The Moon Sings to Hashem

On The Moon Sings to Hashem and its companion release The Sun Sings to Hashem, Jerusalem bassist Yosef-Gutman Levitt creates a musical tone parallel — as Duke Ellington might call it — to an anonymous ancient text called Perek Shira or “chapter of song.” This mysterious text lists 84 elements of the natural world and a gives a matching biblical passage for each. The idea is that the natural world conveys lessons for philosophy and ethics, and through Perek Shira we can hear the “song” of the natural world and its guidance for life.

Levitt, who sings on much of the album, casts a wide net in terms of musical influences, with traces of African, European, Middle Eastern, Moroccan and Yemenite cultural reference points. There are also echoes of plaintive folk-pop with Hammond organ and tenor sax on the closing instrumental “Nigun Bitachon.” These are deep and heartfelt performances of traditional substance from Jewish Hasidic culture, featuring compositions by virtuoso and mystic Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh. Yet the music speaks to all human hearts in its subtlety and melodic resonance.

The album features Yagel Haroush on ney flute and Persian kamanchah, vocalist Raz Hartman, percussionists Yshai Afterman and Yitzhak Attias, guitarist Yogev Cohen and keyboardist Achiya Asher Cohen Alloro, along with the album’s producer Gilad Ronen on woodwinds. Anchoring it all is Levitt on vocals as well as his Harvey Citron-built five-string acoustic bass guitar, an instrument stamped with his distinct tonal personality on all his releases to date.

“Yedid Nefesh,” often sung during the third meal of the Sabbath, is accompanied by a beautiful video filmed from sunrise to sunset surrounded by the spectacular beauty of the Judean desert, overlooking the marvel of the Dead Sea. Levitt and friends pour themselves into this mystical song, which captures the soul’s intense yearning and love for G-d.