It all started with a blog post that Adina published in The Times of Israel, where she wrote:
…years of reading online Israeli newspapers at the breakfast table and listening to Shlomo Artzi and Idan Raichel as my “most frequently played” artists made my constant thoughts of Israel a given.
We reached out to Idan Raichel, Adina’s favorite artist, and asked him if he’d be willing to come play at the August charter flight ceremony. He agreed, and we decided to make it a surprise…
During the ceremony, Rabbi Fass invited Adina on stage.
Adina was initially presented with a set of signed CD’s by the artist. She was shocked when, moments later, Rabbi Fass called Idan to the stage!
Idan invited Adina to sit beside him at his piano, while he and his band, The Idan Raichel Project, played a selection of their hit songs. Adina sang along to every word, since she knew all the songs by heart.
Idan was so excited to be surrounded by all the new Olim and the great energy they contributed to his performance that he decided to play more songs than he originally planned. He also made sure to take selfies with some of the Olim.
Watch Idan Raichel’s full performance here: