HEARING THE SACRED MELODIES AFTER SOME TIME AWAY

Every year when September arrives, something mysterious happens. Jewish men and women of all ages suddenly show up at temples and synagogues.

In the Los Angeles area, surveys tell us that there are approximately 500,000 Jews and that 75% rarely attend religious services EXCEPT on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Why do the majority of 21st century Jews in our city make the choice nearly every September to come back into synagogues? Why do they set aside a number of hours to hear the sacred melodies and do the inner work of the High Holy Days (even when they don't consider themselves very religious)?

I decided to ask several men and women who attended holiday services at my temple last year for their honest feelings about this complicated personal decision. I wanted to understand what the High Holy Days mean to them spiritually, psychologically, individually.

All names have been changed to protect privacy.

Here's what I found:

--Bruce is a holistic health practitioner in his 20's who grew up in a home where he recalls "there was a fairly strong sense of Jewish identity but not much religious observance." Bruce felt estranged from Judaism for many years but he came back three years ago to High Holy Day services at Ahavat Torah (a relatively new congregation founded in 2002 that meets weekly for Shabbat services in Brentwood and in September for the annual holy days in Santa Monica).

According to Bruce, "I'd already met Rabbi Miriam Hamrell and I sensed she was welcoming, non-judgmental, and very open to all my questions and mixed feelings about trying to find a place to reconnect with my Jewishness. Then at the holiday services in Santa Monica, I met people of all ages who were friendly, sincere, and quite willing to accept me exactly the way I am. For the first time in years I felt connected again with the sounds of the shofar and the prayers that help me sort out what really matters."

--Rachel is a creative business owner in her 50's who wanted to find a place for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur where, "I could bring my widowed father who wants to hear the traditional melodies sung beautifully, but where there also would be a lot of accessible teachings and discussions in English that would address my need for making things meaningful and practical for my busy life. I go to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services on most years because I want a place and a time to check in and ask myself in a deep way whether I'm living up to my soul's highest purpose or whether I need a bit of a tune-up."

Rachel heard about Ahavat Torah from a friend who belongs to the seven year old congregation of Jews primarily from Reform and Conservative backgrounds. As Rachel discovered, "It was so refreshing to see my father loving the sacred melodies led by Cantor Gary Levine's exquisite deep voice, while I was also feeling nourished by the deep inner work and great questions offered by Rabbi Miriam and the other speakers. Not only did it cost much less than at most congregations, but the value from those services stayed with me throughout the year."

--Janet and Stewart have been married (mostly peacefully) for many years but have rarely agreed on where to attend religious services. According to Janet, "Since I grew up in a secular Jewish family, I tend to feel left out in congregations where there isn't much room for dissent or rebellious spirits."

According to Stewart, "I'm also a bit of a rebel, but I want my High Holy Day services to feel and sound like the soulful and moving traditional melodies I grew up with and that remind me of all those times I spent the holidays with my parents and grandparents."

At Ahavat Torah, Janet and Stewart found services that combined both a sacred sense of holiness and an openness to varying points of view. As Janet explained, "I'd never been to a service before where there was so much thoughtful discussion and passionate participatory singing by the congregation. It felt so alive and meaningful, while at the same time there was tremendous respect for those of us who question everything and who need to turn it all inside out a few times before we trust whether it makes sense personally. I was so surprised that at Ahavat Torah the rabbi, the cantor, the active members, and the many guests all seemed to have a sense of being humble and caring, no matter what kind of Jew we are."

--Ellie is a film industry executive in her 40's who says she attends High Holy Day services during most years because, "In my family it was just something you did whether you were very religious or not. Especially the part on Yom Kippur where you say Kaddish for your parents and other relatives who are no longer living."

Ellie admits, "But what I didn't realize until last year when I attended services at Ahavat Torah is that I'm also showing up for my own personal needs. " She explains, "I was unexpectedly brought to tears several times by the singing and the profound teachings. Then there was this congregation member named Marion who played the Kol Nidre beautifully and hauntingly on the cello, which got to me in a deep place like I'd never experienced it before."

