Israeli pop star Omer Adam provides NYC Jews with a celebratory refuge

NEW YORK — Israeli pop star Omer Adam paused to address a crowd in Brooklyn near the start of his show on Sunday night as batteries of spotlights above the stage illuminated the audience in red light.

“Okay, my friends, can we get started?” he shouted in Hebrew, before launching into his hit song, “Bucharest.”

The crowd roared, engaging in a “hey, ho,” call-and-response with Adam as the singer bounced on stage.

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Adam’s performance — including prayers, a tribute to the IDF and some of Israel’s best-known pop songs — gave Jewish New Yorkers a welcome celebratory respite as anti-Zionist politics have marred other cultural events.

The Mizrahi pop singer is one of Israel’s most popular performers.

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Adam sold out the 19,000-seat Barclays Center, the home of the New York Nets, on Sunday night, and added a Tuesday performance at the same venue due to demand, he said on social media. Last year, he sold out the slightly larger Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, and last week, sold out a show in Los Angeles.

The ticket sales make the shows some of the city’s largest Jewish events, trailing the annual Israel parade in Manhattan, which draws around 50,000 participants.

The crowd on Sunday leaned young and Orthodox. Parents danced with children in suites above the bleachers, while Hebrew-speaking families browsed kosher burgers at concession stands. In line outside the venue, a group of young men sang the religious pop song “Tamid Ohev Oti” on the sidewalk.

Lines stretched out the front entrance under the center’s neon light installation that reads, “We belong here.”

Official ticket prices ranged from $236 to nearly $800.

The concert provided a warm environment for the pro-Israel crowd, as anti-Israel politics have made unpredictable appearances at other cultural events.

Last month in New Jersey, the singer Macklemore inserted anti-Israel messaging into his opening act for Ed Sheeran, sparking major controversy. New York’s Saturday Night Live, performed for a live studio audience, mocked Israelis for supporting “genocide” on Saturday night. Antisemitism has appeared in comedy shows in the city and Jewish comics have cut Israel-related humor from their routines.

Anti-Zionist protests in the city have rocked art galleries, museums, Broadway shows and a children’s puppet festival in recent years.

At Adam’s show, participants unfurled Israeli flags from their pockets after passing through security, draping the flags over their shoulders for the performance. Other attendees waved dozens of Israeli flags in the stands.

Adam collected a flag from an audience member for a dance onstage during the love song “Shnei Meshugaim,” Hebrew for “two crazies.”

Toward the end of the show, Adam said a prayer for IDF soldiers, as the jumbotron over the stage showed a video montage of troops praying at the Western Wall, coming home to their families, and mourning a fallen comrade at a funeral.

The pro-Israel sentiments did not feel like political assertions, but like a natural part of the show, more like a concert in Israel than in the US. Major Jewish events in the city also feature open support for Israel, but are more tinged with politics.

The show was also a de facto major Jewish event that the Jewish community did not need to provide security for itself. Jewish events in the city are typically secured by volunteer community guards who coordinate with police, or hired guards. Jews are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group in the city and a series of thwarted terror plots have targeted Jewish New Yorkers in recent years.

There did not appear to be any protests at Sunday’s show.

The audience was familiar with Adam’s ouevre, singing along to the Hebrew lyrics. Adam often sang the opening lyrics in a line, then held out the microphone for the crowd, knowing the audience could finish out the line. At one point, he waved the crowd along like an orchestra conductor as the audience finished a verse.

The jumbotron over the stage cut to ecstatic young fans singing along. Sometimes, the opening few notes of a song brought out a cheer of recognition. The crowd was on its feet throughout the show.

The performance included some of Israel’s best-known hits such as the party anthems “She Just Wants to Dance” and “Happiness Revolution,” and “Tel Aviv,” a song associated with the city’s annual Pride Parade.

Adam opened with the sentimental song “Tequila,” about a breakup, as the screens over the stage showed white birds winging through clouds.

Adam’s sunny affect and banter buoyed the upbeat atmosphere. In his imperfect English, toward the beginning of the show, he asked the crowd, “How many people are speaking only English?” then checked how many understood Hebrew.

After hearing the crowd cheer, he continued in Hebrew, stating, “Ah, ok, so I can speak in Hebrew.”

The show also had a religious angle, as Adam has leaned more into his religious identity in recent years.

Adam led the crowd in “Vehi Sheamda,” from the Passover Haggadah.

At the end of the show, an audience member gifted Adam a black tallit prayer shawl with “The people of Israel live” written in Hebrew across the back in sparkling sequins over a Star of David.

Wearing the tallit, Adam led the crowd in singing “Modeh ani,” a morning prayer expressing gratitude that Adam turned into a popular song in 2015.

“I offer my thanks to you, every morning. For the light, for the fact that I am alive,” the crowd sang.

“Todah rabah,” Adam said at the show’s close, thanking the audience. “I hope to see you soon and fast as possible.”