Amitai Mann

On October 10, as part of the Jerusalem Biennale, four musicians will gather for a one-time musical encounter within The One Who Dwells in This House. Talia Erdal on cello, Yaara Samina on percussion, Dov Wieder on guitar and voice, and Amitai Mann on winds and voice will come together in a circle around the earth installation, creating a musical ritual of memory, longing, and prayer. The work draws its inspiration from a passage in the Mishnah (Middot 2:2), which describes those entering the Temple Mount moving together in one direction—with the exception of a person to whom something has happened, who walks the opposite way. When asked why, the mourner replies, “Because I am in mourning,” and is met with the words: “May the One who dwells in this House comfort you.” In this ancient choreography, grief becomes visible. The mourner moves differently, and the community is called to notice, to ask, and to respond. Three years after October 7, at a time when we carry the memory of so many who were murdered and lives that were irrevocably changed, the musicians will enter the installation not with a conventional concert, but with an intimate act of listening and presence. Through melody, improvisation, prayer, breath, and silence, the music will unfold around the earth and among those gathered—giving sound to memory and longing, and making space for what cannot always be held in words. A one-time gathering of earth, breath, and sound; of remembrance and prayer; and of the possibility of being together in the presence of grief.