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Jewish Music News
New releases, the weekly chart, interviews and the stories behind the songs — for Jewish listeners around the world.
Latest stories
One More Dance: Four Writers, Two Generations and One Dance
Yonatan Razel and Shalom Lemmer joined for a song whose writing was also shared by Avraham Fried. What the credits tell.
Kol Hashir Editorial · November 4, 2026
The Diaspora Yeshiva Band: A Philadelphia Guitarist and the Mount Zion Concerts
Avraham Rosenblum arrived in Jerusalem as a young rock musician. With his yeshiva friends he founded a band whose Saturday-night performances on Mount Zion drew a wide audience.
November 4, 2026
Yossi Green: A Composer from a Satmar Home and More Than a Thousand Melodies
From "Kol Berama" of the yeshiva days in Manchester to "Tanya" and "Anavim." How a catalog of more than a thousand melodies was built, and the way songs get written.
November 4, 2026
Reb David Werdyger: From the Camps of Europe to the Recording Library of the Hasidic Courts
A cantor from Krakow who survived the Holocaust founded the Aderet company and recorded dozens of albums of the courts' melodies. The story of the man who opened a dynasty of singers.
November 4, 2026
"Am Yisrael Chai": The Call from Prague That Gave Birth to a Jewish Anthem in 1965
The phrase is far older than the song. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's familiar melody was born of a request from a student activist, two days before a rally in New York.
November 4, 2026
The Modzitz "Ani Ma'amin": A Wartime Melody and Its Open Questions
The melody most identified with Holocaust remembrance is linked to the name of Reb Azriel David Fastag. What tradition tells, and what research places in question.
November 4, 2026
Parashat Vayera: Abraham's Open Tent, and What It Teaches Our Celebrations
Abraham runs toward three guests on the hottest day. A small thought on hospitality, joy, and a melody that connects people.
November 4, 2026
The Melody of "Ma'oz Tzur": Where Did the Tune Sung with the Hanukkah Candles Come From?
When everyone sings the same tune, it is easy to forget that it has a history. Scholars have traced it to a German folk song of the 15th century, and beyond it there are other melodies.
November 4, 2026
Chayei Sara and the Shalshelet: The Rare Cantillation Mark of This Coming Shabbat
The shalshelet appears only four times in the Torah, and one of them is in the portion that will be read on November 7. How it sounds, and what the commentators saw in it.
November 4, 2026
The Andalusian Tradition of Moroccan Jewry: From Rabbi David Buzaglo to Rabbi Haim Louk
Between Mogador, Marrakesh and Ashdod ran a chain of paytanim (liturgical poets-singers). An introduction to the tradition that brought Andalusian music into the synagogue.
November 4, 2026
"A Time for Music": How a Special-Needs Summer Camp Launched a New York Concert
At the beginning stood a camp under threat of closure, and a singer who came to sing for the children. Since 1988 the annual HASC concert has been held.
November 4, 2026
Miami Boys Choir: From Florida to New York and an International Social Media Wave
Yerachmiel Begun founded a boys' choir in Miami Beach in the late 1970s. Forty-five years later, an old video brought it to an entirely new audience.
November 4, 2026
Chabad, Modzitz and Carlebach: three ways to sing a niggun
From the wordless, meditative melody to the sing-along of the shul — a short guide to the schools that shaped our music.
October 27, 2026
From North African piyut to Paris dance floors: Jewish music in France
France is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, much of it with roots in North Africa.
October 27, 2026