Students at the AMIT Bienenfeld Hevruta Yeshiva, where some 40 students are currently enrolled in a specialized music track, recently welcomed a unique visitor: African American virtuoso blues pianist, author, actor and lecturer Daryl Davis.
Over four intensive days in Israel, Daryl shared his unbelievable story and performed for Jewish and Arab high school and college students, secular and religious audiences of all ages, in Jerusalem, Taibeh, Beersheva, Hura and Kfar Batya, Ra’anana, where the AMIT yeshiva is located.
While there, he gave the AMIT students a music lesson and jammed with some of them. He also told them about his efforts to promote tolerance and acceptance, values that AMIT emphasizes for its students as well.
Over the last 30 years, Davis has been on a mission to promote dialogue and understanding through music. He has met with KKK members and persuaded them to abandon their racist beliefs and organizations. He came to Israel to foster dialogue as well, between the diverse segments of Israeli society.
The universal language of music served as the perfect platform to start the conversation, which included collaborations with local musicians, such as the Ground Heights band and the Israeli blues musician Itay Pearl.
“When two enemies are talking, they are not fighting,” said Davis, who has performed with such musicians as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King, and Bruce Hornsby. “It’s when the talking ceases that the ground becomes fertile for violence. Keep the conversation going.”
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv brought Daryl to Israel to promote conversation, through music, between diverse parts of multicultural Israeli society.
The program was dedicated in memory of Daniel Pearl, the Jewish American journalist and musician who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. Pearl’s legacy is celebrated through Daniel Pearl World Music Days, international concerts that use the power of music to reaffirm a global commitment to tolerance and humanity.
