Скачать или смотреть Duo "Di Yidishe Neshome" (Alan Bern, Mark Kovnatskiy). The Ladder (c) Alan Bern.

Dear friends,

I am pleased to present a fragment of the concert I performed alongside Dr. Alan Bern ( ‪@imavreml‬ ) as the duo „Di Yidishe Neshome“ (Jewish soul) at the Jewish community of Düsseldorf, Germany, on December 7, 2025. The concert took place in the frame of the culture program of the central Council of Jews in Germany.

In this video, we are performing the song called „The Ladder“, with music of Alan Bern and lyrics of the traditional song „Shalom Aleykhem“, created by the kabbalists of Tsfat, Israel, in the late 16th century.

This musical composition was initially performed by my esteemed new Yiddish music ensemble, Brave Old World, and is featured on their acclaimed CD titled „Bless The Fire.“ „The Ladder“ is the first tune recorded on this CD and is beautifully performed by one of the greatest Yiddish singers of our time, Michael Alpert.

For many years, I have harbored a deep affection for this exquisite melody, yet I somehow have never considered performing it. So it was until last summer, when, during the festival Yiddish Summer Weimar ( ‪@yiddishsummerweimar‬ ), Alan showed the music structure of this tune to a mutual friend of ours. At this moment, I was thinking, „Oh my gosh! I really want to perform this song!“. I shared my wish with Alan, and he graciously agreed to fulfill it. It turned out that I was the first artist who performed this song after the original cast of BOW.

So, dear friends, I hope you will enjoy this video, and if you do, feel free to share it!