Song of Songs / שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים : Uncovering Holiness & Beauty Hidden in Plain Sight
The following was written by Rabbi Noa Kushner & Hazzan Asher Shasho Levy as an introduction to the attendees of Song of Songs / שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים : Uncovering Holiness and Beauty Hidden in Plain Sight —The Kitchen’s 2nd Annual International Shabbat, Concert and Conference — A complete shabbat, concert and conference celebrating the splendor and glory of our Sepharadi and Ashkenazi traditions, cultivating all Jewish community members who joyfully sustain and cherish our tradition.
Though it has past, you can learn more about the weekend, here.
The Story
A few years ago, the Kitchen started offering a beautiful shabbat with tefillot that not only drew from Ashkenazi and American sources, but we also began to rely on the vast traditions of the Sepharadi world — melodies and liturgy originating from places like Syria, Morocco, Turkey and Uzbekistan. After creating a combined Sepharadi and Ashkenazi nusah, one of the first in the US to do so, and seeing how our custom took such a strong hold in our community, and beyond, we created our own siddur, so that our melodies were supported by the lasting words of the tradition.
At the same time, we knew we were not the only ones who wanted Sepharadi traditions to live in the hearts of all who wanted to cherish them. And so, we started actively looking for our peers, the leaders and communities who were doing the same.
We started building a map of skilled leaders — academics, rabbis, hazzanim, artists and others — anyone anywhere around the world who was teaching Sepharadi tradition, or Sepharadi / Ashkenazi tradition with distinction, and offering it to communities where women Jews and LGBTQ Jews are honored as teachers, leaders and participants.
With dedicated research and God’s help, we now hold a list of 150 such leaders from places such as: Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Sydney, Jerusalem, Istanbul, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, among many others.
Attempting to bring these teachers, leaders and artists together in person was the inevitable next step. In piloting a shabbat and conference for 25 leaders in the spring of 5785 / 2025, we found we were just scratching the surface. As soon as our shabbat and conference ended last year, it was clear there needed to be another. To that end, in 5786 we increased our efforts — seeking out and speaking with all the dedicated leaders that we could find in this newly developing field.
We are overjoyed to present Song of Songs: Uncovering Holiness and Beauty Hidden in Plain Sight — a shabbat, concert, and conference, a historic gathering. We invite our treasured Kitchen community, as well as the broader Jewish community of the Bay Area, the United States, and beyond, to take part in this moment. We hope that all for whom these new/old combinations resonate will join us and contribute to our sincere efforts.
Our theme for 5786
Anyone who has been to Israel knows the experience of hearing a piyyut in the synagogue and then hearing another version of that same melody played by a street musician, and then, maybe hearing an electronic version in the market, and then, maybe again, from a car radio passing by, this time with a strong bass line.
Jewish Americans don’t have this experience. Our prayer music typically stays in one realm, while our popular music stays in another. Many Jews don’t realize that many of the melodies used for piyyutim or tefillah were not purposely written for religious use.
They come to us from the musical cultures that Jewish communities around the world participated in, lived amongst, and helped shape: Ottoman classical music, Maghrebi Andalusi nuba, Syrian muwashahat, Iraqi maqam, Egyptian film music, Israeli Mizrahi pop music, etc. There has always been a give and take between what was happening in the synagogue and the surrounding musical culture.
For our shabbat and days together, we wanted to focus on this “conversation” between the synagogue and the concert — melodies living between the stark divide of the religious and the secular.
This is why (with great restraint given the many giants in the room!) the tefillot over this shabbat will remain close to the shabbat tefillot we enjoy every week, with few changes. And then, Saturday night at Alcazar, we will see these same musical traditions living expansively in the hands of our skilled artists, with all the range, freedom, and permission that artists can bring.
Finally, on Sunday, at our conference, the rabbis, hazzanim, leaders, artists and academics will be discussing the many examples and implications of this “conversation” in sessions throughout the day including: The Centrality of the synagogue in the Sepharadi world, Sepharadi Egalitarian Tefillah in Living Communities, and Sepharadi liturgy and musical culture: the symbiosis of religion and culture, artistic modes and their implications for religious use.
Whether you are a Kitchen member, a guest visiting us from around the Bay Area, or one of our honored faculty from across the globe, we welcome you into these experiences and this conversation and are overjoyed to spend this shabbat and few days together.
