Borscht Beat

Reflecting on the poem by Irena Klepfisz one section at a time. #onestepatatime👣 “2. Vider a mol/Once again Vider a mol she tries to rise above circumstances. Too much is at stake this morning Yedn frimorgn every morning to see what can be wrenched from the unconscious crowded darkness fun ir zikorn of her memory. It is there di gantse geshikhte fun folk the entire history of the people. Vider a mol she reaches out and tries to hold clinging like a drowning person to a flimsy plank. Ober der yam is groys but the sea is vast un di velt and the world afile greser even larger afile greser.” What is my role as a musician setting Irena’s poem to new music? Do I try to interpret her words faithfully? Or do I challenge or subvert the text, to offer something else? The answer, of course, is “it depends”. My setting of Vider a mol/Once again offers what may be the biggest divide between the poem’s voice, and my musical interpretation for this project. The poem expresses a repetition, a stuckness and desperation. She knows “It is there” the history lost to genocide is there in the “crowded darkness fun ir zikorn of her memory” but she is barely able to grasp it adrift in the sea. In my setting, I grasp onto the glimmers of hope in the words. I set “Der yam is groys, un di velt afile greser” as a chorus. The sea is vast and the world even larger. The words contain a heaviness, but they also contain a sense wonder. Wonder at the depth of our history. The history contained in this poem, in this poet, and in our collective struggles. So what do you think? How do the words and music work in this case? Tell me on May 30th @ Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn ;-P Title script is from album art by @mollycrabapple . Poem layout and typesetting by @ilovewhatimade . #dirayzeaheym #queerjewishart #jewishmusic #yiddish yiddishmusic chamberpop klezmer

Join us for the album release concert for Di rayze aheym/The journey home Saturday May 30, 8pm Jalopy Theatre 315 Columbia St, Brooklyn NY The full band from Di rayze aheym will perform, with recitations by Irena. And the incredible Ira Temple will perform an opening set! Tickets at link in Avi’s bio. In 1983, on the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Irena Klepfisz and her mother Rose returned to Poland for the first time since their emigration to America. On her return from this trip, Irena composed Di rayze aheym/The journey home, first published in 1985. 40 years later, in 2025, Avi Fox-Rosen composed song settings for Irena’s words. This is a single poem in 9 sections. On this album, each section has a pair of tracks. In the first, Irena recites the section unaccompanied. The following track is the musical setting. credits releases May 30, 2026 Featuring: Irena Klepfisz: poetry and recitation Avi Fox-Rosen: singer, guitar, composition Alicia Svigals: violin, string arrangement consultation Rima Fand: violin Jessie Reagen: cello Marilyn Lerner: piano Zoe Guigueno: bass Jason Nazary: drums The text of ”Di rayze aheym/The journey home” is from Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021 © 2022 by Irena Klepfisz. Published by Wesleyan University Press. Used by permission. Recording and Mix Engineer: Anthony “Rocky” Gallo Mastering Engineer: Mat Leffler-Schulman Cover Art: Molly Crabapple Design & Layout & Poster: Jett George #queerjewishart #dirayzeaheym #yiddish #jewishmusic #chamberpop

“Di rayze roll call” posts each focus on one of my collaborators on Di rayze aheym/The journey home. In this first post, I’m thrilled to kvell about Alicia Svigals! Take 2 😅!! Alicia is an incredible violinist, with such an iconic sound. She has revived and reinvented the klezmer fiddle tradition starting as a co-founder and former member of the Klezmatics, and continuing in her solo career, with countless collaborations across genres through her career. She plays on Di rayze aheym, she helped me arrange the string parts, and wrote a gorgeous contribution to the liner notes for this project where she reflects on her 40+ year long friendship with Irena Klepfisz. Alicia’s most recent album is 2024’s Fidl Afire, which you can also find on Borscht Beat. I am SO THRILLED that Alicia is able to play and shape this project. A hartsikn dank Alicia!!! Get your tickets for our May 30th album release show at Jalopy Theatre! Link in @avi_fox_rosen_music ‘s bio and at bit.ly/may-30-jalopy-release #dirayzeaheym #queerjewishart #yiddish #yiddishmusic #jewishmusic PS Photo credit to @socalledentertainment for the first portrait! Hot off the presses.

