Songs of Peace: Holy Land Delegation with Women of Vision

Dear Community,

Today I’m reaching out for support as I prepare for a deeply meaningful peace delegation to the Holy Land with Friends of Women of Vision.

Women of Vision is a grassroots movement of Israeli and Palestinian women activists using expressive arts, music, and education to build peace and hold hope through immense grief. Our US delegation is heading to Israel/Palestine to learn directly from them on the ground.

We will be led by Marwa Abu Juila, a Palestinian entrepreneur, musician, and activist with a master’s in Conflict Transformation. She guides educators in mixed Arab-Jewish schools and leads youth in sound healing and Sufi singing. Under her leadership, we’ll meet local peacemakers and engage in healing ceremonies with the land.

Our formal delegation runs from October 28 through November 4. Following the delegation, I will remain in the Holy Land for an additional week for self-directed learning and field work. I hope to connect with local groups—potentially including protective presence work with Torat Tzedek or attending a rehearsal with the Jerusalem Youth Chorus—as well as visiting Wahat al-Salam / Neve Shalom (an intentional village of Palestinians and Israelis living together) and bearing witness at the October 7 memorial sites.

Why This Matters for My Work as an Artist & Spiritual Leader

For 15 years, I’ve served as a Jewish spiritual leader, Cantorial Soloist, and educator. Being a professional Jewish singer-songwriter during these times has been incredibly painful. After October 7th, I watched communities—and even my own family—split, splinter, and struggle because approaching discourse around Israel/Palestine felt too fraught and overwhelming to hold. I found myself stretched thin across Jewish spaces spanning every political view, from Zionist to Anti-Zionist.

In the midst of that heartbreak, I kept returning to the Hebrew word for peace—Shalom—and its shared root with Shalem, which means Wholeness.

I started this musical project to build a shared container of wholeness—one big enough to hold the pain, grief, and complexities within our communities across our differences. At the same time, this musical program is filled with joy, community singing, and songs celebrating the collective strength we feel when we raise our voices in the same room. It offers embodied ways to explore the mystical and philosophical depth of a Complete Peace (Shalem Shalom)—a peace that can hold all perspectives, a process of becoming whole that begins in the heart and recognizes that finding a shared path forward takes time.

That vision led me to write "Shalem Shalom." On September 27, I shared it at "Don't Be A Stranger," a multicultural peace gathering here in Illinois. Jews, Christians, Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians, and neighbors of all backgrounds came together to sing, pray, and hold space. In that room, I saw this vision of collective wholeness come alive. A video of that moment is on this fundraising page.

In the song, I use a line from Rumi: "Beyond right and wrong, where the soul lies in the grass, I'll meet you there." Unbeknownst to me at the time, that exact line is the slogan of Women of Vision.

The Next Step: Uniting Communities & Rooting Music in Lived Experience

This project grew out of a deep desire to unite the divided—offering an opportunity for American Jews and people of all faiths to gather in one room and sing about Wholeness, even across vastly different political beliefs. I believe transformation happens when we lead with feeling, and that our next steps forward become clearer when we sing together.

This matters so deeply because the voice of American Jews impacts the path in Israel and Palestine. Having grown up speaking Hebrew in Jewish day school, so much of my culture, spirit, and identity are rooted in Judaism and a deep connection to Israel. Yet, I haven't spent much time there—I studied abroad in college nearly 20 years ago and haven't returned since. Over the years, the reality of Israel's relationship to Palestinians made it difficult for me to return simply as a tourist. I knew that when I eventually went back, it had to be in a way where I could experience the full wholeness of the land and its people.

This opportunity with Women of Vision grew directly out of relationships I’ve cultivated over many years in the Jewish community, which led me to the right people working with this group. As a woman, as an artist who speaks and writes about women's rights (such as my song "My Body My Choice"), and as someone who desires safety and dignity for all people in the Holy Land, this journey feels completely aligned. It allows me to return to the land with my whole heart.

This work also matters profoundly right here at home. In our own country, we are witnessing severe fracturing driven by extreme voices. While we split apart, we are watching climate change intensify, immigrants face detention and violence, and everyday economic hardship grow as people struggle to make ends meet. We need to build habits of unity and shared strength right now—not only for peace abroad, but to protect human dignity and save our democracy here at home.

I have already written several songs for this upcoming album (working title: "Shalem Shalom"), but up to now, these ideas of peace have come entirely from my own internal reflection. I am embarking on this journey to ground and refine these songs in real, lived relationships on the land. My goal is to find the deeper words, perspective, and potential collaborators to bring this vision to completion, and to create a touring program of song, stories, and photos to share with communities across the US.

How You Can Help

I am seeking to raise $4,000 to make this trip possible. This budget covers my flights, ground transportation, the delegation program contribution to Women of Vision, lodging, meals, and a high-quality field audio recorder to capture ambient sounds, field recordings, and musical ideas directly on the land.

Thank you so much for your partnership, care, and support.

In Shalem v' Shalom—in wholeness and peace,

Leah Shoshanah