Ani Ma'amin (I Believe) is a Jewish Liturgical song. It is a song of FAITH in the Divine source & HOPE in a better world. It is often said in times of crisis & sadness to offer HOPE.

Ani Ma'amin may be sang as part of Tisha B'Av (the date of the destruction of the Biblical Temples in Jerusalem), Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) & Kristallnacht memorial events.

The choir members are illustrative of the diversity of people who live in the country. We are all made in the image of the Divine.

We have a common humanity even when there are different ages, races, genders, religion & nationalities. Respecting human diversity is important.

The choir is in South Africa, and we can take note of Nelson Mandela's quote that “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Ani Ma'amin: English translation of the words:
"I believe, with a complete belief,
in the coming of the Messiah.
And even though he may tarry,
I will await him, each and every day."

This Hebrew song was written in the twelfth century by Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides.

Throughout the centuries people clung to the song's words as a beacon of hope for a better future for all humanity.

"Ani Ma'amin" (I Believe) was sung by many Jews during the Holocaust, even as they entered the gas chambers. The somber tune was written during the Holocaust.

This video of Ani Ma'amin was filmed at a 2019 event to commemorate the Kristallnacht November Pogroms that occurred on 9-10 November in 1938.

When the choir sings in 2019, it is 80 years after Kristallnacht and only one month after the anti-Semitic attack on a Synagogue on Yom Kippur in Halle Germany in 2019.

Kristallnacht in 1938 was a terrible day when synagogues all over the German Reich were set on fire & destroyed by the Nazi's. Many historians refer to this pogrom (violent destruction) as the beginning of the end, & the start of the Holocaust.

Filmed at the Goethe Institute in Johannesburg. The photos on the screen are of Holocaust era documents that relate to Dora Grynberg, a Jewish refugee from Warsaw, Poland who escaped to Japan. Later on she went to live in Australia. The slides are from the talk given by Fumiko Ishioka from Japan in Johannesburg in November 2019.

Choir: Bet David Progressive Jewish Community in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.


© Video by Carolyn Saks

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