Welcoming Shabbat with Beit T'shuvah Congregation and Shalom Aleichem a la Frank Sinatra

Beit T'shuvah in Los Angeles calls itself "a Congregation Like No Other" and certainly organizes Kabbalat Shabbat services like no other congregation.

Over the years we have posted some of their liturgical selections set to tunes of the Beatles and Country and Western stars. They specialize in Shabbat services of other popular culture genres as well.

Last July they conducted a service with most of the tefilot set to songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. Would you believe Fly Me to the Moon as Shalom Aleichem?

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with "Yedid Nefesh" by Los Angeles Cantor Shira Fox

Yedid Nefesh is a piyyut (poem) usually sung on Friday night just before the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming Shabbat) service begins.
 
According to Wikipedia, this beautiful poem is commonly attributed to the sixteenth century kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (1533-1600), who first published it in Sefer Charedim (published in Venice 1601), but Azikri did not claim authorship of it and there have been other suggested authors (e.g. Judah Halevi, or Israel Nagara).  
The first letters of each of the four verses make up the four letter name of God, known in English as the tetragrammaton.

The lead singer in this video is Cantor Shira Fox, the daughter of two Los Angeles cantors -- Herschel Fox, the Yiddish stand-up comedian we profiled in 2011 and his wife Judy, the cantor in the Synagogue for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles (where Joseph Telushkin is the rabbi). In this video she is joined by Deborah Jenkofsky.

This version of Yedid Nefesh was sung last month at Beit T'shuvah, a Los Angeles based synagogue community with a mission to guide individuals and families towards a path of living well, so that wrestling souls can recover from addiction and learn how to properly heal.

They also have a band, and in 2015 they recorded a Beatles Shabbat service with all the familiar songs in the Friday night liturgy sung to some of the most popular Beatles songs. We previously posted their version of Lecha Dodi set to Let it Be and V'Shamru set to Hey Jude.
   
Beit T'shuvah is led by Rabbi Mark Borovitz, described on the synagogue website as "spiritual leader, author, Senior Rabbi, ex-con, recovering alcoholic, and overall anomaly."

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with a Beatles Version of V'Shamru at Beit T'shuvah in Los Angeles

Beit T'shuvah is a Los Angeles based synagogue community with a mission to guide individuals and families towards a path of living well, so that wrestling souls can recover from addiction and learn how to properly heal.

They also have a band, and in 2015 they recorded a Beatles Shabbat service with all the familiar songs in the Friday night liturgy sung to some of the most popular Beatles songs.

We previously posted their version of Lecha Dodi set to Let it Be. Here's another excerpt from the service with the shul band welcoming Shabbat with V'Shamru set to Hey Jude.
   
Beit T'shuvah is led by Rabbi Mark Borovitz, described on the synagogue website as "spiritual leader, author, Senior Rabbi, ex-con, recovering alcoholic, and overall anomaly."

Officially ordained in 2000 at the University of Judaism with a Master's in Rabbinic Literature, Rabbi Borovitz combined his knowledge of Torah and street smarts to shape his calling: helping recovering addicts find their way in the world. 

After being released from prison in 1988 he began his work at Beit T'Shuvah. Over the past twenty-eight years, he has co-created one of the most exceptional approaches to addiction treatment and criminal rehabilitation and reintegration in the world.

The lead singer in this video is Cantor Shira Fox, the daughter of two Los Angeles cantors -- Herschel Fox, the Yiddish stand-up comedian we profiled in 2011 and his wife Judy, the cantor in the Synagogue for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles (where Joseph Telushkin is the rabbi),
 
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.)