Name: Mizmor L'David: Psalm 23 in Hebrew by Debra Cohen MUSIC
Duration: 3 min 22 s
Description: Psalm 23 in Hebrew, contemporary arrangement, vocals, instruments, mix, and mastered by Debra Cohen, c. 2022 BMI

Psalm 23 in Hebrew, contemporary arrangement, vocals, instruments, mix, and mastered by Debra Cohen, c. 2022 BMI

Mizmor L'David

Mizmor L'David: Psalm 23 in Hebrew

Melody by Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg
Lyrics from Exodus 2:4 and 15:2
Recorded with students and faculty at Yeshivat Hadar on March 30, 2023

וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה מַה־יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ
"His sister stood at a distance to know what would become of him"

זֶה אֵ-לִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ
"This is my God and I will praise [God]"

Geulah Arikhta Nigun - R. Micha'el Rosenberg

שִׂימוּ לֵב עַל הַנְּשָׁמָה לֶשֶׁם שְׁבוֹ וְאַחְלָמָה
וְאוֹרָה כְּאוֹר הַחַמָּה שִׁבְעָתַיִם כְּאוֹר בֹּקֶר
“Take heart. Pay heed to your own soul. Opal, amethyst, and gold, 
As bright as is the sun's warm glow, far brighter than the morning.”
—“Odeh La-El” by R. Shma’ya Kosson

Simu Lev by Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project

Yoni Avi Battat - oud, violin, viola, vocals, music director, producer
Rabbi Yosef Goldman - vocals, rabbinic and literary director, producer
Joey Weisenberg - fretless electric bass, producer
Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer - vocals
Anat Halevy Hochberg - vocals
Yahala Lachmish - guest vocalist
April Centrone - guest percussionist

Produced by Rising Song Records
risingsongrecords.bandcamp.com
Recorded November, 2023 at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia, PA

Don Godwin - audio engineer, mixing, and mastering
Shmulie Lowenstein - video
Josh Fleet - production manager

A project of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating Jewish spiritual life through song: www.risingsong.org

***

Simu Lev is a collection of traditional Middle Eastern and North African piyyutim (liturgical poems), centered around the theme of our inner spiritual lives and our relationship with the divine. As stated in the above excerpt from “Odeh La-El,” the music in this album calls its listeners to nourish the neshamah, the soul, and to tend the holy and precious inner workings of the human heart and consciousness. Literally meaning “place your heart,” Simu Lev also means, “pay attention” in modern Hebrew. By curating and presenting Mizrahi cultural heritage, which has often sat at the margins of American Jewish society, this album is indeed a call to pay attention – to recognize the diversity amongst our communities, and to embrace the deeply rooted, ornate, and beautiful Arab musical traditions that are so essential to the landscape of Jewish expression at large.

This album is the first release from Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman (vocals) and Yoni Avi Battat (oud, violin, viola, vocals), Kedmah honors the artists’ Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemenite ancestry in conversation with their intersecting musical influences. Their interactive performances, workshops, and recordings allow listeners to experience the spiritual and emotional depth of Mizrahi piyyutim and the ages-old tradition of Arab melodies that adorn them. Building on the fragments of the Mizrahi musical traditions that they grew up with, Yoni and Yosef have made a concerted effort to reclaim the texts and melodies that brought meaning to the lives of their ancestors. 

After years of musical hevruta and study with their cherished teacher Roni Ishran, Yoni and Yosef founded Kedmah as a part of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute. Part educational initiative, part performance group, the social and pedagogical impact of this project is strengthened by a commitment to musical creativity, historical accuracy, spirituality, and public performance at the highest level.

This recording features the Rising Song Institute’s founder and artistic director, Joey Weisenberg, on electric fretless bass along with Arabic percussion expert, April Centrone, on darbuka, riq, bendir, and drum kit. Yahala Lachmish, Anat Halevy Hochberg, and Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer contribute stunning vocal performances inspired by their own personal connection to this music and their Yemenite and Libyan ancestry.

Yedid Nefesh ידיד נפש

Adon Olam אדון עולם

Y'did Nefesh

Mizmor L'David v1

A 17th century song with words taken from Psalm 137. It was arranged by Lee Hays of The Weavers in the 1940's into a lush round.

Composed by Philip Hayes in 1786, arranged by Lee Hays of The Weavers and Don McLean. Public domain.

Waters Of Babylon

Perl Wolfe - Lead Vocals/Piano, Dalia G. Shusterman - Drums/Vocals, Richard Wolfe - Viola

Recorded at The Space/The Creamery Studio - Brooklyn, NY
Engineered by Howard Feibusch/Quinn McCarthy
Mixed by Damon Whittemore of ValveTone
Mastered by Fred Kevorkian
Produced by Howard Feibusch and Bulletproof Stockings
Music and Lyrics by Perl Wolfe

LYRICS
Feels like I'm on the edge
I dip my toe in just to test
The waters steep
Think I'll try again

And I know 
I've gotta let go
And loosen up my imagined hold
It resonates here
Within my soul

Am I too late
I'm telling you I'ma make mistakes
And that's a risk that I don't wanna take

It's never too late
Please accept that you'll make mistakes
Perfection is not to be attained

All that night I waited on the edge of time
So anxious for you I did not heed the warning signs
Had you come through I'd have followed you
And you'd have led
Figured defeat so I broke down and cried instead

I want to live where even the darkness shines
I want to live where even the darkness shines
Want to breathe where even the darkness shines
Said I wanna live 
I wanna live

My dear the time has come
Hold my hand while you make the jump
And have no fear it's in my control
It was never yours at all

Now I see it's all in trust
I know you'll shower me with love
I've gotta dive in to fly
And soar just like a dove

The Edge

Jeffrey May - guitar
Cameron Wallis - clarinet
François Boucher - violin

Recorded in 2011

Recorded and mixed by Eli Krantzberg

Trio Music - 2011

Yismichu

Origin:
Melody by Deborah Sacks Mintz, originally written with verses from Job 28, often included in Sephardi Slichot
This is a recording from NSP's Yom Kippur Community Singing Session in 2019

Singing Team - YK Melodies

Makom Bina Nigun - Deborah Sacks Mintz

Folk-Punk-Rock/Soul singer-songwriter and Cantorial Soloist Interfaith music.
https://debracohenmusic.com  MERCH on Amazon & Red Bubble! 
Book outline Israeli-Palestinian conflict: DebraCohenbooks.org

Mizmor L'David: Psalm 23 in Hebrew

Debra Cohen MUSIC

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