It was a spontaneous singalong from the balconies of a Jerusalem block on Sunday evening, as musician Ran Yehoshua led his neighbors in a round of “Bashana Haba’a” (Next Year), the classic Israeli song of hope amid crisis.

Bashana haba’a, neshev al hamirpeset venispor tziporim nodedot.

Next year we will sit on the balcony and count all the migrating birds

Yehoshua had his guitar in hand and amplifier plugged in, and brought his neighbors out to their balconies on their cul de sac in the neighborhood of San Simon.

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His street, Ben Tabai, is ringed by apartment buildings, and many of the 1970s-era block apartments have balconies overlooking the interior street.

“We’re really a village on this block,” said Yehoshua, who lives at 8 Ben Tabai.

There are 120 neighbors in their neighborhood WhatsApp group, with lots of young families, sharing information about babysitters and pediatricians, “all the usual stuff,” said Yehoshua.

The idea of hosting a balcony concert came to Yehoshua last week, when the activities he runs through the non-profit that he manages — Latet Pe, helping children who have suffered sexual abuse — were being canceled in schools.

The organization does much of its work through theater and music, helping kids heal and gain strength. Yehoshua and his staff felt burdened by the onslaught of bad news, and brainstormed about ways to rise above the situation created by the coronavirus.

“Singing always helps us feel better, it’s a way into prayer,” said Yehoshua.

He posted his idea about a neighborhood sing-a-long on the communal Whatsapp, working with another neighbor, Vered Reshef, who lives across the street.

They called the concert for 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, and families made signs to hang from their balconies and roofs.

“We sang songs of being together, ‘BaShana Haba’a,’ ‘Lu Yehi to ‘Let It Be,’ ‘Adom Olam,'” said Yehoshua.

But it was the 1970 song that formed the focus of the event. Lyricist Ehud Manor reportedly didn’t tell Nurit Hirsch, who wrote the music, at first that it was written for his younger brother, Yehuda Viner, who was killed in 1968 in battle. Hirsch therefore composed an upbeat melody for this now classic song.

With its references to the classic Israeli balconies, and the desire to sit, relax and share time with loved ones, and with hopes for better times, it was the perfect tune for this period of quarantine amid the coronavirus crisis.

At some point, another neighbor with an electric guitar emerged on his balcony and joined in the concert, and Yehoshua also noticed someone with a video camera down on the street.

“It was just all there, singing and family and neighbors, and being together, and something happened to people after that.”

The entire concert lasted around 50 minutes, and everyone spent another 20 minutes or so together, talking and conversing from balcony to balcony.

“It was really authentic, just very Jerusalem,” said Yehoshua.