Kedmah in Concert

Rabbi Yosef Goldman and Yoni Avi Battat share an exciting evening of Mizrahi music from Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project! We’ll make Havdalah together and then dive into a rich offering of sacred music and poetry from the world of Middle Eastern Jewry.

Kedmah excavates the power and beauty of Mizrahi Jewish expression through ancient sacred poetry and song known as piyyut. Their debut album, Simu Lev (Rising Song Records), was released in April 2024, and their public performances have been met with acclaim including their debut at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and a sold-out concert at The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage in Washington, DC. Part musical ensemble, part educational initiative, their interactive concerts and workshops in schools, synagogues, concert halls, and universities introduce diverse audiences to the rich history and heritage of Middle Eastern Jews, fostering a deeper appreciation for the diversity of Jewish heritage and adds nuance to dichotomies of Jew and Arab, offering a fresh lens on the cultural overlaps of Jews with their neighbors in Arab lands.

Listen to Simu Lev by Kedmah:

https://kedmah.bandcamp.com/album/simu-lev

Watch Adon Olam by Kedmah:

Rabbi Yosef Goldman is a leading facilitator, educator, and practitioner of Jewish communal music. As a composer, performer, and ritual artist, Yosef weaves together ancient devotional music from both his Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage, as well as contemporary American and Israeli Jewish sacred music, to foster healing, connection, and social change. He has released two acclaimed albums of his own compositions on Rising Song Records —Open My Heart (2019) and Abitah (2023)—and his songs are sung in camps and communities across the US and Israel. Since its founding, Yosef has served as senior advisor to Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, which cultivates Jewish spiritual life through song. His latest project is Kedmah, an ensemble of Mizrahi piyyut and sacred music using ancient poetry and song to excavate the power and beauty of the spiritual and artistic expression of Jews from Arab lands.

Yosef received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2013, with a concentration in pastoral care and counseling, and was awarded a Master of Sacred Music degree. Yosef lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife, Rabbi Annie Lewis, and their two children.

Listen to R. Yosef’s latest album:

https://yosefgoldman.bandcamp.com/album/abitah

Yoni Avi Battat (he/him) is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer specializing in contemporary and traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Yoni’s Judaism is deeply rooted in both his Iraqi and Polish ancestry, and especially the rich musical traditions that come from these cultures. He delights in sharing traditional melodies alongside his own original music, inspired and informed by the Ashkenazi and Mizrahi music of generations past. From 2021-2022, Yoni was a part of Hadar’s Rising Song Fellowship, where he joined an international cohort of Jewish musical leaders envisioning new ways to cultivate spiritual life through song. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yoni was named the first ever Community Creative Fellow, an initiative by the Jewish Arts Collaborative and CJP in Boston, which enabled the development of his debut solo album, . As a member of the Nava Tehila community in Jerusalem, and then subsequently on tour as their violinist, Yoni has witnessed again and again how communal singing can powerfully transform community and foster spiritual connection.

Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley is joyful, participatory Judaism. We sing, learn, laugh, and pray together, and celebrate our varied backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We connect with Jewish values and traditions as we strive to create a more just future for ourselves, our children, and our world. To learn more about Congregation Beth El, visit bethelsudbury.org.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Congregation Beth El, 105 Hudson Road, Sudbury, United States