The ancient temple of Israel where theHebrew nation gathered to worship God.First built in 957 BC by King Solomonand rebuilt in 515 BC and dedicated byZerubbabel. The temple is venerated aswhere the presence of God resided onearth and is recorded to be one of themost beautiful structures in the ancientworld. At the temple there were certaininstruments that were used to worshipGod, one of the most noteworthy in theBible is the harp. Played by the Levites (Levi’im) in thetemple, but even more famous for KingDavid playing the harp for the then KingSaul, the harp probably has no greaterBiblical story than the affect it had onsoothing the ailing king. Heard forthousands of years but coming to anabrupt end when the second temple wasdestroyed in 70 A.D, the harp was centralto Jewish culture even being minted onthe money 2,000 years ago..

Living in the U.S. at the time in the early1980s when Shoshanna Harrari askedher husband Micah Harrari for a harp forher birthday she initially just wanted toplay it as she felt it could relate to hersoul. Little did they know that theiradventure to build this harp would spark30 years of global passion to learn moreabout the Biblical harp that has not beenseen in almost 2,000 years. Micah already an instrument maker hadno experience making harps. Aftersojourning across the U.S. living off thegrid, the Harrari’s made Aliyah to Israelin 1982. Upon arriving they came acrossa book at someone’s house that hadvarious archaeological pictures and theysaw an image called the MegiddoHarpist located in a cave in Megiddo,Israel. Archaeologists carbon-date theimage in the cave to be about 3,000years old, which was around the timeKing David lived and would have beenplaying the harp.

HOUSE OF HARRARIHOUSE OF HARRARI

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Millennia-old Music to the Ears of the HolyMillennia-old Music to the Ears of the HolyLandLand

House of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE22 23

The ancient temple of Israel where theHebrew nation gathered to worship God.First built in 957 BC by King Solomonand rebuilt in 515 BC and dedicated byZerubbabel. The temple is venerated aswhere the presence of God resided onearth and is recorded to be one of themost beautiful structures in the ancientworld. At the temple there were certaininstruments that were used to worshipGod, one of the most noteworthy in theBible is the harp. Played by the Levites (Levi’im) in thetemple, but even more famous for KingDavid playing the harp for the then KingSaul, the harp probably has no greaterBiblical story than the affect it had onsoothing the ailing king. Heard forthousands of years but coming to anabrupt end when the second temple wasdestroyed in 70 A.D, the harp was centralto Jewish culture even being minted onthe money 2,000 years ago..

Living in the U.S. at the time in the early1980s when Shoshanna Harrari askedher husband Micah Harrari for a harp forher birthday she initially just wanted toplay it as she felt it could relate to hersoul. Little did they know that theiradventure to build this harp would spark30 years of global passion to learn moreabout the Biblical harp that has not beenseen in almost 2,000 years. Micah already an instrument maker hadno experience making harps. Aftersojourning across the U.S. living off thegrid, the Harrari’s made Aliyah to Israelin 1982. Upon arriving they came acrossa book at someone’s house that hadvarious archaeological pictures and theysaw an image called the MegiddoHarpist located in a cave in Megiddo,Israel. Archaeologists carbon-date theimage in the cave to be about 3,000years old, which was around the timeKing David lived and would have beenplaying the harp.

HOUSE OF HARRARIHOUSE OF HARRARI

29

Millennia-old Music to the Ears of the HolyMillennia-old Music to the Ears of the HolyLandLand

House of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE22 23

After seeing the image, Micah said the harpfrom the cave is the one he wanted to makefor Shoshanna. He wanted to build a harpbased on historical, archaeologic factsabout Israel. Initially there was quite a bit oftrial and error in trying to produce theinstrument. During this process theHarrari’s met a woman in theirneighborhood who liked to pick fruit fromvarious trees in the neighborhood wherethey lived. The woman stopped at their house to pickfruit and she noticed pieces of wood on theground in their house and asked what it wasfor. When the woman was told she leapt outof her seat and said ‘there has not been aharp in Israel for almost 2,000 years’. Thiswoman was a famous journalist for theJerusalem Post who then wrote a story thatyear about the harp of David returning toIsrael. Unbeknownst to Shoshanna and Micahthere were people all around the world thatwanted to play the harp of David.

