The Shabbos Project Adelaide: Havdallah Concert

The Shabbos Project in Adelaide capped off a great and inspirational weekend of activities with a havdallah ceremony and impressive concert by Rabbi Heilbrunn of Melbourne and the AHC’s own Rabbi Ben.  First was the communal havdallah ceremony, which was followed by singing by Rabbi Heilbrunn, whose operatic cantorial style reverberated throughout the hall.  Local Matthew generously joined in on the piano in accompaniment.  Then Rabbi Ben sang some traditional yiddish songs, which the older members of the congregation especially appreciated.  There was a break for refreshments prepared by Rebbetzin Rachel and her cheder girls.  Then the Jewish Adelaide Zionist Youth (JAZY) organization did a performance with group participation to show some of the adults the fun they are missing out on by not being young enough to join anymore!  Finally, a sing-along and kumzitz topped off the night… although, of course, some members lingered to schmooze afterwards!  All in all, it was an amazing and inspirational night.  Many members of the Adelaide Jewish community are already asking if we will do it again next year! So put it in your travel plans and we’ll see you then!

Parshas Haazinu: The Power of Music

Akiva doesn’t use a pacifier.  He just doesn’t like it, and I don’t blame him.  It doesn’t exactly have anything yummy coming from it like when he sucks on a bottle, so what’s the point?  But I know a lot of babies do like them.  A friend recently asked me how I get him to settle to sleep if I don’t give him a pacifier.  I told her I sing to him.

You see, Akiva loves music.  He loves it if Rabbi Ben sings, he loves it if there’s music playing anywhere, and he even loves it when I sing. (Well, there’s no accounting for taste!)  Music just speaks to him, as I think it does for most of us.

Which is exactly why the Torah ends with a song.  Music lifts and inspires us. Music can change our mood. It has the power to transcend, to lift our souls closer to G-d. G-d understood that even if we had trouble connecting with His Torah, we could, at least, connect to a song.  So He gave us a song, to end the Torah and to help bring us closer to Him.

As for Akiva, well, he’s already singing.  Because I sing to him, he has started to sing himself to sleep now.  Not only does it make it easy to put him to sleep, since I can just walk away and let him sing himself to sleep, but it’s also achingly cute.  Here, have a listen:

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“>Akiva Singing

Shabbat Shalom!

Read more about Parshas Haazinu: Past, Present, and Future Are All One

Parshas Beha’aloscha: Sounding the Trumpets to Wake Us Up

My father-in-law playing trumpet at our vort in Miami, FL

Rabbi Ben’s family is amazingly musically talented.  Rabbi Ben sings, his mother plays the oboe, one brother plays the drums, a couple sisters play the piano, and his father… well, his father plays the trumpet.  When I first encountered this last little fact, I thought it was really neat. It was cute how my (then future) father-in-law would whip out his pocket trumpet in the middle of a public park and start playing it for some children on a school trip or picnic.

The trumpet lost its charms, however, during our sheva brachot, when, having had sheva brachot in 3 different countries, I was exhausted and jet-lagged.  We were staying in my in-laws’ home… where I was woken up at 7 AM by the sounds of the trumpet playing in the room above my head.

The truth is, this was about as close to the true purpose of the trumpet as it is possible to get these days.  The trumpet is supposed to be a wake-up call for us, both literally and figuratively (or spiritually!).  On the literal side, Moshe (Moses) was commanded to blow certain blasts on his trumpets to assemble the tribes and their leaders.  A long blast on one trumpet, we learn from this week’s parsha, assembled the leaders of the tribes.  A long blast on both trumpets called forth all the tribes.  (And lest you think it is impossible to play two trumpets at the same time, let me tell you – my father-in-law certainly can!)  So the trumpets Moshe played were a literal wake-up call to all the Jews to assemble at the Tent of Meeting.

They were also a literal wake-up call when it was time to move camp.  Short blasts on the trumpets would signal the tribes to assemble in their formations and begin to move.  Although only Moshe could play the two silver trumpets he was told to make in this parsha, the purpose of the trumpets was not short-lived at all.  The Kohanim (priests) were told to maintain their use for waking up the Jewish people in perpetuity.

The trumpets were also important on a spiritual level.  The Jewish people are instructed to play the trumpets when they are besieged by an enemy during a war.  This is a spiritual wake-up call.  The blast of the trumpets reminds us that we are in a war (or famine or drought or any difficult situation) for one reason only: We have sinned.  Sins bring hardship upon us and we have to face the consequences.  If we want to win our wars (whatever type they may be), we have to rouse ourselves from spiritual slumber.

