Caged inside thick glass-walled soundproof cubicles the musicians play sing and take occasional breaks to converse in rapid-fire Hebrew with the sound engineer ensconced in the center of the studio. “Ve’hu kechatan yotzei mei’chupato ” croons the lead vocalist his voice meshing with expertly spun strains of guitar and cello studded with percussion. In a separate cubicle immersed in the music yet far apart from it all sits a silent observer head cradled in his hands. He sits and he weeps.

“I got very choked up about that song” Naftali Moses says his eyes becoming misty even now just thinking back a week ago to that recording session. “The musicians finished that song and they came out of their cubicles and there I was all choked up and crying. They asked why and I told them it reminded me of the poem my wife wrote. After the shloshim …”

The Wedding Canopy

by Leah Moses

One day

I thought

there’d be a chuppah

and a bride.

We’d sing

and dance

and take you

toward

your future.

One day

after thirty days

of mourning there was a chuppah

but no bride.

We sang

and danced

and took a Torah Scroll

to your school.

I thought

there’d be a chuppah

and we’d celebrate

your life.

I was wrong.

There was a chuppah

and we celebrated

your death.

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