GEDALES SONG

1995
This song is a “midrash" (an interpretive commentary) on Primo Levi’s 1947 novel “If not now when?”, which tells the story of a group of Jewish partisans fighting in eastern Europe during World War II. The song reflects the novel’s themes of courage, resilience and survival in the face of the Holocaust.

This panel harks back to the ruthless seige of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70. The temple was totally destroyed, the city devastated and many Jews killed or enslaved, forever changing Jewish life. This marked a catastrophic turning point in Jewish history, leading to the rise of Rabbinic Judaism.