“It’s become so hard for us to hear each other. We keep screaming over the ever present noise to try and get through to one another. But our speaking and our listening seem out of touch with each other, and too often we are left alone.
These High Holidays we’ll be exploring the burning problem of communication. Where is the place where we can meet, where I can hear you and you can understand me? On Rosh Hashanah, with its focus on the Shofar, that instrument of sound that reaches into souls, we will try to understand something about hearing. On Yom Kippur, with its focus on words and confessions, we will try to understand something about speaking. Hopefully, despite our awkward speech, our different languages, our whispers will be heard, and we will be able to see, briefly, Beyond Babel.”
CLICK ON THE IMAGES ABOVE TO VIEW MORE ON THE HIGH HOLIDAYS PHOTO GALLERY.
By Itamar Dotan Katz
Watch the full recordings of the services below:
The Events
Erev Rosh Hashanah • Sunday, September 25 @ 7:30 pm - Village Community School
A celebratory welcome to the new year with music, poetry and symbolic foods, that will introduce our guiding question: How do we get Beyond Babel, to the place where real communication can actually take place? A sound piece by musicians Frank London and Rachid Halihal lead us to search for channels of hearing that have been clogged by the onslaught of words and news this past year. A conversation with our scholar in residence, chaplain, teacher, bible scholar and feminist, Dr. Lizzie Berne Degear will explore the origins of our listening.
Rosh Hashanah • monday, September 26 @ 11:00 am - Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 6
An outdoor, musical service by the river in Brooklyn, which will include our unique New Shul way of reading Torah: an experiential rendition of the poem Moses recited to the people shortly before his death, in Hebrew, English and trumpet. Come on time for a shofar blowing lesson with grammy winning horn player, Sir Frank London.
*In case of inclement weather, a notification will be sent that this service will be held at the Village Community School.
TEEN TASHLICH • monday, September 26 @ 1:00 Pm - Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 6
A teens only, teen-led gathering with Rabbi Misha which will include some intention setting for the new year, throwing a bunch of stuff into the river, a shofar blowing showdown and ice cream.
Tashlich • tuesday, September 27 @ 4:00 pm - Hudson River Park, Pier 45
Looking back and looking forward, our Jewish-Brazilian Tashlich builds on the ancient ritual of casting away our sins in the form of breadcrumbs, adding prayers for renewal and new directions in the coming year in the form of flowers. Music, intention setting, and hanging out with friends on the pier.
*Meet at the West Side Highway, we will walk together towards the pier.
Kol Nidre • Tuesday, October 4 @ 7:00 pm - Village Community School
Our transition from the realm of hearing to that of speaking will include a participatory performance of the Annulment of Vows by Cantor/songwriter Dana Herz and a new composition for oud, violin, cello, trumpet, frame drum and voice to the words of a poem that has been sung by Jews on Yom Kippur for over 3000 years, Psalm 27.
Yom Kippur Morning • Wednesday, October 5 @ 10:00 am (YIZKOR @ 1:00 pm) - Village Community School
Contemporary poetic expressions will find their place among the ancient prayers, the biblical account of the Tower of Babel will be experienced in language and music, and performer Chanan Ben Simon will present his latest composition to the Torah’s words. Finally, we will all build a Tower of Words together before breaking it into sounds and silences.
*Please dress in white for this event.
Yom Kippur Neilah • Wednesday, October 5 @ 5:45 pm - Village Community School
4:30 Hityachadut: A Moment with the Torah. Individuals and families will get a chance to spend some moments alone with Torah.
5:15 Mincha - Chanan Ben Simon performs an excerpt from “The unvoiced,” a composition based on the Kabbalistic understanding of the language that humanity spoke during the building of the Tower of Babel. A Haftarah from the Book of Joshua exploring the standing stone who hears all, followed by interpretations by young Shul members.
5:45 Neilah - When all the gates are locked, the gate of song remains open. Our last opportunity this season to communicate truly with ourselves, with God and with one another, and gain some clarity on our tasks for the year to come. A celebration of bodilessness with the Moroccan melody for the Awesome Trickster, El Nora Alila.
*Please dress in white for this event.
The Musicians
Sir Frank London is a Grammy-award winning trumpeter-composer and co-founder of The Klezmatics. His works include the Yiddish-Cuban opera Hatuey Memory of Fire; the klezmer trumpet concerto Freylekhs for Trumpet & Orchestra , folk-opera A Night In The Old Marketplace, Davenen for Pilobolus Dance Theater; and 1001 Voices: Symphony for a New America. He has made over 40 recordings of his own music, most recently Ghetto Songs, Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars' Rooftop Concert; the Klezmatics' Letters to Afar; and the score for Salomé: Woman of Valor. He has worked with everyone from Itzhak Perlman to Iggy Pop; is featured on over 500 CDs, and was on HBO's Sex And The City.
Meg Okura is a jazz composer and violinist Meg Okura uses the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble to negotiate her conflicting identities: a Japanese immigrant Jew by choice, and a mother of a black Jew, and a violinist in jazz.
Her recent honors as a composer include Copland Residency Awards, Chamber Music America New Jazz Works, Jazz Road Creative Residencies Award, and NYC Women's Fund. Her works have been performed by BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, New York Symphonic Ensemble, Sirius Quartet, and other jazz and chamber music groups.
Dana Herz is an Israeli, New York City-based singer and composer. Currently working on her debut album creating unique layers of sounds from Jazz, Soul, and Folk. Dana has been dedicated years to explore the human voice and its power to heal and connect people. Dana is currently leading her own band and has performed her original music in some of the most prestigious venues and festivals in Europe, Israel, and the United States, including WOMAD festival, The Troubador London, The Sunset Sun-side Paris, Le Poisson Rouge NYC, Muri Switzerland and many others.
Rachid Halihal is a world class musician specializing in the music of Morocco, North Africa, and Andalusia. A classically trained vocalist and instrumentalist, he is a virtuoso on the Oud, the predecessor of the lute, and an accomplished violinist.He has performed and given workshops internationally throughout Morocco, on the Ivory Coast, in the Arabian Gulf countries, in Finland, Canada, Panama, and throughout the United States. Rachid has played in Saudi Arabia with famous singers such as Mohammed Abdou and Majid Abdallah.
Yonatan Gutfeld grew up in Jerusalem, where he studied music composition. He was active in the Tel Aviv singer-songwriter scene and toured the country with his band after releasing his debut album. He lives in NYC where he records his songs, teaches and writes music for theatre productions. Yonatan is also The New Shul's Music Director.
The Venues
Erev Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur Morning and Yom Kippur Neilah will take place at the Village Community School (272 W 10th St, New York, map). A Paid parking on 738 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10014 and on 128 Perry St, New York, NY 10014.
Rosh Hashanah Morning will take place at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 6 (Atlantic Ave & Bridge Park Dr, map). Pier 6 is on the opposite side of the park from the bridge and the carrousel. It is the far end of Atlantic Ave, next to the ferry to Governors Island and Fornino’s restaurant. A paid parking garage is located near Pier 6, accessible on the south side of 360 Furman Street.
The event will take place on the grass - feel free to bring a blanket. (In case of inclement weather, the service will be held at the Village Community School- text and email notification will be sent as soon as possible).
Tashlich will take place at Hudson River Park, Pier 45 (West 10th St & West St, map). A paid parking garage is located near Pier 45, on 353 West St. (Pier 40 Garage).