לידער מיט פאלעסטינע \ Lider mit Palestine

The Hamas terror attack on 10/7/2023 killed over 1200 people; about another 250 were taken hostage. It was the worst terror attack on Jews since the Holocaust. The Israeli response left Gaza in ruins. Some 90% of buildings are damaged or destroyed. As I type this, over 70,000 people have been killed. Although a "cease fire" has slowed the killing, the death toll continues to mount. In the six months or so since that cease fire was declared, Netanyahu remains head of the Israeli government. Hamas remains in control of Gaza. As near as I can tell, no useful talks are taking place, nor is Gaza being rebuilt. No talks involving actual Palestinian representatives for a Palestinian future appear to be taking place. People continue to camp out in the ruins. The situation remains dire.

This is evil and it is unsustainable. We must speak out, and continue to act. In this recording, organized by Josh Waletzky, Joe Dobkin, and Isabel Frey, many Yiddish musicians go on the record with a searing indictment of the current destruction and cry for a path to peace. It is fitting that such a collection be made in Yiddish, which has become more than a link to the culture of Eastern European Jews, but also a haven for those who wish to shake the Jewish world awake—the language of "alt.jewish", as it were.

One characteristic of such recordings is the opportunity they afford to not just to hear from a wonderfully diverse set of perspectives, but wonderfully diverse types of music. Several times in listening I was minded of a statement made by organizer Dove Kent about how, if you agreed with everyone in your coalition, it was probably too small to effect change or to make a difference. The same probably applies to this panoply of music styles, a testament to the diversity of ways that music is being made in the Yiddish music community. It's not just klezmer any more. (Possibly why we have "Yiddish New York," not "Klezmer New York.") And, of course, there are a panoply of perspectives in the music.

The recording opens with an a capella dirge by Ruby Poltorak set to a Hassidic tune (in turn based on a Hungarian folk melody). It cuts to the heart of the reason this recording was needed—needless death and sines khinem (baseless hatred). Another voice from the Boston Workers Circle, Linda Gritz contributes a plea for there to be a "generation that lost its fear." Other familiar voices include Josh Waletzky and Michael Alpert. Daniel Kahn contributes "got-bruder" from his own most-recent recording, UMRU. Relative newcomers to the Yiddish music scene such as Jordan Wax and Adah Hetko (part of the amazing new band, Levyosn); Maia Brown (Brivele) and Noam Lerman meld folk and chant in ways that demand attention to what they are saying/singing. Singers Isabel Frey, Esther Wratschko, & Benjy Fox-Rosen repurpose the melody, "Hatikvah" (already repurposed from earlier folk melodies) in "goles-himen".

Like Ruby's opening "Dirge," several songs address themselves directly to the destruction, such as Weaver's "On the shore of the Mediterranean" or Zackary Sholem Berger's "Not." Rosza daniel lang/levitsky's "a tkhine far di yorn fun sirenes, fun bruklin tsu khan yunis" adds a metallic accompaniment in keeping with the soundscape of Gaza. In total, the songs bear witness to destruction, and also for a future in which people will live in peace. But, for now, it is the destruction that needs witness and amplification.

Purchase of this recording doesn't just open a window to a diversity of Yiddish music. It provides funding to "Gaza Birds Singing," (https://songsfromtherubble.com/) a music therapy and education project bourn out of relentless displacement and destruction to support and nurture the children of Gaza. There are numerous similar organizations that also want your support—ask in your local community for ones that can be vouched for and fit your heart. Some of the artists on this recording also participated in a fundraiser for the Gaza Children's Village (https://thegazachildrenvillage.org/) in March 2026.

If there is to be peace, we need Jews and Palestinians talking to each other and working together. Two small organizations that seem to matter are "Standing Together" (https://www.standing-together.org/en) which has been a rare voice of attempted coorperation, and Parents Circle (https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/homepage-en/), the subject of the book Apeirogon by Colum McCann. A recent book, "The Future is Peace," by Aziz abu Sarah and Maoz Inon, co-founders of InterAct International (https://www.iinteract.org/) has been very inspiring to me. In the meantime, this recording addresses the needs of people urgently in need. Please support that effort.

Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 30-April 2026 .

Performers/Songlist

1. Ruby Poltorak: kloglid—Dirge (words: Ruby Poltorak; tune after "sol a kokosh mar," Hasidic song based on Hungarian folk song) 3:52
2. Weaver: afn breg funem yam hagodl—On the Shore of the Mediterranean (words & music: Weaver) 4:25
3. Esther Gottesman: nisht—Not (words: Zackary Sholem Berger; tune: Josh Waletsky) 3:45
4. Jordan Wax: keler fun ash—Voices of Ash (words & music: Jordan Wax) 3:59
5. Noam Lerman: fargisn blut—Spilled Blood (words: newly discovered tkhine mourning a pogrom, pub. 1916; music: Noam Lerman) 3:12
6. Josh Waletzky: a shtik fun harts—A Piece of My Heart (words: Josh Waletzky; music: Michael Winograd/Josh Waletzky) 2:59
7. rosza daniel lang/levitsky: a tkhine far di yorn fun sirenes, fun bruklin tsu khan yunis—A Tkhine for the Years of Sirens, from Brooklyn to Khan Yunis (words: assembled/adapted by rosza daniel lang/levitsky from text in a new Sh"s tkhine; music: rosza daniel lang/levitsky) 2:31
8. Michael Alpert: khorbn aze—The Devastation of Gaza (text: Michael Alpert; music: trad/Alpert) 6:13
9. Linda Gritz: a dor vos hot farloyrn di moyre—A Generation That Lost Its Fear (words & music: Linda Griz; words revised 2024 w/help from Josh Waletzky; music arr 2024: Sam Basch) 2:53
10. Maia Brown & Noam Lerman: mir muzn farhitn dem genotsid—We Must Interrupt Genocide (words: excerpted from statement by Yiddishists w/Palestine, 17-Oct, 2023; music: Maia Brown & Noam Lerman) 2:01
11. Isabel Frey, Esther Wratschko & Benjy Fox-Rosen: goles-himen—Diaspora Hymn (words: Isabel Frey, w/Josh Waletzky, Adah Hetko, Tal Hever-Chybowski; music: Israeli National Anthem, "Hatikva"; arr: Lenny Melekh) 2:32
12. Daniel Kahn: got-bruder—Godbrother (words & music: Daniel Kahn, based on "Godbrother" from Kahn's 2013 album, "Bad Old Songs") 2:59
13. Joe Dobkin: falndike vent—Falling Walls (words: Joe Dobkin; music: adapted by Dobkin from 1889 labor anthem, "in kami", composer unknown) 6:15
14. Adah Hetko: zoymen—Seeds (words & music: Adah Hetko) 4:25
15. Éléonore Weill: me fargest aykh nisht—You Are Not Forgotten (words & music: Éléonore Weill) 3:53
16. Levoneh: lekhayim—To Life) 3:38
17. Ariel Shapiro: a tsebrokhn harts / zolst shtarkn—A Broken Heart / May You Strengthen (words & music: Levoneh) 5:55

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