By Avidan Halivni
After a beautiful Shabbat together in Caesarea, which featured much singing on the parts of the fellows, we had the unique opportunity to bring Shabbat out with as much music as with which it came in. After building a campfire on the beautiful Mediterranean coast, against the backdrop of a two thousand year old aqueduct, the fellows sat around and roasted smores before beginning the central program of the night: a melaveh malka (literally “accompanying the queen,” i.e. ushering out the Shabbat queen with song) facilitated by singing duo and married couple Yoni and Nina Tokayer, also known as Yonina. They sang some of our favorite songs from across the Jewish spectrum, including Israeli hits like Lu Yehi and Al Kol Ele, as well as songs by Matisyahu. Their beautiful vocal harmonies were complemented by guitar (which both of them played alternately), a harmonica, and a drum-seat.
As we walked back towards the road for a delicious pop-up restaurant dinner, I couldn’t help but wonder at the power of music to bring people from disparate backgrounds together. Though the forty-one Nachshon fellows had begun to coalesce into one group over the course of the opening week, I felt our cohort was sealed with this magical night around the campfire together. Our common camp background gifted us a wide array of songs, and to have them played out loud by high-level musicians who invited us to sing along brought out the best of our personalities and increased the budding affections we felt for one another. As we put the fire out and walked the thirty minutes back to the hotel, there was a palpable shift in the group dynamic: in the laughter, in the sensations of intimacy between fellows, and of the excitement of spending the semester together.
Reflecting on Yonina’s story, I came to recognize the power of social media to spread a powerful message. Yoni and Nina began posting short and simple but nevertheless beautiful videos on Facebook on Fridays before Shabbat, from the comfort of their living room or from the front seat of their car. Eventually more and more people began to see and share their clips, until they became a viral sensation. Their high level content, brought to the right audience via Facebook and Youtube, transformed them from a pair of singers into a famous duo, traveling all around the world to sing at synagogues and perform community concerts. For any message in this day and age, having an inspirational online presence is essential to the success of any organization — a lesson I take to heart as the business manager of a non-profit Jewish outreach group and as a future leader.
