A woman’s voice

start singing and listening and know that they can and are invited to start singing and listening more deeply to this music as their own.”

A successful crowdfunding campaign for Raskin’s album in July last year cemented her status as a trailblazer in the world of Hasidic music. It is hoped that the story of these niggunim will resonate with all people across the spectrum of Judaism and the recordings of women singing niggunim will empower a new generation.

This album is also a part of Raskin’s personal healing journey. Just over eight years ago, she sustained a minor traumatic brain injury, which changed her life. “I spent two years in rehab and recovery. Much of the last couple of years has been cognitive rehabilitation. Music has been a really big part of that. Humming and music and stillness has been my healing,” she said. “During the past many years of recovery, music and singing have become a haven, a teacher, a place where I could just be. And that has been the deepest learning, the wisdom of rest, of quiet, of listening, that has informed all the music on this album.”

While Raskin has always been musically inclined, she had never considered herself a musician by trade. However, in the years since her injury she began teaching music more regularly and consistently. During her recovery, Raskin facilitated musical singing experiences for groups of mainly women, called Raza circles. “Raza is an Aramaic word that means ‘hidden’, she explained. “When I started the circles it was about uncovering or discovering a sound that felt hidden, even from me. I heard a whisper, sometimes in my mind. I started the circles with the hope of trying to get to the sound … even though I was still physically and cognitively struggling, I needed to do something that would nourish my soul. I did monthly circles open to all and eventually also weekly circles for a dedicated group of musicians – all women. That’s when I officially deep dived into the niggunim.”

In recent years, the interest in creating new Jewish music has been largely driven by Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, founded by Weisenberg. The institute hopes to encourage the creation of Jewish music that resonates with many audiences. Raskin’s album is one of their projects. Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz is Hadar’s director of tefillah and music and her role involves creating opportunities for communal music and song. She supports emerging artists and prayer leaders, partnering with the Rising Song Institute in the cultivation of new Jewish music.

“The artists that we work with come from myriad diverse backgrounds, cultures, lived experiences and reasons for creating music in the first place. [At Hadar] our goal is to cultivate Jewish life through that diversity of song and to find the spiritual underpinnings of that music,” she said. “One of the core features of much of the music at the Rising Song Institute, at its essence, is that the music brings together the old and the new. And many of our artists –myself included as a compose –explore what that looks like through ancient texts paired with new melodies and voices, and these are important contributions to the soundscape of Jewish life.”

As niggunim are traditionally sung in groups, to create Kapelya and be authentic to the genre, additional singers were required for the recordings. A core group of seven, called the RAZA ensemble, composed of female singers and instrumentalists, including Sacks Mintz, and spearheaded by Weisenberg, formed to support Raskin as she recorded the tunes. In addition to this core group, another team of women called the RAZA circle were also involved. “[These women] created the real fire and power of this record,” said Sacks Mintz.

Sacks Mintz is not surprised that Raskin’s journey led her to this recording project.

“I had been hearing about Chana Raskin for many years, as myself being a woman who loved to foster communal singing experiences. I couldn’t go anywhere in the Jewish world without someone bringing up her name and asking me if she and I had ever sung together,” said Sacks Mintz.

“I found her journey of excavating and exploring and unearthing the treasures of her own voice as a woman incredibly inspirational. Something unique that Chana is bringing with her musical traditions, is that she breathes old melodies to life with new voices and new perspectives. And that’s particularly exciting and courageous.”

This story originally appeared in Tablet Magazine (tabletmag.com) and is reprinted with permission.