Ellie recalls, "Then when it came time for the Yizkor memorial prayers for our relatives who are no longer here, I was surprised that at Ahavat Torah they don't rush through the text like at most places. They take a few minutes to talk about what we each learned or appreciated from our family members who are gone...and what fascinating characters our loved ones were with all their mishigass. It was so moving to be part of a community with so much love and so much inclusiveness. I've always been a bit apart from organized religion, but at Ahavat Torah I felt 100% present and filled up with meaningful holy moments."


--For more information about Ahavat Torah Congregation and its High Holiday Services in Kehillat Maarav's beautiful sanctuary at 1715 21st Street (at Olympic) in Santa Monica, call 310 362-1111.

Or for more information about the congregation and its weekly Shabbat services, social action programs, classes, location, and activities, visit http://www.ahavattorahcongregation.org/.


--This year, High Holy Day tickets can be purchased at a relatively low fee either for the entire series or for a portion of the series that includes:
SELICHOT (preparing for forgiveness), Sat. evening Sept. 12
ROSH HASHANAH, Fri. night Sept. 18 and Sat. Sept. 19
TASHLICH (releasing old habits and affirming new visions) at the beach,
Sat. Sept. 19 late afternoon.
YOM KIPPUR (Kol Nidre) Sun. night, Sept. 27
YOM KIPPUR DAY (Including Yizkor Memorial), Mon. Sept. 28
Followed by a community break-the-fast dinner.



Ahavat Torah welcomes you, whether you are someone who has strong Jewish beliefs, has a moderate involvement with Jewish religion or spirituality, or whether you are quite skeptical or unaffiliated. The lively and inspiring services are conducted in Hebrew and English with easy-to-follow transliterations for those who are unfamiliar with Hebrew.

(Please feel free to forward or give this blog article to anyone you know who might be looking for insights into why most Jews come back for High Holy Day services and where to do so in a welcoming and inspiring place).

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE A BAT MITZVAH AT 30, 40, 50, 60, OR 70?

On Saturday morning, March 18, 1922, a twelve-year old named Judith Kaplan stepped up to the bimah of her father's synagogue and did something radical. She later admitted, "It shocked a lot of people, including my own grandparents and aunts and uncles." Her father, a Conservative rabbi named Mordecai Kaplan (who later started the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism), beamed with joy.

For several hundred years, the teenage ritual of studying enough Jewish wisdom in order to consciously accept the responsibility of becoming a Jewish adult and being a key part of the weekly prayer service was reserved for men. Even after the first bat mitzvah of young Judith Kaplan, it took more than 50 additional years before human beings with XX chromosomes could fully lead Shabbat services as ordained rabbis (the first ordained woman rabbi was Sally Priesand at a Reform temple in Jackson, Michigan in 1972).

In fact, the vast majority of bat mitzvah ceremonies until the 1970's were either on Friday nights without reading directly from the actual Torah, or they were held on Saturday mornings with a young woman bat mitzvah celebrant reading (like Judith Kaplan had done) from a printed copy of the text rather than from the sacred ancient scroll.

As a result, most Jewish women alive today in 2009 either didn't have a bat mitzvah as a teenager or they had a watered down version that was "different" in important ways from what the young men were encouraged to do for gaining full entry into the historic community of responsible Jewish adults.

According to Sasha Firman, an ESL (English as a Second Language) educator in Los Angeles, "For many years I'd thought the bat mitzvah I had as a teenager was the real thing. But I later discovered it was held on a Friday night for specific reasons and I was only allowed to recite a particular prayer in the early half of the service because women at that time in my synagogue were still not allowed to interact with the sacred Torah scroll."

But now in the 21st century there are new possibilities. At Ahavat Torah Congregation in Brentwood, there was a packed house of friends, family, congregants, and musicians on a recent Saturday morning. Two more adult women, Sasha Firman and Rita Reuben, stepped forward to culminate their studies and lead the congregation in a bat mitzvah ceremony of Torah chantings, prayers, teachings, and personal insights on what it means today to become a spiritually-morally-conscious adult. Even though the congregation is only six years old, there have been a number of emotionally-inspiring adult bat mitzvah ceremonies every year since 2005 led by Rabbi Miriam Hamrell.

