Scribe Quarterly: Winter 2025-26

JEWDAR

MUSIC Sounds of Survival

THE MUSICAL PROJECT, touring live presenta- tion, and ongoing research initiative is back with a fresh batch of recordings of Yiddish songs written during the Holocaust and recovered decades later by University of Toronto professor Anna Shternshis. The first instalment, The Lost Songs of World War

II , was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award. This follow- up includes another 25 tracks, many with themes of push- ing back against censorship . Jonathan Rothman

YIDDISH GLORY: THE SILENCED SONGS OF WORLD WAR II (VOL. 2) Yiddish Glory / Six Degrees Records January 23

BOOKS / CHILDREN A Kaleidoscope of Traditions

FROM WHIMSICAL Judaica to hand-painted nesting dolls, artist, toy maker, and author Suzy Ultman brings joy and colour to everything she does. She is no stranger to children’s books, with titles like Shabbat Shalom and I Like Your Chutzpah in her oeuvre. With bold design and playful story- telling, How Do You Jew? promises to celebrate the many ways Jewishness

is lived today across tradi- tions, identities, and com- munities around the world. Sophia Hershfield

HOW DO YOU JEW? Suzy Ultman Rise X Penguin Workshop February 10

MUSIC Singing in the Study Hall

RABBI DEBORAH SACKS MINTZ’S voice is like an acoustic deep-tissue mas- sage. “Lincoln’s Nigun,” for instance, kneads deep into your kishkes, breaks you down, and then lifts you back up again. The eleven new melodies in this album combine the traditional Jewish liturgy with the spiritual fervour and low-grade ec- static hum of the beit midrash. As usual, the ensemble recordings are supported by a rich chorus of community singers. Sacks Mintz, the Director of Tefillah and Music at the Hadar Institute, is an educator, musician, and facilitator of Jewish

communal prayer. She (along with Joey Weisenberg and others in the Rising Song orbit) is part of a cohort of musicians weav- ing the soundscape of twenty-first century communal worship, and redefining the possibilities for what modern prayer can and should feel like. In recent years her melodies have been picked up by communities across North America and Israel. Zachary Kauffman

SONGS FROM THE BEIT MIDRASH Deborah Sacks Mintz / Rising Records February 11

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