Israel a ‘place of strength’: Visiting liturgical singer mulls relocating from France
Moroccan-born Gabriel Ohayon can’t wear a kippah at home in Strasbourg, says singing with the Andalusian Orchestra a dream come true
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Liturgical singer Gavriel Ohayon has dreamed of performing with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra Ashdod since he was a child growing up in Morocco.
Now he’s one of the headlining singers with the orchestra, along with tenor Shimon Siboni, performing eight concerts throughout Israel, March 3 through 25.
The concert series, titled “Oran Coffee,” marks the musical period of the 1950s in Algeria, during the birth of a new sound that combined Algerian music with French classics and Latin influences.
Like everyone else, Ohayon wasn’t quite sure the concerts would take place after the Hamas onslaught of October 7.
In the weeks after the attack, some of the orchestra’s musicians were called up for reserve duty in the IDF and the remaining musicians were performing impromptu concerts and shows for evacuees from the north and south.
Ohayon, 35, was grappling with his own security issues as well.

He and his family live in Strasbourg, France, where antisemitism has risen dramatically with Israel and the Hamas terror group at war in Gaza.
Most of Ohayon’s French neighbors don’t support Israel, he said, and have never signaled any recognition of what Israelis suffered on October 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked the Gaza border communities, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostage to Gaza.
“We don’t wear our kippot or tzitzit outside, not me or my kids,” said Ohayon.
His mother, who still spends half the year in Morocco, is also witnessing more antisemitism but is protected by her neighbors, “because she was born there and lives there,” said Ohayon. “They protect the Jews there.”
Ohayon lived in Morocco until he was 18. His siblings live in France, Switzerland and Los Angeles and visit Israel frequently.
“Every time we come, we think, ‘Should we move here now?'” said Ohayon. “Since the 7th, it’s a place of strength for us, a recognition of our land. We know that France and those other countries aren’t for us, that we’ll end up here.”
Now in Israel for several weeks, Ohayon is caught up in rehearsals with the Andalusian Orchestra.
“Even with what happened here, we’re trying to give people a sense of happiness, and it’s a really lovely feeling,” he said.
Singing with the Andalusian Orchestra is the fulfillment of a dream for Ohayon, who said he’s thought about this opportunity since he was a boy performing in Morocco.
“I want to sing what we sang in Morocco, to transmit these songs to the audience,” he said. “The audience who hears these songs is taken back to an earlier time, and there’s a sense that these songs will continue to be heard, that they’re protected in the lexicon.”
Tickets for the Ashdod Andalusian Orchestra “Oran Coffee” performances are NIS 140 per ticket, with shows in Ashdod, Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Jerusalem, Rishon Lezion, Beersheba and Kiryat Motzkin.