THE DEEPER REASONS WHY

Exactly why does a person in his or her 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, or 70's (with a busy life and lots of responsibilities) decide to spend a significant number of months preparing for this sacred ritual of becoming an adult bar or bat mitzvah?

For Kimberly Haynes, a professional singer who lives in the San Fernando Valley, "As soon as I heard a few years ago that Rabbi Miriam was conducting a class for adult bar and bat mitzvah students, I wanted to say yes. I had just given birth to my son Joshua and I knew he would one day have a bar mitzvah, so I wanted to be able to teach him and inspire him at something I had also done personally. I needed to know what it was all about to stand in front of the congregation and say I'm ready to be part of this great tradition of being a conscious Jew who can take a portion of the Torah, turn it around from various viewpoints, and understand how it applies to our daily lives. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with Rabbi Miriam and the other bat mitzvah students in my group, as the Rabbi taught us how to look deeply into a Torah portion that didn't make much sense at first. But she showed us how to find the nugget of wisdom, the guidance that we can apply to our daily lives. I felt so grateful to be a part of such a beautiful tradition."

According to Estelle Fisher, a psychotherapist in West Los Angeles, "Prior to my bat mitzvah I'd been deepening my spiritual experience through my practice of yoga and both Hindu and Buddhist teachings. Though I was still fully immersed in the culture of Jewish practice, my spiritual needs seemed more deeply addressed through these Eastern practices. But when Rabbi Miriam announced the second adult b'nai mitzvah class, I started thinking about how this ritual and the preparatory study could be significant for helping me to deepen and strengthen my spiritual roots as a Jew. Then when I found out Rabbi Miriam would be taking a group to Israel in the spring of 2008, I proposed the idea to her of doing my bat mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I saw the wheels turning in her head as to how to make it happen. And several months later I was there at the site that would bind me in time to my ancestors...just the thought of it makes me weep."

Rita Reuben, a social worker, mother and grandmother who lives in the mid-Wilshire district, describes how, "I felt as a girl I got short-changed. It had percolated for a long time--my secret desire to want to do a bat mitzvah. But I was a six-time Hebrew school dropout because it had always been too difficult for me to learn a new language as an adult. Yet when I studied with Rena Jaffe from our congregation and with Rabbi Miriam, I was finally able to learn enough Hebrew to understand some of the deeper meanings of many of the prayers, and to get comfortable with the beautiful trope singing of the Torah portion. In fact, I grew to love the Torah chanting--not only because of the beautiful melodies but also from the mystical feeling of reading from the actual Torah."

Arva Rose, an actress and therapist, comments, "I got interested in an adult bat mitzvah when my goddaughter and her mother, my best friend, intimated that they might do it. I'm not sure exactly why, but when I knew it was there, laid out, made available, I trusted that Rabbi Miriam would be kind and helpful and uncritical. So I decided to say yes."

Gloria Orenstein, a professor of comparative literature at USC, recalls, "What I remember from my earlier years is that my brother was given the blessing 'to go forth in life' and I was not. For many years afterward, any time I wanted to engage in some new pursuit, I kind of ran a survey of everyone I knew, seeing whether they thought it was ok for me to do this new thing. I never felt I had the go-ahead to do these things (take risks, go to grad school, get a PhD, etc.) I knew intellectually I didn't need everyone's permission, but I also felt a bit paralyzed. So when I became an adult bat mitzvah, I wanted to speak all that to God. And I discovered by studying for my bat mitzvah, that I am finally able to 'go forth' with a full blessing and to feel so grateful for all that my Jewish background has taught me on how to live in this world."

Ellen DuBois, a history professor at UCLA, explains, "I combined the bat mitzvah with a lavish sixtieth birthday party and it was quite meaningful that my relatives from Seattle, Tucson, Boston, Atlanta and Baltimore all came here to be part of it, since I'm usually traveling to where they are for big events. But what I remember most about my bat mitzvah is that I had a mammoth fight with my sister the night before the ceremony. Even the next morning, I was still struggling with why it happened and what it meant. Then it came to me the morning of the bat mitzvah that my drash about wanting to 'see God's face' was very theoretical and not very personal. Suddenly I decided to end my drash by talking about how we can't see God's 'face' but--thinking about my sister--we can struggle to see God in the faces of other human beings. My point (and I don't think I said it exactly) was that I had lost the image of God in my sister's face and I needed to get back to it."

