48 | DECEMBER 2 • 2021

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

M

ichael HarPaz, raised
in Huntington
Woods and relocat-
ed to Israel while attaining
pop music star limelight, has
long expressed a public voice
against antisemitism.
As a student at the
University of Michigan,
focused on Jewish studies, he
wrote a 1993 editorial for the
“Campus Life” section of the
Detroit Jewish News, repeating
his criticism of a Holocaust
denier’s letter allowed publica-
tion in the school newspaper.
HarPaz’s latest initiative,
going on for almost two years,
has to do with the making of
a musical video about unity
among people of different her-
itage. He worked behind the
scenes and before cameras as
part of a team bringing togeth-
er Christians and Jews —
representing Israel, America
and Africa — to sing out the
peaceful values they share.
The video, “The Blessing
Israel,” musicalizes and adds to
a prayer in the Biblical Book of
Numbers: “The Lord bless you
and keep you; the Lord make
His face shine upon you and
be gracious to you; the Lord
turn His face to you and give
you peace.”

Previously recorded by
Christian groups, after
introduction by singer/song-
writer Kari Jobe working
with Elevation Worship, this
newest version adds the ele-
ment of Hebrew. The original
recording received a Grammy
Award nomination for Best
Contemporary Christian
Music Performance/Song in
2021.
“I hold this project very
special in my heart because,
in addition to the beautiful
music, we’re doing some
good,” HarPaz said. “We’ve
topped a million views on our
video in the first two weeks,
and the use of American,
African and Israeli music
stars — Jews and Gentiles —
bridged a gap to combat the
lies of global antisemitism.”

ADDING THE JEWISH
EXPERIENCE
HarPaz gives credit for the
video idea and the initial
efforts bringing it about to
Daniel Berkove, a longtime
friend from Michigan also
relocated to Israel. After hear-
ing an earlier version of the
prayer set to music, Berkove
wanted to create a video that
could be more directly related

to the Jewish experience.
An observant Jew, Berkove
speaks the prayer every day
during morning services and
every Friday night during his
family’s Shabbat meal.
“It’s a beautiful song, and I
realized that it had gone viral
by its nature,” Berkove said.
“The original was written by
Evangelical Christians, and
after it came out, Christian
communities around the
world did versions of it. I
work a lot in Africa, so I
was intrigued that a former
schoolmate posted a [rendi-
tion] from Zimbabwe, which
was the first version I heard.”

Some resources for ini-
tiating the Israeli-joined
project reached back to
people Berkove knew from
Southfield, while other con-
tacts involved his relocation
to Israel and world travels as a
senior adviser for HIS Markit,

an information analytics firm.
StandWithUs, an Israeli advo-
cacy organization, collaborat-
ed on the release.

AN INTERNATIONAL
EFFORT
As Berkove sought out HarPaz
to work on the project, they
met with participation enthu-
siasm from many famed sing-
ers, including Israelis Avraham
Tal and Gali Atari, Americans
Ricky Skaggs and Jacky Clark-
Chisholm and Africans Rahel
Getu and Mynah Rams.
“Michael introduced me to
my video partner, Erez Dan,
a producer and director who
became responsible for the
whole project and the day-
to-day part,” Berkove said.
“Michael arranged the musical
direction, and my job was to
raise the funds and oversee the
project from a strategic stand-
point.”
Funding came from a
Christian group, Passages,
which sends Christian
college students to Israel in
exploration of their religious
roots and in efforts to
connect them with those of
other religious backgrounds.
Passages participants provided
backing vocals for the video

Interfaith Unity

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“The Blessing Israel” brings a Jewish flavor to a Christian song.

LEFT: Daniel Berkove
RIGHT: Michael HarPaz