New Album, Winter Tour, and Cover Story!
Winter Recap, Tour Update, and New Album!
Can you believe it's February!
We've had quite a year so far. Kicked it off with a weekend in San Antonio, TX with the incredible community at Agudas Achim. Then headed out for three weekends in a row on the road in: Atlanta at Shearith Israel and the Epstein School,
Minneapolis at Beth El and the Heilicher Jewish Day School,
and Washington D.C. at Adas Israel Congregation!
This weekend I head to St. Louis for my 11th Songleader Boot Camp Conference and third Ramah Shabbaton!
Take a look below for tour updates, features, and an exciting announcement, and let me know if I'll see you somewhere soon, or if you have any insights, music, or ideas you'd like to share with me!
I was honored to be featured as the cover story in USCJ's February issue of Journeys! Check out the beautiful article they wrote by clicking on the cover!
Have you seen the Lyric Video for Arise?
We're recording a new album!
On March 29th, the Chaverai Nevarech band will be heading back to Los Angeles for Chaverai Nevarech Vol. II!! That's a working title. Other working title: V'Savata U'Veirachta (And you were satisfied and you shall bless). We're going to be recording a ton of new music and new videos. The whole team is back together, and I can't wait to record in a new venue: the BRAND NEW sanctuary of Temple Beth Am, my home on the West Coast!
Check out the link below for a sneak peek of one of the songs that will be on the album. We've been sharing this music (Yedid Nefesh, Lechu Neranenah, Yomam VaLayla, Darashti, Gam Ki Eilech, Shuvah, HaPotei'ach, Tefillah l'El Chai, Hayom Harat Olam, and the Riverdale Niggun) all over the country. I'm so excited to be partnering with twelve really incredible synagogues to make this project happen. There are still more sponsorships available if your organization is interested! And if you're in LA, come join us on March 29th to hear the music live!
Gam Ki Eilech at SLBC 2019 - by Coleen Dieker and Josh Warshawsky
Tour Dates!
Upcoming Dates
- Feb. 14th-18th - Ramah Shabbaton/Songleader Boot Camp in St. Louis, MO
- Feb. 19th-21st - Kellman Brown Academy in Voorhees, NJ
- Feb. 21st-23rd - Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill, NJ
- Mar. 6th-7th - Rodfei Zedek in Hyde Park (Local Chicago Gig!)
- Mar. 16th-18th - Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia, PA
- Mar. 20th-22nd - Adath Israel on the Main Line, Philadelphia, PA
- Mar. 27th-28th - Shomrei Torah Synagogue in West Hills, Los Angeles, CA
Some Torah for This Week's Parashah: Yitro
We have these two awesome expressions of sound that bookend the Ten Commandments in this week's Torah portion:
Right before, the Torah says, “Vayehi kol hashofar holekh v’chazek meod.” "And the sound of the shofar went and got louder and stronger." Ordinarily, sounds grow more faint with time. But the words spoken at Sinai echo as loudly today as when they were first spoken.
And then at the end of the Ten Commandments it says, “V’chol ha’am ro’im et hakolot v’et halapidim v’et kol hashofar v’et hahar ashen…” "And the whole nation saw the sounds and the fire and the voice of the shofar and the smoking mountain." The experience of Revelation was so uniquely intense and overwhelming that the senses overflowed their normal bounds. People felt that they were seeing sounds and hearing visions.
But there is another interpretation of what happened in this moment. Rav Menachem Mendel Heger, the She’erit Menachem, explained that the people saw what they heard. What they heard at Mount Sinai, they then saw in their homes, in their behavior, in the way they lived their lives. They heard what they saw in the way they observed Shabbat, Kashrut, Family Relations. They lived it. Sometimes you hear something or say something but are not able to actualize it in your life.
This Shabbat, how can we make sure that we are being true to the things we say? How can we actualize the lessons we hear this week, the things we say to our loved ones, in our lives? V’chol Ha’am ro’im et hakolot… let’s make it come true.
Have a great week, and hope to sing with you and see you soon,
Josh
Anan V'arafel - by Josh Warshawsky