Hello, Goodbye & Peace Release Simcha Album
David R. Cohen is the former Associate Editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times. He is originally from Marietta, GA and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee.
Hello, Goodbye & Peace, a musical project of Rabbi Micah Lapidus, his wife, Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus, and Congregation Bet Haverim Chorus Director Will Robertson, have released their third album.
“Eit HaZamir,” which means “a time for singing,” was released Feb. 19. It is a collection of songs written for simchas and other lifecycle events.
“Loren and I started composing lifecycle music to use at family celebrations mostly as a way of bringing authenticity and warmth to those events,” Rabbi Micah Lapidus said. “This album is a collection of those songs.”
“We’re at more weddings and baby namings than the average person,” said his wife, one of the rabbis at The Temple. “They’re all special and wonderful, but as a rabbi, how do you take what you do all the time and then when you’re doing your own lifecycle event take those moments and make them feel unique and special?”
The two rabbis have created a 10-track album with songs focusing on some of the most important Jewish lifecycle events.
The opening track, “Zeh Hayom,” conveys a message of gratitude and celebration and is meant to be played at any simcha. The two rabbis wrote the album’s next four tracks for weddings, and the final five songs explore the miracle of children with songs for baby namings, births and blessings over the children.
“What makes this album different from our other two is that this is just a love for our family and friends,” Rabbi Micah Lapidus said. “These songs are completely animated purely through love.”
The group’s first two albums were commissioned by the Davis Academy, where Rabbi Micah Lapidus is the director of Jewish and Hebrew studies.
The rabbi had seen Robertson performing at Bet Haverim soon after moving to Atlanta in 2012 and asked him to collaborate on the first album. The two have been making music ever since.
Robertson has performed on, produced and recorded all three Hello, Goodbye & Peace albums at his own Gallop Studios in Ashford Park.
“It’s been a really amazing and fruitful relationship working with Micah and Loren,” he said. “Through those first two albums and especially this one, it’s been really interesting to watch how the writing has evolved. We’ve both kind of grown together, learned about each other, and hopefully we’re creating music now that people will be moved by.”
The trio hope that songs from this album will become a part of Jewish lifecycle events. But the goal, Rabbi Micah Lapidus said, is to not be involved.
“My music is much more beautiful if I don’t have to be involved,” he said. “So the greatest joy would be showing up to a wedding and not knowing anyone there and hearing one of my songs.”
Watch: Hello, Goodbye & Peace perform at the AJT
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