We frequently sing love songs to God in synagogue services. But we sing in Hebrew most of the time, a language most of us do not read, speak, or write. What happens when we look at our liturgy through the lens of songs we understand? Imagine, for example, replacing Yedid Nefesh with I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You during Kabbalat Shabbat. The passionate imagery of the former might be reflected by the lyrics of the latter. Why sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” in place of the prayer “Aleynu”? Because both songs express the longing for a world of peace and harmony. Why insert “Eight Days a Week” in place of the “V’ahavta”? The Beatles’ lyrics can be read as a request for human beings to love God with all their heart.
During the Love Song Service we will learn the architecture of a Jewish service while simultaneously unpacking the purpose of our loving, lyrical Hebrew prayers. The love songs we will sing are versions of Mi Chamocha and Aleinu, the V’ahavta and Adon Olam from artists as varied as Don McClean, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, and more.
Join us at 7:45 pm at St. Mark's, 1725 North New Hope Rd, Raleigh, NC May 20 and discover why our services were built on a series of love songs.
More about our guest:
Rabbi Dr. Barbara Shulamit Thiede teaches Tanakh, Judaism and Jewish history, the Holocaust and the history of European anti-Semitism in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Charlotte. She was ordained in 2011 as a rabbi and in 2012 as a mashpi’ah ruchanit (spiritual director) by ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Rabbi Thiede serves Temple Or Olam, the first Jewish Renewal community in North Carolina.
Rabbi Thiede wrote a personal column for The Charlotte Observer’s Cabarrus News for over twenty years, and now blogs at adrenalinedrash.com. In her spare time (!), she runs a small business at www.notmybrotherskippah.com (Reb Raachel has been seen sporting her creations.)
Rabbi Thiede has founded two peace organizations, two interfaith organizations, and a chess school. She has served as the faculty advisor for UNCC’s Hillel group and the Interfaith Alliance. She has been teaching with unquenchable passion and joy for thirty years; she has a husband she adores, a son she adores, and a cat who adores her husband and son.
During the Love Song Service we will learn the architecture of a Jewish service while simultaneously unpacking the purpose of our loving, lyrical Hebrew prayers. The love songs we will sing are versions of Mi Chamocha and Aleinu, the V’ahavta and Adon Olam from artists as varied as Don McClean, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, and more.
Join us at 7:45 pm at St. Mark's, 1725 North New Hope Rd, Raleigh, NC May 20 and discover why our services were built on a series of love songs.
More about our guest:
Rabbi Dr. Barbara Shulamit Thiede teaches Tanakh, Judaism and Jewish history, the Holocaust and the history of European anti-Semitism in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Charlotte. She was ordained in 2011 as a rabbi and in 2012 as a mashpi’ah ruchanit (spiritual director) by ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Rabbi Thiede serves Temple Or Olam, the first Jewish Renewal community in North Carolina.
Rabbi Thiede wrote a personal column for The Charlotte Observer’s Cabarrus News for over twenty years, and now blogs at adrenalinedrash.com. In her spare time (!), she runs a small business at www.notmybrotherskippah.com (Reb Raachel has been seen sporting her creations.)
Rabbi Thiede has founded two peace organizations, two interfaith organizations, and a chess school. She has served as the faculty advisor for UNCC’s Hillel group and the Interfaith Alliance. She has been teaching with unquenchable passion and joy for thirty years; she has a husband she adores, a son she adores, and a cat who adores her husband and son.