Rami Kleinstein Reflects on Past Arrogance, Admits Mistakes

Singer and composer Rami Kleinstein posted a moving and sharp message on his Instagram account on the eve of Yom Kippur, reflecting on his childhood during the Yom Kippur War and drawing a parallel to the October 7th massacre. Kleinstein recalled the morning of the war in 1973 as a nine-year-old boy, asking his mother why there were so many military vehicles on the road on Yom Kippur. The first air raid siren caught them at the synagogue, and they ran to a shelter. He admitted his childhood naivete, believing the war would end in a matter of days, and acknowledged how wrong he was, noting the terrible failure and grief the country endured. He expressed disbelief that fifty years later, another, even more terrible failure would occur.

Kleinstein then turned to a sharp self-criticism regarding his worldview in recent years, in light of rising global antisemitism since the war began. "I am no longer a child, and my soul-searching is this: I was wrong to think that antisemitism had passed from the world. I myself was arrogant and believed how easily the world could turn things upside down, ignore the Holocaust we went through, and accept the narrative of the terrorists," he wrote. He concluded his message with a firm promise for the future, stating, "For me, no more! I sign on this. Easy fast, and may you be sealed for a good year."