Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Hebrew, Arabic and French, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

May your coming be for peace, O angels of peace
May your coming be for peace, O angels of the Exalted One--
from the King Who reigns over kings, The Holy One blessed is He.

Harmonious viewers, today on Enlightening Entertainment, let us rejoice in the unifying music of the renowned Naguila Ensemble, based in France. On National Geographic’s world music website, the band is described as, “They play a music rooted in the common history of their communities. Nowadays these worlds are often opposite. The Naguila Ensemble shows that, in the past, for over a thousand years, they could create wonderful music together.”

All are welcome here, all who want to hear music of our fathers, music of the synagogue. Our culture, is something that we have together with our Muslim brothers.

The musical group is comprised of the talented artists: Pierre-Luc Ben Soussan, who plays the darbuka and riqq; Mohamad Zeftari, who is a vocalist and violin player; Yédi Serfati, a vocalist; Fouad Didi, who plays the oud and sings; and André Taïeb, a vocalist.

Welcome. Naguila brings together Muslim and Jewish musicians and carries a message, the message of love and peace to the whole world.

Ten years ago, during the course of a project initiated by the Ministry of Culture in France to gather music from synagogues in the country’s southern region of Montpellier, Pierre-Luc Ben Soussan met many hazans, which are Jewish cantors. Notably, Mr. Ben Soussan came across a singer hailing from Constantine, Algeria named André Taïeb, who made a great impression with his musical talents.

True enough, due to the quality of this singer, after the gathering, I decided to introduce this musical heritage to the world, in fact, and those songs that are performed in the synagogues. From there then came the idea of putting together musicians from Algeria and Morocco, also of Muslim origin. It is that there is a common musical trend between the Jews which lived in Maghreb if you will, and of course, the Muslims who resided in those countries. It was thus to make this heritage from the synagogues known to the world.

Deer would look upon his glance Deer would look upon his glance
And because of his stature branches would straighten up
La la la la La la la la La la la la
And because of his stature branches would straighten up
La la la la La la la la

The Iberian Peninsula once flourished with the harmonious synthesis of three Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Jewish people from this region identify themselves as Sephardic Jews.

The period of Judeo-Andalusian life and community extends itself over one thousand years. And during this millennium that first saw the birth of Islam, then its expansion and its establishment in different regions around the Mediterranean. Islam established itself in the Iberian Peninsula. And it is there once again that the three populations, or in any case, the populations of the three religions, Muslim, Jewish and Catholic, had to adjust. A Golden Age was made possible for about 30 years.

With respect to everything that is happening in the world, why this world is really torn apart, completely torn apart; the Muslims on one side, the Jews on one side, the Christians on another side. So why not live all together and hence the name of this initiative, the name of this group, Naguila which means joy.

And so, it is this fraternity somehow from the children of Abraham that can today say, “Come! Let’s try to work together. And let’s try to apply this to different populations to first try to undo the prejudice that can exist amongst each other, amongst everyone.”

Peace is welcomed… the King of Peace Peace is welcomed… the All-Knowing King
From the King… Who reigns over kings, The Holy One blessed is He

Bless me for peace O angels of peace,
Angels of the Exalted One-- The Holy One, blessed is He.

Enlightening Entertainment will be back with Naguila Ensemble and its fusion of Judeo-Arabic music after these brief messages. Please keep your dial tuned to Supreme Master Television.

What is said that comes from the heart normally goes directly to the heart. There you are!

I believe that what also binds us is simply the love of music, and of that kind of music.

Thank you for joining us again on Enlightening Entertainment for our feature on the Naguila Ensemble, which merges the Judeo-Arabic roots of its members to create a unique sound while exemplifying a peaceful fusion of cultures. Its music is based on the oral tradition of religious music found in synagogues.

The mystical part is made-up of liturgical poems which were written for the most part during the 9th and 10th Century in medieval Spain, thus in Al-Andalusia during that period, by sages of the Torah, also, for the most part.

It is true that there are two parts. There is the poetic part, so the lyrics and all that, and the musical part.

Those poems were set to music and became the support, if you will, of numerous melodies, from both the classical Arabo-Andalusian and the popular repertoires. The synagogues were somehow the conservatory of popular melodies, sometimes forgotten by the natives if you will. And also from a certain science, I was going to say, in quotation marks, of this “Andalusian music”.

Peace upon the Beloved In proximity and in remoteness
As the breeze blew As the breeze blew As the breeze blew On the roses!

Through its music, Naguila Ensemble strives to preserve the musical traditions which illustrate humanity’s timeless yearning for the divine. Whether a song has lyrics in Arabic or Hebrew due to its origins, once it is embraced by a region’s population, it becomes part of that shared cultured.

