Eyal Golan, the biggest name in Israeli Mizrahi pop, a man who has filled stadiums for decades, posted a personal video message last Friday that no one expected. He was observing Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat, the Shabbat immediately before Passover. And he asked his fans to join him.

“I also want to observe the upcoming Shabbat, to get closer to my children, to draw closer to faith, and to strengthen the people,” Golan said in the video.

Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat, falls on the 10th of Nisan, as the Shabbat preceding Passover. It was on that day that the Israelites were commanded to take a lamb into their homes, an act of open defiance against Egypt’s gods. The Egyptians, for whom the lamb was a deity, gnashed their teeth in rage but could not utter a sound in protest. The Sages taught that this miracle is the very reason the Shabbat bears its name: gadol, great. This was the moment a nation of slaves became a people with a mission. The haftarah read on Shabbat HaGadol is from the prophet Malachi, who declared: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Malachi 3:23). The day of redemption past and the day of redemption yet to come are bound together on this single Shabbat.

Golan said the shift in his life “came from the soul.” He pointed to his children as the catalyst. His daughter, Alin, has grown more observant over the past two years. His son, Liam, recently chose to observe the two Shabbatot preceding Passover. “You probably know that Alin has been very close to religion for the past two years, and last week my son Liam decided to observe the two Shabbatot before Passover,” Golan said. “I also want to observe the upcoming Shabbat, to get closer to my children, to draw closer to faith, and to strengthen the people.”

He then turned directly to his audience and framed the message in the language of national destiny: “Come and observe as well, so that we will be united and strong, so that we reach the great victory. Everyone should make an effort, even the smallest effort possible, this Shabbat.”

The Sages teach that the two Shabbatot with the greatest power to bring redemption are Shabbat HaGadol and Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as one carries the secret of the Exodus, the other the power of repentance.

Golan closed his message with a pledge: “I promise you we will see lights and miracles. I love you all, may you have a peaceful, blessed, and quiet Shabbat.” He asked fans to save his music for motzei Shabbat, after Shabbat ends.

Golan has long been a dominant force in Israeli music and a polarizing cultural figure. His announcement reached millions. When a man of that reach looks at his children drawing closer to their faith and decides he wants to walk toward them, something is moving in the Israeli street that no pollster is measuring. Israel is in the middle of a war, and Jewish Israelis are strengthening themselves in faith.