Mainstream embraces practices once found only on the fringes...
"Much of the recent growth in Jewish chanting can be traced back to Shefa Gold "

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer
June 8, 2011

In a small, windowless meeting room at the Marriott Hotel in West Orange, about 13 people gathered for an evening of kabalistic teaching and chanting.

Some people closed their eyes, rocking and chanting along as Rabbi Miriam Maron pumped an accordion-like sruti box and intoned the same talmudic phrase over and over again, while Rabbi Gershon Winkler pounded a large drum. Others simply observed.

When Maron finished, silence embraced the room for a few moments. Later, Winkler offered a teaching on the Sh’ma and the struggle to reach spiritual “heights.”

The May 12 gathering, titled “Kryptic Kabbalah,” is an example of “fringe” ritual styles that have made their way into the center of mainstream Jewish worship.

Chanting is a regular feature of worship at Bnai Keshet in Montclair, where Shefa Gold has trained several members to be chant leaders. Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn holds regular chanting and meditation sessions. Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield holds a “spiritual” Shabbat twice a year.

Ner Tamid’s cantor, Meredith Greenberg, recently started a chanting circle that meets just before Shabbat morning services each week.

And a variety of local synagogues have brought in Rabbi Andrew Hahn to do a Jewish version of a Hindu call-and-response practice known as kirtan. Hahn, aka the Kirtan Rabbi, is often accompanied by drummer Shoshana Jedwab, who is also a Jewish educator and Jewish studies coordinator at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City.

“People think it’s something that comes from another tradition and is goyish, treif. It’s the opposite,” said Len Hausman of Millburn, a member of B’nai Israel and a participant in the Kryptic Kabbalah session. “We’ve been borrowing from religious traditions for millennia. It’s not treif; we kasher it,” he said, using the Hebrew term meaning “to make kosher.”

Hausman said he has been exploring such practices since the 1970s. Now he participates in his synagogue’s meditation sessions and leads drumming circles throughout the community. He cochaired a recent men’s spirituality conference at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in rural Connecticut.

He insists on using Hebrew chants, employing verses mostly from the prayer book and Bible. “It has to be from my cultural framework. It has to speak to me,” he said.

‘Larger meanings’

Participants at the May 12 session at the Marriott came from across the spectrum, from members of area Conservative synagogues, to the unaffiliated, to some who have studied with Maron and Winkler in the past. Some attend Chabad-affiliated synagogues. While some were enamored of the whole package, others were more interested in the chanting than the kabalistic teaching.

“Kabala is just not my language at this moment in my life,” said Jill Kimmelman, a member of B’nai Israel and a Jewish educator who said, however, that she loves the chanting.

Kala Paul of Summit, a member of the Summit Jewish Community Center, said that for her, Winkler’s teachings bring a depth to Judaism she rarely finds elsewhere.

She has many of Maron’s CDs, and has participated in conferences in Massachusetts to hear the two teach. Paul participated in a retreat at their Walking Stick Foundation in New Mexico, which combines Jewish and Native American traditions.

“What he says and what he does with the text [is] a way of getting at larger meanings,” she said. “They put ideas in front of you and you have to ask, ‘Is this something I can incorporate, and go deeper with? Does it make sense to me?’”

Most pulpit rabbis don’t explore these non-mainstream approaches, “either because they don’t get into it, they don’t know how, they’re not interested, or they don’t trust their congregations to not think they’re crazy. But that’s the pool Gershon offers,” said Paul.

Into the silence

Much of the recent growth in Jewish chanting can be traced back to Shefa Gold, who was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She runs Kol Zimra, the country’s only formal training program in Jewish chant. Its graduates, like those at Bnai Keshet, have gone on to found chanting groups across the country. More than 100 rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders have completed the 18-month training course.

“With the chant we’re building a mishkan; we’re building a sanctuary, a holy place, with our intention and with all the beauty we can bring to it,” Gold said. “And then in the silence afterward we step into that mishkan that we have built and we receive God’s presence.”

The practice appears to have particular appeal to women and to those already inclined to spiritual pursuits. Participants speak of the healing and meditational qualities of chanting, its ability to open the heart and engage body and mind in ways that more traditional Jewish synagogue practices do not.

As Hausman pointed out, “If you come to shul early, you say lots of prayers, but you can’t take it all in.” By contrast, he said, “when you chant, you’re focusing on just a few words or maybe just on one word and you’re going into the word, under the word, above the word, beyond the word. By doing that, it expands your horizons, it expands your consciousness.”

He brings that consciousness into the prayer service itself.

“When I get to a phrase in the siddur I have chanted, I won’t say the whole paragraph. I just meditate on the phrase,” he said. “Chanting the phrase focuses me on the prayer.”

Ben Harris of JTA contributed to this article.

There are two special chant nights this week plus our regular monthly Saturday morning chant circle too! 

OPENING TO THE POWER OF CHANT at CSL

Wednesday, 6/8  ~  7pm to 8pm 

    with Lisa Kaye at the Center for Spiritual Living,

    390 Vernal St., Eugene (just north of Oakway Mall)

 KOL ZIMRA CHANT CIRCLE at TBI

a follow-up to Rabbi Shefa Gold's May workshop at TBI

Thursday, 6/9  ~  7pm to 8:30pm

    with Lisa Kaye at Temple Beth Israel , 1175 E. 29th, Eugene  
 

CONTEMPLATIVE SHABBAT CHANT CIRCLE at CSL

Saturday, 6/11  ~  10:30am to noon

    with Lisa Kaye at the Center for Spiritual Living,
    390 Vernal St., Eugene  (just north of Oakway Mall)

The Wednesday evening at CSL and the Thursday evening at TBI are not regular repeating monthly chant events but if they are well attended we might be invited back! 

Additionally, the summer schedule for our Saturday morning Contemplative Chant Circle may change for July and August and so take advantage of these events now!

Chanting is about kindling a flame within the words, about embodying the intention of the words.  It is about sinking into the chant 'heart first', not 'head first' and allowing the gate of our inner spiritual world to be opened.  
 
While chanting can be a powerful emotional experience, Rabbi Shefa Gold teaches that it's not enough to just 'bliss out' with chant.  Chant is not meant to be an escape.  We use the energy of the chant to unlock the intention of the words so that we are open to the inner work of transformation.  Chant is a doorway, a gateway to the 'creative force' of the word. 

Insight and transformation do not happen if you stand outside the threshold looking in.  Stepping into the silence after the chant is our opportunity to listen and receive. Rabbi Shefa Gold teaches that chant invites us to ask these questions:

What is the spiritual challenge?
What is the practice that will untangle the challenge?
What is the blessing that is the gift of this practice, this spiritual medicine?

You may think that a chant circle is just for 'good voices' but voices are not what make the chant.  The chant is created with our energy and intention more than with our voices. 

Come explore how the energy we each bring to chant can function to (1) build a foundation, (2) create a safe container and (3) raise up the sparks to kindle a light in these sacred words.

In the next two months there will be a flurry of opportunities for you to participate in a number of Jewish Renewal-style chant circles right here in Oregon. 

Rabbi Shefa Gold (pictured at left) and Rabbi Carol Caine will both be in Eugene and I encourage you to take advantage of that great opportunity to experience their deep and transforming chant energy.

(The two year Kol Zimra chant leaders training program for Rabbis, Cantors and lay leader which I graduated from two years ago was created and facilitated by Rabbi Gold.  In its eight or so years of existence, Kol Zimra has trained around 100 leaders across the country to begin small communities of seekers awakening the power of chant as part of their spiritual lives and practice.)

There will be a number of us who regularly attend the Contemplative Shabbat Chant Circles at the Center for Spiritual Living over the past two years who will be making a special effort to go to Temple Beth Israel on the evening of Wednesday, May 11 for Reb Shefa's chant and meditation workshop on The Inner Path to the Promised Land.  There is scholarship money available for several of our Center for Spiritual Living Chant Circle participants so call me and find out how you can be sure to attend.