FEELING FULLY EMBRACED

According to scholars who have studied this coming-of-age ceremony that goes back to the Middle Ages, at its core a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah is NOT about reading perfectly, chanting perfectly, speaking perfectly, or "performing." Rather, most experts say it's about being welcomed and fully embraced into the community of adult Jewish seekers of a moral compass for living a meaningful life. When a teenager (or a mid-life individual) stands up to help lead the congregation in prayer or Torah study, he or she is saying implicitly, "I belong. I'm part of this ancient and modern struggle to understand life's challenges through the ever-expanding wisdom of my tradition."

As Rita Reuben explains, "I had imagined I would be up there on the bimah singing the ancient words and melodies, trying to do it 'right.' But at my bat mitzvah a few weeks ago, I felt as if the ancient words and melodies were singing me. It's hard to describe, but it was an other-worldly feeling of being at one with the beautiful melodies and the words of the Torah. I also felt a deep connection with my father and the whole history of the Jewish people--those who were in the congregation, plus those who came before us and those who will follow us, including my grandchildren."

Kimberly Haynes recalls from her adult bat mitzvah three years ago, "I was nervous that day about going up to the front to read from the ancient Torah and giving a speech. But looking out at the sea of people--there were so many loving faces and so much good feeling in the sanctuary. It was like this enormous embrace from all the people there in the room. To receive all that love and support, I feel as if everyone was so proud of us bat mitzvah celebrants for who we truly are as individuals. And that's been a rare feeling in my life."



Please feel free to forward or give this article to anyone who might find it inspiring or useful in their own spiritual journey.

Or if you are interested in possibly having an adult bar or bat mitzvah, you are welcome to talk with Rabbi Miriam Hamrell in person.

Or if you would like additional information about the participatory prayer services, classes, and social action programs of Ahavat Torah in Brentwood, log onto http://www.ahavattorahcongregation.org/ or visit http://www.creatingsacredcommunity.blogspot.com/.

Can a Few People Make a Huge Difference?

(Please feel free to send this article to anyone who is interested in positive ways of creating sacred community or innovative ways of making a difference)

Every day in the mail you probably receive several pitches from worthwhile charities. But how does an individual or a congregation decide where to donate their limited time and resources? How do you make sure you are choosing wisely in trying to repair some broken aspect of the world we share?

Here's one true story about choosing creatively on how to make a significant difference even if you are few in number:

IT PAYS TO BE CURIOUS

Kimball Marsh, who grew up in Los Angeles and was trained as a social worker, was walking near his home a few years ago to do some errands. He saw a blue building near Pico and Robertson from which people were carrying bags of food, even though the building was clearly not a corner grocery store or a supermarket.

Curious about what goes on in his neighborhood, Kimball went inside and found out the blue building contained a non-profit called SOVA (a Hebrew word which means to eat and become fulfilled). Kimball soon learned that SOVA distributes nutritious free food to financially-struggling people of all races and ethnicities, under the sponsorship of the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

Raised in a family where Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) was discussed often, Kimball thought that doing something for SOVA might be a good solo volunteer project. But then a few weeks later, he attended a brainstorming session of the social action committee of the relatively-new congregation he had joined, Ahavat Torah, which gathers each Saturday morning in Brentwood for lively discussions and Sabbath services.

Even though Ahavat Torah is not a large congregation, Rabbi Miriam Hamrell and the social action volunteers said at this brainstorming meeting that they wanted to make sure they picked social action projects for the congregation that could spark a significant impact. Kimball wondered if possibly he could make more of a difference for SOVA and its food distribution program if he got his congregation involved in the project as a group effort.

"NOT TRYING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL"

According to Jean Katz, a trained educational consultant who was facilitating that particular brainstorming session, "There are many different ways to pick social action projects. Yet we knew we didn't want to be trying to reinvent the wheel. So we decided to focus on ways of making a sizeable difference where we could give a unique and needed boost to some excellent non-profits that were already in existence."

