On Thursday night the sounds of soulful music rose from the Western Wall Plaza as Akiva and Yishai Ribo performed for families of fallen soldiers and families who have been displaced by the current war in Israel. “I came directly from my base near Shlomi to be with my family at this concert,” said M. a reservist soldier whose family also lives in the north and was displaced by the conflict. “We are currently staying in Jerusalem and this concert is a welcome respite from our time at the hotel where there isn’t that much to do.”
The concert was sponsored by members of the West Side Institutional Synagogue (WSIS) in partnership with Aish, the latter hosted the event and arranged the mission. “This is no regular trip,” explained Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht as he spoke to the gathered crowd of the WSIS mission prior to the arrival of the guests. “You are not here just to receive an understanding of what took place in Israel on October 7th and since, you are here to also give back to the people. From tonight until you leave, you will be meeting with families and going to locations so that you can be a part of what is going on in Israel, give of yourselves, make a change, and make an impact.”
Special guests at the concert were the Ohana Family and the Farchi family who lost their sons, Eliyahu Ohana and Nadav Farchi, during the war in Gaza. Bari and Dan Erber and their family, members of the WSIS, donated a Torah Scroll (Sefer Torah) in honor of the two fallen soldiers. The Erber Family Gesher program, one of the flagship student programs at AISH, headed down to the army base where the Torah was dedicated and celebrated with the soldiers in memory of the fallen soldiers. Bari Erber said after the event, “We are so pleased with how the outcome of the concert. Having the Kotel as the backdrop while in the beautiful AISH World Center celebrating with so many displaced families while Akiva and Yishai inspired us, was a memorable and inspiring evening, it hit all of the right notes and was the perfect way to start our mission.”
“Tonight, and the whole mission, is about realizing that we are all one family,” said Rabbi Steven Burg CEO of Aish. “Those of us who coming from Manhattan and inviting Yishai Ribo and Akiva to raise the spirits of our brothers and sisters in Israel, are doing this because we are all one family. We are here standing together with the families from the south of Israel who went through the worst tragedies imaginable, and families from the north who have left their homes. Many of these families have their husbands and fathers fighting in the war, and over 200 of them have perished. So we came here to stand together and do something to help because we are all one large family.”
The joint WSIS and AISH mission continued Friday with visits to Be’eri, Kfar Azza, and Re’im, where members of the mission began writing a Torah Scroll that will be donated in the memory of fallen soldiers, and will continue until later this week. During the trip, mission members will visit and strengthen displaced families, injured soldiers, families of fallen soldiers, families of hostages, and others. For more information about the work of WSIS and AISH, please visit their websites.
