Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi Sung to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah in Roswell, Georgia

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah has been used as the musical basis for many liturgical poems that are sung throughout the Jewish year. We've posted the song many times in many venues around the world.

Today we have another version of Lecha Dodi, one of the key musical poems in the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday night sung to the same tune. This version was performed by Student Cantor Kyra Goldman at Temple Kehillat Chaim, a diverse Reform congregation in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

Welcoming Shabbat with a Bluegrass Version of Oseh Shalom Bimromov by Nefesh Mountain

In the last few years, we've been highlighting some of the bluegrass music of Nefesh Mountain, founded by husband and wife team Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff.

Nefesh Mountain is pioneering this blend of Jewish Americana throughout the country, bringing their unique knowledge and passion for both Jewish and Bluegrass traditions to the fore, singing English and Hebrew songs alike.

In this video at Temple Kol Emeth in suburban Atlanta, Nefesh Mountain performs Oseh Shalom Bimromov, part of the Kaddish that's recited multiple times during all services, including Kabbalat Shabbat.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Rick Rosenthal, Orthodox Jewish Santa from Atlanta, Reflects on His Annual Role

Rick Rosenthal spent much of December sitting children on his knee, asking whether they’ve been good and listening to their Christmas wishes.

On Saturdays, he may have slept overnight in the building. And he only accepts payment after nightfall.

Rick Rosenthal is a Orthodox Jewish Santa from Atlanta. As reported in Vos Iz Neias,

Rosenthal began playing Santa at age 16 as a gag. He would dress up and hang mini bagels on his non-Jewish friends’ Christmas trees. He occasionally played the part in subsequent decades.

But he became a full-time Santa seven years ago when two things happened: First, his parents passed away within two weeks of each other, which led him to grow out his beard, a custom of the traditional Jewish 30-day mourning period after a parent’s death.

Soon after he was shopping at Home Depot when he noticed that a little boy was staring at him transfixed, sure that he was Santa Claus.

“I knew what he was thinking and I said, ‘Don’t tell anyone you saw Santa buying tools for the elves at Home Depot,’” he said. “He was frozen dead over. I walked into the store, I looked back at the first row and he’s still staring at me.”

Since then, Rosenthal has become Santa year-round. He and his wife, Tracy, run a Santa school, Northern Lights Santa Academy, that hosts three-day weekend seminars on how to be Santa. The school covers everything from fashioning a good costume to making sure you have legal and insurance protection in place. But the seminars also promise fun times, like a Christmas movie screening and a photo op with a live reindeer.

The couple also runs the National Santa Agency, which books a network of 100 Santas, Mrs. Clauses and elves for private parties and events. Rosenthal is a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)   

A Musical Havdalah by the Chorus of Atlanta's Weber School

On Fridays we usually post a musical welcome to Shabbat with a version of Shalom Aleichem, Lecha Dodi, or Adon Olam. But this week we're continuing a different approach that we started in September.

Because we don't post on Shabbat, we haven't been paying much attention to the closing minutes of Shabbat, when beautiful melodies are sung as part of Havdalah, the ceremony marking the transition from the holiness of Shabbat to the work week.

But there's a rich lode of musical endings to Shabbat, and Havdalah ceremonies around the world reflect the traditional and local musical tastes of each location.

Here's a video to save for tomorrow night at the conclusion of Shabbat. Playing it after dark will give us a reminder of the sweet taste of Shabbat and energize us to face the challenges of the coming week. This version is by the chorus of The Weber School, a private Jewish high school in Sandy Springs, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

It's a coed and pluralistic Jewish community high school located with approximately 270 students, the majority of whom come from The Epstein School, The Davis Academy, Atlanta Jewish Academy, and other private and public schools.

Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.