Beth Am Launches the Album ‘Gam Ki Elech: Turning Our Sorrows Into Song’

January 24, 2024 JMORE Staff

All Together Now: The group performs "Gam Ki Elech" near the bimah in Beth Am's historic sanctuary. Joining them for this particular song was Rabbi Tyler Dratch (fifth from left), the shul's assistant rabbi. (Photo by Robyn Stevens Brody)

“And when the musician played, the hand of God was upon him.” — II KIngs 3:15

Last Sunday evening, Jan. 21, Beth Am congregants and other community members gathered in the Reservoir Hill shul’s majestic sanctuary for a live concert launching the new album, “Gam Ki Elech: Turning Our Sorrows Into Song.”

The album of original music was written by Rabbi Ilan Glazer, a Beth Am member, freelance rabbi, author and leader of Our Jewish Recovery, a group committed to helping members of the Jewish community impacted by addiction.

For the past three years, Rabbi Glazer has been the house drummer for the Uncle Ira’s Hebrew Washboard Ensemble at Beth Am, many of whose members play on the album.

Besides Rabbi Glazer (lead vocals and percussion) and his wife, Sherri Vishner Glazer (vocals), musicians at the “Gam Ki Elech” launch included Beth Am’s Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg (vocals), Rabbi David Curiel (vocals), Chaim Fruchter (guitar and vocals), Yona Gorelick (vocals), Erin Kelly (vocals and concertina), Elliott Kurtz (clarinet and vocals), Joe Magar (upright bass), Zach Mayer (saxophone and vocals), Jim North (hammered dulcimer and vocals), Josh Rosenstein (mandolin and banjo, filling in for an out-of-town Charley Beller) and Rabbi Miriam-Simma Walfish (vocals).

Rabbi Glazer said the album was the byproduct of a difficult time in the life of his family. “My wife got pregnant on the third cycle of IVF, but our son Shemaryah wasn’t healthy enough to survive and was stillborn two years ago,” Rabbi Glazer said. “Needless to say, it was an incredibly painful time and we miss him every day.

“During our fertility and grief journey, melodies came to me — they held us in our grief — and I committed to recording an album and sharing them with others, both to honor our son’s memory and to be a resource for too many others who are sitting with grief and loss.”

The 13 melodies on “Gam Ki Elech” — the title of which comes from the 23rd Psalm — primarily derive from the Jewish liturgy and Psalms. The launch concert marked the second yahrzeit of Shemaryah’s passing. “Gam Ki Elech” was recorded at Beth Am last October.

Rabbi Glazer said he hopes the album brings great comfort and solace to listeners. “Especially given the war in Israel and Gaza, so many of us are feeling helpless and hopeless,” he said. “I have learned from this journey that there are blessings even in the midst of despair, and that even in the depths of our grief, we don’t have to be alone.”

For information about the album, visit GamKiElech.com.