Idea Behind Voices For Israel Challenge

After many months of preparation, collecting entries, meeting with judges to vote each week on their favorite choices, and creating a website to showcase the chants, I am proud to announce that The Jewish Link Voices for Israel Creative Chant and Slogan Challenge is finally complete!

On May 9, 2024, I wrote a letter to the editor (“Pivotal Need for Better Pro-Israel Chants,” https://bit.ly/3CX3AaC) discussing how the pro-Gaza side has dozens, if not hundreds, of catchy chants that subliminally portray Israel as a country committing “genocide” while promoting the idea that Palestine must be “free.” These chants, especially when amplified by the impact of short-form videos on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, can sway unbiased individuals to believe these false narratives and overlook the truth: Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East and one of the United States’ pivotal allies, and has sought time and again to come to a peaceful resolution with its neighboring Arab countries.

But I am not here to convince you of that as Jewish Link readers. That was never the intention of this campaign. My hope was that we, The Jewish Link community, can teach the rest of the world what being pro-Israel is all about and influence others to see the evil done by Hamas and the good that Israel has done and will continue to do.

The week after my letter was published, my friend Meir Brodsky wrote a follow-up letter (“Other Benefits Of Good Chants,” May 16, 2024, https://bit.ly/41hpNts), bringing a practical example of the need for such chants within our community.

In the counterprotest to the protest of the ZAKA event at Bnai Yeshurun in April last year, despite our community vastly outnumbering the anti-Israel protesters, there were many instances where their small group of haters was louder than our large group of supporters. This was because their chants were shouted in unison and had been prepared in advance, whereas our community had never put together a list for the situation. After reading Meir’s piece, my now good friend and partner in the campaign, Chanan Vogel, reached out to me to help bring my idea to life.

During our initial conversations, Chanan and I discussed a variety of possible ideas, including an “American Idol”-style contest where readers could present their favorite chants in front of a panel of judges on a livestream.

The Contest Recap

In the end, the contest lasted much longer than just a single-day event. We required readers to submit concise pro-Israel chants or slogans via a Google Form, including rhymes, humor, wit or historical references. Each week, over a two-month period, our esteemed judges, Rachel Cyrulnik, Abbie Sophia, Rabbi Chaim Strauchler and Ari Wartelski, ranked their favorite chants, and the top overall chants were published in the paper. In the middle of the contest, we asked a panel of professionals to offer their advice and recommendations on crafting the ideal chant that would reach the most people while conveying the right message (“‘Voices for Israel’ Looks to Professionals,” July 11, 2024, https://bit.ly/4b3wC5a). The contest garnered over 200 unique chants composed by Jewish Link readers!

After the last week of the contest at the end of July, the judges voted among the top weekly vote-getting chants and ranked their top overall chants. As announced in October, the top chants were:

First Place: Lori G. Hirsch—Young Israel of Teaneck

“We won’t run, we won’t hide. We are filled with Jewish pride!”

(Also getting the Kiddush.)

Second Place: RoAnna Pascher—JEC Elmora Avenue Shul of Elizabeth

“For those who know wrong from right, Israel didn’t want this fight.”

Third Place: David Jasphy—Beit Midrash of Bergenfield

“No more silence, no more hate, stand up for the Jewish State!”

Fourth Place: Estee Brick—Darchei Noam of Fair Lawn

“Blue and white, white and blue, I am proud to be a Jew!”

Fifth Place: Alex Ferstenberg—Darchei Noam of Fair Lawn

“Peace and love, give it a try, hear us now, Am Yisrael Chai!”

Their prizes are:

1. Lori will be getting a Kiddush (pizza party) sponsored by The Jewish Link in her honor at the Young Israel of Teaneck.
2. RoAnna will be receiving a free lunch with Jewish Link Co-Founder/Publisher Moshe Kinderlehrer.
3. David will get an Israeli flagpole.
4. Estee won the Golden Megaphone.
5. Alex is eligible for one nomination for Chopstix Kid of the Week.