At the brainstorming session, Rabbi Miriam Hamrell described the enormous impact that could be accomplished if the congregation donated clothes and raised funds to purchase computers and other education tools for students at an innovative school in Israel, called Pardes Hana, that trains young people who have been abused, homeless, or neglected.

Two other members of the social action committee, Estelle Fisher and Sherry Modell, also suggested setting up field trips and personal moments of connection with the residents of a shelter called Grammercy Place in mid-city Los Angeles which supports homeless families and children.

At a later brainstorming session, Sherry Modell also outlined what she learned from other non-profits on the specific steps that could make Ahavat Torah more consistent at using recycled and renewable materials, along with ideas on how to make each congregational event greener and more eco-Kosher (a growing form of Jewish mindfulness and action that honors our human role in taking care of this holy planet).

At several of the social action committee meetings, two other members, Judy Dubin and Vivian Gold, suggested specific ways to get Ahavat Torah aligned with Jewish World Watch and other groups that were responding to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, including the carefully-organized efforts of Jewish World Watch to help rural women in Darfur to be able to obtain free backpacks with enclosed solar cooking devices that would allow them to avoid travelling for supplies to places where kidnappings and rapes were occuring frequently.


LISTENING TO WHAT'S NEEDED (RATHER THAN ASSUMING)

As a result of these small-group conversations on how to give a unique and needed boost to innovative non-profits that were already in existence, Kimball Marsh went back to SOVA at Pico-Robertson and interviewed the pantry manager, Hessie Axelrod, asking her directly and openly, "What exactly do you need that others aren't yet giving you?"

Hessie Axelrod replied, "We have a lot of volunteers who help pick up and sort donated food items from markets and wholesale food companies. But we always seem to have less cooking oil than is needed for the hundreds of families who rely on us each week."

So Kimball and his mother, Gene Marsh, began to let people know at Sabbath services each week at Ahavat Torah that the congregation would begin collecting quarts of cooking oil every Saturday morning for SOVA to distribute to families in need. At first only a few congregants remembered to bring oil with them to the weekly services. But over time the number has grown.

According to Kimball, "Currently each week for the past two years, a sizeable number of the members of our congregation voluntarily remember during the week to purchase one or more quarts of cooking oil to bring on Saturday morning. I honestly don't know who brings and who doesn't because the bottles of cooking oil are lined up on the congregation's kitchen counter each Shabbat by the time we enter the social hall for our pot-luck meal after services. But I do know that each week there are at least 100 and maybe 200 kids and grown-ups from struggling families who have better tasting food and more dignity as a result of the quarts of cooking oil we take to SOVA to be distributed for free."

As Jean Katz explains, "What's remarkable about Kimball and Gene Marsh is that they keep making the weekly deliveries to SOVA even when one of them is ailing. In addition, Kimball somehow finds a way to announce each week to the congregation in a new and refreshing style how SOVA and its clients at Pico-Robertson depend on our relatively-small congregation for its supply of cooking oil. On some weeks, Kimball makes the announcement in a poem, other weeks in prose as a tie-in to the weekly Torah portion, and still other weeks in a personal story about the lives and families that are counting on us."

THE CURRENT NEED IS GROWING

According to Fred Summers, a recent new member of Ahavat Torah Congregation who is also the overall Director of Operations for the three SOVA sites (Pico-Robertson, Van Nuys, and Beverly-Fairfax), "SOVA has seen a dramatic increase in the number of individuals and families seeking food and resouces in the past nine months--close to a 50% rise. We currently provide free groceries to over 7,000 people each month, which means we need to cultivate additional food donors, additional financial donors, and many more volunteers to help serve the needs of our clients."

Fred explains, "Because we are able to leverage our buying power with food banks and supportive wholesalers, SOVA can typically turn one donated dollar into five or six dollars worth of food. When someone living in poverty describes being hungry or needing to be part of SOVA's weekly food distributions, they're not referring to a growling belly that occurs when it's been three hours since breakfast. Their hunger is about empty cupboards, empty refrigerators, empty wallets, and empty stomachs. Their fear is that their children will not have enough to eat that day or any day. But living in poverty does not mean living without hope. Each month, 7,000 men, women, and children receive help from the people who volunteer and donate to SOVA, so that all who are hungry might have enough food to eat."

