Hanukah Freedom Concert and Coffee House

Hanukah Freedom Concert and Coffee House

We invite you to join this community wide celebration of freedom featuring local Jewish, folk, and social justice musical performances and a community sing-a-long. Proceeds will benefit Jews United for Justice, the, the New Israel Fund, and Reb Arthur Waskow's organization, the Shalom Center. The concert will close with candle lighting, refreshments, and sufganiyot.

The event is sponsored by the Am Kolel Jewish Renewal Community, the Cheder Jewish Community, and Fabrangen.

December 18, 2025

7:00-9:00pm

Doors Open at 6:30pm

Washington Ethical Society

7750 16th St NW

Washington, DC

Proceeds benefit Jews United for Justice, Bend the Arc, the New Israel Fund, and the Shalom Center.

Featuring Performances By:

Hazzan Jessi Roemer and Debi Roemer

Reb David Shneyer: Songs of Freedom Sing-a-long

SongRise: Women’s Social Justice Acapella

Aaron Shneyer

Performer Bios:

SongRise is Washington DC's very own women’s social justice a cappella group made up of 20 passionate and dynamic women working toward positive change in the community! Founded in 2010, SongRise inspires action through song amplifying the fight for social change on a wide range of issues from civil rights to worker rights, ending LGBTQ+ discrimination and racism, highlighting environmental justice, and supporting women’s rights just to name a few. They offer up their singing talents at community events, fundraisers, rallies, protests, churches, farmer's markets, civil rights celebrations, arts showcases, schools, and more.SongRise’s goal is to inspire action through song. We use our music to support the fight for social change and advocacy. We endeavor to encourage perseverance, raise awareness, and break down barriers. We hope that our listeners will walk away feeling energized to continue the fight for social justice or to start contributing to a cause they are passionate about. https://songrisedc.org/

Rabbi David Shneyer is the founder, director and spiritual leader of Am Kolel. He received his "semicha" ordination from the Aleph Seminary founded by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shlomi. The past president of Ohalah, the Rabbinic Association of Jewish Renewal Rabbis, Reb David is also an accomplished musician, founding and leading The Fabrangen Fiddlers, and a composer of new liturgical music. He also helped found Jews United for Justice, and is active in the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and T’ruah a Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, J Street, and other social justice organizations. Reb David is also a founding spiritual leader of Kehila Chadasha, a havurah based in Bethesda. https://www.amkolel.org/staff

Debi Roemer

Debi Roemer is a craniosacral and integrative bodyworker working with adults of all ages. She is also a gifted songleader and a member of the Cheder Community, a community co founded by Rabbi Arthur Waskow and her mother Cantor Sue Roemer. Debi lives in Rockville.

Jessi Roemer Jessi Roemer's music will touch your heart and inspire your spirit. Spiritual, rhythmic, and soulful, her work brings ancient and modern text to life, traversing continents and history. Based in Philadelphia, PA, she has performed, taught workshops, and led prayer services throughout the US. Her original compositions have been featured in many settings.

Jessi grew up in the Washington D.C. area, surrounded by her mother's Yiddish, Hebrew, and American Folk music, cantorial melodies, and the Bluegrass-Klezmer music of the Fabrangen Fiddlers. Her music is also influenced by gospel and blues, and Jewish music in Ladino. Reflecting her roots, influences, studies, and travels - which include having spent the 90s living in Jerusalem - Jessi's original music is a 21st-century hybrid of European, Middle Eastern, Sephardic, North and South American styles. Jessi has recorded two albums of original music: EZUZ and PRAISE, and several music videos. Her newest EP release, Nagilah, is the product of a collaboration with the West Philaldephia Orchestra Balkan band. Ordained by ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Jessi currently serves as the Hazzan (Cantor) of Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia, PA. https://www.jessiroemer.com/

Aaron Shneyer’s music weaves together influences from across the world, aiming to celebrate life and heal our divides. In 2008, a Fulbright-MTVu Fellowship to study music’s power to build mutual-understanding took him to Jerusalem where he formed www.heartbeat.fm, an organization that brings together and empowers Israeli and Palestinian youth musicians. He’s a 2025 Artist Fellow with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Since 2015 he has been the Musical Director at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue and since 2023 has also served as the Service Leader/Shaliach Tzibur at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Synagogue in Bethesda, MD. www.aaronshneyer.com

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