This New Hanukkah Song Is a Light in the Darkness
The FC Band, which features teens with and without disabilities, brings us the catchy “Get Lit.”
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What Language Does the Sea Speak? Yiddish in Tel Aviv (English Subtitles)
The translator of the Tanakh into modern Yiddish, the poet Yehoash (Shlomo Blumgarten), came to the land of Israel from New York in 1914 and settled in Rehovoth. He wanted to live in the ancestral land, and being ill with tuberculosis, he wanted to get away from the big city and live in a healthier […]
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9 to 5 in Yiddish! (Lea K & Rabbi T feat. Danny T) – Ellen Cassedy translation
Did you know that Dolly Parton’s song 9 to 5 was inspired by 9 to 5, a workplace feminist movement? In 1973 Ellen Cassedy founded the organization with the aim of bringing about fair pay and equal treatment for women in the workplace. 9 to 5 is so much more than a toe-tapping song! So, […]
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Stav Festival to fuse Israeli art, stage and musical performances
The Israeli Artists Project is holding the Stav Festival, named after the Hebrew word for “fall,” from Sept. 28 through Oct. 29 in New York City. With participation from 100-plus Israeli artists, the program offers a mix of theatrical plays, live music performances, an art exhibit, children’s activities and interactive workshops. “It is strategically timed around the Jewish […]
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Chassidic singer ‘Dedi’ Graucher dies at age 62
After years fighting a serious illness, Oded Dovid (“Dedi”) Graucher died in Jerusalem on Sept. 11. Graucher rose to prominence following the release of his second album, 1993’s “Ratza” with its epic title track making him famous in the world of Jewish music. He would record six more albums through 2003, followed by singles in 2008 and […]
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A gut yor (sung by Joseph Feldman)
Also transcribed as A git yuhr zu alle leite, A gut masoldig yohr, A gut maseldig yohr, this song by David Meyerowitz is suitable for Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays. The chorus repeats four times and anybody can sing it! There’s another verse, you can find it at my blog http://yiddishpennysongs.com
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Holocaust-memory program centers on World War II-era musical instruments
After World War II, Palestine Symphony Orchestra musicians who wanted nothing to do with their German-made instruments offered Moshe Weinstein an ultimatum. Weinstein had trained as a violinist and violin maker in Vilnius, then part of Poland, and moved in 1938 to Mandatory Palestine, where he opened a violin shop. The musicians told him of […]
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Band places impressive song in impressive Hanukkah film
The latest entry to the ever-growing musical category of “modern Hanukkah songs” has arrived. Distant Cousins—the popular Los Angeles-based band featuring former Blue Fringe frontman Dov Rosenblatt, Moshav’s Duvid Swirsky and singer-songwriter Ami Kozak—has a new song, “My Eight Favorite Nights,” which appears in the Hallmark Channel film “Hanukkah on Rye,” which aired Dec. 18 and can […]
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Matisyahu: ‘I’m definitely gonna win a Grammy’
They say that children make you young and Matisyahu, whose real name is Matthew Miller, celebrated the birth of his sixth child, Judah Mac Miller, 11 months ago, partly named after fellow Jewish rapper Mac Miller, who died in 2018. Matisyahu’s 2006 studio album “Youth” was nominated for a Grammy. The singer since got divorced […]
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