The question about the music: is it Jewish music or is it Arabic music? Well, through time, the Jews, they are a part of the population in which they live. If they live in Canada, there, they have the Canadian culture, so not necessarily. You must not separate nationality from religion. That’s it, so you can’t say that there is a Jewish music. There is an Arabic or an Andalusian music, for example, but which brings together all the population that lived in Andalusia. This means that it does not solely belong to the Arabs but to all.

No matter the language, the universality of music speaks to the heart and transcends all differences. Since time memorial it has been used as a bridge of to foster harmony and unification. Traveling around the world to perform, Naguila Ensemble’s profound music exemplifies this idea.

Truly, the population that dominated Andalusia was the Berbers much more than the Arabs; but it was the language of sciences, the language of poetry, the language of culture, that is why they were singing in Arabic during that period. So after the religious part, even in Islamic religious music, it remains that we use melodies that already existed.

So there are songs that we find in Jewish liturgy or in the religious, the Muslim religious music and it is the same, it is the same melody. Take Samai Al Bayati, for example, it is sung in Hebrew and in Arabic and it is the same thing. So, it is from the same culture in fact, so that is the common ground.

To conclude today’s show, let us enjoy an excerpt of the song, “Freedom will Invoke” performed by the Naguila Ensemble.

Hear my voice the day I’ll invoke Hear my voice the day I'll invoke
God, grant a mountain in the desert Heather, acacia, cypress & common cypress
And to the one who warns and to the cautious Grant peace as a river stream
And to the one who warns and to the cautious Grant peace as a river stream
Know wisdom in your soul And a crown for your head
Keep your lord commandment Keep your sacred Sabbath
Keep your lord commandment Keep your sacred Sabbath

For more information about the Naguila Ensemble, please visit:
For Naguila Ensembles music CDs, please visit

Peaceful viewers, thank you for your company today for Enlightening Entertainment. Please tune in to Supreme Master Television next Wednesday for part 2 of our two part program on the Naguila Ensemble. And now, up next is Words of Wisdom, right after Noteworthy News. Wishing you many joyous and inspired moments in life.

Come visit Bundanoon, Australia’s first “Bottled Water-Free Town.”

Quite a number of towns in Europe and in the United States, Canada are being in touch and saying “Well, how do we do what you have done?”

For leading the initiative, Mr. Huw Kingston received the Shining World Leadership Award.

The community has decided that bottled water isn’t a good thing.

Renowned Macedonian opera singer Mr. Boris Trajanov rallied his country to plant millions of trees. (In Macedonian)

Suddenly it occurred to me, although nothing occurs accidentally, it comes from God. It occurred to me that all of us Macedonian people can do this forestation. And we must do it.

He was honored with the Shining World Protection Award and a €30,000 contribution from Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Find out more on Supreme Master Television, Saturday, July 24.

Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Hebrew, Arabic and French, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

May your coming be for peace, O angels of peace
May your coming be for peace, O angels of the Exalted One--
from the King Who reigns over kings,
The Holy One blessed is He.

Harmonious viewers, today on Enlightening Entertainment, we continue with part 2 of our two part program on the renowned Naguila Ensemble, based in France. On National Geographic’s world music website, the band is described as, “They play a music rooted in the common history of their communities. Nowadays these worlds are often opposite. The Naguila Ensemble shows that, in the past, for over a thousand years, they could create wonderful music together.”

All are welcome here, all who want to hear music of our fathers, music of the synagogue. Our culture, is something that we have together with our Muslim brothers.

The musical group is comprised of the talented artists: Pierre-Luc Ben Soussan, who plays the darbuka and riqq; Mohamad Zeftari, who is a vocalist and violin player; Yédi Serfati, a vocalist; Fouad Didi, who plays the oud and sings; and André Taïeb, a vocalist.

Welcome. Naguila brings together Muslim and Jewish musicians and carries a message, the message of love and peace to the whole world.

Maalouf is the art of Arab-Andalusian music that is passed on by ear from one generation to the next. Naguila Ensemble seeks to share this precious oral artform through its songs. They are able to do this through the help of the group’s singer, André Taïeb, one of the last masters of this musical heritage. Born in Constantine, Algeria, Mr. Taïeb learned from the highly respected vocalist Cheikh Raymond.

André Taïeb, our singer, he is not here, but always, he is the bearer of a message that I do not forget. He always says that now on earth, it is here we have to love each other, later on it is too late. That’s all. It is necessary to take advantage of our existence to share the universal values. That’s it.

Peace upon you… peace upon you Peace upon you… peace upon you
From the Lord… Lord of the Lords

It is true that it is a great task, but I think that it is not only a passion, but that it is also our duty to transmit this tradition, I would say very modestly, with the little that we know, that we have learned. Up until now, we have always been in contact with our masters or other professors who exist in Maghreb, to learn more, to dig further into this repertoire because it is immense.

