Israeli pop singer Omer Adam mixed hit songs with religious hymns and a tribute to the IDF for audience of 19,000 at sold-out Brooklyn's Barclays Center arena on November 1, after cultural events elsewhere in city have been marred by anti-Israel activism. The Mizrachi singer is one of Israel's most popular performers.
In 2019, Adam said that he turned down an offer to appear at that year's Eurovision contest since it would involve working on Shabbat. While Adam is not traditionally observant, he has made a point in his career of refusing to work on Shabbat.
The crowd on Sunday leaned young and Orthodox. Parents danced with children in suites above the bleachers, while Hebrew-speaking families browsed kosher burgers at concession stands. In line outside the venue, a group of young men sang the religious pop song “Tamid Ohev Oti” on the sidewalk.
As Luke Tress wrote in The Times of Israel,
At Adam’s show, participants unfurled Israeli flags from their pockets after passing through security, draping the flags over their shoulders for the performance. Other attendees waved dozens of Israeli flags in the stands.
The audience was familiar with Adam’s ouevre, singing along to the Hebrew lyrics. Adam often sang the opening lyrics in a line, then held out the microphone for the crowd, knowing the audience could finish out the line. At one point, he waved the crowd along like an orchestra conductor as the audience finished a verse.
Highlights from the full concert are available on YouTube.
Enjoy!
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