94 | JULY 14 • 2022

Kum Lei Lei” is an African
folk song with just a few words
repeated to the sounds of pro-
fessional musicians.
The book, Eretz Yisrael Sheli,
(or in English, The Land of
Israel Is Mine) teaches Hebrew
words and shows Israeli sites.
It was written by Israeli writer
Datia Ben-Dor, translated into
English by Smolash and illus-
trated by Casey Wright, the wife
of Jacob Spike Kraus.
“One of the three videos is
a theme song of the album,
”
Smolash said. “The second is a
new counting song that teaches
the numbers 1-10 in Hebrew.
The third is about the book that
we created. Our music produc-
tion director, Maya Grinboim,
grew up with that song and
knows it like we know ‘Row
Your Boat.
’
“Temple Israel was very
active during the pandemic, and
this project was a way of mak-
ing sure that when we hit the
warm weather, our kids would
have something beautiful to
celebrate.
“The Early Childhood Center
kids helped launch this album.
We did it at a concert. Our kids
sang with the musicians who

played on the album, and it was
very exciting for them to know
they were going to help launch
the album. Their voices are fea-
tured on the album so, through
COVID, they were there with
their masks on safely recording
these songs.
”
When the book was pub-
lished, Smolash sat down with
a class and read it to them. He
said they were excited to know
they were part of it as were
Rabbi Jen Lader and Emma
Trivax, congregational soloist.
The three videos — Temple
Kidsrael, Counting Song and
Eretz Yisrael Sheli — have repre-
sentatives from the components

of the other parts of the package
and feature performances new
to each video.
“We’
d love to share this music
with the whole Jewish commu-

nity,
” Smolash said. “We want
to bring the Early Childhood
Center up to the level where
kids can learn to love and enjoy
Jewish music.
”

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

ABOVE: A behind-the-scenes shot from a recording session.
LEFT: Sarah Gottlieb and Cantor Michael Smolish.

continued from page 92

“THIS PROJECT WAS A WAY OF
MAKING SURE THAT WHEN WE
HIT THE WARM WEATHER, OUR
KIDS WOULD HAVE SOMETHING

BEAUTIFUL TO CELEBRATE.”

— CANTOR MICHAEL SMOLASH

Behind the scenes
recorrding vocals with
Temple Israel EEC kids.