The first 20 harps Micah made werereally for experimentation. Afterthose he began to understand thesound, the vibration and the designand then Micah started makingprofessional harps. “He was not just making the ancientharp of Israel, he was making aserious good harp, where harpistsfrom around the world want theseharps. We call them temple qualityas we make them for the futuretemple that we hope will come atsome time.” When asked how many harps theyhave made in 30 years, Shoshannasays they lost the numbering systemsome time ago, but that they havemade a lot. “Even though we take a long time tomake a harp, we are moving along.We have a workshop of four to fivepeople that make the harps. Wefulfill orders within six months.

I think it is the right thing that we do notknow.” Each one has its own label and can beidentified that they made it. The templeharps have a secret symbol that isknown only to the Temple Institute andthe Harrari’s. While the House of Harrari website saysthe harps are Levite made, it is not arequirement that they must be made byLevi’im (people from the Israeli tribe ofLevi). However she said the Levi’imwere the people responsible for playingthe harps in the ancient temple. Shoshanna also said that based onhistorical records there were at least4,000 instruments that were played inthe temple according to the Talmud. Also, there was a school for teachingLevi’im children to learn how to play theharp starting at age three.

“We had no idea what we were doing, itwas almost like a sort of divinecoincidence that one step afteranother would come together leadingus to making these harps. Thenjournalists from all over the worldfrom Switzerland to Japan came tointerview and film us telling the storyof the harp." She added, “The truth is we knew verylittle about the harp so we had to reallyresearch what they were doing, inother words we did it first and welearned about it later. Which is kind offollowing the words that we said whenwe received the Torah. I will do andthen I will learn. In other words if God says to you dosomething, first you do it, and thenlater you figure out why you did. Not todo it backwards to learn about it firstand then do it.”

House of Harrari House of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE24 25

After seeing the image, Micah said the harpfrom the cave is the one he wanted to makefor Shoshanna. He wanted to build a harpbased on historical, archaeologic factsabout Israel. Initially there was quite a bit oftrial and error in trying to produce theinstrument. During this process theHarrari’s met a woman in theirneighborhood who liked to pick fruit fromvarious trees in the neighborhood wherethey lived. The woman stopped at their house to pickfruit and she noticed pieces of wood on theground in their house and asked what it wasfor. When the woman was told she leapt outof her seat and said ‘there has not been aharp in Israel for almost 2,000 years’. Thiswoman was a famous journalist for theJerusalem Post who then wrote a story thatyear about the harp of David returning toIsrael. Unbeknownst to Shoshanna and Micahthere were people all around the world thatwanted to play the harp of David.

The first 20 harps Micah made werereally for experimentation. Afterthose he began to understand thesound, the vibration and the designand then Micah started makingprofessional harps. “He was not just making the ancientharp of Israel, he was making aserious good harp, where harpistsfrom around the world want theseharps. We call them temple qualityas we make them for the futuretemple that we hope will come atsome time.” When asked how many harps theyhave made in 30 years, Shoshannasays they lost the numbering systemsome time ago, but that they havemade a lot. “Even though we take a long time tomake a harp, we are moving along.We have a workshop of four to fivepeople that make the harps. Wefulfill orders within six months.

I think it is the right thing that we do notknow.” Each one has its own label and can beidentified that they made it. The templeharps have a secret symbol that isknown only to the Temple Institute andthe Harrari’s. While the House of Harrari website saysthe harps are Levite made, it is not arequirement that they must be made byLevi’im (people from the Israeli tribe ofLevi). However she said the Levi’imwere the people responsible for playingthe harps in the ancient temple. Shoshanna also said that based onhistorical records there were at least4,000 instruments that were played inthe temple according to the Talmud. Also, there was a school for teachingLevi’im children to learn how to play theharp starting at age three.

