Beth Tfiloh Congregation hosted an online concert Oct. 6 featuring the husband and wife duo “Yonina,” performing for listeners from the comfort of their homes or sukkahs. Made up of spouses Yoni and Nina Tokayer, a number of songs were sung in both Hebrew and English, often with guitar or keyboard accompaniment, and on occasion a harmonica.
The event began with Rabbi Chai Posner welcoming Yonina to their encore presentation after previously performing for the Beth Tfiloh community during Lag B’Omer. “We thought what better way to celebrate Sukkot than by virtually going to Eretz Yisrael to sing and to dance together right out in our sukkah here,” Posner said.
In a somewhat ironic move for a 2020 concert, the duo began the evening with their rendition of the song “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams. Regarding one lyric from the song, “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof,” Nina Tokayer remarked that it “sounds like this song was really written about Sukkot.”
Songs played by the group also included “One Day” by Matisyahu, “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley and “Hava Nagila.”