If May 11 doesn't work in your schedule, several of us will be going to the programs in Salem and in Corvallis on the 10th and 12th.  Email Lisa for more information at shabbat@spiritpathnow.com.

Sat, April 30  ~  2:30-4:15pm
Jewish Sacred Chant with Rabbi Carol Caine
  Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th, Eugene
  541-485-7218  www.tbieugene.org

(in Salem)
Tues, May 10, 2011 
The Secrets of Chant with Rabbi Shefa Gold
  Temple Beth Shalom, Salem 
  503-362-5004  www.tbsholom.org

Wed, May 11  ~  7pm
The Inner Path with Rabbi Shefa Gold
A Chant and Meditation Workshop
  Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th, Eugene
  541-485-7218  www.tbieugene.org
(TBI members $10; non-member guests $18 which will help support more
of these types of programs.  Contact Lisa for scholarships if needed.)

(in Corvallis)
Thur, May 12, 2011
The Path of Love with Rabbi Shefa Gold
  Beit Am, Corvalis   541-207-3118

(in Portland)
Fri-Sun, May 13-15  
Shabbaton with Rabbi Shefa Gold
  P’nai Or,  Portland
  (at St. Mark Presbyterian Church)
  9750 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland
  503-248-4500   www.pnaiorpdx.org

Sat, May 14, 2011  ~  10:30 am
Contemplative Chant Circle
with Lisa Kaye,  Kol Zimra Chant Leader
  Center for Spiritual Living
  390 Vernal St., Eugene   541-485-0035
  www.spiritpathnow.com/SHABBAT

Thur, June 9  ~  7pm
Chant Circle at TBI
with Lisa Kaye,  Kol Zimra Chant Leader
  Temple Beth Israel
  1175 E. 29th, Eugene
  541-485-7218    www.tbieugene.org

Sat, June 11   ~  10:30 am
Contemplative Chant Circle
with Lisa Kaye,  Kol Zimra Chant Leader
  Center for Spiritual Living
  390 Vernal St., Eugene
  541-485-0035
  www.spiritpathnow.com/SHABBAT

I look forward to seeing you during May in Eugene especially on Wednesday, May 11(at TBI) for the evening with Rabbi Shefa and then for our chant circles on Saturday, May 14 (at CSL), and then in June in Eugene on Thursday, June 9 (at TBI) and Saturday, June 11 (at CSL) and maybe somewhere in between too!

Shabbat Shalom!

Lisa Kaye

13 Adar II  ~  March 11, 2011

I am on my way to spend the weekend in Ashland, Oregon for a Shabbaton with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Eve Ilsen!  The theme of this Shabbaton weekend is "Purim for Adults" and I can't wait to hear Reb Zalman's teachings on this topic.

While this means our monthly Shabbat Chant Circles will meet on the THIRD Saturday, March 19th this month instead of the usual second Saturday date, this is a once in a lifetime experience for me to experience Shabbat with Reb Zalman, one of the first visionary leaders in the Jewish Renewal movement.

I will be coming back from the Shabbaton with great insights and teachings from Reb Zalman on the holiday of Purim which begins that Saturday evening so this is a Shabbat Chant Circle you will definitely want to attend.

Last month we were proud to have our Shabbat Chant Circle as part of the Season of Nonviolence events.  This creates so many wonderful chances to experience a wide range of spiritually progressive events from many different organizations.  The season is not over yet!  Check out the SNV events here:  www.InterfaithEUGENE.org .

I also want to invite you to "The Gift of Peace", the Interfaith Prayer Service held on the 11th of every month.  Rob Tobias will be representing the Jewish community this month with his wonderful singing.  For more info go to www.InterfaithPRAYER.org .

See you Saturday, March 19th!

