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Tamid Ohev Oti ("Always Loves Me") is a Hebrew song originally released by Yair Elitzur on 18 June 2024. It has become very popular in Israel and among Jews around the world and is considered one of the songs inspired by the Israel-Hamas war.

The song's view has been widely criticized by rabbis, journalists, and scholars.

Background

Yair Elitzur, an Israeli singer, was asked by his rabbi, Shalom Arush, to write a song using the words that were often said by Arush: "God, blessed is He, may He always love me and may He always be good to me." Arush aded, "Whoever says these words with joy, God will always do him only good, this is a promise! Heaven will guide him to have only good and even better and even better."

Elitzur composed the song, together with Rabbi Oren Levi. Its musical production was handled by Ohad Darshan. In an early performance before the song was released, it was called Yesh Emunah in reference to his previous song Ein Nechama.

The song describes hope, a deep and unwavering faith in the relationship between man and God, focusing on His unconditional love. The speaker in the song expresses feelings of affection, compassion, and support that he receives from God both in moments of crisis and weakness and in joy and happiness. He believes that God sees his own good intentions, even when in reality his actions fail. In addition, the speaker asks God for various blessings such as livelihood, good health, and happiness. Arush said in an interview that "God surprised me that the song caught on so well with the entire Jewish people."

Reception

As of November 2024, the song has more than 3.3 million views. The song won the title of Song of the Year in the annual music chart of Israeli radio station Kol BaRama.

On December 17, Elitzur said in an interview on Israeli Patriots show that he created the song at the request of his rabbi in order to fulfill his duty, but he was not impressed by it at first: "And this song, forgive me for telling you, as far as I'm concerned, was very stupid."

Kobi Peretz released a cover of the song in which he sang along with Rabbi Arush. Itzik Dadya also released a cover of the song. A Yiddish cover was performed by Shloime Kolasky together with Yoeli Klein and Levi Falkowitz. Singers Yoeli Davidovitz and Shuki Goldstein also released a Hasidic version of the song with lyrics from the original.

On September 17, Israeli singer Sasson Shaulov released a cover version of the song, as a single off an album. His version was more successful than the original, reaching number one on Israeli song charts. Elitzur, the original performer of the song, said he had no interest in honor and that the main thing was that the people of Israel be happy. In an interview with Ynet, he said that after releasing the song, he waited for a cover to be released to publicize the song.

Criticism

The song is criticized for presenting a distorted image of hope and confidence in God. The song claims that since God loves man, it is inevitable that man will be well, which contradicts the prevailing view in Judaism, expressed, for example, in the words of the Chazon Ish: "An old error has become ingrained in the hearts of many in the concept of security... It is obligatory to believe - in every case that man encounters and faces an uncertain future... because good will surely come." Professor Dov Schwartz wrote that the poem represents the Hasidic approach to the degree of security.

This claim was repeated by Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach and Rabbi Avraham Deutsch, who also wrote that "the song is heresy." Rabbi Arush responded to his words.

Dror Rafael criticized the song in Maariv and claimed that the song represses and ignores reality. Instead of dealing with the harsh reality of the world, it puts the listener into a utopian trance of "everything is fine." Jonathan Rons and Aviad Markowitz in a column in HaAyin HaShevi'it wrote similar things, and added: "The song produces a much more brutal form of self-acceptance - repression. God becomes a good father who defends his bratty child, whom the singer plays. The metaphor in itself is ancient, but the execution is original. The child's evil here is clumsy and ridiculous: "I want to be good - I just can't." The child not only makes a mistake, but also fails to change, which causes him to try to start over again and again without success."

Rabbi Avraham Stav agreed with the arguments but wrote that Elitzur's version is more subtle, according to him his fantasy is a conscious fantasy, his optimism is a prayer and not a general statement. In contrast, Rabbi Chaim Navon wrote that the song is not a plea to God but a firm declaration, which errs both in placing reward as the focus of faith, and in the absolute assertion that God will always shower only good upon us.

Ravit Hecht, in a critical article in Haaretz, wrote that the experimental expectation in the song "reveals the depth of the individual's present-day plight; a well-dug pit, which deprives the solution of human ability."

Yarden Avni, in a review column in Calcalist, wrote that the song is problematic because it relieves the person of self-criticism and activism regarding the situation.

Haviva Pedaya wrote about the context of the song to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and argued that the principle of security in Breslov is more complicated and holds that even if difficult things happen to a person, it is still defined as good because of the final outcome.

Rabbi Ilai Ofran, in an interview with Ynet, claimed that the song's success stems from both its light music and the person's need to hear that they are loved. He also claimed that the song represents processes in religious society and shows an attitude of extreme individualism, self-interest that replaces values.

Rabbi Yoni Lavie wrote that the song was successful against a backdrop of despair due to the Iron Sword War . Like his predecessors, he criticized the perception of security and the childishness in the song. He also wrote that the song perceives God as "a protector" in contrast to the position of Judaism.

Haaretz reporter Josh Breiner criticized the song, which expresses joy against the backdrop of the Israel–Hamas War and ignores its 1,800 casualties.

Amit Slonim wrote in a column on Walla that the reviews of the song are irrelevant, because sometimes a cute song is a cute song that provides comfort to people. He continued by comparing the song to Rosé's Apt., which was successful despite its ridiculous lyrics.

References

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26. "זאת מדורת השבט החדשה, סביבה הישראלים סוגדים לעצמם במסווה". העין השביעית (in Hebrew). 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
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31. "למה ההמנון המרים "תמיד אוהב אותי" הוא בעצם שיר מייאש? | כלכליסט". calcalist (in Hebrew). 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
32. ^ מוניץ, שמואל (2024-12-03). "האם "השם יתברך תמיד אוהב אותי ותמיד יהיה לי רק טוב"? תלוי את מי שואלים". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
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35. ""השם יתברך!": הסיבה האמיתית שבערוץ 14 אוהבים את הלהיט של ששון שאולוב - וואלה תרבות". וואלה (in Hebrew). 2024-12-19. Retrieved 2024-12-21.

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• 2024 singles
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