Continuing to Advocate for Israel—ChantsForIsrael.com

When we started this challenge, there was a much more pressing need for this campaign, with anti-Israel movements popping up across college campuses and frequent car invasions waving Palestinian flags occurring in Teaneck and neighboring cities whenever a pro-Israel event was scheduled to take place.

Thankfully, in recent weeks, there have not been as many anti-Israel movements occurring (or at least it’s not discussed as frequently in the news), but that does not mean this campaign is any less important. If anything, this is the time to be proactive so that when another crisis emerges, we don’t have to be reactive.

With that said, thanks to the efforts of Jewish Link’s Digital Editor Channa Fischer, the chants list is now published on the internet on its very own website, ChantsForIsrael.com.

On the site, the winning chants, as well as dozens of other clever and catchy chants, are compiled neatly for use at future rallies. There is also a button to “Submit a Chant” for site visitors who would like to submit their own chant ideas to be added to the list. It is my hope that this website can be shared across colleges throughout the country where there are pro-Israel groups, for their use and for communities that need to come together.

Now What?

First of all, go on the site and check out the chants! If we aren’t aware of the resources out there, then we’ve already lost the battle.

Second, if you have any ideas or improvements for the website, please email Chana at [email protected]. It’s a work in progress, and we can use your help to make it better.

Third, please, please, please share the list with anyone who you think could benefit from it. Whether that’s students or employees in Chabads or Hillels at college campuses, shul rabbis, or even just people you know who are passionate about Israel.

Fourth, use the chants! Get out there, go to a rally, and help spread the messages that we came up with together. If you’re a social media person, make a fun, short-form video doing a dance or a cute video while shouting the chant with a friend. Every bystander who watches it will be more likely to join the pro-Israel side, and that could make a world of a difference.

Concluding Thoughts

To wrap up, I would like to point out that a large part of the reason why there are not as many car rallies occurring is due to the anti-Israel side achieving a victory. There have been little to no in-person Israel real estate events at any local synagogues or even people’s homes due to the fear of opposing outcry to such events. These types of events have now sadly been forced to retreat to the safe virtual space of Zoom to avoid any confrontations. So, as a community, we should begin to reorganize and discuss avenues for restarting such events and other similar pro-Israel events, not being afraid of opposition. Instead, we should use our proactive resources, such as the ChantsforIsrael website, as ammunition in case of more rallies.

Just something to think about.

On a more positive note, Chanan is the role model of how to use our website. Chanan has gone to numerous rallies at college campuses, in our community, or just walks in support of Israel, with a printed-out sheet of chants from our list. He shows up with a megaphone and camera and has been able to spread the message to hundreds of onlookers and thousands more on social media.

While that’s great, let’s try to turn those thousands into millions or even billions.

Just wanted to give a final thank you to our judges: Rachel, Abbie, Rabbi Strauchler and Ari, to Nachum Segal for allowing me to promote the challenge on “JM in the AM” in the summer, to Channa for making the website, to Moshe and the rest of the Jewish Link team for helping bring this challenge to life, to my wife, Ahuva, who encouraged me to pursue my idea even though we had just had a newborn baby, and to my partner Chanan, without whom none of this would have been possible. And lastly, and most importantly, to the Jewish Link readers who read all of the articles discussing the contest and took the time to submit their own brilliant chants or even just discussed the issue with their friends and family.

This contest showed me that when we come together with an idea, there is nothing that can stop us. Am Yisrael Chai! (Note: Although I don’t recommend using the “Am Yisrael Chai” chant at a rally since it’s in Hebrew and bystanders won’t have any clue what you’re chanting, it does seem like a good ending.)

Zachary Greenberg has been an avid reader of The Jewish Link since 2015 and a member of the staff since February 2022. Zachary is currently looking for a new full-time role in a business or data-related field. Beyond writing for The Link, he works part-time as director of the Keter Torah teen minyan for boys and as the TABC track coach. Please email him at [email protected] if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions.