Dear Friends,
 Can it be mid-November
already? This newsletter is
supposed to come out on the first of the month! Clearly I need to come up for air. I've had a few wonderful weekends of shows in the past
weeks, in South Florida and then in Boston. Great towns, great weather and the added joy of each trip
was a serious bike ride! Working
at this pace is a true adventure...on both weekends I flew in on a redeye, led spirited Shabbatons and then performed three shows in three towns on each Sunday. On top of the travel I have been
juggling studio clients with holiday season deadlines, finishing my own Songs
We Sing Volume 2 and getting ready for Jesse's Bar Mitzvah.
Yes, it's true...on November 21st
we are celebrating young Yishai's entrance into manhood. I have had the great merit of serving
as his Bar Mitzvah tutor and he is going to be fabulous! Today we celebrated his English birthday
by visiting AT&T to get him a new cell phone. I'm not sure if he's more excited about the phone or his new
tefillin. More on this dilemma in
the Living on a Prayer article below.
I'm excited to announce my new tour
beginning this January, the Chai Tour, celebrating 18 years of joyous concerts
worldwide. I've performed in
nearly fifty cities on average per year.
In some towns I do multiple shows.
That totals over 1000 concerts and Shabbatons to date. That makes me tired just thinking about
it. All I can say is that I have the greatest job in the world, helping to
connect audiences with G-d and with each other, encouraging contagious smiling,
singing and dancing. Thank you so
much to all of you who make it possible for me to live my dream of uniting
people with music.
Shalom,
Sam Glaser
Glaser Musicworks
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Rock your Chanukah!
Get your Sam Glaser's Rockin' Chanukah Revue CD
while supplies last! It's a
perfect gift for any friends or families on  your list. Rowdy, funny and meaningful and the
winner of the Parent's Choice award, Rockin' Chanukah is a guaranteed hit this
season. As always, buy three, get one free, buy sixteen or more of any CD and
the whole order is half price.
Where else can you get great gifts for $7.50?
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Announcing the
CHAI TOUR 2010!
 Be a part of Sam's 18th year on the road! Get your organization signed up on this special tour while the best dates are still available! Click here for the concert options and click here for the full schedule; dates are added weekly.
Event programmers: Uplifting contemporary Jewish music will bring all ages in your community together like no other activity. As always, we discount significantly for midweek shows and when Sam is already in your area. Sieze the date!
Upcoming stops include:
Orlando, FL
Bryn Mawr, PA
Wilmington, DE
Boca Raton, FL
South Palm Beach, FL
Los Angeles, CA
Chattanooga, TN
Albany, NY
Dallas, TX
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Livin' on a Prayer
by Sam Glaser
November 2009
 Max's Bar Mitzvah in 2008 was a
true peak experience for this doting father. That year of preparation was breathtaking as we watched him
grow up overnight and master a formidable mountain of Torah text, prayers and
speeches. We celebrated first in
LA and then in Jerusalem. Now it's
Jesse's turn. Working as his tutor
on the material over the past year has created plenty of quality time for
us. My wife has laboriously organized a beautiful lunch replete with plentiful sushi, the Glaser
family flag ceremony, and my Kol Sason a capella band leading
the singing. Jesse hopes to get some great
presents and donate 10% to the scholarship fund at his beloved Camp Moshava in
Wisconsin. The big question is:
what happens the day after? Will
he embrace his Torah obligations or will I have to beg him to wrap his tefillin
on Sunday morning? Will he see
mitzvot as burdens or opportunities?
Will he pray with kavanah (spirit and focus) or just go through the
motions?
Once in a while I join my kids'
minyan (prayer services) at their yeshiva. On the one hand it's sweet to see the kids participate in a
self-led service. On the other
hand most of the students stand there like zombies. They seem catatonic with boredom, turning pages
absentmindedly and whispering jokes to one another. I know the rabbis are trying hard to make it meaningful, but
clearly the boys are thinking: "Why are we saying this again? Why can't I text my friends now? When do we eat?"
