god envisioned the impaired to play a big part of his plan.
moses, who was speech impaired, was asked to be god’s spokesperson to free his people from bondage. moses, despite god’s assurances, was reluctant. to accommodate moses, god added his moses’ brother aaron to assist. moses’ fear held him back.
perhaps, after moses, god wondered whether he would find an impaired individual who would step up to both be a leader and be unafraid of their disability?
it happened. he found eight of them.
in 2019, a controversy was sparked in israel concerning the eurovision contest. a band of musician’s with disabilities was likely to win their country’s competition and be their eurovision representative. thus, the country that god envisioned having an impaired leader was about to chose these individuals to represent them on the world stage.
as noted in the times of israel, ” the shalva band, primarily composed of eight musicians with disabilities, has captivated judges and the Israeli public throughout the current season of the tv singing competition “rising star,” whose winner will become israel’s representative in the 2019 eurovision in may. on saturday, the band qualified for the show’s finale, and it seems poised to win.”
something happened. god stood in the way. namely, the ten commandments and sabbath observance.
it was reported that “since some of the band members observe the sabbath, the band is reportedly likely to quit before the season concludes. eurovision rules state that the general rehearsal is to take place 24 hours before the final, which is always held on saturday night. that falls on friday night — after shabbat has begun.” thetimesofisrael
as noted by gil stein, “they gave up a chance of a lifetime and refused to compromise their beliefs.” jweekly.com
at this point, the shalva band had turned the table on god. god now was perhaps proud of their conviction and solidarity. they proved to be true leaders and exemplary representatives of both their country and religion.
while god, perhaps, relished in this moment. the world, however, would miss the opportunity to see the other part of these individuals, their talent.
thus, the story continued.
the shalva band was invited to represent the best side of Israel during a special performance at the eurovision second semi-finals. they provided an outstanding performance before an audience of 200 million viewers. their performance trended higher on youtube than the contest participants. shalva
don’t stop dreaming, no matter what people say,” dina samteh, shalva band vocalist, addressed the audience in her message prior to the band’s rendition of “a million dreams” from the greatest showman. shalva
for skeptics who might believe that the promotion of this band was a publicity stunt, it certainly was not. for example, band member dina samteh, is a true talent regardless of her impairment. ms. samteh, from the indian bnei menashe tribe, immigrated to israel. prior to her immigration and joining tthe shalva band, she was already recognized as a promising musician. shalva has helped her take her already budding career to the next level.
be well!!
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