This past Saturday, millions of people held their breath during the final moments of the Eurovision Song Contest. Yuval Raphael, Israel’s 24-year-old representative, delivered an emotional and flawless performance of the song “New Day Will Rise” at the Grand Final in Basel, Switzerland
As her final words after performing the song Yuval shouted: “Thank you, Europe! Am Yisrael Chai!”
Yuval Raphael finished with 357 points, placing second overall, including an unprecedented 297 points from the public, the highest audience score of the night. Countries across Europe and even those typically distant politically voted for Israel. “It feels like we’ve won life itself,” she said tearfully after the show “All I wanted was to bring a moment of relief and pride to our people. But we won’t have a real victory until all our hostages are home.”
But beyond the music and points, it was her story and her song that moved the world.
On October 7, 2023, Yuval survived the Nova massacre, hiding in a Migunit (shelter) for seven hours under the bodies of murdered friends. Only 10 of the 40 people in that shelter made it out alive. In one of the most chilling recordings from that day, Yuval speaks to her father in whispers, begging for help as he urges her to “play dead” in order to survive. From that silence rose her song.
“New Day Will Rise” is a ballad of grief, of survival, and of HOPE. It’s the sound of someone who saw the darkness and still chose to sing.
The song blends English, French, and Hebrew, echoing a message that transcends borders and languages. It has become a symbol of resilience and renewal after immense pain, an anthem of emotional survival. Its lyrics touch on one of the most universal human truths: the life-giving power of love and hope.
Yuval sings not only of loss, separation, and pain, but also of the strength to overcome, to rise again. The song reminds us that in every ending, there is the seed of a new beginning—that love remains, even when all else is gone.
“Even if you say goodbye, you’ll never go away” speaks of a presence that lingers—spiritual, emotional—like light in the storm, like a rainbow breaking through the grey. “Darkness will fade, all the pain will go by” is both a promise and a prayer, a quiet declaration that healing is possible, even after the unimaginable.
“New Day Will Rise” encourages us to believe that no one cries alone, and that even through personal or national tragedy, we can carry each other forward.
Its message is not naive—it is rooted in pain—but it refuses to surrender to despair.
Through Yuval’s voice, the song became more than just music. It became a testament of endurance, a call to hope, and a reminder that love can carry us through even the darkest nights. Her voice told a story far beyond melody—it echoed the resilience of an entire people.
This story and song also reflect the heart of one of our community initiative, “Israel Through the Six Senses“
Launched in the aftermath of October 7, this program was born from a simple yet powerful question: how can we reconnect our community to Israel not only through headlines and hardship, but through culture, creativity, and humanity? After mapping community needs and conversations with key leaders, it became clear that people were yearning for a more personal, hopeful, and textured connection to Israel.
“Israel Through the Six Senses” brings Israel to life through taste, touch, smell, sight, sound, and a unique sixth sense—the personal story of the Israeli Shlicha (emissary). Each sense serves as a doorway into Israeli culture and identity, inviting participants to engage through music, food, art, memory, and shared emotion.
Today, as we focus on sound, Yuval Raphael’s voice resonates as the purest embodiment of what this program stands for: a story told not through facts and figures, but through feeling. Through music as memory, and song as survival. Through voices that rise, even when the world goes quiet.
Because even in times of loss, confusion, and fear, we believe something beautiful still grows from within.
And perhaps no moment captured that tension more clearly than one haunting image shared across Israeli screens that night:
On the left half of the screen—Israel in second place, the national flag proudly displayed across Europe. On the other half—a live list of towns under attack. Air raid sirens echoed through the country, just as cheers and applause echoed through the arena.
A night of music. A morning of sirens. And in between—a voice that refuses to be silenced
New day will rise. And even if you say goodbye, we will stay.