Name that Tune: Hannukah Hallel Edition!
Hannukah Hallel Karaoke,
Virtual Tour Update,
and New Music!
Happy Kislev! Hannukah is Coming!
Dear Friends,
I miss you! It's been a while, so I wanted to share with you some things I've been up to over the past few months. Adina and I are here in Columbus, OH, and have been getting very good at a variety of different board games (Stone Age, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, 7 Wonders Duel- anyone play any of these?) I've also been traveling all across the internet to synagogues, schools, and communities to share music, Tefillah, and create some joy and song even when we're far apart. This Fall has been very different from anything I could have ever imagined, and I am extremely grateful to all of the communities who have sung, danced, learned, and laughed with me over the past few months.
Check out this winter update for a Hannukah-themed Karaoke Hallel, updates on Karaoke Tefillah, Classes, New Music, and more! And I'd love to hear what you're up to as well, please drop me a line and say hello!
Wishing you a week filled with light, love, and harmony,
Josh
I am now offering a mid-year
25% discount for Karaoke Tefillah!
Hannukah-themed Hallel Karaoke! Can you name all the tunes?
Karaoke Tefillah is an innovative and engaging new program designed to assist communities, synagogues, and day schools with Tefillah. Over 15 institutions across the country are already using this resource to engage their students and families. The videos are fun and engaging, with a beautiful Hebrew text scroll below to facilitate Hebrew decoding, reading, and comprehension. Discussion questions and Kavanot (intentions) are layered into the videos, and the smooth and easy to operate website that houses the program also features many programming resources to boot! A full suite of tools are already available, and more are being added every few weeks, catered to the requests of our program licensees. If you’re interested, I’d love to connect with you in the next few weeks and walk you through the site and resources.
Here’s a testimonial from The Epstein School in Atlanta, GA:
“Rabbi Josh’s karaoke tefillah recordings have transformed our remote learning. My students love singing along to the videos at home when we broadcast them over Zoom and I’ve even seen more than a few parents sneak into the frame to join their middle school students for tefillah...Rabbi Josh has been incredibly responsive and helpful when we were starting to organize our services. He’s given us suggestions and helped us think through some of the best methods to use. It feels like I have another teacher in the room when we’re running tefillot.”
Reply to this e-mail or reach out at josh.warshawsky@gmail.com for more info!
New Offering: Music as Midrash Classes!
I have loved learning and growing with small groups and communities through these three or four-week courses on music as midrash. We sing, we talk, we laugh, and we share together throughout our journey through the texts. I learn so much from the amazing conversations, and it's a true joy and release to jump headfirst into song and prayer at the end of the day. Let me know if you'd like to bring this offering to your community!
New music commissioned for Rabbi Aaron Melman
by Cantor Steven Stoehr in honor of 18 years at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, IL
Barcheinu - A Prayer for Community
Virtual Tour Dates!
I'm collaborating with communities virtually and would love to come visit you!
Here are a few places I'll be over the next few weeks:
Candle Lightings with Ramah Wisconsin and Ramah Canada communities
Dec. 12th Light to Light Concert with Temple Beth Sholom in Teaneck, NJ
Dec. 14th Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago Community Hannukah Lighting
Jan. 9th Agudas Achim San Antonio, TX Havdalah Concert
Jan. 16th B'nai Jeshurun Cleveland, OH Havdalah Concert
And more!
A Short Hannukah Vort (Word):
There is an Israeli children’s Hannukah song that says, “Banu choshech l’garesh, b’yadeinu or v’eish” We have come to banish the darkness, in our hands is light and fire. "Kol echad hu or katan, v’kulanu or eitan." Each one of us is a small light, but all together we are the strongest light. Each night of Hannukah we attempt to add more light into the world than we had the day before.
We had the choice to do it the other way, it’s an option in the Talmud. But we go up. "Ma’alin bakodesh v’ein moridim." With matters of holiness, we always go up, we don’t go down. But even just that one light - that small light that shines in each one of us… that light is enough. In darkness, the smallest amount of light shines strong and true and illuminates the whole room. In the book of Psalms we are taught, "Ner Hashem Nishmat Adam," "The Soul of a Human is the Flame of the Holy One." This Hannukah, what are you doing to add a little more light into the world?
May this week be a week of light, love and harmony, and may it carry on into the next year and beyond for all of us.
Shavua Tov,
Josh