In the early hours of that fateful October 7th morning in 2023, a young woman named Yuval Raphael found herself hiding under bodies in a roadside bomb shelter near the Nova music festival. For eight excruciating hours, she played dead as Hamas terrorists repeatedly entered the shelter, opening fire on those huddled inside. Of approximately 50 people who sought refuge in that small concrete enclosure, only 11 survived. Yuval was one of them.
Fast forward to 2025, and this same woman stands ready to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland with a powerful ballad titled “New Day Will Rise.” The song, written by renowned Israeli songwriter Keren Peles, includes a striking line from the biblical Song of Songs: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Songs 8:7).
What makes this ancient biblical verse so relevant to Israel’s struggles today? And how does it speak to the resilience of a people who refuse to be washed away by hatred?
The Hebrew phrase “mayim rabim lo yuchlu lechabot et ha’ahavah” (many waters cannot extinguish love) comes from one of the Bible’s most passionate texts.
In its original context, the verse describes a love so powerful that neither mighty floods nor great wealth could overcome it. The waters represent overwhelming forces that threaten to extinguish what is preciousāyet they fail. The flame of love continues to burn despite the deluge.
This verse captures the essence of Israel’s national experience throughout history. Time and again, mighty empires and overwhelming forces have sought to extinguish the Jewish people. From ancient Babylonia to Rome, from the Spanish Inquisition to Nazi Germany, and from the 1948 War of Independence to the October 7 massacreāthese “many waters” have crashed against the shores of Jewish existence, yet they have not prevailed.
The biblical prophet Isaiah understood this principle when he wrote: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you” (Isaiah 43:2).
The imagery is consistentāwater represents destructive forces that threaten to overwhelm. Yet God promises protection against these forces.
What makes this biblical truth especially powerful is its defiance of normal physical laws. In the natural world, water extinguishes fire. Floods destroy what stands in their path. But in God’s economy, there exists a flame that water cannot quenchāthe flame of covenant love between God and His people, and the resilient spirit He has placed within them.
When Yuval Raphael sings these words on the Eurovision stage, she will embody this truth. The terrorists who sought to destroy her life, and the lives of thousands of others were like those “many waters.” Yet here she standsāscarred but alive, wounded but singing. The love for life, for her people, and for her homeland burns unquenched.
This principle extends beyond individual survival to national destiny. In 586 BCE, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple, they believed they had extinguished Israel forever. When Rome crushed the Jewish revolts in 70 CE and 135 CE, they minted coins declaring “Judea Capta” (Judea Captured). Yet today, Babylon and Rome exist only in history books, while the Jewish people have returned to their ancient homeland.
The wisdom of Song of Songs goes deeper still. The verse continues with: “u’neharot lo yishtefuha” (and rivers cannot sweep it away). Rivers here represent persistent, ongoing threatsānot just sudden catastrophes but continuing pressures meant to erode and wear down resistance over time. The modern State of Israel faces both floods and rivers: sudden attacks like October 7 and the constant pressure of terrorism, international criticism, and calls for its dissolution and destruction.
But just as the biblical text promised, neither the overwhelming floods nor the persistent rivers have succeeded in washing away the Jewish connection to their land. The flame continues to burn.
The Song of Songs, attributed to King Solomon, is ultimately about faithful loveābetween a man and woman, and at a deeper level, between God and Israel. Its message speaks directly to our present moment: love for land, people, and covenant transcends all forces aligned against it.
Today, as Yuval Raphael prepares to sing about a new day that will rise, her words echo the timeless message that water cannot quench true love. When she declares in her song that “darkness will fade, all the pain will go by, but we will stay,” she channels the defiance of Song of Songs and thousands of years of Jewish resilience.
The message for those who stand with Israel is clear: The waters of hatred, the floods of violence, and the rivers of opposition cannot and will not extinguish the flame of Israel’s existence.
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