Naomi Cohn Zentner shared how music in the time of war can offer resilience and hope. <\/i>(photo from Naomi Cohn Zentner)<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>Earlier this month, ethnomusicologist Naomi Cohn Zentner gave the lecture Music and War: An Optimistic View. Her talk was the fourth in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple\u2019s 2025\/26 Many Voices of Jewish Music Zoom series.<\/p>\n
Speaking from Israel, Cohn Zentner, a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, examined how music in the time of war can offer resilience and hope, and is not solely about tragedy and mourning. She started with a photograph of Leonard Cohen and Israeli musician Matti Caspi, who passed away on Feb. 8, the day of her talk. The pair were performing for soldiers during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Ariel Sharon at their side.<\/p>\n
Cohn Zentner then played two songs, composed more than a century apart: \u201cThe Battle Hymn of the Republic,\u201d written during the American Civil War, and a 1967 performance by the Nachal Entertainment Troupe called \u201cHallelujah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contrasting the two, Cohn Zentner argued that the former is a sacralizing, providential song in the war hymn tradition, seeing war very much within a religious way of life and values, while the Israeli song \u2013 with lines such as, \u201cIf there were no need for rifles anymore, then we would sing \u2018Hallelujah\u2019\u201d and \u201cIf children could play by the border, then you\u2019d hear their mothers sigh in relief, \u2018Hallelujah\u2019\u201d \u2013 offers a hope for peace, or a prayer for peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an Israeli war song tradition, which shows just how important peace was in these fighting units,\u201d Cohn Zentner said. \u201cWe can see this as two opposing examples of what war songs are about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe religious hymn of the Civil War is \u2018Glory, Hallelujah.\u2019 The conflict itself is very religious and violence, while terrifying, is also cleansing and purifying, and death and martyrdom make men free,\u201d she said. In the Israeli song, war is de-romanticized, death is not glorified but used as a reason to end wars, life itself is considered holy, peace is the desired goal, and the music is more national and secular in outlook.<\/p>\n Last year, on the Israeli reality show, Hakokhav Haba (Rising Star)<\/i>, during which a contestant is chosen to represent the country at Eurovision, Daniel Weiss, from Kibbutz Be\u2019eri, selected Cohen\u2019s \u201cHallelujah\u201d as one of his songs. Weiss, who lost both of his parents during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, performed a duet with Arab singer Valerie Hamaty in both Hebrew and Arabic.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, this image was so powerful and iconic \u2013 of them singing this song together in Hebrew and Arabic after everything that had happened. It was a very emotional moment,\u201d Cohn Zentner said.<\/p>\n Another song Weiss performed, in honour of his parents, was \u201cAni Guitar\u201d (\u201cI Am a Guitar\u201d)<\/i> by Naomi Shemer, which contains the lyric \u201cI remember all those who played on me before, and I say thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis symbolic issue of a guitar, which used to be a tree, but still has in it the ability to thank all those who [have] played on him \u2026 is very, very emotional,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Weiss lost out to Yuval Raphael in the contest to represent Israel. Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival, performed ABBA\u2019s \u201cDancing Queen\u201d as her final song in the show. She dedicated it to those who died at Nova.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI sing about the angels who weren\u2019t fortunate enough to be here now. It hurts because I had this chance not only to come back [from the festival] and to live, but to fulfil my dream. There are those who stayed there, and the shadow behind me is the only thing left of them,\u201d said Raphael, who went on to place second in the 2025 Eurovision with the song \u201cNew Day Will Rise.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of her talk, Cohn Zentner played \u201cNot Alone,\u201d a song penned by Doror Talmon of the band Jane Bordeaux in the weeks following Oct. 7. The song speaks to the feelings of being in the close-knit community of a kibbutz in which everyone has a role and nobody is dispensable; if one person is lost, it affects the entire community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe song starts by telling us about all the sad and tragic things that happened, and asks who is going to bring the kibbutz back to what it was,\u201d Cohn Zentner said.<\/p>\n Then, she pointed out, there is a shift in the song to where it answers, \u201cWe\u2019ll all extend a hand, we are not alone, and we are partners in fate, in pain and in love, as one people. We will cry and we will overcome, we\u2019re not going to break, we\u2019re going to come together, we have each other, the roots of the trees will go into the earth, and we\u2019re going to be rebuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n The next speaker in Kolot Mayim\u2019s series is Joshua Jacobson, an author, composer and choral director. Jacobson, professor emeritus of music at Northeastern University in Boston, will delve into the history and ongoing evolution of Jewish music in his April 5 talk, Jewish Music: What\u2019s That? For more information, go to kolotmayimreformtemple.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sam Margolis <\/b>has written for the <\/i>Globe and Mail, the <\/i>National Post, UPI and MSNBC.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Naomi Cohn Zentner shared how music in the time of war can offer resilience and hope. (photo from Naomi Cohn Zentner) Earlier this month, ethnomusicologist Naomi Cohn Zentner gave the lecture Music and War: An Optimistic View. Her talk was the fourth in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple\u2019s 2025\/26 Many Voices of Jewish Music Zoom series. 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