EDITORIAL

Dear Readers,

It began last year when the JCC of Marine Park hosted a luncheon for Holocaust survivors. At the event, a woman asked me to sing a Yiddish song, and I was glad to oblige. Many survivors approached me when I finished, telling me about the songs they used to sing “in der heim.” It was those recollections that prompted me to find songs from that era and make an album for them.  

Last week, that album, a Yiddish CD entitled Shirei Hapleita, was finally released.

The songs on the album were composed by Jews who didn’t survive the Holocaust. 3,000 CDs will be distributed to Yiddish-speaking Holocaust survivors. I hope the music will transport them back to a time and place that remains vivid in their memories and put a smile on their faces.  All proceeds of the album will go to the JCC of Marine Park Holocaust Survivors Initiative. 

I feel so honored to have been part of this project, and can’t wait to send it to my grandmothers. I’d like to thank my dear friend Hillel Kapnick for spending so many hours arranging the songs, recording, and mixing the music. I’d like to thank the famed Rabbi Paysach Krohn for his heartfelt introduction on the album.  And I’d like to thank the people who help sponsor this project including Haym Solomon nursing home, Instacare ambulance, and others.

There are many projects I am fortunate to be involved with, but this probably is one of the most satisfying.

Wishing all our readers a freilichen Chanukah.

Warm regards,

Shea

P.S. If you know of a survivor that would like to receive the CD free of charge,  please email me at shea@jccmp.org.