In my last update I shared a picture of my grandfather. Now I want to share a picture of my great-great grandfather, “Papoo!” From what I’ve been told, Papoo had two main goals near the end of his life: to marry a young bride, and to be buried in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. He achieved both goals (notice said young bride in the photo below).
Like Papoo-- I have set my goals and I plan on reaching them. And our goals are strangely similar! I recently got married this year, and, while not on the Mount of Olives, I do hope to spend a lot of time in Israel over the next few years performing my music live. So Papoo and I are not so different, and I am constantly amused and affected by the similar path I seem to take from my ancestors. They truly lead me on my way.
In honor of Papoo (and my own recent nuptials), I've put together a new track on the upcoming album that actually combines two songs: the first is a very beloved traditional Sephardic wedding song, “Scalerica de Oro,” and the second song (in Hebrew) is a little known wedding psalm from a Sephardic prayer book for the holiday of Sukkot called “Dodi Yarad” (based on the Song of Solomon). I mixed the two songs in my version of a Ladino wedding ‘mash-up’! Stay tuned for a clip coming soon...