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There’s a Grammy for Christian music. These musicians want Jewish music to get one, too.
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — There is a Grammy Award for just about every kind of music — from pop to metal to New Age to Contemporary Christian — but there’s no Jewish category. Two Jewish musician friends hope to change that.
Joanie Leeds, a children’s musician and Grammy winner in New York City, and Mikey Pauker, a self-described “devotional rock” artist from California, are working on a formal proposal to add “best Jewish music album” to the list of Grammys awarded each year. They plan to submit their proposal to the Recording Academy, the body that governs the Grammys, by March 1.
In the past, albums of what is traditionally considered to be Jewish music have been nominated in a variety of categories, including best contemporary world music. The Klezmatics’ “Wonder Wheel” album won in that category in 2006, and some referred to the award as “the first Jewish Grammy.”
But musicians who produce albums of Jewish music often find themselves caught between categories, Leeds said. The global category is not a fit for American musicians, and categories for religious music, even if expanded, are also not an easy fit, she said.
“‘Jewish’ is complicated, because it’s not just a religion like Christianity,” Leeds said. “It’s also a culture.”
To strengthen their proposal, the pair consulted with rabbis and Jewish educators about what constitutes Jewish music.
“We’re doing our best to be as clear as possible and as inclusive as possible, because not everybody knows that Jewish music is diverse,” Pauker said. “It’s transdenominational, it’s based in spirituality, it’s based in culture and it’s not just Ashkenazi.”
Mikey Pauker, seen here performing in Berkeley, California, is one of the musicians behind a petition to add a Jewish music category to the Grammys. (Courtesy Pauker)
In their proposal, Pauker and Leeds make the case for a new category that will encompass Jewish religious music, such as cantorial music, nigguns and Mizrahi music, as well as secular music, such as klezmer, Yiddish, Ladino and Judeo-Arabic music. Albums with Christian themes, including those produced by Messianic Jews, would not be eligible.
“It needs to have some sort of Jewish content in it to make it Jewish music,” Leeds said. “If there’s a song in Israel about some guy meeting a girl at a bar, or whatever it’s about that has no grounds in text or liturgy or anything, then it wouldn’t be considered Jewish music.”
“Our goal is really to educate not just the Recording Academy about what Jewish music is, but also educating the public as to what Jewish music is,” she said.
The Recording Academy regularly adds and modifies Grammy categories. This year, it added five new ones, including best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media and best spoken-word poetry album.
Pauker said this is not the first time musicians have petitioned the Recording Academy to add a Jewish category. But this time, he said, he and Leeds can point to the consistent output of high-quality Jewish music in recent years. He noted that in the past two years alone, more than 100 albums were released that could have been nominated in such a category.
“We’re at a point in music history where we’re having a Jewish renaissance, and the market has arrived,” he said. “We have enough artists where we can get this done.” He added that the Recording Academy has been supportive of him and Leeds in their endeavor.
In an effort to raise awareness about their proposal, they have launched a petition on the Change.org website. By Friday, it had more than 1,800 signatures, including from non-Jewish musicians.
A petition to add a Jewish Grammys category garnered more than 1,800 signatures in its first week. (Screenshot from Change.org)
Among the signers is Sephardic singer and activist Sarah Aroeste. She said she supports the push to add a Jewish category at the Grammys because her albums, including 2021’s “Monastir,” do not fit cleanly into the other categories.
“Jewish music crosses so many musical boundaries, yet we get lost, or are ineligible, in existing categories,” she wrote. “As a Ladino musician specifically, I’ve always been put in the global music category. I am literally up against musical acts from all around the globe!”
She added: “Having our own category — much like other ethnic or religious groups have them — would highlight the breadth and diversity of Jewish music as a genre and would allow those Academy members knowledgeable about the music to be able to vote.”
Pauker, 37, lives in southern California and recently launched his own folk-rock-reggae-chant record label called Beautiful Way Records. He will help lead Shabbat services during Wilderness Torah’s upcoming Passover in the Desert festival.
Leeds, who is based in New York City, won a 2021 Grammy in the Best Children’s Music Album category for her ninth album, a compilation of secular children’s music called “All the Ladies” that included a song about Jewish Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She has also released multiple albums of Jewish kids’ music, including “Meshugana” and “Challah, Challah,” as well as a Christmas record called “Oy Vey” in collaboration with the rapper Fyütch.
Pauker said the two became close friends during the pandemic, when they spent many hours on the social media app Clubhouse discussing Judaism and music.
As the Recording Academy considers their proposal in the coming weeks, Pauker said he and Leeds will hold community conversations about trends in Jewish music.
