From Zion will come Torah – and Song! Rabbi Andrew Shaw

It was one of the viral moments of 2022.

Suddenly, the whole world was talking about the Miami Boys Choir – about a hit from 10 years ago! Incredibly, their song “Yerushalayim” was being listened to globally: ,הָתַעֵמ ֹומַעְל

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Hashem surrounds His people, now and forever.” (Tehillim 125:2)

It began with a 40-second video on TikTok which got 9 million views. Then they posted the full video on YouTube, which got 3.5 million views! Most remarkable, however, were some of the comments on the videos:

“Coming over from TikTok to see the full version. I’m not Jewish and I don’t understand one word of this song – but every single time I hear it, it elevates my soul.”

“This song has been the first thing in my head from the second I wake up until the second I go to sleep for the past 3 days and I’ve never been happier.”

“Being agnostic, I cannot imagine how proud their parents not only feel about their kids but their religion and community. Being young and different from other kids is very hard, especially in America, yet all of these kids look so proud as they sing in Hebrew. Absolutely beautiful.”

“I was humming this while waiting for Mass to start and my priest started singing along!”

Back in the 1980s, the Miami Boys Choir was the first Jewish music group I ever listened to. I remember listening to one of their albums over and over again. It was so pure and so different from most of the music I heard at the time. But it never occurred to me that non-Jewish listeners could also be inspired by their music. I guess I was mistaken!

The Miami Boys are not the only Jewish singers inspiring a broader audience. Ishay Ribo, featured in this magazine a year ago, has taken Jewish music to new heights. Here are just a few of the comments to his songs on YouTube:

“I, a complete secularist, say ‘blessed is the nation that has been blessed with a wonderful creator like you.’ There are no words to thank you for your never-ending contribution to making everything beautiful in the religion of Israel, accessible to all the people of Israel, regardless of whether they are religious or secular.”

“I am completely secular and far from religion but every song of yours makes me want to repent.

Blessed are you Ishay Ribo, that the sounds coming out of your mouth bring distant ones back to the Creator of the world!”

A Religious Zionist musician, singing religious songs – how many views on Youtube can he have? 10,000? 100,000? Surely no more! Yet most of his song views are in the millions – and his most popular song, Lashuv HaBayta – has 46 million views!

The song begins:

The time has come to wake up

To leave everything – to overcome

To return home – not to search for any other place.

There are only 7 million Jews in Israel, and 14 million around the world. Yet Ishay Ribo has reached 46 million views – and counting!

Something is happening. Around the world, people are seeing through the sham and the falsehood. They are searching, yearning for something real. As Ishay Ribo says, “The time has come to wake up.” And we – the Miami Boys Choir, Ishay Ribo and all of us – can help with this holy mission!