Yaffa Adar was born in 1938 and, during the Holocaust, spent part of her childhood in the Warsaw Ghetto. After the war she emigrated to Israel. There she joined a kibbutz and helped build the nation of Israel. She raised a family there – has three children, eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. On October 7th 2023 Yaffa was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. During her 49 days as a hostage, she resolved to stay stoic and strong. Upon her release she recounted to the media that each day she calmed herself by humming the songs of the Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, and suggesting to herself “Maybe today will be a good day.”
An Israeli producer, Gad Oron, heard her story and contacted Andrea Bocelli’s team. Bocelli is Catholic but he just happened to be with his team when they were lighting the Hanukkah candles and heard the news that Andrea Bocelli’s music had been so important to Yaffa Adar during her horrible captivity. They were all so moved they started crying. Andrea Bocelli then wrote a letter to Yaffa.
Yaffa Adar’s granddaughter, Adva Adar, received the letter, and while sitting on a couch together, she read the letter to her grandma – her Safta.
Andrea Bocelli wrote:
“Dearest Madam Yaffa,
I wish I could give you a hug.
I would like to thank you for the emotion that your story aroused in all the people who had the privilege to listen to it, and especially in me, as, quite incredibly, I am part of it!
I truly would never have thought that my humble voice, this great gift I undeservedly received from the heavens, could one day turn out to be so important.
There is no award, no applause, no honor or recognition that is worth as much as your words, which I assure you, I shall never forget.
Thanks to you, from now on, I shall sing with renewed enthusiasm, with renewed faith, with new energy.
I hope to be able to meet you one day and sing, just for you, whatever you may wish, so as to erase, as far as possible, the painful memory of terrible days, which I cannot even imagine.
I deeply admire your courage, which is an example for us all.
From the other side of the Ocean, I send you my warmest regards, full of gratitude, admiration and affection.
Andrea Bocelli
Yaffa Adar exclaimed, “Wow, wow, wow, wow, what an honor, wow, Andrea Bocelli, wow!”
Her granddaughter, Adva, further explained, “And Safta (Grandma), in addition to this, he wants to invite you, to fly to a show of his or to invite you for your own private concert.”
“Wow! Wow! Wow! This is the highlight of my life!”
Adva continued, “He is very moved, and it would be an honor to host you at a show, public or private, and to fly you there.”
Yaffa exclaimed:
“It’s an honor. It’s an honor for me. Wow! I am honestly moved. How wonderful. How incredible! Andrea Bocelli! Who would believe I have a letter in my hand from Andrea Bocelli.” She then kissed the letter.
VIDEO OF YAFFA ADAR RECEIVING LETTER FROM ANDREA BOCELLI:
As a psychologist, I once wrote an article about how the songs that spontaneously come to mind are often unconsciously produced commentaries on our emotional state. In other words, when a song pops into one’s mind, we can often discover that the mood of the music or even the words of the song are unconsciously providing a kind of soundtrack to our social-emotional state. So, I began to wonder, what song was Yaffa Adar humming in those dark days as a hostage of those brutal terrorists, far from home, and never knowing what will happen in the next moment? It then occurred to me to investigate Bocelli’s most famous songs beginning with Con Te Partirò. The lyrics were written for Bocelli by Lucio Quarantotto, with music by Franesco Sartori. A direct translation of the title is, With You I Shall Depart, but it is commonly translated as, Time to Say Goodbye.
CON TE PARTIÒ – TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
When I am alone I sit and dream
And when I dream the words are missing
Yes I know that in a room so full of light
That all the light is missing
But I don’t see you with me, with me
Close up the windows, bring the sun to my room
Through the door you’ve opened
Close inside of me the light you see
That you met in the darkness
Time to say goodbye
Horizons are never far
Would I have to find them alone
Without true light of my own with you
I will go on ships overseas
That I now know
No, they don’t exist anymore
It’s time to say goodbye.
LISTEN HERE:
But Andrea Bocelli has some other well known songs, such as:
E PIÙ TI PENSO – THE MORE I THINK OF YOU
The more I think of you
the more I miss you;
I see you with my tired eyes…
I’d like to be
there with you too;
I hold the pillow,
you’re here near me…
It’s the middle of the night
And you’re far away…
The emptiness surrounds me,
there’s not a sun anymore…
I’m sad and hopeless
as I’ve never been
without you, without you…
And if, by chance,
I never saw you again,
I already know what I’d do –
I wouldn’t live…
And the more I think of you
the more I miss you…
I’m nothing much without you,
I feel like a fish deprived
of water to swim in,
breathing without you,
without you, without you…
And if, by chance,
I never saw you again,
I already know what I’d do –
I would die…
LISTEN HERE:
FALL ON ME
I thought sooner or later
The lights up above
Will come down in circles
And guide me to love
But I don’t know what’s right for me
I cannot see straight
I’ve been here too long
And I don’t want to wait for it
Fly like a cannonball
Straight to my soul
Tear me to pieces
And make me feel whole
I’m willing to fight for it
And carry this weight
But with every step
I keep questioning what it’s true
Fall on me
With open arms
Fall on me
From where you are
Fall on me
With all your light
With all your light
With all your light
LISTEN HERE:
BECAUSE WE BELIEVE
I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
As we go our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe
LISTEN HERE:
I don’t know if Yaffa was aware of the lyrics to these songs but the music itself clearly carries the message.
Yaffa Adar’s oldest grandson, Tamir Adar, was also abducted on October 7th and as of Christmas Day, December 25, 2023, he is still a hostage of Hamas.
Bring the hostages home.
(Feel free to forward this to friends and family)
Love and peace to all,
Daniel S. Benveniste
Reference material:
- https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-779284
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/thanks-to-you-ill-sing-with-new-enthusiasm-bocelli-writes-to-freed-hostage-who-used-his-music-to-endure-captivity/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CDearest%20Madam%20Yaffa%20Adar%2C%E2%80%9D,I%20am%20part%20of%20it!%E2%80%9D
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/freed-hostage-yaffa-adar-gets-concert-invite-from-andrea-bocelli
- https://www.holocaust.org.uk/news/28th-anniversary
More programs by Daniel Benveniste, PhD:
- In Memoriam: Lore Reich Rubin, MD
- Space Exploration as a Metaphor for Transcendence: Psychological Reflections
- Remember the Earthrise
- Daniel Benveniste, PhD Interview with Rudolf Ekstein, PhD – August 10, 1991
For more programs like this, visit us at http://www.thecjc.org.
The Carter-Jenkins Center 