Those who sew

ilu finu

Lo Yisa Goy - by Isaiah 2:4

Lo yisa goy el goy cherev, Lo yil'm'du od milchama

Nation Shall Not Lift up Sword against nation, nor shall they ever again know war. 

Recorded by IfNotNow Boston Summer 2016.

Lo Yisa Goy

Aish Tamid - melody by Shefa Gold (Remix with Which Side are you On)
Which side are you on - by Florence Reece- activist and organizer, a poet and songwriter- in 1931.  It was intended specifically as a song to be sung by the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky.  It was revived during the Civil Rights movement, with verses changed and updated to fit the times. 

Aish tamid tukad al hamizbayach; lo tichbeh
Fire always shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out. (Leviticus 6:6)

Which Side are you On? Which Side are you On my people?
Recorded by IfNotNow Boston Summer 2016

Aish Tamid

Why, why worry when you can _____
Pray to/for the most high
Pray to/for the mothers and the fathers
Pray to/for the most high
Pray for them to watch over
Why, why worry when you can ____

Why Why Worry

When the world is sick, can't no one be well
But i dreamt we was all beautiful and strong

from God Bless Our Dead Marines by Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band

recording produced by Shir Yaakov Feit. 

musicians: 
Elana Brody, Arielle Solomon, Rachel Cohn, Talya Goldberg, Tadea Klein, Yaeli Bronstein, Brooke Palatt, Craig Auerbacher, Margot Seigle, Brian Dolphin, Shir Yaakov Feit

Release Outtakes

When The World Is Sick

by Aly Halpert

chorus and bridge from an Arundhati Roy quote.

recorded by Aly Halpert (voice & guitar) & Margot Seigle (backup vocie)
November 9th, 2016

lyrics:
the policemen have thrown away their guns
they kiss their sons and their daughters and their souls are at peace
no more black boys black girls trans women dying
no more reasons that could ever justify their loss 
and mothers send their teens out at night 
to breathe the sweet summer air and exhale on the ground
the earth was made for them
the earth is made for them
she is on her way
and no one can be silent anymore
every death is a death that my family mourns 
we've traded in our numbness and all of our fear
to fight for the lives we now hold dear
and everyone has come to greet the reckoning
the place where our hearts got smaller and smaller 
now grows to hold the pain
the brokenness that leads to pain
she is on her way
another world's not only possible
on a quiet day I can hear her breathing
and when the world we're dreaming is ours
we'll be tall inside
there will be no more question
as we pray and sing
that we have each other and what that means
we'll finally get to be together
stare with our hearts at what has been
and find some place of home
she is on her way"

She is On Her Way

recorded by Batya Levine & Noam Lerman
November 9, 2016

Noam Lerman learned this song during a morning water ceremony that took place at standing rock reservation when they were there during sukkot. It was taught by someone named Lia.

Water Heal My Soul

by Batya Levine with creative collaboration from Noam Lerman

recorded by Batya Levine & Noam Lerman
November 13, 2016

We Rise

I Will Stay With You

Chabad nigun named after it's author, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn who was also known as the "Tzemach Tzedek," which means "sprout of justice."

Tzemach Tzedek Nigun

Healing Song by Kestrel Feiner-Homer

IfNotNow is a movement led by young Jews to transform our American Jewish community’s support for the occupation into a call for freedom and dignity for all. Learn more about the songs we sing in our movement here: http://bit.ly/2mIZUks
>on singing songs from other movements of today and from the past:
We are lucky to have the songs of our own Jewish traditions -- they are for us to sing.  Some of us have ancestors who have been deeply involved in movements across the world for social change for generations, both as those directly affected and as allies.  We are also singing their songs. 
And.
We recognize that this can easily turn into cultural appropropriation, particularly when we do not have direct links. So, before we sing a song we have a practice of honoring where it comes from: we share the movement, the struggle, or the people who birthed this music. Singing these songs is one way of acknowledging that we’re in a long line of movements for justice. 
We continue to create new movement songs. We write new lyrics. We get inspired by old text- Jewish and non-Jewish.  We do not simply translate movement songs into Hebrew in order to connect with them. One possibility instead is to incorporate Jewish text with similar themes and vision. 
From the beginning, IfNotNow leaders have been building relationships with leaders from Cosecha, BlackLivesMatter, The Dream Defenders, and other movements through the Momentum Community where we have been creating and sharing our songs with each other. Diversity keeps our movements strong and interconnected. We understand this as an ecological system of access, ancestries, struggles and strategies for resistance. Song is part of the way we arrive in interdependent relationship. We are building a culture that is accountable, compassionate -- and vibrant as all hell. Please honor the history of each song -- learn it, share it. 
We will lift each other up.