Communities come together One Day for peace

“From across South Africa, they arrived with a message. Some chose to raise their voices, others to move their feet, there were those who sang in prayer and a few who stood in silent solidarity. All showed up, praying for no more war, and for our children to play. One day.”

These are the words displayed at the beginning of a new viral video in commemoration of 7 October, in which school children and choirs came together to cover the song, One Day, by Matisyahu.

The idea for the video came from South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) Deputy Chairperson Craig Pantanowitz in September. “We wanted to do something to show Israel and the Israeli people that during their darkest hour, during the time that they are going through the hell of war, the community – not necessarily just the South African Jewish community, but South Africa as a whole – isn’t represented by the African National Congress government. And that its stance isn’t what the people on the ground feel.”

Pantanowitz assembled a team made up of Jewish National Fund South Africa executive committee member Saul Jassinowsky; his wife, Batsheva; author and radio host Howard Feldman; and the marketing director of King David Linksfield, Jodi Starkowitz to bring this vision to life.

The project wasn’t conducted under the auspices of any organisation as all involved wanted it to go as far as it possibly could, and to be a community effort.

Starkowitz recruited the video’s musical director, Debra Mizrachi, and they decided on the song One Day by Matisyahu.

“We chose to do this song because it’s instantly recognisable,” Starkowitz said, “and just to hear a multitude of voices singing these words asking for peace isn’t something that can be easily ignored.”

“The song is a call for peace and that was clear to everyone, wherever that may be,” said Pantanowitz.

Mizrachi and Starkowitz took the original lyrics of the song and arranged them in a way that allowed for them to be sung in English, Hebrew, and Zulu.

For Pantanowitz, the video demonstrates that “we, as South Africans, want peace, and will stand by Israel through all of its trials and tribulations”.

The video was released on 6 October, and since then, has gone viral, amassing 40 000 views in 48 hours. Comments under the video also showcase the wider South African community’s support for Israel, with words of support and Israeli flags proudly on display.

“To see it go viral is a testament to why we did it in the first place,” said Pantanowitz. “We want peace with our neighbours in Israel, and we want peace across the world. Hopefully, we will one day find peace.”

The video also premiered at the SAZF’s 7 October commemoration ceremony to raucous applause.

“I told anybody interested to just join the WhatsApp group. We had about a few hundred people who were interested in learning the song and singing the song already,” Starkowitz said.

To get more diverse voices, Pantanowitz got two choirs with the South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) to be part of the video.

On Sunday, 29 September, the song was recorded, and the video was recorded with more than 100 people of all ages, from the Jewish community and the two choirs from SAFI from Soweto and Alexandra singing with all their might, wearing shirts bearing yellow ribbons and the South African and Israeli flags.

“At first, it was awkward, as everyone didn’t know each other, but as soon as everyone started singing, they just started to come together,” said Starkowitz. “There’s nothing in the world like music to be able to bring people together.”

She said that in the process of recording the song, one of the choirs sang, “Pray for Israel”, and it was added to the end product despite the phrase not being a part of the original lyrics.

“Their passion for Israel and peace was palpable,” she said. “Jewish children responded to that because they were able to see other people who care about Israel, and that they aren’t so alone.”

“The song and message behind it is something we all needed to hear,” said Pantanowitz.