We know that "when it is dark enough you can see the stars."  And hear the music of our humanity.
     This is about music, and how it helps us see in dark times.
     See each other -- Jews and Palestinians.
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     Today, this last Sabbath of 2002, recalls Beethoven's masterpiece -- The Sabbath.
     It was performed in 1999 in Weimar, Germany by a group of young Arab and Israeli musicians, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
     This new, incoherent Middle Eastern group gathered into one place, with tensions and uncertainties, and faithfully rehearsed together day after day. 
     After two weeks of dedicated, side-by-side practice, they became a "formidable" symphony orchestra. Companions.
     Barenboim, with his own preconceptions and assumptions, was "surprised" that the most talented of the Arab and Israeli musicians were "comparable." 
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     This Sabbath, December 28, 2002, NPR's "Weekend Edition" features two friends and colleagues -- Jewish musician Daniel Barenboim, and Palestinian scholar Edward Said -- who were united by their passion for music.
     They are the subject of a new book -- "Barenboim and Said: 'Parallels and Paradoxes' - A Unique Intellectual Collaboration Between Scholar, Musician."
     Listen to them talk together, and hear their beloved Beethoven music, on the Web, at:

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_892575.html

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     Hear Said and Barenboim -- Palestinian and Jew -- describe the importance of not just "listening" to music as a passive observer . . . but becoming personally involved and deeply engaged in it -- letting it "take you out of your seat" in flight to a new place.
     Is this not the same for us Jews and Palestinians . . .  engaging, and committing to, each other in our new relationships, heading for a new place?
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     Let us shoulder-to-shoulder and face-to-face create a new kind of year and write new music for the ages.   -- L&L