Kitchen Paytanim for Shabbat Tefillot & Honored Guests
Noa Kushner, Rabbi
Asher Shasho Levy, Hazzan
Faisal Zedan, Percussionist
Aaron Danzig, Violin
Molly Seltzer, Vocals
Naomi Bardach, Vocals
Craig Sakowitz, Vocals
Jesse Kass, Vocals
Yosef Goldman, Senior Rabbinic Fellow in Sepharadi & Ashkenazi Hazzanut
Hillel Tigay, Guest Hazzan
Neta Elkayam, Guest Paytanit, Kabbalat Shabbat
Yair Dalal, Guest Paytan, Shabbat Morning
Rabbi Roly Matalon, Guest Darshan Shabbat Morning
Honored Visiting Guests
Liliana Benveniste – Centro Cultural Sefarad – Buenos Aires
Ottoman Ladino Tradition
Osnat Bensoussan – Degel Yehuda, Teacher & Hazzanit – Jerusalem
Moroccan Tradition
Dr. Sarah Bunin Benor – HUC Jewish Language Project – Los Angeles
Daniel Cayre – Kanisse, Mahzor Zemirot HaMizrah – NYC
Syrian Tradition
Hila Cohen Cesla – Degel Yehuda, Teacher & Ba’alat Keria'a – Jerusalem
Syrian/Yerushalmi Tradition
Heftsi Cohen-Montagu – Degel Yehuda & Arevot – Jerusalem
Moroccan Tradition
Yair Dalal – Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist – Jaffa
Iraqi Tradition
Dr. Galeet Dardashti – Scholar, Musician & Hazzanit – NYC
Persian Tradition
Neta Elkayam – Artist & Musician – New Orleans
Moroccan Tradition
Bettina Fainstein – Indie City, Director – Jerusalem
Rabbi Yosef Goldman – Kedmah, HUC – NYC
Syrian & Yemenite Traditions
Amit Hai Cohen – Artist & Filmmaker – New Orleans
Moroccan Tradition
Shir Ifrah– Paytanit – Jerusalem
Moroccan Tradition
Dr. Mark Kligman – Mickey Katz Chair in Jewish Music, UCLA – Los Angeles
Dr. Ariel Lazarus – Composer & Musical Director, Israeli Ladino Orchestra
Sepharadi Music Scholar, Salti Institute, Bar-Ilan University
Gibraltar & North Africa Haketía/Spanish & Portuguese/ Ottoman Ladino traditions
Rabbi Dr. Candice Levy – Professor, AJU – Los Angeles
Moroccan Tradition
Rabbi Roly Matalon – B’nai Jeshurun, Piyut North America – NYC
Syrian Tradition
Tamia Menez B’Chiri – The Hineni Collective – Paris
Tunisian Tradition
Isaac Montagu – Kolot HaKahal, SOAS University of London, Sidduré Or – London
Spanish & Portuguese/Western Sephardic Tradition
Simon Montagu-Cohen – Degel Yehuda Jerusalem – Jerusalem
Spanish & Portuguese/Western Sephardic Tradition
Dr. Devin Naar – University of Washington Seattle – Seattle
Ottoman Ladino Tradition
Rabbi Nissimmi Naim Naor – Siah Yitzhak Congregation, Chef, Educator – Jerusalem
Tripolitanian Libyan Tradition
Alan Niku – The Dreamy Kalimi, HUC Jewish Language Project –
Persian & Kurdish traditions
Ally Setton – Educator, Shelichat Tzibbur – NYC
Syrian Tradition
Ruben Shimonov – Sephardic-Mizrahi Q Network, American Sephardi Federation – Detroit
Bukharian tradition
Eliyahu Sills – Multi instrumentalist – San Francisco
Dror Sinai – Percussionist & Educator – Santa Cruz
Yemenite Tradition
Hillel Tigay – Hazzan, IKAR – Los Angeles
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas – Asefa, New York Andalus Ensemble, CUNY Ethnomusicology & Sephardic Studies – NYC
Moroccan Tradition / MENA Traditions
Aharon Varady – Open Siddur Project – Cincinnati
Faisal Zedan – Percussionist & Educator – San Francisco
Conference Sponsors
This extraordinary weekend is made possible by the generosity of our donors. Thank you to the Kitchen-ites and organizations who have donated.
The Brandeis School of San Francisco
The Covenant Foundation
Maude Dull
Rabbi Ed Feinstein
Anne Germanacos
Jewish Community High School of the Bay
Jewish Community Library
Kaitlyn & Mike Kreiger
Rabbi Jay & Donna Shasho Levy
Chelsea Eng & Roger M Low
Larry Mathews & Brian Saliman
Stacey & Joe Schliffer