Beginning a new...

Chevre (friends):

In my travels to the UK during the past few years, I have refined my understanding of the Brit-English language, which, contrary to logic, is unrelated to English that we speak in the United States.  My New England dialect aside, I became somewhat self-conscious speaking publicly, fearing that some expression that I might use would be grossly misinterpreted.  But, I also picked up a rich vocabulary of new words. One of them is the word "chuffed", which is a kind of beaming and "kvelling" when something goes unusually right. 

Right now I'm completely "chuffed", also a bit tired, but content and deeply satisfied in the afterglow of our High Holy Days services.  Thank you for your continued support.  As I look around at our Shir Hamakom Mishpacha (family), I am struck by how much I truly enjoy being with each of you.  As worship leader, I hope to be a lightning rod for your opinions, and to continue to make Shir Hamakom a reflection of you and a comfortable place to be, to worship and to socialize.  Each of you have lent your voices and your spirit to define who we are, and I could not imagine a warmer, more nurturing self-selected family than you, I wanted to tell you how important you have been to me during the past 16 months.  Todah Rabah (thank you).

I'm sure that each of you have made important decisions and commitments, sometime in the past, on faith and without all of the facts.  About 8 weeks ago, in deciding to have High Holy Days worship together, I swallowed a big glass of naivete and put on my blinders to begin preparing for our worship together.  Someone once told me that if you see the need for change, that is is incumbent upon you to be the change.  As a musician, deeply involved with worship music, I have long wondered what the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur service might look like if they were disassembled and recreated through the same creative process that we often use with Shabbat worship.  Very few ritual committees shared my interest in this subject, and my curiosity inspired me.

As I worked and studied to educate myself on the High Holy days liturgy, I realized why this hasn't been often attempted - the prayer are so numerous and unique to this worship, that it is quite a bit easier to leave things alone. But, I had already begun the process of researching prayers and envisioning how they fit into the flow of the service, which melodies and messages were at the core of our worship, and which might lend themselves to interpretation.  In the end, I chose to retain a good deal of traditional text and melody, while weaving in some of the contemporary music of Shir Hamakom along with original readings. 

I felt that it was important for everything to be transliterated and translated, so that everyone could feel comfortable.  In creating our own custom Machzor (prayerbook), I found out all too soon that these transliterations are not readily available, and that I would be doing this work for 30 or 40 prayers.  In keeping with making prayer more accessible, our whole community was called to the Torah, I prepared a Haftarah (reading from the Prophets) that was chanted alternatively in Hebrew and English, as well as readings which blended translations with the original text. 

I wanted to relate our theme of "making everyday moments holy" to the central theme of the Yamim Noraim (days of Awe) by using the music of Leyv Tahor (God, grant me a pure heart), woven through all of the services, and also by relating my talks to everyday topics and to contemporary secular music.  We included Phil Ochs' "When I'm Gone" in our Yizkor (remembrance/memorial) service, and my own "Borrowed Time", Cindi Lauper's "True Colors" and Jewel's "Hands" as a part of our music.  Those of us who were present at the Yom Kippur morning service will never be able to walk past Home Depot in quite the same way again.

My heartfelt thanks to Robin Sparr-Rothman for her rich voice and inviting spirit in sharing so many traditional melodies, and for deepening our understanding of their origins.  Thank you to Shelly Aronson, for making my music sound so good so effortlessly.  Thanks to Dr. Eileen Ain for her flute and voice which warmed up our worship space with soulful music. I feel blessed to have such a capable and talented "bimah team" surrounding me.

In the end, the High Holy Days' liturgy provides us with messages and music and time for personal reflection during this journey.  I am confident that, somewhere along the way, each of us were able to find "moments" that lifted us and our hope and vision for the new year in a meaningful way.

I'd enjoy hearing from you with your reaction to some of these moments at our worship, as well as suggestions or comments regarding the space that we used.  It will help to make our future worship an even brighter reflection of your voice at Shir Hamakom.

Please plan on joining us on October 8th (date finally set) for our next Shabbat music worship, and bring a friend or two. 

I wish you only success, health and prosperity in the year ahead, making it one filled with growth and rich memories.  Together we can grow and build something magnificent together.  Time to get started and to get your hands dirty.  Beginning a new...(you fill in the blank).

Shalom,

Arnie Davidson
Worship Leader

 

Havdalah with Julie Silver and a day of Jewish Learning.

Shir Hamakom

music worship:
465 Oak Street
East Hartford, CT 06118

mail and donations:
PO Box 271

East Hampton, CT 06424

Please note our new mailing address!

shirhamakom.com