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.

Odeh La-El אודה לאל

Hadar's Rising Song Institute cultivates Jewish spiritual life through song. Through Rising Song Records we produce excellent original Jewish music that is sung and played in communities worldwide.