I don't know who stole what from what, and I definitely think what you're saying is an extremely strong possibility, especially because, you know, the nation of Israel dates back way longer before any of these religions. But I would say that I don't know who created it, and it doesn't bother me. All I know is that we have to learn to share it.

Nehemia: I want to go back to the violin and talk about that. You've got a song, and this is one of your mainstream songs. We played a song in the last episode, it was on your album as a hidden track because it was in Hebrew. It was called “True Jew,” “Yehudi Amiti.” And this one, you described it as a mainstream song. What does that mean, a mainstream song, for my listeners who don't know? I don't know anything about music. What is mainstream music? And your music has been described as “Frank Sinatra at a Shlomo Carlebach concert.” What does that mean?

Yitzchok: Yeah, and some describe it as like just Jack Johnson but heavier on the bass and a little more black, you know?

Nehemia: Okay, I have no idea what that means, but it sounds really cool.

Yitzchok: Using words to describe an art is never going to...That's the reason why art exists, because words just can't do it, you know? Description just can't do it. What does mainstream mean? I have no clue what mainstream means. All I know is that the masses listen to a certain kind of genre or music that is more widely acceptable, widespread for people to digest. I would say, if it's Bollywood music, then it's gonna be hard. You know, a lot of people who are not Indian might not enjoy it. If it’s Hebrew music, a lot of people…

Nehemia: So, this is like mainstream Western music that you do. You also are a professional Cantor in a Synagogue in Jerusalem. So, tell us about this song. We're gonna actually listen to this song. I am so honored and really blessed here that Yitzchok Meir - by the way, yitzchokmeir.com - he's given us the permission to play this song. It's a song called "Here We Are.” And it's a song that really connects to this violin on the wall, the violin that his grandmother who survived Auschwitz, gave to him. So, what is the song "Here We Are" about? It's a mainstream song, this isn't a Jewish song, per se. This is a song you might hear on a radio anywhere in the world, right?

Yitzchok: That's right.

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: “Here We Are” means this. When the Jews survived the Holocaust, many people asked, “Where were the nations of the world? Why were they silent?” What an idiotic question. What, did they ever, you know... Spanish Inquisition, “Hey, let's save the Jews.” When were the nations of the world making mass efforts to save those who are being killed? And so, I think the message of this song is to try to remind people to take responsibility. The question’s not, “Where were the nations of the world?” The question is, “Where are we? Where were we? Where are we?” And it's a message to every nation who feels that they're under persecution, is to stand up for yourself. Take responsibility, you can do so much more than you think. And the name of the song is "Here We Are,” because here we are. Actually, “Here we are. Look, we made it, we're back in Israel and we have our own army. Here we are.”

Nehemia: Wow. And so, if they want to perpetrate another Holocaust against us, asking the question, “Where is the United Nations to protect us?” is the wrong question.

Yitzchok: 100 percent.

Nehemia: Here we are. And you know what? I'm inspired as you're telling me, this is something from Pirkey Avot. The Ethics of the Fathers is the opening section of the Mishnah. And there's a quote there from a Rabbi, and I'm ashamed to admit I don't remember which Rabbi, I think it's Shammai. He said, “Eem lo ani li mi li?” “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” And he further said, “And if I'm only for myself, what am I?” It’s so profound.

Yitzchok: Right, “Eem en ani li, mi li? Eem ani le'atzmi, ma ani? Ve'eem lo akhshav, e’matay?” “And if not now, when?”

Nehemia: Right, wow. Was that Shammai who said that?

Yitzchok: I have to check it out.

Nehemia: It was one of those Rabbis. There's such profound wisdom, especially in Pirkey Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers. Guys, you can read that online, by the way. And look, from my perspective, you know, there's some beautiful things in the Talmud and a lot of things I don't agree with. I would say the most beautiful passage in the entire Mishnah and Talmud is Pirkey Avot. It really has some beautiful things there. Okay, I want to go into the song. Tell us more about this song, “Here We Are.”

Yitzchok: Wow, it's got a nice funk beat to it. And there's a certain bridge in the song which is actually a story about my father. My father was born in a Displaced Persons camp.

Nehemia: Really?

Yitzchok: You think all of our listeners know what a Displaced Persons camp is?

Nehemia: I'm not sure I know.

Yitzchok: Well, a Displaced Persons camp is basically, I would like to say “renovated concentration camp,” but it's not. It’s really a concentration camp that has food. Basically, after the Holocaust, after the forces came in, the Russians, the British, the US that came in and liberated the Jews from the Germans, from the Ukrainians, from the Polish, and from the Austrians. So, they made these camps. They took the concentration camps where all these Jews were and had no place to go. Their homes were overtaken and looted by their neighbors, who most of them were not righteous. A lot of the Jews after the Holocaust came back to their houses, and the non-Jews who took over their houses and shot them on the spot. Could you imagine surviving six years and then being killed on the spot?