It's not easy repeating the same
words three times a day.  By
definition G-d doesn't change...yet WE are supposed to be different every time we
read these prayers, with new perspectives and new concerns. Most importantly, we have to keep in mind
that we are trying to achieve a relationship with our parent in heaven. Most would agree that waiting to pray
on the High Holidays means that you have a twice a year relationship. That's fine for an acquaintance. But that's no way to maximize the power
of sensing G-d's presence every waking moment. Prayer is a sacred habit that we acquire. Everyday we show up and talk to
G-d. As Woody Allen says, "80% of
success is just showing up." If we
wait until we are really inspired to work out we'll become obese. Rather than holding out for that flash
of inspiration, our tradition asks us to create a daily sacred space for the
connection to flourish.
In my own davening I've learned
that there are four steps to effective prayer. Prayer begins and ends with
gratitude. After all, the Hebrew
word for Jews is Yehudim which means those who "thank." Our lengthy morning blessings and
psalms of praise are simply to remind us of the wonder of life, to regain our
sense of amazement at G-d's constant creation of our world. Everyday is Thanksgiving. Step two is to ask for something
specific, be it health, wealth, an asset, an idea. Nothing we request is
outside of G-d's ability to deliver.
Next we have to listen to our messages over the course of the day, to be
aware when the Creator is trying to get our attention and most importantly, to
have a readiness to respond or change in accordance with the message. Finally,
we must give thanks and feel a sense of confidence that the prayer will be
answered by a loving G-d who desires our prayer.
A case in point: I realized last
month that it had been a while since I had written a song. Usually my songs are the stuff of
dreams; they come to me in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping and I
must force myself out of bed to get them recorded before I can go back to
sleep. Well, I asked G-d to send
me some great songs. Songs that would inspire me and my audiences, songs that might
be marketable, songs that would fill the needs of the projects that I'm working
on. And then, like clockwork, the
next morning I received a great song.
What a feeling! Intro,
verse, chorus, bridge, full arrangement and a vague idea of what the lyrics
should be...all intact in that initial inspiration. The only problem for me is that getting new songs is easy,
like breathing. The hard thing is
to finish the song, to actually sit down and flesh out the lyrics, work out the
piano part, to practice it so that it is ready to perform.
Unfortunately, that new song just
went into the vast file of Sam Glaser's unfinished work, joining melodies
easily in the thousands on my computer hard drive (and formerly on legions of
cassette tapes.) You may notice
that this neglect negates one of my aforementioned steps to effective prayer:
acting on the messages. Why should
G-d send me any new material if all I do is put it in cold storage? A new song should open new doors,
awaken unconscious yearnings, create possibilities. When I prayed the next night for inspiration I also committed
to spending an hour at the piano when I was hot and inspired, pledging not
to wait for the spare time to complete it that might never come.
Sure enough, I was given the gift
of a song every day of the week. That's
a lot of new material for me! Completely
different tunes, some with a Jewish flavor, a ballad for a friend who just lost
his young wife, a musical theater piece, a kids tune. Each morning I put everything on hold to work on them,
including going back to sleep or wrapping my tefillin at the proper time. I haven't asked my rabbi but my gut
tells me that postponing Shachrit is OK once in a while, that creating music is
my true avodah (sacred work.)
Our wildest dreams are
possible. We just have to want
them badly enough. We have to be
willing to "march into hell for a heavenly cause," or commit to the sacrifices
that might be required. Daily
prayer forces us to ask tough questions, to figure out what we really want out
of life. How many times have I
performed in a community where after the show, members of the audience have
approached me and said they wished they could have a deeper connection with
G-d. G-d is ever-present! Surrounding us like molecules of
oxygen. A relationship is as
strong as the weakest partner. WE
are the weak partner! G-d is
sending us powerful love and blessings 24/7! It's like wishing you could quit smoking or overeating or
neglecting your kids. Change is in your hands and you have the Master of the
Universe at your beck and call.
