Batya Levine

Singer-Songwriter · Song Leader

Batya Levine is a communal song leader, musician, and shaliach tzibur whose work centers the healing and liberatory power of Jewish song. Co-Founder and Co-Director of Let My People Sing, Batya traces their musical lineage not to the concert stage but to something older — song as medicine, song as healing, song as davening. Their music is rooted in Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah — faith made audible.

Many of Batya's melodies are already woven into the musical life of HBT — songs that have found a home in this sanctuary — sung here without performance or pretense. Through song, Batya holds the unbroken thread — connecting us to our ancestors, our history, and who we are as a Jewish people.

Aly Halpert

Singer-Songwriter · Guitarist

Aly Halpert is a Jewish musician, educator, and activist whose songs have been sung in national gatherings, song circles, and quiet moments of personal prayer. A singer, pianist, drummer, and guitarist, Aly writes music to awaken us to the loss and hope we carry — and to connect us to each other and our collective strength.

Aly is not a stranger to this sanctuary. She led our Shabbat Shira service in 2026 — an Avodat HaLev, a service of the heart. At the core of her music is the same question at the heart of everything HBT has been doing this year: in a place where there is no humanity, how do we stay human?

Richie Barshay

Percussionist

Richie Barshay is an internationally acclaimed percussionist whose work spans jazz, world music, and Jewish musical traditions. A longtime collaborator of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, and The Klezmatics, Richie has performed on five continents and appears on more than 100 recordings. Based in Massachusetts, he brings global rhythmic depth and musical imagination to every stage he occupies. You can hear him alongside Batya Levine and Aly Halpert in the video below.

Levyosn — named for the leviathan, the mythical sea creature traveling the world's oceans collecting songs, krill, and dreams — is a Boston-based ensemble specializing in Yiddish song and klezmer. Founded by Adah Hetko, a Yiddish singer, songwriter, and dance leader with deep roots in the international Yiddish cultural world, Levyosn doesn't just perform — they bring the whole room in. When they played HBT during Sukkot, you could feel and experience the connection.

Levyosn performed at HBT during Sukkot, supported by CJP's Arts and Culture Community Impact Grant — an evening of Yiddish song and communal joy in our shared space.