It was in the middle of May 2019, long before there was any doubt about the upcoming pandemic. Together with partners from the Double Compass Agency from Israel, we organized a trip to Serbia for a wonderful group of kibbutz retirees.
The program was extremely demanding and active considering their age - we toured mountains, lakes, rivers, squares and fortresses, played and sang despite the somewhat rainier May. There was also walking on not very flat terrain - stairs, obstacles, and although part of the group had extreme difficulties in moving (we even had several wheelchairs on the bus), we were thrilled by their willingness to fulfill the whole program, not to give up , which is extremely characteristic of this nation. We didn't even use the mentioned wheelchair until the very last day, and even then it was more or less for fun - so that we didn't drive them 7 days "for free".
But one event made them stay in our hearts forever. During lunch in an ethno village, we decided to surprise them - we hid a trumpet player in the kitchen who came out during lunch and played a few traditional songs from the mountainous region of Western Serbia. What we didn't know then and until recently, was that one song was well remembered and recorded by phone.
Now, almost three years later, we received a message from this wonderful group - the same song they heard in that village in Western Serbia during lunch is played by this group and instruments within the music section of their kibbutz club. What a surprise and delight it was for us!! At the same moment, we realized that this song will be the thread that will unite us forever, even if we never saw each other again.
Turn the sound on and enjoy the song "St. George's Day", which is especially popular among Roma in Serbia.
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