The launch of singer Leigh Nudelman’s album was a celebration of heritage and culture at the Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Forest Town.
Nudelman’s debut solo album, A Bisl Libe – A Bit of Love takes classic Yiddish songs and brings them into the 21st century, breathing life into the compositions with influences of European music and American theatre. Speaking about the album’s conception, Nudelman said, “I sing soprano at Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue and the Rabbi there suggested I do a solo album of Yiddish music. I didn’t think too hard about it. It instinctively felt like a good idea.
“Learning the songs was a slow process because I don’t speak Yiddish but I had to know every word I was singing to get that message or story across.
“In so doing, I learnt just how valuable the words in the song are to me, and to all Jews of European descent.”
She added that instead of just learning about the songs and their context, it was important for her to make the songs personal.
“As the offspring of Jews who left just before the Holocaust, it’s a difficult thing to confront. You never ask yourself what would have happened had my ancestors stayed in Europe. I realised though, as a lesson taught in the songs themselves, that you have to confront trauma, struggle and difficulties as a way to move on and to survive.”
Backed by a six-piece-band, her performance was a celebration of heritage and everything that comes with it. “I think it is extremely important to understand one’s heritage. Once you have this knowledge you can decide whether or not to embrace it. For me it feels I cannot get away from my heritage, it is part of the very fibre of my being.”
Read: Celebrating Yiddish culture through song