In the prayer workshops that I lead
I emphasize that the key to powerful prayer is learning to perceive G-d in our
everyday lives; to see the miracles in sunlight, cereal, sisters, cars and
buildings. One of the best
examples of G-d's maintenance of our every life interaction is to view the
Truman Show movie. Remember this
for your next Netflix order. Just
like Truman (played by Jim Carrey) was surrounded by props and sets that were
only for his benefit, so too are we surrounded by people and situations that
are precisely positioned to teach us what we need to learn, to grow and to fulfill
our destinies. My Hollywood writer
friend and teacher David Sacks points out that screenwriters need feedback from
the actors to ensure that the screenplay is optimized. So too does the master Creator love our
feedback. That's prayer! Telling G-d what you desire, what you fear,
where you need help. And then when
you get a response in any form, be it an annoying person, a speeding ticket or
a stubbed toe, treat it as the divine communication that it is.
Emunah, (belief) comes from the
word uman, or craftsmanship. It
has the same root as amanut (arts and crafts) at Jewish summer camp. You have to work at it, to craft
it. According to Rambam, we can
KNOW G-d exists if we just investigate with an open mind. He maintains that this knowing is a
constant commandment, in fact it is the way we fulfill the first of the Ten
Commandments. Exercising our emunah
is a primary reason for regular daily prayer. It's aligning our will with G-ds will for us. After a while you begin to recognize
that there are no "bad things," just challenges to overcome and learn
from. Having true emunah is hard
work and is fleeting. Sometimes
when you are suffering or blocked, I recommend acquiring an Emunah-buddy:
someone who knows you well and can help you see the silver lining. When we're down in the dumps it's hard
to smell the roses.
The Jewish people have been praying
with fervor for millennia. Our
prayer has created a world where basic Jewish life tenets have become the norm
for Western society. We prayed
daily for a return to our homeland and our generation has the unique merit of
seeing that dream fulfilled. My
friends, the sky is the limit! We
are a people who, as Jon Bon Jovi eloquently stated, are "Living on a Prayer,"
or perhaps better stated by MC Hammer, "We got to pray just to make it today."
Tonight I performed a Veterans Day
concert for the LA Jewish community at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. I
wrote a rousing anthem in honor of US veterans that was premiered at the show
and I finished the concert with an American patriotic song sing-along. One of my old Hebrew school teachers was in the audience. After
the show we reminisced about old times and he remarked that the rowdiest kids
with the biggest behavior problems (like me) grew up to make the most profound
difference in the Jewish community.
I guess it's possible to reach even those spaced out kids and class
clowns that disrupt the minyan. It
worked for me.
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Chanukah on Youtube!
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SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN:
Sam Does Simchas!
You want your wedding or Bar/Bat Mitzvah to ROCK! Sam specializes in customizing music for your event to ensure that it will be unforgettable! With top musicians, great vocals, pro sound and lights...there are few bands that can deliver the same impact nationwide. The band draws upon the deepest repertoire in the Jewish world combined with  authentic rock, jazz, motown, disco and standards. Many clients opt to supplement their private event with a Sam Glaser concert or Shabbaton for the whole community. Whatever your needs, visit the Sam Glaser Orchestra site to learn more.
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CAJE Lives!
The Coaliton for Advancement in Jewish Education is an international group of educators, rabbis, cantors musicians and artists that gather together over 1200 strong each summer. They have invited me to perform anually for the past sixteen years and those concerts and workshops are some of the most fulfilling of my tour. Just to give you an idea of the serious fun and true unity, here are highlights from my 2006 show at Duke University. Sadly, the organization declared bankruptcy this year...but there is hope! MANAJE is a new offshoot attempting to resurrect CAJE from the ashes. I regaled the attendees at their Baltimore conference last month and it was an amazing week for all. A group of invincible women are banding together to keep the dream alive and they need your support. For more information and to link up with the cause, visit the MANAJE website. Here's a short video from one of the evening programs.
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Thank you!
Thank you for reading, for listening, for your support and friendship.
Glaser MusicWorks
800-972-6694
Outside of the US 310-204-6111
sam@samglaser.com
1941 Livonia Av.
Los Angeles, California 90034
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