Lisa Kaye

To view other SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE events
click here www.InterfaithEugene.org   
or here http://budurl.com/SeasonForNonviolence
 
P.S.  The beautiful Eitz Chaim (the kabbalistic Tree of Life depicting the 10 sefirot) stained glass window is from the Havurah Shir Hadash sanctuary in Ashland, Oregon where the Shabbaton with Reb Zalman will be.  Pretty powerful backdrop for any gathering! 

________________________
 
About our gatherings....  
 
This is a 'meta' Jewish experience lead by Lisa Kaye, a Kol Zimra Chant leader who blends her Judaism with the metaphysical teachings from her practitioner instructor, Michael Beckwith.  
 
~ ~ ~
 
Shabbat, or Sabbath is the retreat from the secular world into a direct experience of the Divine.  Come enter the space with your hearts and souls open -- open to hearing and feeling spirit in a new way; partly Jewish, partly metaphysical, and wholly spiritual.
 
~ ~ ~
 
We enter that space through chant and silence, contemplation and sharing. Participate as you are comfortable.  There is no charge for the gatherings but donations are appreciated.  
 

    
   Contemplative, Meditative Shabbat Chant Circle
   with Lisa Kaye, Kol Zimra Chant Leader
  
Saturday, February 12, 2011 ~  10:30 a.m. to noon
  
Center for Spiritual Living
   390 Vernal Street, Eugene
   Cross streets Coburg Rd/Rustic Pl.
   Turn east at Blockbuster and go 1 block.

This 'meta-Jewish' experience is open and welcoming for everyone whether you have little or lots of experience with Judaism or if you are just on an appreciative eclectic spiritual path you will find a home here. 
 
For the February 12th Shabbat our kavanah (intention) will be exploring and nurturing our internal 'ner tamid' (eternal light) through meditation and Hebrew chant.  Our contemplative work will focus on kindling that light and listening to what shifts are opened when we carry that light into our lives and into our relations with others.  There is a causitive link between tending our own spiritual light with a practice like Shabbat and living our every day interactions in an empowered and nonviolent way.
 
We hope you will join with us for this deep, chant-filled exploration of the gifts of Shabbat whatever your spiritual path as part of our honoring of the Season for Nonviolence.

Next month's Shabbat Chant Circle will be held on the THIRD Saturday of the month, 3/19 due to a special event on our usual second Saturday.

Visit our shabbat webpage: www.spiritpathnow.com/shabbat
or email Lisa at shabbat (at) spiritpathnow.com.
SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE EVENT ~ www.InterfaithEugene.org  ~ Click Here for SNV events
____________________

Entering the Hebrew month of Shevat we enter a time of inner renewal.  The outward appearance is of dormancy and hibernation but the sap within us is still flowing, unseen, preparing for the new buds of spring still months away.  Within the dormancy is the seed of the coming growth. 

"There has to be an emptying so inspiration
can be received and something new
can be brought into being." 
Melinda Ribner

Jewish kabbalistic meditation teaches that the very name for the Divine, YHVH (yud-hay-vav-hay), is a Divine map of the individuated cycle of cosmic energy, the same energy that breathes life into us every moment.  These Hebrew letters, yud-hay-vav-hay, are aspirate consonants which - since they are not paired with vowels - can only be 'pronounced' by breathing. 

Imagine... the very name of the Divine Being is the sound of our breathing!

• YUD - Empty of breath. 
  The smallest Hebrew letter, curled up and small like us as we expend our breath. 
• HAY - In-flow of breath.
  The sound of inspiration and filling as the air rushes through our nostrils and into our lungs.
• VAV - Full of breath. 
  At the point of fullness of breath our spine straightens and resembles the tall, straight letter VAV.
• HAY - Out-flow of breath. 
  The sound of exhaling and release as we relax our breath and let it flow out in a sigh.

In every breath we affirm the Name of God and the ultimate Cycle of Life: empty, inflow, full, outflow.  Nothing is ever statically dormant.  Nature may pause, but the sap of life, the breath of life is always waiting to flow back into that pause. 

