Sim Shalom

Sim Shalom was the first Jewish song I ever wrote. I began it the night after the Paris attacks in November of 2015. I felt like I needed to write something, but couldn’t figure out what to say. I realized it needed to be a prayer for peace, and so I went to my siddur and read through Sim Shalom.

I didn’t finish the song then, however. In June of that year I attended my first Hava Nashira, a yearly workshop for Jewish music professionals, and brought the song to another young Jewish songwriter I met there, Max Kasler. Together we wrote out parts for the rest of the song, and when I came to L.A. to record the album with Josh Goldberg, he and I worked through the song once more to make it what you hear today.

Terror attacks seem like a common occurrence these days, and I wanted this song to express that even though the world seems like a never ending cycle of hurt and sadness, we can’t stop praying for and working towards peace.