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Abstract
In December 2023, 1,000 Israeli musicians and singers gathered at the ancient Caesarea Amphitheater and sang ‘Bring Them Home’ as a song of prayer to God to bring home the Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Although the song was originally written in reference to the First Lebanon war, it has now become associated with the hostage crisis. At minute 2:20, hostage families enter and the melody subtly changes to the national anthem “hatikva.”
While Watching
To encourage students to pay closer attention to the video and song, it is helpful to give them specific things to look for before viewing. Using the worksheet below, tell the students that they will need to:
1) find the melody that is “mashed-in” to the song.
2) prepare a question that they have about the song or video
After Watching
1) Pair up students and have them attempt to provide an answer to each other’s question.
2) Student pairs can continue by reading Rabbi Saks’ quote on the power of collective song in prayer and reflecting on the followup questions.
3) You can also use this video to discuss different symbols of “Bring them Home” solidarity. The two main symbols noticeable in this video are dogtag necklaces and yellow ribbon bracelets. Students can explore and express how they relate to these and other symbols of solidarity that they have seen during the war. Why do they or don’t they think such symbols are important or effective?