Biography
Yom Hadash might well claim “Say It Loud, I’m Jewish and I’m Proud” as its signature anthem, so openly does the quartet affirm its convictions—the Hebrew name itself meaning “it’s a new day.” Kansas City Jewish Journal writer Mike Levine has labeled them “the fab four of Jewish music.” The Boston, MA ensemble merges passages and themes from Jewish tradition with present-day rock, blues, and punk, yielding spiritually charged songs carrying a distinctly Jewish accent. Its members aim to stir young Jews’ interest in the music as a path back to synagogue life.
Brothers Jon and Josh Nelson launched the project. Jon supplies lead vocals, bass, and guitar while serving as youth director at a conservative synagogue in Chestnut Hill, MA; he earned undergraduate credit at the University of Massachusetts and later received a Masters in Education from Cambridge College. Josh collaborates on the songwriting, sings lead, and handles bass and keyboards, dividing his time between the band and work as a youth advisor and Hebrew school teacher. Dave Lefkowitz rounds out the rhythm section on drums and percussion, also contributing backing vocals; a Berkley College of Music alumnus who majored in Music Production and Engineering, he has produced and engineered sessions for numerous Boston-area artists, owns Renaissance Recording Co. in downtown Boston, and writes material for the group. Adam Dehner completes the lineup; having attended Hebrew school and performed in earlier bands with Jon and Lefkowitz during high school, he plays guitar, sings with authority, and brings a firm commitment to his Jewish heritage that tightened Yom Hadash into a cohesive unit.
The band’s first release was a limited pressing of 1,500 copies of a three-song demo. Its schedule remains demanding, with appearances at Jewish venues nationwide that have included the Yom Ha-Atzmault Community Celebration in Houston, TX, the CAJE Conference at Hofstra University in New York, the Israel 50th Jubilee on Boston Common, and Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, MA. In 1997 the quartet issued its debut full-length album, the twelve-track When We Were Young.
Brothers Jon and Josh Nelson launched the project. Jon supplies lead vocals, bass, and guitar while serving as youth director at a conservative synagogue in Chestnut Hill, MA; he earned undergraduate credit at the University of Massachusetts and later received a Masters in Education from Cambridge College. Josh collaborates on the songwriting, sings lead, and handles bass and keyboards, dividing his time between the band and work as a youth advisor and Hebrew school teacher. Dave Lefkowitz rounds out the rhythm section on drums and percussion, also contributing backing vocals; a Berkley College of Music alumnus who majored in Music Production and Engineering, he has produced and engineered sessions for numerous Boston-area artists, owns Renaissance Recording Co. in downtown Boston, and writes material for the group. Adam Dehner completes the lineup; having attended Hebrew school and performed in earlier bands with Jon and Lefkowitz during high school, he plays guitar, sings with authority, and brings a firm commitment to his Jewish heritage that tightened Yom Hadash into a cohesive unit.
The band’s first release was a limited pressing of 1,500 copies of a three-song demo. Its schedule remains demanding, with appearances at Jewish venues nationwide that have included the Yom Ha-Atzmault Community Celebration in Houston, TX, the CAJE Conference at Hofstra University in New York, the Israel 50th Jubilee on Boston Common, and Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, MA. In 1997 the quartet issued its debut full-length album, the twelve-track When We Were Young.