Shevat is a time of hidden spiritual newness.  A time of private inward meditations and of letting go and releasing that which is not nurturing you, that which is tired and dried and brittle as old wood.  This is the outflow and emptiness of the cycle.  And as the Torah portions for this month from the Book of Exodus reflect, it's about leaving the Egypt, the "narrow places", of our lives empty-handed and stripped to the bare essentials. But open-handed, we walk into our lives ready to receive newness.

The winter forest looks empty of life compared to the bounty of spring but it is this emptying that creates the openness that allows us to be filled with fresh inspiration and miracles of transformation. 

__________________________________

Come welcome the energy of your inner renewal with us at our next Shabbat Chant Circle, Saturday, January 8, 2011 from 10:30 to noon.  We meet at the Center for Spiritual Living, 390 Vernal Street, Eugene, Oregon. 
Everyone is welcome!

We meet for a metaphysically oriented, Jewish Renewal-style Shabbat meditation and chant circle once a month, usually on the second Saturday of the month.  The dates for the next three months in 2011 are:
January 8, 2011 
February 12, 2011
In March we will be meeting on the third Saturday, March 19, 2011

 

 

I wanted to pass on a few gems as my gift to you during this season of thanks giving...

First, this is a great video, just a little over 4 minutes, of Rabbi Shefa Gold, my Kol Zimra chant mentor.  You can see and hear Rabbi Shefa's monthly chant group in Albuquerque as well as hear her talk about her practice of chant.  It's a great glimpse into what our monthly chant circles here in Eugene are all about.

If you don't see the video player below, here is the direct link:
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/11/22/2741851/with-shruti-boxes-and-drums-practitioners-chant-their-way-into-judaism

In addition to the video, Ben Harris from the Wandering Jew blog also wrote a great article for JTA about Rabbi Shefa Gold's work titled "With shruti boxes and drums, practitioners chanting their way into Judaism".   In the article Harris comments, "Once a practice confined largely to the fringe, Jewish chanting is making inroads well beyond its roots in Jewish retreat centers and New Age spirituality."

"'The most important part of the chant is the silence,' Gold explains. 'With the chant we're building a mishkan, we're building a sanctuary, a holy place, with our intention and with all the beauty we can bring to it. And then in the silence afterward we step into that mishkan that we have built and we receive God's presence.'"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The other gem I wanted to pass on to you is a recent posting at www.SpiritPathNow.com from Shevach Lambert.  These were Shevach's words on the Jewish perspective of the theme "Living The Spiritual Heart" at the Interfaith Prayer Service of Eugene on August 11, 2010.  Here's a glimpse...

"In Hebrew, the word for ‘heart’ is a two-letter word, lev, spelled 'lamed beit', or "L B". These two letters also begin and end the Torah, which is why we say that the Torah is a song of the heart; it is meant to help us find where our true heart lies."

Shevach makes the world of Jewish mysticism and kabbalah come alive.  Read his full commentary here.

I hope that the song of your heart is filled with blessings and light.

Well, it's an unexpected vacation this month!  For the first time since beginning the monthly Shabbat Chant Circles in April 2009 I have to cancel our gathering next Saturday, 11/13.  

However there are some wonderful events listed in the www.SpiritPathNow.com/Eugene calendar this November that I highly recommend...

11/11
INTERFAITH PRAYER SERVICE:  "Prayers of Gratitude"
Thursday, November 11, 2010  ~  6:45 prelude,  7pm service
(11th of every month ~ day of the week varies)
6:45 pm ~ Prelude
7:00 - 8:00 pm ~ Prayer Service followed by fellowship
Meeting at the First Christian Church
1166 Oak Street, Eugene
For more info email us at "info(at)interfaithprayer.org"
visit http://www.interfaithprayer.org/

