Hot off the press- a wonderful article about creating a prayer experience that is warm, inclusive, and filled with joyous spirit and song. Check out the introduction and then click to read the rest of the article.
On a recent Saturday evening, as Shabbat began to fade, two dozen men and women, most in their 20s and early 30s, were slowly belting out a long niggun, a wordless melody, sitting in a close circle in the chapel of a Brooklyn synagogue. When their eyes weren’t closed in this meditative chant, they were watching Joey Weisenberg. He was leading a discussion on effective prayer leadership skills, but for the moment, Weisenberg wanted them simply to feel the mystical power of singing together. One melody, over and over and over. “Instead of changing melodies,” he said, “let it change our selves.”
Weisenberg, 31, is on a mission. A ba’al tefilah, or prayer leader, as well as a musician and teacher, he wants to reinvigorate Jewish life through song. He believes it can be done through what he calls Spontaneous Jewish Choir workshops, like this one in Brooklyn: normal people singing together, imperfectly perhaps, but making beautiful music-at synagogue and at home.
Despite a humble demeanor and a disarming smile, Weisenberg-or Joey, as everyone calls him- has the chutzpah to claim his work is “laying the groundwork for a revolution in American Jewish musical culture.” Many Jewish leaders who work with him believe that, too, and they’ve seen the evidence.
“People desperately want to come out of hibernation,” said Weisenberg, referring to what he sees and hears in so many American shuls. “You feel this deep sleepiness,” he said of those communities….
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Have you ever had a prayer experience similar to that described in the article? Have you ever been caught up in the joy of singing the tefilot (prayers), or niggunim (wordless melodies) at a synagogue service? What was that experience like and what were the key ingredients that made it so successful?
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Have a great week!
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On a different note, below is a link to an interesting program that came across my desk this past week.
The Sandwich Generation: Come to JTS this summer and learn from Jewish history, Jewish thought, Jewish texts, and the Jewish experience of a community of lay leaders as you explore topics and issues grappled with by the entire spectrum of that generation “sandwiched” between raising their children and taking care of our aging parents. Click here for the details!