H aving grown up in a chassidic enclave Rabbi Yosef Moshe Kahane of L’chayim Tish fame didn’t have that much exposure to the world of Sephardic song. But when a business trip took him to Guangzhou in China a few years ago and he spent Shabbos at the city’s Sephardic shul a new world of niggun opened up.

“At one table there was a large group of Sephardic Jews. On Friday night and then again at the daytime seudah they sat and sang for several hours — and I was spellbound. Could it be that this reservoir of songs so full of emotion and longing and attachment to HaKadosh Baruch Hu should remain outside the realm of the chassidic public? Initially I wasn’t sure if these songs could be incorporated into my music projects but the minute the name ‘Mizrach Tish’ hit me I knew it was something we could put together.”

Back in Eretz Yisrael Kahane amassed a collection of suitable songs — many of them well-known in Ashkenazic circles as well — and consulted with experts on Sephardic piyutim to ensure accuracy. Kahane’s idea was to take these classic Sephardic songs and record them in the chassidic-inflected dialect most familiar to his audiences. But once he was in the studio together with singers Isaac Honig Zanvil Weinberger Yanky Daskal and Levy Falkowitz he faced another challenge. The singers were used to hearing these famous Sephardic songs sung with a classic Eastern pronunciation. Could they really sing songs like “Ashor Ashirah” with a chassidic accent? “They broke their teeth a little at first but soon got the hang of it and went full steam ahead ” says Rabbi Kahane.

He says that both communities have responded positively to his venture. “And of course sharing our wealth brings us together and isn’t that the goal after all?”