Hundreds of people gathered at Beit Hansen in Jerusalem for the launch of Aner Shapira’s debut album. And everything was there, refreshments and beer. There was a DJ and a huge screen, everything was ready and sweet, and only one person, however, was missing.
“We wanted to have an evening that would celebrate Anar’s life,” says Shira, the mother of the late Anar Shapira. All the last months were preoccupied with his death. But Anar was much, much, much more than that. He was a creative person, he was a musician, He was an artist, he was a man with opinions, and I want this to come out. This is an opportunity to celebrate his life and his work, not his death.”
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“Like falling in love like this”
From a young age, Aner Shapira studied and played the piano. When it was time to enlist, he tried twice to be drafted into a general patrol, but was injured. While recovering, he bought equipment, taught himself to create electronic music, and began writing and recording.
“It was like, I don’t know what, this kind of falling in love,” says his mother Shira Shapira. “He was so into it. He left us 60 recorded songs.
The first time we heard his song was when we returned with his parents to the small Migonit near Kibbutz Ra’im, where he ended his life, a song he wrote three years before his death. “A chilling song that he wrote, a boy from Jerusalem, what interests him are children in a wrap,” said his father Moshe at the time.
The last photo of the late Aner Shapira from Migonit | Photo: Itamar Shapira
The story of Anar Shapira, remembered for blessing, is one of the extraordinary stories of heroism of the 7th of October. The Nahal Patrol fighter who was on vacation, found himself with about 30 other foreigners in a shelter under terrorist attack, and managed to fend off eight grenades that were thrown at them until he was killed.
Eitan Halli, who survived the firefight in Ra’i, recounts the infernal moments: “I was literally at the entrance, to the right of Anar, suddenly I see grenades flying in. I shout to him: ‘Pomegranate, grenade, grenade!’ And he catches him and takes him out, and that’s how it just kept happening several times.”
In the photo taken in those dramatic minutes, you see all the residents of Migonon huddled on the ground, and only Anar stands in the doorway and waits for the grenades that continued to arrive.
“That was actually the only stage where I was really afraid and I said, well, I’m not sure I’ll get out of it,” recalls Itamar Shapira, who also survived the rescue. “I opened the phone to take a picture. A lot of people are scared on the floor, who have no idea what is going to happen to them. And I see heroism, a person who, in the moment of truth, decides to act in an amazing way.
The terrorists continued to throw grenades and shoot at the shield from outside. Aner did not have time to repel the ninth grenade.
They went inside, most of the young people who were there were killed, of the lives that were seriously injured, four were kidnapped. Among them is Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, Aner’s best friend.
The parents of Aner Shapira in Migunit, the abductee Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Aner’s best friend
“Like a punch in the stomach”
And the music that accompanied his life was there even in his death. Near his death, the family decided to do everything to publish his poems.
“In one of his songs it was written: ‘I am updating my will, if I die, release the album for me’. Unfortunately, he was killed and we need to release this album. It is an explicit will,” says his father.
How did you choose the songs?
Moshe Shapira, cousin of the late Aner: “Listen, it’s hard. After the war, we opened Aner’s computer and found there around 40 projects in an atomic mess, really, the man didn’t understand and didn’t know order in his life. We sat here and argued many times, in the end we decided that we want it to be as versatile as possible, because this person is like a crazy octopus who deals with everything and a person has a lot to say.”
One of the first people who was exposed to the songs outside of Anar’s close circle was Shanan Street, the singer of Hadeg Nahash and one of the pioneers of Israeli hip-hop.
“I’ve never done a duet with someone dead.” Shannon Street | Photo: from YouTube
Shira, mother of the late Anar: “He came to our house, sat in Anar’s room in his studio, heard some of his songs, and that’s how he gave his point of view and said that he would be happy to be in collaboration with us.
Recently, the family and friends gathered at Anar’s home pub, “The Boat”, to film a music video for one of the songs Shanan heard in a preliminary version at the time. And Shanan decided to join with a house he wrote especially. “I’ve never done a duet with someone dead / and if I tell you the truth, Anar / I’m not sure I missed it.”
Shira: “In the beginning it was like a punch in the stomach, because suddenly this elephant entered the room, I mean, we wanted to release Aner’s songs as a musician, regardless of what happened. I talked to Shanan and he said: ‘Listen to it one more time, think for a moment , one house, we will give a place to this thing that is not here’ and I said, voila, you are right”.
Aner Shapira’s parents, Moshe and Sarah, and his 8-year-old sister Hilli Photo: News 12
“Everyone cried, I had a huge smile”
Aner was the eldest brother of his brothers and five sisters. A devoted brother who encouraged them to play and create on their own. And the only song on the debut album that he did not write, is a joint creation with his 8-year-old sister Healy.
“I kept asking him to record and record.” Haley Shapira Photo: News 12
“My dream since I was a baby was to be a singer,” says Healy. “So I decided to start writing a song. So I came to Aner and kept asking him to record and record and record, and he never had time, until one Friday, three hours before Shabbat, I went into his room, we recorded in the studio. And I had fun doing it with Aner, But I have no one to record all my other songs with.”
He was the eldest brother of his brothers and five sisters. The family of the late Aner Shapira | Photo: News 12
When do you miss him the most?
“Always. When mom said we were going to the grave, I was very happy. And when we arrived, everyone cried, cried, and I was the only one who really had a huge smile, because I was happy that we did all this with him and went through everything with him and that we were part of his life.”
The late Aner Shapira and Hirsch Goldberg-Pollin kidnapped by Hamas | Photo: News 12
Last week, the Shapira family arrived to prepare the place for the launch event. In the evening, it seemed that the ancient building was too narrow to accommodate all those who came. And among others, the Goldberg-Pollin couple, Hirsch’s parents, also came.
“It evokes mixed emotions to be here,” says Rachel Goldberg-Pollin, the mother of Hirsch, who was kidnapped in Gaza. “We loved Aner. He was simply a talented and beautiful person and it’s heartbreaking and it’s important to be here. And everywhere I look, I know that Hirsch should be here.”
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“This music was his soul,” says his mother Sarah. “If he were here now and he would see this whole complex, then I think he should be very proud of himself and be very happy. This feeling of what is is what is and will be no more, it’s terrible. But, we are with everything he left behind For us, we intend to do more and release and work and that he will be present with us as much as possible, this is not the last exhibition or the last album.”
Investigation: May Pecht
For Anar’s music and more information about him click here
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