Nehemia: And I do want to say that it varied from country to country. That was especially true in Eastern Europe. An exception to the rule was Denmark. I don't know if you know this, and you can see this at the Yad Vashem Museum. For example, the Danish smuggled most of the Jews out of the country on boats in the middle of the night when the Germans demanded them. Another exception was Romania.

But then, there were other countries where the Germans needed only a handful of Gestapo agents to round up all the Jews, because the locals, like for example in Lithuania, were so eager to go help. They were waiting for it. So, it varied. And you're absolutely right, there were places where the Jews were liberated from these camps, and then couldn't go home, because they were in as much danger from their Gentile neighbors as they were from the Nazis keeping them in the camps. So, they put them in these Displaced Persons camps?

Yitzchok: Displaced Persons camps. The conditions weren't great. My father was born in 1946 in a Displaced Persons camp. He was very independent. And by the age of four, he was off on his own. And one day he didn't come back home, and his parents were looking for him everywhere. They were checking the river, they thought maybe he’d drowned. They ended up finding him in a bar. And they went to the bar, they found him, and they said to the bar owner, “Hey, what's going on? Why is my son drinking in your bar?” And he said, “He came in, he slapped his fist on the counter and he said, ‘Give me a drink.’ He said, ‘I need a drink. I need a drink.’” You can imagine, a four-year-old tough, living in a Displaced Persons camp. “I need a drink,” you know? I don't know what kind of drink it was, but he said, “I need a drink.” He was four years old. He walked into a bar, a displaced person, “Oh, yeah. I need a drink.” So, the bridge in that song is, parents are looking for this son so far, a four-year-old child walks into a bar, “Pour me a drink to anoint my scar.”

Nehemia: Wow.

Yitzchok: “Pour me a drink to anoint my scar.” Why? ‘Cause here we are. Here we are. And that's exactly what the song is saying, is that here we are. We're Israel, we have our own army now. We shouldn't fall back. No nation should ever fall back into this mentality of, “We need others to help us. We need to rely on some other force to help us.” That's silly. You need to take responsibility for your own life. You can't rely on others. You can't walk like a lamb to the slaughter. You can't do that. There's really no excuse for it anymore. It's not cool. You need to stand up for yourselves, you need to protest.

Nehemia: And so, together with the Creator of the Universe, Hashem, you've got to stand up and take responsibility for your own safety and protection.

Yitzchok: That's right, you’re commanded to. Hashem commands you to.

Nehemia: Yeah. And you know, I lived in Texas for a couple of years. And one of the things you'll see in front of some liquor stores or places that get robbed, is there'll be a picture of a big Magnum 45 revolver. And it’ll say, “We don't call 911.” That's what it reminds me of. Like, “Look, we're gonna take care of this ourselves. You want to rob us? Look what we got for you.”

And here we are, we can't rely on other people. It would be great if other people want to come help us. But you know, we’ve gotta trust the Creator of the Universe. And it says in Tehillim, in Psalms, “Don't trust in man. Don't trust in some other person, we gotta trust in the power that God has given us and to use that ourselves.” All right, so we're gonna listen to this song, “Here We Are.” We're gonna end with it.

And guys, head over to yitzchokmeir.com and there'll be a link in nehemiaswall.com on how to find that website if you can't spell it. You can Google it. You know, you can actually google Yitzchok Meir and misspell it, and then you type Shema and it comes up, because that's gone like viral. It was actually on the Channel 10 News in Israel, the Shema video you did. And so, guys, go and buy his music, support what he's doing. This guy, he’s an amazing person. He's given us so much time, I'm so thankful. Thank you so much, Yitzchok Meir.

Yitzchok: My pleasure. Thank you, Nehemia, for being a light unto the world.

Nehemia: And here is his song, “Here We Are.”

Yitzchok: [sings] Children cried as their mothers died, “Why?” Mothers cried as their children died, “Why?” The question’s not, “Where were the nations of the world?” The question is, “Where were we?” The question is, “Where were we, where were we?”

48 reclaims the Jewish state. Lion Judah said, “pray.” Zion Judah said, “Pray,” and she’s singing, here we are, here we are. Here we are, here we are. [repeats] War was over and we’re victors now. ‘Cause we’re alive and praying. ‘Cause we’re alive and praying, proof there’s a second act to be…

Oh, the time has come, so. Oh, the time has come so, hurry up, welcome home. [repeat]

Yeah, the time has come now. [repeat]

Parents looking for their son so far. Four-year-old child walks into a bar. “Pour me a drink to anoint my scar,” said he. “Pour me a drink to anoint my scar,” ‘cause here we are, here we are. [repeat] Everybody, here we are, here we are. Here we are, here we are. [repeat]

Come with me, across the sea. Need you here, it’s not the same without thee. Come with me, come with me across the sea. Need you here, it’s not the same without thee. Welcome home.

