The Miracle of Israel
At 4:00 PM on May 14, the 5th day of Iyar, 5708, David Ben Gurion, seated in the old Tel Aviv Art Museum, rapped his gavel and decreed, “By virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish people… we hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine to be called Medinat Yisrael.”
Tens of thousands listened to that Declaration of Independence in near disbelief that millennia of exile and persecution in hostile lands had ended. Israel would not only become a homeland for Jews scattered across the planet but, as Isaiah taught, a “light unto the nations,” a beacon of peace, freedom and democracy.
Seventy-five years later, Temple Emanu-El and Temple Israel of New York proudly welcome Achinoam “Noa” Nini and Gil Dor to pay musical tribute to the creation of the state of Israel, to the country’s countless accomplishments and to the challenges it faces at a fraught moment of division over what the country can and should be.
With roots in Yemen, Israel and the US, Noa is a singer, songwriter, poet and percussionist who has represented Israel at Eurovision, performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House, the Vatican and shared the stage with the world’s greatest performers, including Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli and Sting. Gil Dor, her musical partner, is the co-founder of the Rimon School of Music. They have released fifteen albums.
In addition to her prolific musical activity, Noa is considered Israel’s most prominent cultural advocate of dialogue and co-existence, her “Voice of Peace”.
Noa was the only major artists to agree to perform in the fateful Peace Rally where Yitzchak Rabin was murdered, a shattering event that changed her life. She was the first Jew to perform in the Vatican for an audience of millions, singing her own lyrics to Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria, a song that has become an intrinsic part of her career and mission: building bridges and breaking walls between cultures and religions.
Among the endless activities she has been involved in to foster peace and dialogue, her historic participation the 2009 Eurovision song contest stands out, representing Israel together with Israeli-Palestinian artist Mira Awad with her original song “There must be another way”, in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
Noa’s lyrics and performance of the theme song of Roberto Benigni’s academy award winning film, “life is beautiful” have earned her international acclaim and the love and admiration of millions.
Among her many awards is Commander of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, one of Italy’s highest honors, Pilgrim of Peace from The Franciscan order in Assisi (awarded in the past to Bill Gates and Mother Theresa), and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum. Noa is Israel’s first Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and is active as board-member and public advocate of a score of Human Rights and Peace organizations in Israel and abroad.
Currently Noa dedicates much of her time to the relationship between cultural diplomacy and leadership and the Climate Crisis. She has been selected by Israel’s President Herzog to be part of the presidential Climate Forum, and is involved in a groundbreaking project related to the critical preservation of the unique coral reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat named Reefs of Hope. She has also established her own foundation, Noa’s Ark, and festival of the same name, that debuted in Italy summer of 2022.
Noa is married to Dr. Asher Barak. Together they have three children, Ayehli, Enea and Yum.