“We had no idea what we were doing, itwas almost like a sort of divinecoincidence that one step afteranother would come together leadingus to making these harps. Thenjournalists from all over the worldfrom Switzerland to Japan came tointerview and film us telling the storyof the harp." She added, “The truth is we knew verylittle about the harp so we had to reallyresearch what they were doing, inother words we did it first and welearned about it later. Which is kind offollowing the words that we said whenwe received the Torah. I will do andthen I will learn. In other words if God says to you dosomething, first you do it, and thenlater you figure out why you did. Not todo it backwards to learn about it firstand then do it.”

House of Harrari House of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE24 25

Then the amazing part of this find beganto take shape when more people startedcoming to their store on King DavidStreet in Jerusalem. The store visitorsactually knew more about the harp thanMicah and Shoshanna did. They began tonotice that visitors to their store wouldsay ‘Oh, you have 22 strings that is likethe 22 letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet.’ "Since we are Levi’im we do have aspecial ancient connection as it is in ourDNA to be connected to the harps. I donot know why but it seems my husbandwas chosen to do this particular work.Not because he was looking for it, butbecause it is how Hashem works, Godworks in mysterious ways.” She continued, “God needed a Levi thatunderstood the concept of music playedin the temple, not music that is played onthe TV or a CD for entertainment. Themusic of the temple was not forentertainment. There was a certain vibration that wasset up through these instruments to gointo the heavenly world for purposescompletely unknown to us. There issomething that happens in that vibrationthat happens only with the harp.” Playing the Holy Hebrew Letters on aHarp One of the most astounding discoveriesalong their journey to revive this ancientharp was that they discovered that therewere 22 strings on the ancient Hebrewharp that they noticed from the Megiddoimage as well as documentation in theTalmud. Historical documents say that the

maximum amount of strings that a harpcan have is 22. Micah and Shoshannainitially developed the harp (also called aNevel) with 22 strings because they hadthe most musical capabilities. “We did not get it right away, but peoplekept saying it. Then there was onewoman who said she wanted the 22letters carved into the harp, so that everystring will be a letter of the HebrewAleph-Bet, and then I said, “Whoa, whydidn’t I think of that.” From that momenton it became one of the most popularfeatures of our harps.” Shoshanna added according to Hebrewtradition, when God created the world heliterally sung it into existence with these22 letters. “Everything that we see whether it is atable or tree or dog or your eyes,everything is some combination orformula of these ancient letters. Sobasically these Hebrew letters are theDNA of the world that we live in. They arethe essence of this world.” She continued, “And when we connectwith them in any way, when we speak orlearn or see Hebrew letters we aremaking this connection, but when we areplaying the letters that goes to a verydeep place. It says in the HebrewScriptures that we should say ourprayers, but if we sing them it is into awhole different realm, and if we singthem with the harp I believe they gostraight into God’s heart.

With the combination of prayer and theheavenly instrument of the harp I believewe are doing a duet with the angels inheaven as we believe angels play theharp. When we combine this with theHebrew letters it is real power.” Shoshanna indicated that while there isno direct evidence that they carved theHebrew letters directly onto their harp inthe ancient times, she believes theyused them. She added that if you look atthe Psalms (Tehillim) for instance someare written in alphabetical order, forexample like Psalms 119 which goes inorder through the Hebrew Aleph Bet. “This helps the people today to beconnected to the Hebrew letters, theDNA of this world, the angels in heavenand with their own soul. When you havea connection like that you havesomething that can enable you to do realgood in this world.” The Harrari’s also make a ten stringedharp called a Kinnor which has tenstrings which can also be connected tothe 10 commandments in the Torah.According to Shoshanna 10 is thenumber of completion and redemption. The Talmud says that the harp of 10strings will be played in the future in thetimes of the Maschiach (Messiah). Shesaid that means the scale of musiccurrently based on the octave is going tochange because there are two notes ofthe ten strings that we cannot heartoday.

