David Broza

Mishy Harman: Hi, what’s your name?

Yaal: Yaal

Mishy Harman: And where are you from?

Yaal: From Kibbutz Gal’ed.

Mishy Harman: Ah, you’re from here. And are there people now from the north that have come to Kibbutz Gal’ed that have been evacuated to here?

Yaal: Yeah, it started first…most of the people was in the south, and now it changes to people from the north—more people from the north now coming.

Mishy Harman: And can you say what’s happening?

Yaal: There is a show of David Broza. He come to small places and perform.

Mishy Harman: Are you excited?

Yaal: Yeah, very much. David Broza in a small place like Gal’ed—I never thought thing like this going to happen.

Mishy Harman: You brought your kids to the concert?

Yaal: Yes.

Mishy Harman: What’s your name?

Yaav: Yaav

Mishy Harman: And how old are you?

Yaav: 14

Mishy Harman: And are you excited for this concert?

Yaav: Not very much. I don’t know. I don’t know him.

Mishy Harman: What’s your name?

Nelly: My name is Nelly.

Mishy Harman: Where are you from Nelly?

Nelly: I’m from Be’er Sheva. A lot of exciting…I’m not sleeping at the night. I have a flashing all the time.

Unknown Speaker 1: The country is in such a terrible state. And so David Broza volunteered to come and give us a show, which is amazing. He’s one of the best artists in the country. As people have been evacuated from their homes and they’ve come here just for as long as they need to. And we’ve just opened the door.

Unknown Speaker 2: I’ve just ended the shift in the hamal (I don’t know what the English word for it). And I came straight here and it makes you feel good to know there is a little bit of life in all the madness that’s going around. And it’s good vibes to remember that there’s still happiness and music and you can enjoy yourself even though bad things are going around. And it’s good.

Unknown Speaker 3: There’s a thin line between sadness and happiness. It’s part of life.

Unknown Speaker 4: I’m from the north: Kiryat Shmona. Today was rocket shells from the Lebanon and this is the first day we’re here. Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, it’s surrealistic. But yeah.

Mishy Harman: What’s going on in your kibbutz now?

Unknown Speaker 5: There’s nobody there basically. There’s only about 40 people left and just guarding the kibbutz. We ran. We’re basically refugees in Israel.

Mishy Harman: Hi, what’s your name?

Shlomo: Shlomo.

Mishy Harman: Where are you from?

Shlomo: From Kibbutz Eilon in the north. We are about two kilometers from Lebanon…in the West Galil near Rosh Hanikra, Hanita: all the places that now have all the missiles.

Mishy Harman: And long have you been here?

Shlomo: About five days?

Mishy Harman:You were evacuated from your home?

Shlomo: Yeah. All my family: me and my wife and five children.

Mishy Harman: So what’s it like to be here?

Shlomo: This kibbutz…they have wonderful people. I can’t describe how much they have a sensitive heart for all the people from all over the country—from the north and the south. I can say just thank you; thank you for the people that are around together and hug when we’re in a tough war now. And we hope that all you’re seeing over here, this is our strong, and we’ll beat the Hamas and all the people that want to hurt us. It’s not easy. We have friends in the army. We have friends died…it’s not…I don’t remember all of my life, I’m 48 years old, something like that. You cry all day. It’s not…I can’t describe the pain.

Mishy Harman (narration): Hey, listeners, it’s Mishy. So as you know, during these incredibly difficult days we’re trying to bring you voices we’re hearing among and around us. These aren’t stories, they’re just quick conversations, or postcards really, that try to capture slivers of life. right now.

There’s a very long tradition of musicians and entertainers performing on the frontlines in times of war. And here too, almost immediately Israel’s leading artists began crisscrossing the country in a joint effort to lift morale.

For David Baza this kind of work isn’t unfortunately new. He’s been performing for troops since the mid 70s. And for the last two weeks he hasn’t stopped for a minute. He’s given more than 50 concerts since the start of the war: in hotel lobbies, army bases, bomb shelters, kibbutz lawns, and even at the brit of a baby from Kfar Aza. Basically, wherever his talent can bring some joy, and offer a temporary escape from reality. We joined him at Kibbutz Gal’ed, in the north, where he was performing for families evacuated from their homes.

Mishy Harman: Can you introduce yourself?

David Broza: I’m David Broza: an Israeli singer, songwriter, musician, performer.

Mishy Harman: And you just finished a performance here. What kind of role do you have as an artist in these kinds of times?

David Broza: I make myself available to the situation, I have no pretensions to have a role. If I was a chef I’d cook you a great meal. And I’m the performer who performs well. This is all I can do. Most of the shows I do now are just emergency shows. And I do three, four, five, six in a day. I don’t wait for anybody to call me, I call everybody and just tell them I’m coming down. And everybody’s around wherever they gather—it could be 100 people, it could be like two or three: like here’s 300. And you play. If you play to please the audience, you know, the kids, it’s a mixed thing… because this is about diversion, to let their minds off everything that’s going on. It fills your energy gets your adrenaline and endorphins flowing from a positive point of view so you feel nice feelings instead of negative, you know, tension and things that make you depressed—which is most of the day.

Mishy Harman: What’s it like for you?

David Broza: It’s really hard. This is an emergency mode. And I’ve done this so many times, because we’ve had emergencies in this country so many times. But this one is very different. This is a disaster; this is devastation. Because you go from civilian displaced people, and then you go to the military. Or you go to places…some of the hardest hit places like Kibbutz Be’eri and Kfar Aza…they’re all traumatized. And it’s trauma right now—it’s nobody’s talking. So in a month or two it’s going to erupt and then we’re going to have, wow, thousands of people totally dysfunctional. It’s coming. We have to fix that now. And we have Brothers in Arms (Achim LaNeshek) and those brilliant brilliant visionaries. Hopefully a leadership will come out of all this.  Otherwise what are we doing here?