The beginning of the 20th Century.  An ancient city in Maghrib (Morocco). Moroccan and Jewish musicians gather in alleyways clutching their traditional musical instruments and play the music that unites them. Together they sing prayers that would normally divide them. Yusuf and Yossef; Hicham and Haim.

For one night the festival tried to take you to back to this scene, to the place where music turned neighbors, artists, and performers who belonged to different religions but shared a common past, into good neighbors who were able to turn differences and divisions into a celebration of unity, dialogue and mutual respect.

We handed the role of host over to the "Chabab Al Andalous" Orchestra (the Andalous youth orchestra), a 10-piece ensemble which plays traditional Moroccan music. The members of the band view themselves as the proud ambassadors of Andalusian music who not only play and preserve sacred music, but also rejuvenate and continually update it.

And just as was the custom in the old days, the orchestra chose to host a Moroccan-born liturgical singer, Rabbi Haim Louk, one of the world’s leading liturgical singers, who performed an intriguing mix of piyyutim and Andalusian-Moroccan music, as well as the Ben Zvi Institute Piyyut Ensemble.