“Every culture and time has its own scaleof music, like the Renaissance. The musicof today is a reflection of the world welive in. The music of the future willreflect that. That future will be one oflove and peace, a future of kindness anda future of goodness. Evil will just not bethere anymore. The thing about goodand evil is, that good is eternal and evilhas an expiration date.”

"The thing aboutgood and evil is,that good iseternal and evilhas an expirationdate.”

House of HarrariHouse of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE26 27

Then the amazing part of this find beganto take shape when more people startedcoming to their store on King DavidStreet in Jerusalem. The store visitorsactually knew more about the harp thanMicah and Shoshanna did. They began tonotice that visitors to their store wouldsay ‘Oh, you have 22 strings that is likethe 22 letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet.’ "Since we are Levi’im we do have aspecial ancient connection as it is in ourDNA to be connected to the harps. I donot know why but it seems my husbandwas chosen to do this particular work.Not because he was looking for it, butbecause it is how Hashem works, Godworks in mysterious ways.” She continued, “God needed a Levi thatunderstood the concept of music playedin the temple, not music that is played onthe TV or a CD for entertainment. Themusic of the temple was not forentertainment. There was a certain vibration that wasset up through these instruments to gointo the heavenly world for purposescompletely unknown to us. There issomething that happens in that vibrationthat happens only with the harp.” Playing the Holy Hebrew Letters on aHarp One of the most astounding discoveriesalong their journey to revive this ancientharp was that they discovered that therewere 22 strings on the ancient Hebrewharp that they noticed from the Megiddoimage as well as documentation in theTalmud. Historical documents say that the

maximum amount of strings that a harpcan have is 22. Micah and Shoshannainitially developed the harp (also called aNevel) with 22 strings because they hadthe most musical capabilities. “We did not get it right away, but peoplekept saying it. Then there was onewoman who said she wanted the 22letters carved into the harp, so that everystring will be a letter of the HebrewAleph-Bet, and then I said, “Whoa, whydidn’t I think of that.” From that momenton it became one of the most popularfeatures of our harps.” Shoshanna added according to Hebrewtradition, when God created the world heliterally sung it into existence with these22 letters. “Everything that we see whether it is atable or tree or dog or your eyes,everything is some combination orformula of these ancient letters. Sobasically these Hebrew letters are theDNA of the world that we live in. They arethe essence of this world.” She continued, “And when we connectwith them in any way, when we speak orlearn or see Hebrew letters we aremaking this connection, but when we areplaying the letters that goes to a verydeep place. It says in the HebrewScriptures that we should say ourprayers, but if we sing them it is into awhole different realm, and if we singthem with the harp I believe they gostraight into God’s heart.

With the combination of prayer and theheavenly instrument of the harp I believewe are doing a duet with the angels inheaven as we believe angels play theharp. When we combine this with theHebrew letters it is real power.” Shoshanna indicated that while there isno direct evidence that they carved theHebrew letters directly onto their harp inthe ancient times, she believes theyused them. She added that if you look atthe Psalms (Tehillim) for instance someare written in alphabetical order, forexample like Psalms 119 which goes inorder through the Hebrew Aleph Bet. “This helps the people today to beconnected to the Hebrew letters, theDNA of this world, the angels in heavenand with their own soul. When you havea connection like that you havesomething that can enable you to do realgood in this world.” The Harrari’s also make a ten stringedharp called a Kinnor which has tenstrings which can also be connected tothe 10 commandments in the Torah.According to Shoshanna 10 is thenumber of completion and redemption. The Talmud says that the harp of 10strings will be played in the future in thetimes of the Maschiach (Messiah). Shesaid that means the scale of musiccurrently based on the octave is going tochange because there are two notes ofthe ten strings that we cannot heartoday.

“Every culture and time has its own scaleof music, like the Renaissance. The musicof today is a reflection of the world welive in. The music of the future willreflect that. That future will be one oflove and peace, a future of kindness anda future of goodness. Evil will just not bethere anymore. The thing about goodand evil is, that good is eternal and evilhas an expiration date.”

"The thing aboutgood and evil is,that good iseternal and evilhas an expirationdate.”

House of HarrariHouse of Harrari

DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE26 27