Hey Olympia & Seattle, save the dates! We are psyched to have our comrade and Borscht Beat lable-mate Jordan Wax @jordanwax.dzhordnvaks join us for some shows in the PNW. Jordan Wax is a New Mexico-based Yiddish singer/songwriter who creates innovative compositions with deep diasporic roots & social consciousness. Tuesday June 16 in Olympia Mossy Bottom Records @mossybottomrecords 301 4th Ave E Early Show! 6-8pm Bring $ for the donation jar, all $ goes to the bands $10-$20 suggested, NOTAFLOF Thursday June 18 in Seattle The Royal Room @royalroomseattle 5000 Rainier Ave S 6:30 Doors / 7:30 Concert $20 ADV / $25 DOS Ticket link in IG bio and: /events/184109221/contemporary-yiddish-song

Which words should I use among strangers? speak only truth no lies. Irena Klepfisz’s poem of displacement, legacies, devastation, picking up the pieces, not knowing what to say and having altogether too much to say, are as powerful today as when she first wrote it in 1983, after her first visit back to her birthplace in Poland on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Today, these words are reimagined by singer-songwriter Avi Fox-Rosen, as a conversation between generations, and as a fierce commitment to building a better world, right here and right now. Join Avi Fox-Rosen with @aliciasvigalsklezmerviolin @cellochic @zguigueno @jason.nazary @malkahlerner1 and Rima Fand (no ig!) and an opening set from the incredible @iraktemple for the release of Di rayze aheym/The journey home at @jalopybrooklyn on May 30th at 8pm, and pre-order the album on Bandcamp today. 🔗All links in bio.

“Zi flit/She flies” from Irena Klepfisz’s bilingual Yiddish / English poem “Di rayze aheym/The journey home”. Music composed and performed live in studio by me with @aliciasvigalsklezmerviolin , Rima Fand, @cellochic , @zguigueno , @malkahlerner1 , and @jason.nazary Album available through @borschtbeat for preorder now, and to be released on May 30 2026. Follow like and share please! And join us May 30 at @jalopybrooklyn for the release. All details on my profile. Album art by @mollycrabapple , design by @ilovewhatimade Engineered and mixed by @virtueandvicestudios , mastered by @matlefflerschulman Videography and editing by @upperdeck_film Poem text: Zi flit vi a foygl She flies like a bird zi flit ibern yam over the sea iber di berg over the mountains. Tsurik tsurik back back zi flit and she settles oyf a boym on a tree lebn a moyer near a wall a moyer fun a beys oylem a wall of a cemetery. #queerjewishart #yiddishmusic #chamberpop #klezmer #dirayzeaheym

Borscht Beat is excited to share our upcoming release, Di rayze aheym/The Journey Home by Irena Klepfisz and Avi Fox-Rosen. On Di rayze aheym/The Journey Home, Avi Fox-Rosen sets Klepfisz’s landmark bilingual Yiddish / English poem to music, 40 years after its publication. Written after Klepfisz returned to Poland in 1983 for the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the poem moves through memory, grief, language, and survival with clarity and force. Each poem segment is first heard in Klepfisz’s unaccompanied recitation, followed by Fox-Rosen’s musical setting. The recording features Fox-Rosen on voice and guitar, with Alicia Svigals, Rima Fand, Jessie Reagen, Malkah Lerner, Zoe Guigueno, and Jason Nazary. Centering Klepfisz’s voice alongside Fox-Rosen’s new settings, the album traces the poem’s journey from 1983 Warsaw through memories of prewar Jewish life and into the present. Featuring exceptional album art by Molly Crabapple! Available for preorder now, out May 30 on CD, vinyl, and digital.