My father-in-law playing trumpet at our wedding in Jerusalem, Israel

Why then are we told to blow the trumpets on days of celebration also?  If it’s a day of celebration, we’re obviously not being punished for anything – we don’t need the same spiritual wake-up call that we need in times of war.  So why the trumpet blasts? Because when things are good and we are celebrating, we are actually at our weakest.  It is the time when we are most likely to forget Hashem.  In our good fortune, we are most likely to say, “This is because I did something great!”  We can fall prey to our egos – and to our yetzer hara (evil inclination).  So Hashem reminds us that when things are going the very best possible, it is one of the most important times to sound our trumpets and wake ourselves up.

So here’s to my father-in-law, whose trumpet playing has (literally!) woken me up on various occasions!  May he have many opportunities to continue using his trumpet to wake people up spiritually (although perhaps not literally).  And may all of us find our own “trumpets” to use to wake ourselves up spiritually, through both the good times and the bad.

Shabbat shalom!

More on Parshas Beha’aloscha: Learning to Let G-d Guide You

Korean klezmer band plays traditional Jewish Yiddish music at Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia

When you think of traditional Jewish klezmer music, you probably think of old Jewish singers crooning away in Yiddish and plucking at their violins.  When I think of traditional Jewish klezmer music, I think of my husband, Rabbi Ben, sweetly singing me “Tum Balalaika” at our wedding.  But I’m pretty sure that nobody, when thinking of klezmer music, thinks of Koreans.

You just don’t expect to see trendy, young, modern Koreans, clad in the latest fashions (yet still tznius, modest), singing in Yiddish.  And you definitely don’t expect them to actually sound the way traditional Yiddish klezmer singers do.  Enter: The Korean Klezmatics!

Painting symbolizing Auschwitz at Culture Day at Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia

On Sunday, Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia hosted Culture Day.  It is the first in a series of Culture Day events, featuring a small Jewish modern art exhibition, complete with the artist, art historians, and other guest speakers.  For the opening Culture Day event, Newtown Synagogue even ordered sushi, sandwiches, and fruit – and hired the Korean Klezmatics!

The Korean Klezmatics did a great job.  They sang the Yiddish songs in a real traditional way and it sounded fantastic.  We also really enjoyed looking at all the artwork, inspired by all sorts of Jewish places and events, from Auschwitz to Tel Aviv.

You can check out Culture Day at Newtown Synagogue again next Sunday beginning at noon!

Last week we went for a walk to Mont Royal. We ran into some international folk dancing festival. There must have been 150 people there. Some were dressed up.

It seemed that the music and dancing style was %95 Bulgarian and the people who were dressed up were wearing traditional Bulgarian clothes.  To make it an ‘international event,’ they played a song or two in some other languages.

But here’s what blew my mind. The song ‘Hine Ma Tov,’ which I think is by the Miami Boys Choir, suddenly came on, and there were around 150 people dancing in step to the song. It was obviously not their first time hearing this Jewish tune. The steps most have been practiced dozens of times over the course of weeks or months to have them so fluid.

We as Jewish people have long been taking music from the non-Jews but this is the first time I’ve heard non-Jews take Jewish music and make it theirs.

Maybe there were a couple Jews there. It is possible. But certainly  not a trace of religious enough Jews to know about Miami Boys Choir.

The video was shot on an iPhone, the lighting wasn’t too great, but it gives an idea.

WARNING – There are a few seconds of some blurred females dancing in this clip. They are fully dressed in traditional clothing, though I can’t guarantee it will meet all standards of modesty. Please to not watch if you may be offended by this.

Havdalah drumming in Baltimore with Derch Hateva crew

Last summer, we spent a month in living in the outdoors, hiking, biking, and riding camels across Israel. I was one of two counselors for a group of teenage boys. It was an awesome trip. Type “Derech Hateva” into the search box for more about this.

Anyway, Came to Baltimore for a few days because two of the Derech Hateva boys are here. We’re spending a few days together getting back to nature, with getting spiritual in the outdoors: hiking, tai chi, praying, and meditating.

Last night after havdalah we had an awesome jam session on the drums.

We are in Baltimore. It’s a very Jewish neighborhood where we are staying. Almost every house is Jewish. I like this because the streets were quiet Friday night and Saturday because not many people were driving.

Shabbat morning I heard Rabbi Dovid Katz speak. Now, normally I’ve got issues with Rabbis talking for 35 minutes during the service, but not with Rabbi Katz. He’s a well-known Rabbi, professor and historian and he had some good stuff to say.