In under a week, the redone audio-visual clip of Yishai Rebo’s song, “Though I walk, I won’t give up,” dedicated to the recovery of little Roi Golan, reached 13,000 viewers. Ohed, Roi’s father, discusses how the idea arose and how a connection was made with the singer for the benefit of Ezer Mizion, which has been so helpful to their family.
About five months ago, five-year-old Roi Golan from Ramat Magshimim was diagnosed with cancer. Since then, his family has been spending many hours driving the route between Ramat Magshimim and Schneider Hospital, where Roi is undergoing chemotherapy treatments to bring to his recovery.
In order to ease the difficulties engendered by the distances, Ezer Mizion helps out the family by providing them with accommodations at their cancer patient guest home near the hospital, where they can stay, rest and relax.
Recently, inspired by an especially moving song from the repertoire of singer Yishai Rebo, Roi’s father Ohed found a creative way to express his appreciation to Ezer Mizion, that has done so much to assist them in their hard times:
“For a good few months, we have been busy with intensive treatments for the child, doing a lot of traveling back and forth. By a good friend’s recommendation, I listened to an album of Yishai Rebo on one of those trips. I really liked his style, and then suddenly, I heard a particular song that really connected to our saga and was particularly moving to me.
“I listened to the song over and over for the entire two-hour trip and I immediately thought of the idea of using it to express my gratitude to Ezer Mizion. This organization has put a fully equipped suite at our disposal at their cancer patient guest home, intended for people like us who come from afar for treatments, never charging us a penny. They help us in so many ways, with food, therapy activities, medical advice, transportation assistance and so much more.
“And so, I decided to raise money for the organization by recording the song. I sent Yishai a message with my story of the song that touched me so deeply and asked him if we could make a new recording of it in the Golan, so that the children would also be able to participate in the clip.
“Yishai was happy to oblige and he immediately got to work on it. We set a date and were assisted by the Pauza Productions studio in Kefar Charuv. In addition to the recording itself, the people at Pauza also edited the moving clip we filmed in their studio.”
Why did you choose to record this song in particular?
In the recording, I asked Yishai to sing this particular verse:
“I won’t give up, in the face of any obstacle, any aspect.
“’Please save us’ – In times of trouble, I’ll call for help
And for forgiveness from the One who hears our prayer.
If we plead and don’t give way, our prayer will rise like an offering.”
This particular text touched me really strongly, because we are a very happy family that is trying to overcome the illness, in spite of the tremendous difficulties, especially at the beginning. The second sentence partiucalrly encouraged me, because within me, there is also something crying for help from Above, despite our efforts to be strong. “If we plead and don’t give way…” I believe that the prayers will be accepted and this will help bring Roi to recovery.
How did Roi react when he heard the song?
“He was very happy, and even though he is only five years old, he understood that this was a token of appreciation to Ezer Mizion, because he realizes how much they help him and us. We weren’t able to include him in the recording, but he was very excited by the encounter with Yishai, and when he listened to the clip, he really understood the meaning.”
What do you hope to achieve now through your collaboration with Yishai Rebo?
“The truth is that I never imagined it would spread so fast and strong. Many, many people were deeply moved. We received feedback from all over Israel. It has really made waves, thanks also to Pauza Productions. Within five days, the clip reached almost 13,000 viewers. Many people call and ask me personally how they can donate money, and then I am gratified that we are succeeding to attain the hoped-for effect, so that additional families can benefit from Ezer Mizion’s services.”
