"I Feel I Owe It to Itamar z"l": Interview with Channanel Ohana, Who Lost His Brother in the Kinneret Tragedy

Two and a half weeks before Channanel Ohana’s brother, Itamar z"l, drowned in the waters of the Kinneret, he signed him up for an audition on the X Factor show. Channanel arrived at the audition with mixed feelings. "I got up from mourning my little brother who drowned in the Kinneret," he said with emotion. "He always signed me up for singing shows like these, and I was always afraid, always disappointing him." The X Factor audition, which he decided to attend to fulfill his brother's last wish, was a staggering success, moving both the audience and judges alike. Now, nine months after his brother passed, he is releasing a new single named "Streams of Water" in memory of his brother Itamar.

"I am the eldest of seven children," says Channanel. "Itamar and I, my younger brother, always had a very special, deep connection. We were best friends, connected at heart and soul. He always used to sign me up for various singing shows, but I never went. I always feared the big exposure and all that came with it. I always disappointed him. But this time, I had a conscience not to go, when I discovered after the shiva that he had signed me up. I couldn’t do that to him. I had to go, for him."

The song born on the last night

Ohana, 26 and father of two daughters, works as a counselor at Ben Yakir youth village and is studying for a bachelor's degree in music at Ono Academic College. He connected with music at a very young age, always singing and playing. The song he wrote about his brother, "Streams of Water," was written during the shiva itself.

"On the last night, before Itamar z"l was found, I sat on the shore of the Kinneret and looked at the raging waves," he recounts. "Among three boys who drowned in the Kinneret that week, my brother was the last to be found. All the search teams told us they turned the Kinneret upside down and found no trace of him. They prepared us for the possibility that we might never know what happened to him. That night, after the other two bodies had already been found, and the echoes of the search died down, I sat on the shore. It was just me and the Kinneret. The longing for my brother and this insane uncertainty. All I could see were the black streams of water, raging towards me. Those moments are etched in me forever and will accompany me always, I believe. During the shiva, the words from that night were just waiting to be written down. After the thirty days, the first thing I did was compose those words. Ben Golan helped me with the composition, who also produced the single."

Interview with Channanel's parents, Shimon and Rachel Ohana, from the program "Journey Between Souls":

"Getting up from such a thing is very, very hard. There were nights I went to sleep and didn’t want to get up in the morning. Itamar and I had a very deep connection. We were very close, and his loss felt like a part of me was gone. I can say that mainly music gave me the strength, music and faith in the Creator of the world. My parents are amazing people, believers and optimistic, always happy. We were raised from a young age that everything is from above and for the good, and even now they are very encouraging and supportive. When I started getting involved in music after Itamar passed, they were very excited and supportive. Music really revived us."

Wasn’t it difficult to expose your personal story in front of the cameras?

"The truth?" Channanel answers honestly. "It was very difficult. I am a very private person, a bit shy even, and I’ve always been reluctant about exposure. Appearing with my story in front of the cameras was not easy at all. During my audition, I was just three months after my brother’s death, and all this exposure was very hard, even a bit traumatic. I just got up from mourning, what’s the connection to television? It made me want to withdraw before the training camp in the show because that whole period was very hard, but I don’t regret going there. I am happy it happened because it opened the door for me to start singing. Ultimately, I believe that is what needed to happen."

"Streams of Water" is the first single from your debut album. When will we see the rest of the album?

"The album will be released, G-d willing, but there is no exact date yet. It is still in the works. The other songs in the album are not about mourning at all, but about faith, about optimism, because that is what essentially holds me. The faith in Hashem and the music, those are the two things that give me strength."

Where do you see yourself in five years?

"After the first album, that’s for sure," Channanel smiles. "Performing a lot, becoming more professional in the field of music. I am a fighter, I took on the project to fulfill my dream, and I want and am eager to succeed. I feel I owe it to Itamar z"l and my family, who believe in me and support me all along the way."

On the 12th of Adar (27.02 in their count), Channanel will hold a debut performance at the Culture Hall in Kiryat Shmona, an evening filled with music and soul in memory of Itamar z"l. All proceeds from the evening will be donated to the writing of a Torah scroll in his memory and the inauguration of a learning center for at-risk youth.