Let’s start with a positive message: we have great language.
We brought to life an extinct ancient sacred language and made it usable, without sacrificing the character of its origins.
At the same time, a look of mystery surrounds our language to this day we are due to its historical and cultural baggage, and unfortunately most Jews around the world do not speak it and it remains the property of the State of Israel almost exclusively.
The World Zionist Organization recently resented, when Shifat Ovadia Lusky, head of the Histadrut's Hebrew and Culture Department, wrote to the corporation's CEO after publishing the songs nominated to represent Israel at Eurovision 2022 that the trend of writing and performing English songs in the competition should be condemned. Among Jews around the world. "We were surprised to find that in all the songs nominated for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, the English language is dominant," Lusky wrote to Eldad Koblenz in a letter received by "Israel Today". " It is especially noticeable when there is no full song in the Hebrew language that is the candidate for the competition. "
Well, it's true that Hebrew is important and it's true that it deserves to be instilled among Jews around the world, but is the Eurovision the right stage to do so?
A taste of yesteryear
In the first decades of the long-standing and iconic competition for an institution, each country used to send a song performed in its national language.
No doubt it was interesting and sometimes even sexy to hear music in different and weird languages, to which the global audience was not exposed every day, if at all.
But since then the world has changed, and with it the Eurovision.
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If then the old-fashioned but endearing competition united viewers from around the world and embroidered a sense of a global village, over the years the world has become a real global village, with the internet and social networks at the forefront.
No more secrets, we share everything from information to epidemics, and know each other all over the world.
The world has changed.
The candidates in the "X Factor for the Eurovision" final, Photo: Noy Dekel
A party in Austria
The Eurovision Song Contest decided to align with the world of popular commercial music, whose language is known to be English, no matter what country it is produced in and by whom it is performed, and the competition began to take on a much more global character.
It took Israel a while longer to decide to join the trend, and after some foreign flickers in songs that represented our country at the Eurovision Song Contest, it was only in 2015 in Vienna, with Nadav Gedge's song, "Golden Boy", that we decided we wanted to be understood, from beginning to end .
Obviously, the fact that we went through a long period with little real success in the competition, played a significant part in that decision.
This picnic is an English party.
Nadav Gadge at Eurovision 2015, Photo: EPA
According to the rules of the Broadcasting Authority at the time, contestants were required to sing at least 50% of the lyrics in Hebrew.
In the new bylaws the restrictive and archaic section has been removed and is at the discretion of the committee.
"With all due respect to our great language and representation of the country, it seems we need to adapt to what is happening in the world," they then explained the reason for choosing Lingua Franca of the world in general and of music in particular.
"When the song is entirely in English, it will probably be easier to connect to it."
Now, come on, it's not that "Golden Boy" was not an Israeli song, in the clearest way possible.
If there is one word that aptly describes the atmosphere of the song it is "feast," and even in English, Nadav Gadge invited the whole world and his sister to get to know Tel Aviv bustling with joy in a distinctly Oriental hue.
If that does not represent us faithfully, what does?
Give it a break
Let's go back and mention that the most popular music language in the world is English - and it has long been customary to identify English with the official language of the global village.
When the lyrics, which are responsible for mediating between the music and the audience, are performed in a language that everyone understands, not only are the song's chances of success higher, but the emotional aspect is too immediate and has an impact (do you understand? It's in English) tens of times stronger.
Other participating countries have long understood the obvious.
Look at Scandinavia.
The countries of Northern Europe, powers of popular music for many decades, almost always create in English only - and this even without any connection to the Eurovision Song Contest, but with regard to the global music market in general.
And they know what they're doing: they know them all over the world and they do not even need Spotify for that.
Remember that Swedish band, Abba?
Without the Eurovision and if it were not for writing in English you might have answered this trivial question "no".
Would you know who they were if they sang in Swedish?
Abba at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, Photo: Reuters
With all due respect to its uniqueness and beauty, Hebrew is possible and better to learn elsewhere.
In the competition we want to win and our chances are higher in the English language.
All that is left is to let go of the hassle, and wish Good Luck to Israel, and "atonement for you" to all who will vote for us in the next Eurovision.
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