Kedmah is an ensemble of Musicians and prayer leaders excavating the power and beauty of Mizrahi Jewish expression through ancient poetry and song. Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman and Yoni Avi Battat, Kedmah honors the artists’ Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemenite ancestry in conversation with their intersecting musical influences.

From Temple times to today, piyyutim utilize complex and beautiful poetry to infuse spirit and meaning into both sacred and ordinary moments of human experience. The stirring melodies are rooted in the illustrious tradition of maqam- a distinct system of musical expression found exclusively in the music of the Arab world – with similar systems in places like Turkey, Iran, and North Africa.

Kedmah honors and reinvents these living sacred traditions rendered with deep reverence for tradition and boldly adapted with an ear towards our modern musical world.

Schedule

6:30 – 7:15 Pre Concert Lecture / Text Study with Rabbi Yosef Goldman Sponsored by Hadar Boston

7:30-9:30 Performance

Co-sponsored by Hebrew College – Soul Sounds, Hadar Boston, and Base Boston.

Pre-concert lecture / text study with Rabbi Yosef Goldman

Singing Toward Freedom: Unlocking a Pesach Piyyut

Piyyut is a spiritual technology—poetry written to be sung, designed to do something that study alone cannot. Join Rabbi Yosef Goldman to explore Melekh Go’el u-Moshia’, a beloved Baghdadi piyyut sung from Purim through the Seder night. We’ll unpack how the poet artfully weaves together Exodus, Ezekiel, and the Mekhilta, situating us inside the story of liberation and the pivot from embodied memory to preparing for the liberation ahead. This is the perfect preparation for Nisan, the head of months: the season of first and final redemption.

Venue Information:

The Multicultural Arts Center is located at 41 Second Street in Cambridge, MA. Please enter at the ground floor entrance and visit the Box Office on your right as you enter.

Once you check in, you will head upstairs to the theater. There is an elevator and staircase for access to the theater.

Seating is general admission. Box Office will open an hour before the show starts, so you are welcome to arrive early. Feel free to visit our gallery before the show begins.

Getting There:

The Multicultural Arts Center is located just a few blocks from the Green line Lechmere MBTA Station.

The East Cambridge Parking Garage is entered off Spring Street, between First & Second Streets, one block away from us, and open 24/7.