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If you want to learn more about how to help SOVA feed the hungry among us, contact www.jfsla.org/sova.

If you want to learn more about the weekly Shabbat services or the social action programs of Ahavat Torah Congregation, which meets on Saturday mornings at 10 am at 343 Church Lane in Brentwood (just west of the 405 Freeway between Sunset and Montana), log onto http://www.ahavattorahcongregation.org/.

Or if you want to know more about the current activities and future brainstorming sessions of the social action committee of Ahavat Torah, contact Estelle Fisher at mindbfree@yahoo.com or Sherry Modell at zabi123@aol.com.

The Health Benefits of Passionate Singing

(Please feel free to send this weblog to anyone who is curious about places in Los Angeles where a strong sense of caring and connection can be found).



It's 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The passionate singing all around me has been building for almost an hour. While most of L.A. is at Starbuck's sipping coffee or on crowded streets running errands, there is a growing congregation called Ahavat Torah just west of UCLA that is singing ancient and modern melodies with intense participation and emotion.

As a psychologist by training, I step back for a moment from the beautiful melodies and the voices around me that are pouring out their gratitude, their longings, and their desires for peace and healing. I make a mental note to interview on Monday a few experts to find out exactly what might be the health benefits and the factual truth about this kind of passionate singing.

Can it really help improve a person's respiratory system and emotional well-being to be part of a lively congregation like this? Can it truly take a person to levels of awareness and connection beyond the usual mundane reality of urban living?

THE AEROBICS OF SINGING TOGETHER

On Monday morning I make a phone call to Joanna Cazden, a licensed speech pathologist and voice rehabilitation specialist for many years at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (and now in private practice in Burbank and Santa Monica). I ask her to teach me what exactly goes on physically when people sing their hearts out like this on a Saturday morning.

Cazden explains that, "Passionate singing, especially in a non-judgmental group setting, involves a physical/aerobic activity where meaningful words and music are synchronizing with deep layers of the body, especially the breath system and the throat. This activity not only integrates the body and mind, but it also strengthens a positive social bond within a group."

That sounds healthy, but can it actually improve our immune system or our physical well-being?

Cazden is realistic as she comments, "There are no guarantees, but based on what I've seen with my voice clients and from various professional journals it's clear that each one of these components (the aerobic activity, the integration of body and mind, and the sense of being connected to a supportive group) has been shown in medical studies to promote health and resilience, so a combination should be expected to pack a mega-dose of wellness."

TRAVELLING TO BE INSPIRED

One of the most passionate participants at the Ahavat Torah weekly service of intense singing is Michael Stevens, a commercial real estate specialist in the West San Fernando Valley. Stevens was an early member of Ahavat Torah six years ago when it first began holding these highly-participatory singing and study events each Saturday morning on the westside of Los Angeles.

According to Stevens, "I loved the incredible singing and the warmth of the people in the new congregation, but I also wanted to find a similarly passionate service closer to where I live in the West Valley." So three years ago, Michael and his wife Lynn began to search for an inspiring community that would involve less time driving on area freeways.

But after a few months, Michael Stevens returned to Ahavat Torah and has been there almost every Saturday morning since. He explains, "There's something amazing that happens to your heart and your energy each week from being surrounded by interesting, loving people you care about deeply. Even though we're not a huge congregation, the passionate singing and the sincerity of caring and support are far beyond anything I've seen at other places. It's the highlight of my week to feel so alive and connected to something so meaningful and holy."

Michael Stevens is not the only person who travels a long distance to be a part of the passionate singing. Some congregants travel from Glendale, mid-Wilshire, the beach cities, and Topanga Canyon to be there for the weekly service in Brentwood of Ahavat Torah Congregation (which describes itself as "One People, One Torah, Many Teachers").

