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edited 2/25/26
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One Night. One Stage.
A Night of Jewish Music — Live in Concert
Monday, May 4, 2026 · Lag B’Omer
Music That Sustains Us — נשמת כל חי
Lag B’Omer — A Night Made for Music
Lag B’Omer has long been associated with song, gathering, and celebration — a bright pause within the counting of the Omer. Traditionally marked with music and communal joy, it offers a natural moment to come together in shared voice.
On this night, we gather in the sanctuary of Temple Hillel B’nai Torah for collaborative Jewish music — music that sustains us.
Featured Artists
Aly Halpert
Aly Halpert (she/her) is a queer Jewish musician, educator, and activist based in Philadelphia. A singer, pianist, drummer, and guitarist, Aly writes songs that build community and imagine new worlds. Known within the HBT community for leading Shabbat Shira — and for the melodies of hers that have become part of our shared song — Aly brings music that invites collective voice and vision.
Batya Levine
Batya Levine (they/them) is a communal song leader, musician, and shaliach tzibur whose work centers the healing and liberatory power of Jewish song. Co-Founder and Co-Director of Let My People Sing, Batya composes music rooted in Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah.
Many of Batya’s melodies are already woven into the musical life of HBT — songs we sing together in our sanctuary, without performance or pretense.
Levyosn
Founded in 2021, Levyosn is a Boston-based ensemble specializing in Yiddish song and klezmer. Blending traditional repertoire with original compositions in Yiddish, Hebrew, English, and Hungarian, the group is known for intricate arrangements, rich vocal harmonies, and immersive, participatory performances.
Levyosn is known to the HBT community through their Sukkot performance at the temple, supported by CJP’s Arts and Culture Community Impact Grant — an evening that brought Yiddish song and communal joy into our shared space.
Adah Hetko
Yiddish singer, songwriter, and dance leader active in the international Yiddish cultural world. With deep training in Yiddish language and song, Adah brings both scholarship and spirit to communal music-making.
Lysander Jaffe
Vocalist, violinist, and community music leader. Co-artistic director of Palaver Strings and longtime educator with Village Harmony, Lysander builds connection through collaborative sound.
Lexi Ugelow
Vocalist, songwriter, and expressive arts facilitator devoted to intergenerational community singing. Lexi’s work blends folk traditions with a commitment to shared musical exploration.
Raffi Boden
NYC-based cellist, composer, and improviser who has performed internationally and brings classical precision and creative depth to collaborative Jewish music.
Richie Barshay
Richie Barshay is an internationally acclaimed percussionist whose work spans jazz, world music, and Jewish musical traditions. A longtime collaborator of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, and The Klezmatics, Richie has performed on five continents and appears on more than 100 recordings.
Based in Massachusetts and New York, he brings global rhythmic depth and musical imagination to every stage he steps onto.
What To Expect
This Lag B’Omer evening centers on a full live concert in the sanctuary, bringing these artists together on one stage.
As the program takes shape, we will share more about the flow of the night. What is certain: this will be a collaborative musical gathering rooted in shared voice and presence.
Why This Matters
Temple Hillel B’nai Torah is sustained by those who come together — in prayer, in learning, in justice, in care, and in celebration.
Music is not separate from that life. It carries our worship. It deepens our study. It strengthens our activism. It binds us across generations. When we gather in song, we gather as a community.
This evening supports the full arc of Jewish life at HBT — our sanctuary and school, our social justice work, our pastoral care, and the programs that make belonging real.
What we choose to show up for and and how we choose to support it, shapes what HBT becomes.
VERSION 1: Music as the Gateway (Focused but Expansive)
This evening serves as HBT’s major annual fundraiser, sustaining the full life of our congregation and reflects something essential about HBT: we are one community with many entry points.
Some come through worship.
Some through learning.
Some through justice work.
Some through school, committees, or friendship.
And many through music.
Music is one of the ways we gather — but it is not separate from the rest. It carries our prayer, deepens our relationships, and strengthens our shared responsibility to one another.
Funds raised through this concert sustain the full life of Temple Hillel B’nai Torah — our sanctuary and school, our social justice work, our pastoral care, and the many ways people find belonging here.
When we invest in this night, we invest in the community we are shaping together.
VERSION 2: Flagship Congregational Fundraiser (Broader Frame)
This evening serves as HBT’s major annual fundraiser, sustaining the full life of our congregation.
Temple Hillel B’nai Torah becomes what we are willing to steward.
Our worship.
Our activism.
Our music.
Our school.
Our building.
Our sense of belonging.
None of it happens by accident.
This concert gathers us around music — but what it sustains reaches across the full arc of Jewish life at HBT. Funds raised through this evening support the programs, relationships, and shared commitments that define who we are.
To show up here is more than attending a concert. It is an act of stewardship — sustaining the community we care about and the future we are building together.
One Stage. Shared Sound.
Batya Levine, Aly Halpert, and Richie Barshay together on one stage with fellow musicians.