On a cold and wet October Sunday morning, over 350 members of the London Jewish community gathered at Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue to contribute to a world-wide singing prayer, arranged by Koolulam, a social musical initiative that specialises in bringing together large groups of people in a unique artistic collaboration.
Koolulam is currently leading an international musical project that is making waves worldwide calling for the return of the 229 hostages, currently being held captive in Gaza by Hamas.
Koolulam has joined the families of the hostages to do what they do best – sing together to create human harmony, and, in one voice, ask for the return of the Israeli men, women and children being held by Hamas. These events are being held throughout the world, and the recordings from 100 locations will be merged to create the sounds of one huge international choir.
Stanmore Shul’s hall filled up quickly with young and old from the whole spectrum of British Jewry, carrying and wearing the Israeli flag, all ready to sing their hearts out to Madonna’s Like a Prayer.
According to Jacqui Rudolph, Stanmore Shul’s co-chair, ““there was an immense sense of connection in the hall, with people from across the Jewish spectrum as well as non-Jewish people wanting to stand in solidarity with Israel and to connect through a mutual, desperate need to support the families of the hostages. We were blown away by the support.”
“I’m still thinking about how special it was this morning. Thank you for organising such a moving, emotional, uplifting… (I could go on) event!” added Naomi, a participant.
The pop-up choir gave participants an opportunity to connect to others and create something more powerful and beautiful than any individual can create alone, with participants experiencing a sense of belonging to a community and feeling a little less helpless.
Galit Shear, choir conductor and music teacher, who taught the amateur choir the song in an hour, said: “It was incredible to have 400 people of different ages, religions and singing abilities in Stanmore United Synagogue singing Koolulam’s arrangement of ‘Like a Prayer’ to help bring the hostages home. We can’t wait to hear the full version with 100 other communities around the world.”
Thanks must go to the London Metropolitan Police who patrolled the area throughout the event, the security teams and Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue for hosting. Most especially, our thanks go to Koolulam and the amazing UK organisers for bringing this unique, world-wide event to us.
Also, many thanks to Bernard Redhouse for the pictures and Adrian Kelaty of Spirit Lift Films for the video.
Nadya Nicola