When we set out in January 2018 to write our first song together, we didn’t know that an album would later follow. We were feeling inspired by our newfound spiritual community, Nava Tehila, whose original music and approach to prayer have become an important part of our Jewish practice. As we taught “Berov Ḥasdekha” to friends and teachers in Jerusalem over Shabbat meals, we experienced, for the first time, the joy that comes from sharing our music with those we love. Not long after that, we went for a hike in Sataf Forest. Following a picnic lunch of goat cheese and laffa overlooking the Jerusalem hills, Yoni picked up his guitar and played a song for Leah. As she listened, Leah recognized her own words from a poem she had written for Yoni on a whim, five or six years ago. The proposal was romantic, emotional, and transcendent. “A Song for Each Other” serves as a beautiful souvenir from that moment.

Planning our wedding opened up a microcosm of choices in how to simultaneously honor tradition and celebrate the progress of liberal Judaism. The remaining songs on the album aim to capture both sides of this paradox, and also to highlight the many sounds of Jewish culture. “Kol Sasson” uses the musical framework of Mizraḥi and Arabic music and pulls words from the seven blessings that are said under the ḥupah. “Kaleh’s Tish” is a new, chasidic-inspired nigun that we named for a traditional, yet egalitarian part of our wedding. We hope it will get lost in the sea of nigunim that are sung to increase joy at celebrations, both large and small.

We share this music with you to send you off with the sound of joy, kol sasson, still in your ears and in your hearts. We hope you will share it widely, and perhaps our music will become a part of someone else’s simḥa one day.

Thank you to A2 Studios (AKA Ari and Ali), Temple Sinai, and Michael and Abby, for helping to make this homegrown project come to life. And thank you to friends and family, for bearing witness to who we are as a couple now and being along for the ride to see who we will become.

With love,
Leah and Yoni