INTERFAITH PRAYER SERVICE INTERNATIONAL invites all community members on the 11th of every month to celebrate the oneness in our diversity through prayers, chants, readings from sacred texts and many other forms that come from the teachings and traditions of our participating presenters.
~~~~~

11/20
An Invitation to Stillness ~
Native American Flute Meditation
with Bethel Evans
7:30 to 8:30 PM
Center For Spiritual Living
390 Vernal, Eugene,
(Near Coburg Road and Rustic Place)
Questions: 541-521-0965
~Love Offering~

"Your music started light and sweet, then entered me in a deep and healing way." 

Bethel holds a quiet and healing space, surrounding each person with soft music and moments of silence.You are welcome to experience this meditation time by adding slow movement~step outside to walk the labyrinth ~ sit in the fresh air to ponder in closeness to our mother earth ~ stay for a short while or the entire hour ~ whatever brings you into closeness with the healing spirit.  This is a time for each of us to slow down and allow peace to enter.
~~~~~~~~~~

11/23
Annual Lane Interfaith Alliance
Songs of Thanksgiving Celebration
Tuesday, November 23, 2010  ~  6:30
First Church of Christ, Scientist
on Pearl Street, Eugene
Vegetarian pies are requested. 
Donation. 
For info call 747-3887

There will be song/chant/music from a variety of traditions, that reflects their perspective on gratitude. We will close, as it our tradition, with a pie potluck.
~~~~~

We'll be back on December 11th for our usual chant circle and until then I wish you and your family a wonderful fall and Happy Thanksgiving!

For more info email Lisa at  "shabbat (at) spiritpathnow.com."
There are a number of other interesting events on thewww.SpiritPathNow.com/Eugene online calendar this month.Check it out!

So I'm running a bit late this month and our Shabbat Chant Circle is almost upon us... nu?  It happens!

We had a great  time last weekend having the kid's group at the Center for Spiritual Living come marching into the service chanting "Ki l'Olam Chasdo" (For Divine Kindness is Forever) and the whole congregation got into it!  Afterwards I had a number of folks say, "Gee, if I had known that's what you were doing with the kids I would have come and joined you!" 

Well, here's your chance!  And no, you don't have to be Jewish!

Saturday, 10/09/10
10:30 a.m. to noon
Second Saturday of the month
Shabbat Chant Circle
at the Center for Spiritual Living
390 Vernal St., Eugene
(cross streets Coburg Rd and Rustic Pl, behind Blockbuster)

So I hear you asking...  "Why would someone who is not Jewish be interested in this?  Who is this Chant Circle for anyway?  Why would I be interested in it?"

Because it feels good!  Because chanting enlivens our bodies with energy and that creates powerful vibrations in our lives!  Because when we go deep inside with a chant, it doesn't matter what language we use, what sounds we make, or what faith we were raised in.  The deep, still places that a chant awakens in us transcend all that and lead us to a direct experience of our own sacredness.  That is what chant is about and that is why it is so universally powerful. 

Those of us on a spiritual path thirst for connection to Spirit.  That connection can get so lost when we live 'from the neck up'.  We are called as spiritual beings to live in balance with our bodies, minds and spirit.  Chant is a powerful way of finding that integration and tapping into that deep ground of being where the 'still quiet voice' can be heard. 

I hear some others of you saying...  "That doesn't sound very Jewish to me!" 

If you are Jewish, you're right; this is not your mother's traditional version of a Shabbat service!  Folks who are used to a metaphysical perspective, or folks who are used to a contemplative Buddhist or yogic practice might actually feel more at home here than someone raised in a traditionally Jewish home.  We are finding the meeting places, the points of congruance of a renewal-style Judaism, a metaphysical understanding, and a contemplative practice.  Is this kosher?  Yes!  Judaism has many traditions steeped in all of these approaches!  It's just not the Judaism your mother taught you.  But go back a few generations to the Hasidim and it might feel abit more familiar.

So, come enter the space with your hearts and souls open -- open to hearing and feeling spirit in a new way; partly Jewish, partly metaphysical, and wholly spiritual. 

See you on Saturday!

Lisa