It was the Nova festival in Israel, the date October 7, 2023. She heard gunfire and took refuge in a concrete bomb shelter at the side of a road with 50 or more people crammed in, lying on top of each other. There was no escape as she heard uncountable gunshots being fired into the mass of bodies, then the hand grenades following.

She called her dad in tears as she pleaded for him to call the police. She was being crushed by the weight of the dead bodies. “Be quiet, my daughter. . . breathe deep. . . hide. . .  Play dead,”  he advised. “Bye”, she said as she assumed she would die.

This is the story of Yuval Raphael who was one of only 11 people to survive from that shelter. She was ultimately rescued after hiding under a pile of dead bodies for eight hours.

This week Ms. Raphael is representing Israel at Eurovision, an international song contest being held in Basel, Switzerland. Since the beginning of the pageantry earlier this week she has had to contend with being spat at, gestured at as if someone were slitting her throat, as well as protests by countries that demand a contestant from Israel be banned from the competition. Protests included a letter signed by 70 former Eurovision contestants calling on such a ban to be instituted.

There have been countries banned – Belarus in  2021 for entering a politically charged song and Russia in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. Banning is not common given that the event is about music and not politics.

Perhaps that is the point. In response to the controversy Eurovision has acknowledged the concerns about the situation in the Middle East but says it works to ensure the contest remain “. . . a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music”.  Given the tense climate and even death threats Ms. Raphael has received previous to the contest Israeli fans have been warned not to wear Jewish or Israeli symbols while attending Eurovision.

With that much hate around her, how much more amazing to hear the words of Ms. Raphael:

“It was scary at times, even uncomfortable, but it makes me keep reminding myself why I’m here . . . which is spreading as much love as I can . . .  We are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone.” Knowing that “boos” are expected she has been practicing with noises in the background to be able to not lose her focus.

How hard it is to maintain a message of love in this world, this challenge made all the more palpable as Ms. Raphael experienced not only as the victim of Hamas terrorism but even day-to-day afterward. This world is not an easy place within which to live a life of love. Given the worldwide disequilibrium which ripples down and festers up from and down to communities, families, and within ourselves, perhaps love doesn’t have a chance. The human condition does not foster ease of loving ourselves and others.

That reality is the precise reason we need to fight for love, a statement sounding like an oxymoron. That reality is the precise reason we need God in our lives, not as a concept, but rather, as our Rock, our Redeemer, Yeshua as the manifestation of the reality of HaShem in tangible form through the Holy Spirit to enable us to love against all odds!

We are reminded of He who loved us so much that He died for us, the One who loved us even as we taunted and rejected Him. Yeshua’s sacrificial Love of us provides the model we are often challenged to follow- to love the unlovable, to love when surrounded by hate and rejection.

If Ms. Raphael can sing of hope and love after her experiences at and after October 7, 2023, if she can stand with her hands forming the shape of a heart, how much moreso should we be inspired to receive and share His Love, despite our circumstances.  I invite you to immerse in the power of Love as she, with shrapnel still in her leg, sings this song at this year’s Eurovision:

https://youtu.be/Q3BELu4z6-U?si=67-Vxue8OGq7Uh1S

Shabbat shalom.

Diane