Amid troubling updates from border clashes, political maneuvering and debates on conscription, a bright segment appears on Israeli evening broadcasts. Mizrahi pop artist Peer Tasi has released his debut children's album. Parents and grandparents may recognize the performer.

The recording joins a longstanding custom of well-known Israeli vocalists crafting tunes for young listeners, including Arik Einstein, Chava Alberstein, Shlomo Artzi, Uzi Hitman and Gidi Gov.

At 42 and himself a father, Tasi began performing as a youngster in his family's Yemenite synagogue. The collection bears the title Yaldei Hashetach, rendered literally as children of the field yet conveying in contemporary usage the notion of real-world kids.

Youngsters across Israel merit every upbeat melody and festivity available, particularly during the present period. Tasi's tracks brim with wordplay and wit. The standout track is his alphabet song, which garnered over 200,000 digital plays within the initial three days.

During this graduation season marked by postponed ceremonies due to rocket threats, I feel heartened and proud of these resilient children.

The past year of hostilities, canceled outings and absent relatives from overseas has undeniably affected them.

Observing classes and youth groups this month, I recognize that many know someone harmed or lost, and all have hurried to shelters.

Nevertheless they appear in leotards, karate attire or formal attire for ceremonies in Jerusalem, Modi'in, Binyamina, Tel Aviv and Mitzpe Yeriho, displaying impressive accomplishments and fortitude.

This impression came while seated in a Modi'in gym bleacher for the Snunit Acrobatics year-end show featuring gymnastics, pyramids and aerial routines.

Mostly girls ranging from preschool to high-school seniors executed cartwheels, jumps and tumbles set to intricate music.

The program enrolls 2,000 participants, requiring multiple performance days. Members attend after-school sessions of roughly six hours weekly despite exams or celebrations.

War disrupted rehearsals, yet the young athletes performed at a level suitable for global events.

Online records show the group secured 21 medals at a February 2025 Dubai meet and competed in the June 2025 Tbilisi Cup before facing return delays from canceled flights.

Bar Mitzvah Ceremony Rescheduled

In a Jerusalem synagogue a tall boy named Gili chanted his Torah portion. His original ceremony a year earlier had been postponed amid closed synagogues and Iranian missile alerts. Now 14, he delivered the reading with composure.

Gili nearly missed this date as well after volunteering in Tanzania to construct a school greenhouse. Preparation involved six weekly hours of public-diplomacy training via the PICO Kids Ambassadors initiative.

Travel issues arose on the return journey, yet he arrived in time for Shabbat.

Two high-school graduations involve grandchildren in Modi'in and Zichron Ya'acov. Both have attended numerous funerals and committed to an extra pre-army service year before IDF duty.

One granddaughter will sing in the Hazamir finale, provided it proceeds despite recent attacks. The choir missed a Lincoln Center performance when flights were grounded during Operation Roaring Lion.

A visit to Mitzpe Yeriho featured an English book fair by first-through-sixth graders in the after-school A.H.A.V.A. program.

Director Gaila Cohen Morrison, an inventive educator blending elements of Mary Poppins and Amelia Bedelia, oversees the natural-language English approach.

Students authored and bound their own stories on lined paper, drawing from personal experiences, readings and verse.

Visitors awarded silver stars to favorites. Participants traveled from places such as Beersheba. Although Hebrew dominates schoolwork, these English volumes emerged from homes where the language may be primary or secondary.

Sixth graders studied my book Ilan Ramon: Israel's Space Hero and discussed the writing craft. I noted Israel's benefit of direct accounts from pilots and generals to enrich online sources.

I urged continued writing, emphasizing that personal narratives hold lasting value.

They were asked whether tales with somber conclusions, such as the astronaut's biography, were acceptable.

One replied that such accounts reflect reality, much like the new children's album.

Snunit, meaning swallow, evokes a bird that travels vast distances yet returns annually to its nest, symbolizing loyalty, renewal and return in Israeli tradition.

No better emblem exists for these children who have journeyed far this year, sometimes in fear or delay, yet always returning to music, studies, gymnastics, service, Torah and aspirations.

Mazal tov to every graduate. Praise to Israel's children.