Levyosn's Lullaby by Levyosn

Once long ago, rabbis were gathered in a study house discussing the age-old question, “what does God do all day long, anyway?”. “Matchmake!” suggested one rabbi. The other rabbis murmured in dissatisfaction. “Make judgements!” suggested another, also met with scoffs. Finally, the oldest and wisest rabbi raised her hand: “I know! All day long, God sits and plays with the Levyosn!” Every rabbi cheered with joy.

The Levoysn (Ashkenazi Hebrew for “Leviathan”) is a mythical sea creature traveling the world’s oceans collecting songs, krill, and dreams. Like our namesake, we, the Boston-based trio Levyosn, love to spend our time in joyful play. While we specialize in Yiddish song and klezmer, we also sing in Hebrew, Ladino, and English and draw from adjacent Eastern European folk traditions. Our harmony-rich approach to both Yiddish folksong and our original compositions makes our music unique. We love to share our deep knowledge and connection to Yiddish culture and Jewish tradition with our audiences. And, we love to get our audiences to sing and dance with us, building community wherever we go.

Our band consists of Adah Hetko (voice, guitar), Lysander Jaffe (violin, voice), and Kaia Berman Peters (accordion and voice). Adah and Lysander met as teen participants in a Village Harmony world music program, where Lysander is now an instructor. Kaia and Adah hit it off at a klezmer jam in 2019, and the trio came together in 2020.

This album, Levyosn’s Lullaby, takes its inspiration from havdalah, the ritual on Saturday at sundown, marking the separation between the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the week. Havdalah includes lighting a multi-wicked candle, blessing wine, smelling sweet spices, and finally extinguishing the candle in the wine (singing all the while). Havdalah is meant to be a moment of quiet reflection savoring the last embers of Shabbat and setting intentions for a good week ahead. Two songs on this album, “A Gute Vokh,” and “Hamavdil,” are traditionally sung at the end of the ritual. Other songs are interwoven with echoes of the ritual: darkness and light, interconnectedness, savoring the sweetness of nature, and joy in singing together.

On this album, we had the great pleasure of being joined by our friend and wonderful cellist (and woodblock player!) Raphael Boden.