IN PURSUIT (2017)

In Pursuit was the culmination of many years’ dreaming and crafting a new vision of Jewish music. I wanted to hear Jewish music that reflected the ‘90s rock sensibility that I grew up with, but using a thoughtful and informed understanding of the text.

“Shalom Rav” - Many settings of this prayer for peace focus or reflect a feeling of peace. But I felt that peace was sometimes a struggle, something we wrestled with and fought for.

“These Things Will Happen” - A colleague of mine passed away quite young, leaving behind a toddler and a husband. In the middle of a text study on Ecclesiastes, I was struck by the unfairness of the universe and the sheer heartlessness of the text that says: “To everything there is a season.” I wrote this song to work through my emotions, and in that same text I found a response: “V’laasot tov b’chayav”, which I interpret to say “Therefore do good with your life.” We don’t know what’s to come, so let’s try to be the best people we can be.

“Hashkiveinu” - We sing this prayer for protection every night, but most settings written for services focus on the nice parts and omit the list of terrors and struggles that the prayer asks for protection from. I felt there was no better genre than rock to properly express the totality of the emotional arc in the prayer.