"WAKING UP TO OUR OWN LIVES"

Mindful awareness through Jewish song, prayer and movement. A Cantor-In-Residence weekend with Cantor Elizabeth Shammash.

Friday, January 24, 6:15 pm: Rabbi Sachs-Kohen, Cantor Ellerin and Cantor Shammash will lead our traditional Friday Night service.

Saturday, January 25, 10 am: Shabbat Shelanu with Rabbi Sachs-Kohen and Cantor Shammash. We will take our time in an alternative prayer service focusing on mindfulness, meditation and chant to find wholeness in Shabbat and the week to come.

Saturday, January 25, 4-6 pm: Cantor Shammash teaches “Yoga and Havdalah.” A gentle 90 minute yoga practice for all levels to deepen our experience of Shabbat rest. Please wear clothes you can move in and bring a mat if you have one.

Sunday, January 26, 9:30-10:45 am: Cantor Shammash and Rabbi Sachs-Kohen “Introduction to Mindful Meditation Practice”

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Cantor Shammash has served Tiferet Bet Israel in Blue Bell, PA since 2007 and is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary. She enjoys sharing her passion and calling with congregants of all ages, in music of diverse genres, connecting them to our rich liturgical and cultural tradition. Prior to entering JTS, her career in opera took her to work with orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra and opera companies including New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and the Beijing Music Festival. Two highlights of recent seasons included a Yiddish Liederabend (evening of song) and another in Hebrew at YIVO in New York City. She was a recording artist for the Milken Archive of Jewish Music.

Through her singing training, Cantor Shammash was led to yoga studies in 1993. Her love of yoga and Judaism found their authentic fusion through studies with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, where she currently serves as a faculty member, teaching yoga and mindfulness to rabbis and cantors, including Rabbi Sachs-Kohen. She leads yoga and contemplative prayer inspired by the Jewish calendar in her community and beyond. She is passionate about helping others bring Judaism into the body, voice and heart through both methodical and creative embodied practice. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, David Reed and their dog, Lenny (named after Leonard Bernstein).

Our Shabbat Service on Friday evening is a wonderful way to end the week and welcome Shabbat. All are welcome as we connect with our prayers and ponder a topical or spiritual sermon. Melodies are drawn from tradition, from our Reform Jewish heritage and from contemporary composers.

Our regular 10am Shabbat morning service is welcoming and meaningful to those who come regularly and those who attend for the first time. Shabbat Shelanu means Our Shabbat, and we endeavor to celebrate Shabbat together with communal reading, engaging melodies, and embracing one another.  The weekly Torah portion is both chanted and discussed at this service.

Did you ever wonder what all those Hebrew words that you recite in Shabbat services mean? Now is your chance to find out. Beginning Sunday, September 8, 11:15 am, Cantor Sacks will introduce basic prayerbook Hebrew vocabulary and grammar during her Sunday morning course. The class will continue through the spring. Basic decoding skills are required for this class. INFO & SIGN UP: Marci Messick, mmessick@baltimorehebrew.org.

The next Azure Family Concert for People Living with Autism and Similar Challenges will take place on Sunday, January 26, 2-3 pm at BHC. It will feature the beautiful cello and piano duo of Lavena Johanson, cello and Judah Adashi, piano. Families can enjoy music in a relaxed and welcoming environment where our motto is: “All Behaviors Welcome!” TICKETS: azurebaltimore.org. INFO: maria@ourjoyfulnoisebaltimore.org. This concert is generously sponsored by the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust.