1.
A few days ago, something happened: Malachi Hezekiah finished his work as a radio announcer and after 48 years, he presented the last newscast of his life, of our lives.
Not yet 27 years old? Come and become a professional in any of the respected and large organizations
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
For some reason, the media, which knows how to be very nostalgic and affectionate, and to mark farewell events and birthdays of its cultural heroes with elaborate projects, did not make a big story out of this defining moment in the history of public broadcasting. Perhaps because by their very nature, the fate of radio announcers, unlike that of television broadcasters, is destined to anonymity. They are the little man inside the receiver, unlike the broadcaster who appears on the screen in a suit and tie and everyone recognizes him on the street and crosses paths with him.
Not me. I have a weakness for newscasters. I'm not talking about just any radio broadcasters, I can do that too. I'm talking about the men and women with those authoritative voices, and with the perfect Hebrew, and the even more perfect diction, who were for generations, day after day, hour after hour, the soundtrack of the country.
""The Voice of Israel from Jerusalem, the time..." From a young age, I could immediately identify who the announcer was, as soon as I heard the first sentence of every newscast.
I didn't need "And here is the news from my mouth...". Well, that's not great wisdom. I had time to memorize. The announcers on Kol Yisrael were the most constant thing in the world. They stood their watch on the radio for decades. Adi Raban, Zvi Selton, Kobi Barkai, Liora Goshen, Gabi Yinon, Iris Lavie, Dan Kaner, Dan Ofri, Ribi Gadot, Naomi Daliot, Shmirah Imber, Yitzhak Eitan. Each with their own voice, each with their own style. All of them are first-rate professionals, with almost zero slips of the tongue and zero pronunciation errors.
Thinking about a really good career and a respectable living? Don't be Moishe Groys
2.
But with all due respect to this distinguished list of announcers (and also to the list of producers and technicians. There are some names from radio that for some reason get stuck in my head and never leave: Claude Buchbinder, Achinoam Zaid-Romanelli, Nehemiah Bezik), my favorite has always been Malachi Hezekiah. In my opinion, he is the best. He has the best voice, the most radiophonic, the most authoritative. And what's more: there is also something comical about him.
Although this aspect of his radio personality was not reflected in the routine news broadcasts, perhaps a little in the entertaining news at the end of the broadcast, when there were such, it was hard to miss it in the promos or in the many commercials in which he was a narrator. Take, for example, the two most widely played commercials in recent years, "Only in Electrical Warehouses" and "Radio Advertising Works.".
Malachi Hezekiah serves as much more than a narrator. He is an actor. He is a virtuoso. A true artist who has accompanied us to near jubilee. Think about it, there are not many artists who have lasted in the market for so many years. And the truth? His retirement is premature. True, he will celebrate his seventyth birthday this year. So what? Why are bad judges who are supposed to retire already able to continue serving as "associate judges" - which was invented especially for them - but wonderful narrators are sent home?
Well, probably many readers don't understand why I'm devoting so much text to such a sensitive subject as pensions at the Broadcasting Corporation. But what can I do, it's hard for me to say goodbye to him. His voice has accompanied me since childhood.
I still remember turning down the radio when my great-grandmother, Rebbetzin Rachel Kook, z"l, would be a guest at our house, so that she wouldn't hear Hezekiah's angels whispering bad news in his voice. The younger generation doesn't understand this whole situation, but think about it: there was no internet, no WhatsApp, no even half-flashlights. Once every hour, the people living in Zion were given a news update on what was happening in the country.
I remember those moments of anxiety. Especially during the Oslo days. How we would approach the radio receiver towards the appointed time, and then our hearts would skip a beat, from the frightening beeps and the pathetic announcement of the time to the first news. No one would speak. We would immediately know whether we could breathe a sigh of relief and nothing had happened in the last hour, or whether, unfortunately, there had been an attack.
For me, it was "unfortunately," but Grandma Kook the Tzadika, widow of Rabbi Raphael Kook, Rabbi Kook's nephew, would hear - and simply start crying for Jews who were murdered in the Land of Israel, as if she knew them personally.
Malachi Hezekiah was there for almost a year, with all the news. So now, after so many years, when the news is getting better and better, thank God, now, to retire? Can't he stay on as an associate announcer?
3.
This week I went looking for old recordings of Malachi Hezekiah. When you type "Malachi Hezekiah" into Google, you get a lot of results. Wow, how beautiful. Looks promising. I open them one by one, and see that they are all casual mentions from articles about his stand-up comedian son, Uri Hezekiah. Come on, this doesn't make me laugh. I want to cuddle up now.
What did I find? Two recordings. Only two recordings. But they are fascinating. The first, the most recent, is from a few days ago, a video recording of the end of the last edition of Hezekiah. What, is that what it looks like? Interesting. Not how I imagined it. How did I imagine it? I don't know. But not like that.
Anyway, he's really funny there. He finishes narrating the edition, closes the microphone, takes off his headphones, and says to the camera: "That's it, you can turn off the lights, mute the microphones," then he distorts his voice into a squeaky voice and adds: "And the best part – I can finally go back to my natural voice! Bye.".
The second recording is titled "The First News Edition Presented by Malachi Hezekiah." I thought it was an archive clip from 48 years ago, but again I was disappointed. This is simply the first edition of Kol Yisrael in its new incarnation as "Kan Reshet B," presented by Hezekiah three and a half years ago.
""At this time, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation's broadcasts begin. Last night, the Voice of Israel broadcasts ended on the Israel Broadcasting Authority after more than eight decades. The 11 o'clock newscast ended with an excerpt from the Scroll of Fire written by Bialik, a work that opened the first broadcast during the British Mandate.".
It seems to me that, looking back three and a half years, everyone agrees that the great drama that the Broadcasting Authority made at the time around the transition to corporate broadcasting, as reflected, among other things, in this first edition, was a bit exaggerated. Kol Yisrael did not close after eight decades. They simply moved to new management. Of course, the heart always hurts for factory workers who are forced to go home due to cutbacks and efficiency programs, from Pri Galil to Kol HaMusica, but to say that the business closed is not true. And perhaps it is a shame. By and large, the spirit of public broadcasting has remained almost the same, for all the good and especially for all the bad, which has been financed with our money for eight decades.
Sure, but after Bialik and his Scroll of Fire, there is also news to report. And here Hezekiah moves on to read the first news item in the first edition of Kan Reshet B, a rather symbolic piece of news, a not-so-distant historical reminder.
Listen: "Prime Minister Netanyahu says that moving the American embassy to Jerusalem will not only not harm the peace process, but will actually advance it by correcting a historical injustice and shattering the Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel.".
4.
Malachi Hezekiah moved on to more news, but I was lost in thought. In fact, the main thing is not who is reporting the news but who is editing it. Not who is reporting, but what is being reported. What is the narrative. What is being broadcast.
After all, in the morning news that followed this edition, and in the afternoon and night news, everyone ridiculed this quote from the Prime Minister. All the commentators warned of a terrible wave of terror following Netanyahu and Trump's provocative and unnecessary move, moving the embassy to Jerusalem. And Netanyahu still dares to say that the diplomatic moves being made with the United States will not only not harm the peace process but will actually advance it?! Well, really.
Three and a half years have passed since then. Thank God there was no wave of terror, on the contrary. Just last week, the IDF's data for the year 2020 was published: one soldier was killed in operational activity, and two civilians were murdered in terrorist acts. That's it. Every Jew is a whole world, my grandmother would shed tears for each of them, but where is that and where are the warnings that senior commentators have sounded here against the dangerous steps of Trump and Netanyahu. Not to mention where is that and where is the endless number of deaths from the Oslo days. Today, everyone understands how much of a blessing the line led by Netanyahu has brought to the Middle East. Peace and more peace and more peace and one more.
Actually, not everyone understands. The majority understands. But the minority of the people who oppose the wonderful moves led by Netanyahu have an overwhelming majority in the press, on television, on the radio, and they will continue to broadcast to us how bad things are here. The same people who just a few months ago tried to market Benny Gantz to us as a strong leader who will save Israel, will shamelessly continue their depressing campaigns.
Well, at least starting this week they won't have the man with the most amazing voice on the radio reading these texts.
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
