Avraham Fried wrote the following letter to his fans in Israel:

My Friends, the words that I am missing the most this evening are: “Good evening Yerushalayim!!!”

In the past decade my calendar for this evening includes a concert which is a celebration of the special holiday. Despite the fact that it comes yearly, I am excited as though it is my first time. I am excited to meet you in your multitudes, to perform the songs in their new arrangements for the first time, from hosting my new guest from one of the top Israeli singers to sing at my side and also become my new friend, and from the incredible venue of the Sultan’s Pool!

A few months ago the whole world changed, the skies closed for flights and the concert halls closed as well. I said to my musical director, Yuval Stuppel, that “we have to see the good in everything and this year we can work on the program for the Sultan’s Pool calmly.” Indeed, we closed on a special surprise guest and began working on the program. What a program we had planned for you…

But Hashem had other plans, and since we are believers in Hashem that everything He does is for the good, we will continue Davening that soon we will be able to get back together and meet. I am sitting in my house in New York, thinking about you and missing you dearly.

So even though unfortunately we cannot get together this year, I wish us both that we will be able to meet next year, and in the meantime, I am sending you a special present in honor of Tu B’av.

So enjoy this special performance of Matanot Ketanot that I did together with Rami Kleinstein and the Rishon Letzion Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.