Here we are [repeat].

Nehemia: This episode of Hebrew Voices was sponsored by Marlin and Sheryl. Thank you. Todah.

You have been listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

We hope the above transcript has proven to be a helpful resource in your study. While much effort has been taken to provide you with this transcript, it should be noted that the text has not been reviewed by the speakers and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. If you would like to support our efforts to transcribe the teachings on NehemiasWall.com, please visit our support page. All donations are tax-deductible (501c3) and help us empower people around the world with the Hebrew sources of their faith!


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Related Posts:
True Jew Singing
The Rebirth of Israel and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jews for Guns
Hebrew Voices Episodes

Verses Mentioned:
Genesis 18:9-15
Deuteronomy 33:18
Leviticus 19:18
Numbers 6:1-5
Ecclesiastes 3:8
Deuteronomy 6:4
1 Kings 8:35
Exodus 22:2

Guest Bio: Yitzchok Meir has spent over a decade touching every corner of one of the most chaotic, passionate, diverse, and innovative regions in the world. Right at home in a whirlpool collision of Europe, Asia, and Africa, his journey took him from hitchhiking teen to budding artist to a major player in a freshly emerging Jerusalem music scene, one that offers the most eclectic mixing of ethnic and stylistic traditions. With a deep sensitivity to the spiritual human struggle, he has performed for over a million people in settings and styles as varied as the cultural landscape.

A master of almost anything with strings, Yitzchok Meir was mentored by some of this decade's best talents, including Grammy award winner C Lanzbom. Influenced by Dylan's poetry and simplicity of language, Yitzchok Meir incorporates the elegance of Leonard Coen, the swagger of Sinatra and the depth of Carlebach into a surprisingly balanced rhythm. It resonated with Ronny Vance, a veteran executive in the industry who noticed something fresh in Yitzchok Meir's sound, and launched a long and fruitful collaboration to capture it and record it for the rest of the world.

“Dear God” is Yitzchok Meir's first full-record offering, a symbioses of genre, vibe, reflections and hopes. Sometimes the track itself reaches out to poke you with a sudden shift in both mood and technique. The move-along groove and the gently laid lyrics ease you into a journey through identity, love, loss, war and peace. Eclectic, sometimes-edgy arrangements and ensembles prove worthy of a maturing, grander perspective, echos recalled in a smooth and sensual vocal performance. What comes out is a classy and suave flirtation of jazzy flows and bluesy bass, peppered with the occasional ballad and campus quad acoustic. “Dear God” is Yitzchok Meir's witty, subtle, well-seasoned prayer for the world.

  • Lydia says:

    I’ll never forget the story of, his tough 4 year old dad, slapping his hand on the bar, demanding a drink! that speaks volumes! yes, we are here! Even as a gentile (though I always thought, I had some Jewish blood, who knows?!), those words reverberate into my soul, and give me a sense of unity with my fellow man. Keep up the great work, guys!

  • Sonia says:

    Hi Nehemia,
    Thanks for the great work. You may know that Bulgaria was the only one country along with Denmark that saved there Jewish population from the concentration camps. As part of my counties’ history (I am Bulgarian) that story always interested me. I would like the world to know more about this act of heroism. If you think this would be interesting for your listeners, could you make a podcast on that topic? “Beyond Hitler’s Grasp” is a book that was very interesting for me.

  • Peggy Sanders says:

    INCREDIBLE, Nehemia! This one is really special! Thank you so much!\

  • Judy says:

    Loved the podcast and the song is Awesome. Nehemia, as Yitzchok said “Thank You for Being A Light Unto the World.” Yehovah bless today and everyday.

  • Seydel says:

    This podcast made me happy! I don’t know how else to explain it it brought me pure joy. Thank you guys for the joy you brought to my heart.

  • Aron Brackeen says:

    This episode is a delightful encounter. Enlightening. Inspiring. Interesting. Musical – great talent. TY! (More like it…we need more YAH-honoring music that draws us closer.)

  • Miri~ says:

    Loved the Yitzack Meir episode, what a guy! So moving, and the most beautiful Shema! As it should be, going out over Yerushalyim, for too long, we’ve only heard the mournful droning of the mosques.

    Thank you, Nehemia!

    Love from Miri~

  • Jay says:

    I can’t explain it and I can’t prove it but do feel and do hope I am of one of the ten lost tribes!

  • Barbara Jayne says:

    Beautiful message, beautiful song.

  • Carvel Rider says:

    I just finished the book A prayer to our Father. Awesome. Thank you. By the way thanks to you I know the name of our Creator. I just spelled it the way it sound when I made the account. There is more to the story I will tell you another time. May YeHoVaH bless you and keep you.

  • Jeffrey Manresa says:

    Awesome song! Sweet podcast. Thank you Yehovah for Nehemiah Gordon and Yitzchok Meir. Thank you for Yeshua and the ruach hakodesh