“One of our hopes is this will launch hundreds of new artists, new records and collaborations that can really help push this genre forward,” he said.
This story originally appeared in J. The Jewish News of Northern California and is reprinted with permission. Jackie Hajdenberg added reporting for JTA.
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Explosion at Alawite Mosque in Syria’s Homs Kills Eight
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
Eight people were killed in an explosion at a mosque of the Alawite minority sect in the Syrian city of Homs on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
SANA cited Syrian Health Ministry official Najib al-Naasan as saying 18 others were wounded and that the figures were not final, indicating they could rise.
The city’s press office said an explosive device had detonated inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque and that security forces had cordoned off the area. A local security official told SANA that the identity of the perpetrator and any affiliation to violent groups were still unknown.
Local official Issam Naameh told Reuters the blast occurred during Friday noon prayers.
Syria‘s foreign ministry condemned the blast as a “terrorist crime.” Regional countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Qatar also condemned the attack.
Syrian state media SANA published footage of rescuers and security forces examining debris splayed across the mosque’s green carpet.
Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a government led by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
Earlier this month, two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria by an attacker described by the authorities as a suspected member of the Islamic State, a violent Sunni Muslim group.
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Southern Yemeni Separatists Dismiss Saudi Call to Withdraw From Eastern Provinces
A drone view shows people attending a rally organized by Yemen’s main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
Yemen’s main southern separatist group rejected on Friday a Saudi call for its forces to withdraw from areas it seized earlier in December, saying it will continue securing the eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra.
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it remains hopeful the Southern Transitional Council (STC) will end an escalation and withdraw its forces from the provinces, after the group claimed broad control of the south and pushed the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government from its headquarters in Aden.
The group said in a statement posted on its account on X that its military operations in the two provinces were to combat security threats, including cutting supplies to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists who control the north of the country.
Situated between Saudi Arabia and an important shipping route on the Red Sea, Yemen was split into northern and southern states until 1990.
AIRSTRIKES IN HADRAMOUT
In Hadramout, an escalation of fighting on Thursday killed two people from the STC’s Hadhrami Elite Forces, the group said in its statement.
Armed groups had ambushed STC forces in the Ghail bin Yamin area in the east of the province, but the forces managed to regain control of the area, a source from the group – speaking on condition of anonymity – told Reuters.
Saudi airstrikes followed early on Friday, targeting the STC forces in the area, the source added.
The STC said the “surprising” airstrikes will not “serve any path to an understanding, nor will they deter the people of southern Yemen from continuing their struggle to restore their full rights.”
Saudi Arabia did not confirm the strikes.
The kingdom said in its Thursday statement that a joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation was sent to Aden on Dec. 12 to make “the necessary arrangements” to ensure the return of STC forces to their previous positions outside the two provinces, adding that the efforts were still in progress.
The STC said on Friday that the group was open to any “coordination or arrangements based on guaranteeing the security, unity, and integrity of the south, and ensuring that security threats do not recur.”
The group added that any arrangements should “fulfil the aspirations and will of the people of south of Yemen,” as well as “the shared interests” with Saudi Arabia.
UAE WELCOMES SAUDI EFFORTS
The United Arab Emirates, which supports the STC, welcomed on Friday Saudi Arabian efforts to support security and stability in Yemen, and said it remains committed to backing stability in the country.
“The UAE reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to supporting all endeavours aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The STC was initially part of the Sunni Muslim Saudi-led alliance that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthis. But the group has turned on the government and sought self-rule in the south.
Yemen has already been marred by a civil war since 2014, with the Houthis controlling the northern part of the country, including the capital Sanaa, after forcing the Saudi-backed government to flee south.
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US Strikes Islamic State Terrorists in Nigeria
A missile is launched from a military vessel at an unidentified location, in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released by the Department of War on Dec. 25, 2025. Photo: US Department of War Via X/Handout via REUTERS
The United States carried out a strike against Islamic State terrorists in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria‘s government, President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, noting the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state in coordination with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS terrorists.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the British Broadcasting Corp the strike was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists,” and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion.”
Without naming ISIS specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side. He did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries.”
The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
‘MORE TO COME’
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a post on X.
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defense official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked the Nigerian government on X for its support and cooperation and added: “More to come…”
Nigeria‘s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent the complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against terrorist groups.
The country’s population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
Police said earlier on Thursday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others at a mosque in Nigeria‘s northeast, another region troubled by Islamist insurgents.
In a Christmas message posted on X earlier, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for peace in his country, “especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs.”
He also said: “I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence.”
Trump issued his statement on the strike on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him on Wednesday night.
The US military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to hit back in the wake of a suspected ISIS attack on US personnel in the country.