Finding His Own Way Home
By Elizabeth Johnson
Jewish journeys don’ t always follow a straight line. They can carry us away from the traditions that shaped us, lead us toward unexpected expressions of faith and, sometimes, return us to something familiar in a form we never anticipated.
For Simcha Goldwurm, The Ruach’ s newest keyboardist, music and curiosity have always accompanied an evolving relationship with Judaism. Goldwurm’ s story offers a striking reminder that Jewish identity need not remain fixed to remain deeply rooted.
You were raised in an Orthodox home. How has your relationship with Judaism evolved over the years, and what has remained constant? I am currently sitting on the patio of a small bungalow in upstate New York where my parents spend their summers. My father is a teacher in a yeshiva as well as summer camp, and my mother was in education for many years but now provides dating coaching and matchmaking services in the Hasidic community.
My family is Hasidic. I grew up speaking Yiddish and studying Talmud and Hebrew full time, with the expectation that I would become a talmid chacham( Torah scholar) and rabbi. My relationship to Judaism is tied to my relationship with family and community. I still visit my parents often and my ties to my heritage cannot be severed. All this said, I have been on a path over the past 10-plus years that has evolved in profound ways. I grew up without television or movies, without pop or rock music and without a secular education.
Now, I’ m a Cornell graduate living in North Carolina, playing in rock bands and participating in Shabbat services in an open Jewish community. The path wasn’ t always smooth, but I was ambitious and wanted to be part of the wider world. I remember discovering Beethoven for the
Simcha Goldwurm first time at the age of 17 and being transformed.
I was in a stagnant place in life, but the 7th symphony rocked my world, literally. The dark bass opening of the second movement was joined by a beautiful melody in the strings, building and climbing to the highest peaks of human achievement. I thought to myself, if such beauty had been concealed from me all my life, what else was out there that I didn’ t know? I left the community with the goal of attending university and teaching myself how to read music as well as play piano.
For a period, I was disillusioned with Judaism and the limits I felt it had placed on me growing up. But after earning my GED and attending Cornell, I began to yearn for something spiritual. I realized Judaism was more than I ever knew, a wealth of knowledge, history, culture, innovation and a million ways to be Jewish. With encouragement from my Jewish history professor, I revisited many Jewish texts, old and new, through a different lens and with a newfound appreciation.
I graduated in 2022 and moved to Charlotte a year later to join Teach For America. In a new and unfamiliar city, it was the Jewish community that welcomed me to Shabbat dinners and showed me such kindness that becoming part of that community became integral to my journey as a young adult. Judaism is about family and community, but I’ ve learned that neither is simply inherited; they can also be found. I feel as if I’ ve been adopted by Charlotte’ s Jewish community, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
Who first encouraged your interest in music, and what role did music play in your family growing up? Some of my earliest memories of music involve driving around in my 4-wheeler around our Brooklyn neighborhood, holding a cassette as if it was playing, and singing to the delight of my neighbors. My father used to take us to visit our grandparents in Monsey, NY and I would be captivated by the Chabad melodies playing in the car. I was told my late grandfather was a gifted cantor and my mother wrote songs for her summer camp.
My oldest sister took piano lessons and when my grandmother passed, we inherited her upright piano. I was always curious about music and remember watching the keyboardist at weddings with awe. Following one lesson from my sister, I taught myself how to play melodies by ear on the keys. I dreamed of being a wedding musician and would learn to play the popular songs by MBD, Yaakov Shwekky and Avraham Fried. My sister was impressed by my skills and readily encouraged me, but when I reached bar mitzvah age my father felt my studies should take priority. Despite all my begging, he would not allow me to get a violin but reluctantly agreed to send me for voice lessons. As I developed my voice, I became a popular cantor at my synagogue.
For me, Judaism has always been about a deep spiritual relationship with God and the universe, and music has always been the way I feel that connection most deeply. Culturally, music was very important in my community, but its scope was limited by a lack of outside influences and investment in music education.
For example, I would not recognize Michael Jackson if I saw him on the street and anything“ rock oriented” was condemned as the sound of the devil. As much as I loved Bobov and Chabad songs, discovering classical music convinced me music was a noble pursuit. I learned to read music and play Chopin and Beethoven.
I am so grateful that today I can share that passion as a piano teacher and performing musician. Music has been an integral part of my education, and that education never ends.
What first brought you to The Ruach? I had heard about The Ruach from people at Temple and was always curious. I imagined a hippie community playing guitar in a circle in someone’ s backyard and hoped I’ d get invited someday. I often attended Shabbat services at Temple or Chabad with friends in Charlotte, and one day we talked about switching things up. I mentioned in our group chat that I wanted to try The Ruach, and my friend Sarah was enthusiastic.
I was surprised, but equally intrigued, to learn services were held in a church. I remembered reading a story about Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi encouraging his disciples, when looking for a place to hold Shabbat services, to consider a church
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rather than build something new, both for environmental reasons and in the spirit of collaboration. By Friday night, we are oftentimes exhaused but midway through my first service with The Ruach, I could feel my heart opening.
I was inspired by the singing and the message of the D’ var Torah. Needless to say, I was hooked. As the band finished its rendition of“ Oseh Shalom,” I felt as if I had discovered a new way of seeing Judaism, as a source of peace in the world. When Lisa Levinson’ s solo arrived, I heard something more personal in it: permission to feel OK and to say yes to my own inner well-being.
How did the conversation that led to you becoming The Ruach’ s piano player unfold, and what made you decide to take on the role? It was remarkable how naturally everything unfolded. After the service, Peter came over with his warm, welcoming demeanor to chat with Sarah and me. I complimented the band, and we told him about ourselves. I’ m naturally humble, but Sarah mentioned that I was in a band.
Peter was all smiles when I revealed I was a keyboardist and piano teacher. As it happened, The Ruach’ s keyboard player had recently left the band, and her substitute wasn’ t planning to continue, so Peter and I exchanged numbers. I was thrilled when he followed up. We had a great conversation about The Ruach, the music and what would be required of me. I was excited by the opportunity to discover an entirely new world of Jewish music. And I immediately knew I wanted to be part of it all.
I understand you studied at Cornell University. Looking back, what stands out most about your time there? Cornell was a dream come true and, at the same time, a challenge that transformed me. Coming from community college with little to no secular education, I faced a tremendous learning curve. However, I built relationships with professors and classmates who helped me strengthen my writing and math skills. Together, they inspired me to work around the clock to develop my research and analysis abilities.
Beyond the beautiful gorges, four feet of snow as well as a semester spent in the fungi, molds and mushrooms lab, the most transformative part of my Cornell experience was writing my senior honors thesis. For the first time, I began to believe I could analyze data and texts at a level that allowed me to present my work at an academic conference and ultimately publish my thesis. I experienced plenty of shortcomings and mistakes along the way, but I went into Cornell as a child and graduated as an adult.
Coming from an Orthodox background, what has it been like experiencing Jewish prayer through The Ruach’ s musical, participatory style? Ironically, I find The Ruach’ s musical, participatory style of prayer more reminiscent of my upbringing than the traditional temple services I’ ve attended here. I grew up in Hasidic shuls where warmth, singing and participation were central to prayer. And the spiritual experience was emphasized alongside ritual and custom.
I’ m also struck by the way The Ruach blends Jewish and American musical styles, weaving the Hebrew and English languages into its songs while preserving the essence of the prayers. Most inspiring is seeing people from different Jewish denominations and even different faiths come together as part of the same community.
Was there a particular moment when you realized The Ruach felt like home? When Lisa and I performed“ You’ re Gonna Be OK,” she hugged me after the service and told me how much comfort the song had brought to cancer patients. I knew then that The Ruach was part of something bigger in my life. I felt it again when I joined Peter and Lisa for Seder, when Howard casually offered to help with my new house and when Zack sent me sheet music to make playing easier. I feel it when Greta offers me seltzer and brownies at rehearsal, when Evan gives me an invisible beat to help with my piano solos and in conversations with people during the Oneg.
For someone who has never attended a service at The Ruach, how would you describe the experience? Think of it as shul without membership and a band without applause. It’ s a place where you can let go of the week’ s stress and allow the spirit of togetherness, peace and Shabbat reach a part of your heart you didn’ t know could be awakened.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about this next chapter, both as a musician and as a member of The Ruach community? I’ m excited to grow as a confident musician and public servant, with each service bringing new lessons, songs and people into my life. I’ m especially looking forward to experiencing my first High Holidays with Ruach, as I’ ve long wanted to The help make those services more joyful and accessible. Looking ahead, I hope to continue building lasting connections, welcome more people my age, deliver a D’ var Torah and perhaps even write my own songs to perform with The Ruach.