Okay, it's not Paul McCartney

But it was someone of Paul's generation and it didn't cost 490 shekel. Tonight, I joined my friend Tammy for a FREE concert in a beautiful park in Rishon LeTzion (which made it the fifth city I had been in today). It was Yehoram Gaon performing all of his classics.



Isn't there an uncanny resemblance to William Shatner in Boston Legal? You know the two have never been seen together in the same place at the same time. Hmmm...


There were thousands of people there, many knowing every single word to all of his songs. The concert and festival in the city were meant to celebrate the chag, the holiday of Sukkot. Yehoram is an excellent performer. The highlight of the concert for me was his rendition of "מלחמה האחרונה" ["milchamah haachronah"--the last war], in which a father promises his young daughter that he is leaving for the "last war". The song is also a tribute to the different army units and their contributions and sacrifices. Yehoram noted that he preferred to look at the song as a tefillah--a prayer, rather than a promise. Here's a little piece of it:

בשם הקשרים אשר קולם קרע לילות,
בשם כל הגייסות והחילות,
בשם כל האבות אשר הלכו לקרב נורא
ושרוצים לשוב אלייך חזרה -


אני מבטיח לך ילדה שלי קטנה שזאת תהיה המלחמה
האחרונה

For the signalmen whose voice cut through the nights,

For all the forces and women soldiers,

For all the fathers who went into the great battle

And want to return home to you...

I promise you, my little daughter,
that this will be the last war.
Tammy and I had alot of fun. I managed to slip in the mud, and we later got caught in a teen-age crowd dancing wildly to a [very loud, I might add] DJ. (Didn't see those kids at the Yehoram Gaon stage). I don't know who laughed harder--the teenagers at us, or vice versa. Talk about a generation gap.

And did I mention it was FREE? Eat your heart out, Paul.