And what we especially need to know and need to note also is that it is a tradition based on oral transmission. As there are no written records, there are no partitions, and therefore, it is really a vast universe, I would say, that is left to discover. That’s it!

In the life of Sephardic Jews, music accompanies all festivals and events and through this, the oral traditions are passed on and preserved in the hearts of the people. Many of the songs are liturgical poems of a spiritual nature.

Oh my heart Let it be as it is Pay no attention to what they say
And listen to the wisdom of the old Act deliberately and do not hesitate
And patience shall pay off Relief shall come at once Relief shall come at once

Please keep your dial tuned to Supreme Master Television. Enlightening Entertainment will be right back after these brief messages with our feature on the Naguila Ensemble.

It is like science, that’s it! The more we progress, the more we discover and it is never over. So, it is our duty to transmit this tradition that exists to our children, to other cultures, and especially to share it with you, for example.

Thank you for joining us again for Enlightening Entertainment with our feature on Naguila Ensemble, a Judeo-Arabic band presenting a harmonious synthesis of music to its listeners. Their unique blend of music not only serves as a message of peace but also helps preserve the ancient singing traditions and culture. One of the musical works Naguila Ensemble presents is, “The Journey of Maimonides,” a piece on the prominent Jewish philospher and Torah scholar of the Middle Ages.

Maimonides is a very important person for Judaism. First, he is a sage, a wise man in the interpretation of the Torah. Then, he is a doctor. And he is someone who lived through all this period very intensely. In the writings that we can find about his life, we see that he was someone that was very attached to his people, but also to the whole environment that made up Andalusia. So he was a sage-doctor of the Torah, who wrote many books, of teachings, almost exclusively in Arabic.

The servant is contingent to his master Sadness and consolation Are all at the hands of God Tolerate the situation Until God relieves you Tolerate the situation Until God relieves you

As fellow inhabitants of our shared Earth, members of Naguila Ensemble recognize their duty not only as muscians safeguarding artistic traditions but also as stewards of the planet.

If we want to survive, we have to, above all things, protect our environment,. We do not have a second spaceship, we only have one, it’s this planet. Here it is! We have to pay attention to protect our planet because it is the first command of the Bible. It is to say to man, “You will not dominate, you will have to run the planet. You will have to make sure to govern it.” Govern does not mean consuming without limit.

In this world, to go towards peace, I think that everyone can contribute something, do his part, from his side. It means that the politicians try to bring in something, the artists on one hand, the athletes on the other hand, and all this to reach the same goal, which is peace, but everybody really tries to advance, that’s it.

Humanity in the 21st century almost managed to empty the sea. So it's time to ask true questions, alright? To put life back to the central point and to stop looking only at capitalistic interests, or immediate profitability, but to look at long-term profitability. The long-term profitability, it is the well-being, it is the life of the future generations.

The music of Naguila Ensemble recalls of a golden age in which adherents of Christianity, Islam and Judaism peacefully existed in a spiritual openness that fostered the melodious fusion of their cultures.

Musicians have always been the ambassadors of peace. As always, initial agreements came with the musicians, and afterwards, they were settled politically, and at the end, the musicians return to celebrate, in fact, the agreements. Therefore it is always like that, in the beginning, at the end, it is always with music.

To conclude today’s program, let us enjoy an excerpt from Naguila Ensemble’s performance, with lyrics presented in both Arabic and Hebrew.

When the morning sun rises When the morning sun rises
You come into my mind And when it sets When it sets, my tears flow down my cheeks
Peace... Peace... Peace be upon you Whether you are near or far…

Peace upon you, O ministering angels,
Peace upon you, angels of the Exalted One--
from the King Who reigns over kings,
the Holy One, Blessed is He

Thank you for using your musical talents to bring harmony to the world, Naguila Ensemble. May your noble mission be divinely blessed with success.

Elegant viewers, it was a pleasure to have you with us for Enlightening Entertainment. Words of Wisdom is up next, right after Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. Let us all be guided towards peace through the inner melodies of Heaven.

For more information about the Naguila Ensemble, please visit:
For Naguila Ensembles music CDs, please visit

Born and raised in the ancient land of Babylon, in Iraq, Salam Jamil honors his heritage in his art.

The Iraqi environment differs from one quarter to another and one city to another, in color, method, designs. That charm is in the nature of Iraqis.

Explore Iraq in the beautiful works of the greatly accomplished ceramic artist Salam Jamil, Tuesday, August 3, on Supreme Master Television’s Enlightening Entertainment.