Romance and music go hand to hand, which is why Talya Solan is launching a new Hebrew music channel just in time for Tu B’Av, the Jewish holiday of love which begins on Friday night. Solan also heads own musical group Yamma has an international audience for versions of songs from Jewish communities that once made their home around the Mediterranean. This new channel will focus on renewed settings of ancient Jewish poetry and will provide translations into many languages through closed captioning so that people from around the world can access and connect with not only the sound but the meaning of the words.

Tu B’Av, the 15th day of the Jewish month of Av, was historically a day for making matches and holding weddings. Today it is widely celebrated in Israel as a holiday of love and romance.

Solan is launching the 12 Tribes channel, with a musical setting of verses from the ancient biblical love poem, Song of Song. Singer Hadar Nehemya, a young jazz singer, gives a fresh and new performance to a song by Hannah Aharoni, one of Israel’s greatest international singers in the 1950s. This beautiful rendition will be a welcome addition to modern cannon of love music and a way to connect modern audiences with the sounds and words of ancient times.

Upcoming video releases feature Yeminite Jewish poetry sung by Shir Gadasi in the traditional Yemeni style of Hebrew and Maayan Tzafrir singing a Balkan version of poetry from the Friday night service. Solan is committed to raising the voices of the many forms of traditional Jewish music and expanding the exposure of diverse Jewish voices.

We are excited for this new endeavor and wish all a happy Tu B’Av!