Yesterday (Sunday) Tel Aviv was amazed to hear about The closure of the block clubthe flagship of nightlife in the city, at the height of what appears to be approxA crisis in the urban party scene. Yaron Trax, the owner and spirit behind the club, said goodbye to the community in a post first published on Facebook.
“When I give up what I am, I become what I can be. When I give up what I have, I get what I need”
In the last few months I began to suspect that my difficulty in letting go is motivated by fear, and that can never be the right answer.
The last year was a long and arduous lesson in letting go. It is not easy to say goodbye to a home, to beloved walls that are soaked in so many memories. But beyond the sadness of the breakup, and even though the universe made sure to show me in every possible way that something had to change, the fear of letting go and letting go paralyzed me. The fear of losing. The fear of regretting. The fear of the unknown. The fear that someone else will take the house we built for so many years of our lives and at such a heavy price and make it empty. The fear of being left with nothing. The fear that my powers will remain in the walls like Samson who had his hair cut.
The Friday before last, at the party with Mihei Paul, the word started to spread in the square, and maybe some people just understood intuitively, and people came up to me throughout the party and hugged and said thank you for all the years with tears in their eyes. People hugged in the square and cried. In the morning, when I came to say goodbye to Tal and Fontaine at the station, I also started to cry, but at the same time I also felt that I was filled with a feeling of infinite softness and deep peace, because I finally understood that no one can truly take away from us what happened. I felt the fear fading away, disappearing until it became transparent, and only the sadness remained behind.
Where do we go from here, all these people who created an alternate reality for themselves to live and dance in? Is this the end or maybe this could also be a new beginning? Do the walls define us or are we the ones who breathe life into them?
The last party lasted more than 20 hours. People did not agree to leave the place until Tal Cohen finished his closing set that started at 6 in the morning and ended at 8:00 pm (14 hours! There is a possibility that this is a record in Israel). I felt that the energy that was in the air was an energy of gratitude, gratitude for everything we went through together, for the privilege we had to experience all this, to be here when it all happened and take part. And I didn’t stop thinking about Larry Laven and Richard Long and David Mancuso.
I never believed that things happen by chance. The universe always has a plan. And in the last year I keep asking what the plan is. What is the plan for the block? What is the plan for the community? What is the plan for me? I still don’t know what will happen next, but I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot lately and I feel the inspiration coming back to me. In the last few weeks, all kinds of ideas come up, and although nothing is closed yet, all options are open. Maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board. I still don’t know what will happen next, but I think the current lesson is a lesson in letting go, and without letting go you can’t make room for something new.
To all the friends who didn’t have time to say goodbye, I apologize for not announcing an official closure and leaving it at the level of rumors, we knew how important it would be to many people and it’s clear that the money from such an event would not harm us now at all, but after the army cut us off from the station’s central air conditioning, the amount of air conditioners that remained The club does not allow to accommodate too many people without the party becoming a nightmare (and a big respect to all the dedicated partygoers who continued to come in the summer months despite everything, we had some wonderful parties these past few weeks).
To all the people who have come and hugged and strengthened and acknowledged and shared their love with me on so many nights over the years, I love you, I am happy to share that love with you.
To all my friends and girlfriends in the square, how much happiness it is to see you dancing next to me, to know that you are there, to laugh together, to be excited about a track together, to look out for each other, to take care of each other.
To all the staff that is almost entirely made up of clubbers of the block turned into employees, people who understand exactly what this house means, people whose eyes light up when the party is full of magic, when they are in the service of this thing that is bigger than all of us, I love you forever and thank you for everything you have given, I release You are out of your job at this point, but always be ready for a reading day! And that’s it, at least for now. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your club owner speaking. We are about to land back on earth. Thank you for choosing to fly in the block.
See you next step.