Shalva Band might drop out

It is sad, but it was bound to happen.

The Shalva Band has taken off like a meteor in the competition to represent Israel in the upcoming Eurovision. They are just wow and bring what it takes, from a musical, a social and a show standpoint to compete.

But they are religious, and they represent a religious-administered organization. That means they will not be able to perform on Shabbos, and the Saturday full dress rehearsal is one of the requirements of the Eurovision format.

According to Ynet, the producers of the competition asked upon entry into the competition of all the relevant contestants what they would do about the Shabbos issue. It seems the Shalva people did not think they would go far, so they did not express any concerns. They just wanted to compete for as long as they could. Now that it is relevant and the Shalva Band is approaching the finals with a strong case, perhaps even as favorites, for representing Israel, the Shalva Band suddenly has to deal with the issue.

So, now that the issue is back, the Shalva Band recently informed the producers that it is highly likely they will have to drop out, because of Shabbos. They are now consulting with a rav before making a decision. To that end, the producers do not want them to drop out and have said they would see what they could do to resolve the issue (seemingly to avoid the Shabbos dress rehearsal) - should the Shalva Band make it to the end and become the Israeli representative to Eurovision.

The Shalva Band should be proud of their accomplishments, regardless of whether this gets worked out to let them continue or not. And it is impressive that they are so good, with the potential to win, that the producers are willing to try to work something out. In all the various song competitions, nobody religious has ever gone that far and the producers never made special accommodations - though I am not sure if maybe they just were not good enough to deserve it or if they did not make it that far because of the glass ceiling. Yet for Shalva Band the producers are looking to try to work it out. That alone is another accomplishment.

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