Many waters cannot quench love.
Shir Hashirim/Song of Songs 8:7
Yuval Raphael: First with the Public, Second Overall
Yuval Raphael’s brilliant performance captured the hearts of Europeans. Standing alone on a Basel stage at the 2025 Eurovision grand finale the 24-year-old Israeli survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre on October 7 sang a song of life. Yuval’s voice – brave, wounded, and clear – was heard and understood by the European public and millions voted for her, a voice of truth, of pain, and of hope. Israel received the highest number of audience points, more than any other country.
A rare human moment, in which Yuval represented a traumatized people who chose to sing about hope rather than vengeance. Her song, “New Day Will Rise,” performed in French, English, and Hebrew, included a powerful biblical phrase: “Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Songs 8:7). Yuval’s brilliant performance captured the hearts of Europeans at a time when Israeli artists face political boycotts and public threats. It was not just an achievement, it was a moment of moral, cultural, and human clarity, a scarce commodity in Europe today.
Listeners from countries with complicated diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Spain and Sweden, and friendly countries such as Azerbaijan and Germany all loved her. Yuval sang beautifully, offering a positive, optimistic message and a wonderful, human story. Millions of Europeans responded to her humanity, her courage, her spirit. Yuval’s words, “a new day will rise, life will go on, everyone cries, don’t cry alone” offered hope as response to horror, and an invitation for human connection in a world desperately in need of embracing the humanity of others.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
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