Di Megile fun Itsik Manger
by Manger, Itzik, 1901-1969; Seltzer, Dov; Bunim, Shemuʼel
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![Yuval Raphael will represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland with "New Day Will Rise," the country's Kan public broadcaster announced on Sunday as it officially revealed the Jewish state's entry. The three-minute song, sung by Raphael and written by Israeli singer and songwriter Keren Peles, is primarily in English, with several lines in French and Hebrew. Raphael is set to perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 15. "New day will rise/Life will go on/ Everyone cries/Don't cry alone/Darkness will fade/All the pain will go by/But we will stay/Even if you say goodbye," Raphael sings in English in the power ballad's chorus. The Hebrew is a line from the biblical Shir Hashirim, the Song of Songs, which translates to: “Vast floods cannot quench love, nor rivers drown it," while the French is a translation of the English portions of the song. In a statement on Sunday, Raphael said that "for me, the song represents the healing that we all need and the optimism for the days ahead—our future. The song speaks about our strength, all of ours, our shared hope, the support and love of such beautiful people in our country." Peles said the entry represents the "new sunrise" that the Jewish state is longing for after Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre and the subsequent ground war with the terror organization in the Gaza Strip. The lyrics and the video of the Israeli entry were formally approved last month by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the annual musical extravaganza. Last year, Jerusalem was only allowed to compete after it removed references to the Oct. 7 terrorist slaughter. Raphael's music video shows a group of young people gathered together in song and dance, which every Israeli understands as a reference to the Oct. 7 attack on the Nova festival, where 364 people were murdered. Red anemones, a symbol of Israel’s south, can also be seen in the video clip. Raphael, 24, survived the Nova festival by hiding in a bomb shelter for hours. Terrorists threw grenades into the shelter. Raphael, pretending to be dead, hid underneath the bodies of the dead. Forty young people entered the shelter at the start of the Hamas invasion. Ten left alive. "We were at a party, and around 6 a.m., a barrage of missiles began," the musician told Israel's Channel 12 days after the massacre. "We all rushed to the car, we were five friends—two of them are currently hospitalized." "When we got to the car, there was a crazy mass of people and vehicles trying to get out [of the festival area]. In the end, when we reached the road, we saw a [bomb] shelter, so we decided to stop on the side and enter it to protect ourselves from the [Hamas] missiles," she retold. Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times: 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018. According to Eurovision bookmakers, Sweden is the favorite this year. Raphael's entry is ranked as the third favorite by oddsmakers.](https://savethemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/03/F250309YS217-1320x880-1-300x200.jpg "F250309YS217-1320x880")
‘New Day Will Rise’: Israel reveals entry for 2025 Eurovision Song Contest‘New Day Will Rise’: Israel reveals entry for 2025 Eurovision Song Contest
Yuval Raphael will represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland with “New Day Will Rise,” the country’s Kan public broadcaster announced on Sunday as it officially revealed the Jewish state’s entry. The three-minute song, sung by Raphael and written by Israeli singer and songwriter Keren Peles, is primarily in English, with several lines in […]
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How two Yiddish soul sisters became a singing sensation
When singers Polina Fradkin and Paulina Levi got 50,000 Instagram followers, they celebrated with a cake. But these days, they are really cooking. The Shvesters (the Yiddish word for “The Sisters”) now have 134,000 followers on Instagram and 24,500 on TikTok. In the history of Jewish music, female duos are fairly rare; Jewish female duos […]
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A Sacred Legacy: An Interview with Deborah Katchko-Gray
Deborah Katchko-Gray is a fourth-generation cantor and the second woman to serve as cantor in the Conservative movement. She founded the Women Cantors’ Network in 1982 and served for 25 years at Congregation Shir Shalom (of Westchester and Fairfield Counties) in Connecticut. She has made ten recordings, published two books, and received the 2020 Debbie Friedman […]
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Yiddish songs in 4-part harmony IHO International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus דער ייִדישער פֿילהאַרמאָנישער כאָר Binyumen Schaechter, Conductor Seth Weinstein, Pianist IN HONOR OF International Holocaust Remembrance Day Three songs in Yiddish performed in four-part harmony with English subtitles Partizaner-himen פּאַרטיזאַנער־הימען (Partisans’ Hymn) also known as Zog nit keyn mol זאָג ניט קיין מאָל (Never Say) Unter di khurves fun Poyln אונטער די […]
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The Legacy of Menachem Mike Fox Z”L
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene mourns the passing of Menachem Mike Fox. Mike was a dedicated performer and teacher of Yiddish folk song, a poet, and one of the creators of Kids and Yiddish presented by NYTF for over a decade with new editions annually. Mike gave the world a great gift with his song Regnboygn […]
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After 40 years in a basement, the New York Public Library recovers a treasure trove of Jewish and Yiddish music
NYPL has acquired a unique collection of sheet music and documents that form part of the history of Jewish and Yiddish music broadcast on radio station WEVD. The collection of more than 3000 works performed live between 1927 and 1995 is now part of the library’s Dorot Jewish Division, and includes everything from Hasidic music […]
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Zamir Choral Foundation launches program to train Jewish choir conductors
A $500,000 donation to the Zamir Choral Foundation from husband and wife Robert and Vicki Lieberman aims to teach conductors of Jewish choral music. Named after Matthew Lazar, the foundation’s founder and director, between 12 and 15 fellows will be selected for the program. Vicki Lieberman, a rabbi, called singing during Shabbat services “some of my most […]
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Mandy Patinkin Headlines San Diego’s ‘JFest’ June 4
Broadway’s master songman, Mandy Patinkin, accompanied by Adam Ben-David on piano, will bring his newest theatre concert Mandy Patinkin in Concert: BEING ALIVE, to Balboa Theatre on Tuesday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m. This powerful and passionate evening of song is part of the 31st Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival, better known as JFest, […]
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