The Saturday morning gatherings consist of silent meditation and lively participatory singing and blessings led by Rabbi Miriam Hamrell, Cantorial Soloists Gary Levine and Kimberly Haynes, along with volunteer pianist Joel Warren and Kabbalistic drumming teacher Eli Lester. In a recent article in the Jewish Journal that also described Gary Levine's weekday career as a creative development executive at Showtime Television Network, the reporter explained that Levine's powerful opera-trained voice has the ability to carry a congregation along in participatory chanting, prayer, and meditation that reaches deeply into the soul.

THE BONES AND THE MUSCLES

In order to understand further how these "deep layers" of soulful, participatory singing work in practical terms, I decided to interview Anny Eastwood, a licensed therapist in Santa Barbara, who is also a voice physiology researcher and who developed a powerful healing method called "Miracle of Voice." I asked her to explain to me what goes on in the body when you're part of a lively congregation of passionate singers.

Eastwood told me she has found repeatedly that, "When we are singing whole-heartedly, we are rhythmically vibrating our physical structure to the deepest level. Our bones are like empty shells and act as a sound box for our voice, much like the hollow body of a guitar receives and projects the sound of its strings being strummed. When we sing passionately in our natural voices, we literally vibrate our bodies back into resonance."

According to Eastwood, "One essential way to improve our health and well-being is to release all the tensions from our week. Singing does this. We know that tense muscles cut off energy flow and interrupt healing. When we sing passionately within a group setting, the sound vibration not only loosens tension from each individual's muscles and bones, it also permeates the boundaries of skin and muscles to reach into the bones of others. As the song grows stronger, our voices naturally move toward harmony all on their own. We are literally resonating together bone to bone. The experience 'takes us' and we feel uplifted."

In her facilitation of various groups, Eastwood has found that, "A lively group singing with a lot of energy can harmonize their different rhythms and create a profound sense of community." She teaches her "Miracle of Voice" students (including professionals and those who can't carry a tune but love to sing) that "Talking is the voice of the mind; however, singing is the voice of the soul and opens us up to energies beyond limiting beliefs to the infinite realm of the spirit."

A SURPRISING RESULT

A skeptic still might be wondering if in a 21st century metropolis as large and spread out as Los Angeles, is it likely that singing passionately on a Saturday morning can truly make a difference? Several Gallup studies have shown that finding an inspiring community of passionate singers, study partners, and warm friendships is one of the best ways to stay healthy and reduce the stressful side-effects of a busy urban life. That's what Jane Best, a financial advisor and coach from New York, discovered a year after she moved to Los Angeles in 2007.

According to Best, "It had been many years since I'd attended Shabbat services, but when my new neighbor Ellen DuBois (a history professor at UCLA) invited me to services at Ahavat Torah in 2008, I was amazed at the warmth of the people and the intensity of their soulful singing. Rabbi Miriam, Cantor Gary, and the congregation create a space of 'No Holding Back' and it takes us each Shabbat to a place beyond limits." As a result, Jane Best soon became one of the newest members of the congregation and she recently invited one of her friends and several family members to join her at Shabbat services to participate in the passionate singing.

The neighbor who first invited Best to attend services, history professor Ellen DuBois, also found the singing at Ahavat Torah to be a surprisingly important part of her life. She admits, "Years ago when I was attending Sunday school, I tried out for junior choir and was told I couldn't sing well enough. I used to make a joke about the fact that I'd been turned down by junior choir."

According to DuBois, "But now as an adult, I find that when I participate in the passionate singing each week, especially during one of the most beautiful songs L'dor Va-dor (which means 'From Generation to Generation'), it connects me emotionally with my father and my grandmother. It's a welcome relief from the competitive and stressful pressures of the week. I've found in this congregation people are warm and not judgmental, so we can each sing out the ancient and modern melodies without being too self-conscious."


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For more information about vocal therapist Joanna Cazden, log onto http://www.voiceofyourlife.com/.

For info about Anny Eastwood and the "Miracle of Voice" workshops, contact 805 682-7006 or aeastwood@cox.net.

Or for more information about the services, classes, and social action programs of Ahavat Torah Congregation, log onto http://www.ahavattorahcongregation.org/. Or you can bring your imperfect voice and your passionate soul to the 10 a.m. Saturday morning services at 343 Church Lane in Brentwood, just west of the 405 freeway between Sunset Blvd. and Montana Avenue.