“Even the pain will pass” – the news website Devar

The musician Eli Shmertz composed texts written online by Israelis after October 7. The songs refer to the difficult feelings many Israelis go through following the war. Shmertz was a classmate of the talented Kinneret player Agam Berger, who was kidnapped to Gaza from the base where she served as an observer. The project that brings together the songs of Shmertz, ‘The pain will also pass’, will be launched today (Tuesday) at the ‘Tessa’ club in south Tel Aviv.

“Like many Israelis, I too experience loss, trauma, depression, stress and anxiety, and I too am looking for an answer to these feelings,” says Shmertz (21) from Beit Dagan, who chose to deal with the situation through music. “I chose words that seal the feelings of Israelis in Israel and around the world in a sort of ‘time capsule’, which was sealed on the Sabbath of October 7.”

Surfing the Internet in the first months of the war, Shmertz found songs he felt an affinity with. At the beginning of January 2024, he called ten of the writers and said: “My name is Aili Shmertz, I composed the song you wrote, and I also uploaded it to the Internet.” According to him, “after the initial surprise and shock, everyone gave their consent.”

Shmertz continued to work on the compositions, and decided to collect and record them for an album. He turned to singers, actresses and musicians who agreed to contribute their time and talent to the success of the project, including Ili Almani, Mika Tzur and Adi Sharon.

The musician Perry Attia, who was Shmertz’s teacher in high school, also participated in the project. Atiya: “The music touched me immediately. The words, melodies and performances manage to turn personal stories written in the past months into one pot for all of us. This is a unique Israeli project, which immediately touches everyone who hears it, and deserves exposure and support from every possible direction.”

Atiya, who is also the owner of the ‘Tessa’ club, will host the album launch show. The show will also include the writers who will hear for the first time, live, the music written to their words.