Musical Shabbat this Saturday & Feb 22 + Concert Feb 20th

[Sara Schoen]

Musical Shabbat this Saturday, February 8th 4:30-6 pm at 1416 Montague St NW (Sara, Ari, Orli & Sami's home), ending with havdalah. We'll have some food; feel free to bring fruit or other food to share (or for yourself/your crew), but absolutely no need to.  RSVP to schoe...@gmail.com for any updates.  Please invite anyone you'd like, and it's never too late to RSVP.   All welcome - ages 0-120, Jewishness, theism, and kids all completely optional. 

Our friends at the Micah Storefront Project are hosting Duo al Rouh (Arabic for “soul”), Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil and oud player Rabbi Zachi Asher, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on February 20th. All ages welcome, also featuring Rabbi Healy Slakman and storytelling, sharing personal and shared histories and a journey of friendship, resilience, and healing.

And if you don't yet receive PJ Library books, which celebrate Jewish values and culture for families with children from birth through 12 years old, sign up for free here.

Other upcoming Musical Shabbat gatherings: 

February 22 @ 1416 Montague St NW

March 8 & 22 @ 1416 Montague OR outdoors if the weather's nice

April 5 & 26, May 10 & 31, June 14 in Rock Creek Park (or 1416 Montague if it rains)

The Musical Shabbat Google Calendar has the RCP picnic sites we have reserved for April - June:  VIEW it here  SUBSCRIBE to it here

Ways to support Musical Shabbat:

• Bring instruments (kid or "real"); Play and/or sing along; Lead a song or Kiddush. Songsheet with words, chords, and links to audio.
• Bring fruit or other food to share.  

• Help clean up.

• Share ideas, feedback, requests, suggestions, or any other offers of help.
• Contribute financially: As of July 2023, DC Musical Shabbat is funded by The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Please continue to support Musical Shabbat both financially and in other ways to help it continue!

      -Easiest way to contribute financially: PayPal shirsh...@gmail.com.

      -Easiest tax-deductible way to contribute financially: Scroll to the bottom of this evite to contribute via Pledge.

      -Tax-deductible via amkolel.org/donate: In step 4 (Additional Information) under "How would you like your gift applied?", select "One of Am Kolel's donor-designated funds" and then "DC Musical Shabbat".   

FAQs:

Q: How did this start?
A: My (musical) husband Ari helped volunteer lead services over many years with various congregations around DC. As far back as 2016, we hosted some informal kid Jewish holiday and shabbat gatherings at our house with friends both in Petworth (pre-covid) and then after we moved to 16th St Heights in 2021. Ari had always told me he that wanted to lead with other musicians, so in May 2021 I reached out to Aaron Shneyer, a Takoma DC dad and professional musician and service leader we’d met a couple times at a mutual friend’s birthday parties. Turned out that he and his wife Lula had talked about organizing uptown shabbat gatherings, and Lula also used to organize informal shabbat gatherings in Adams Morgan when they lived there. Thankfully they were up for joining forces even though we barely knew each other :). The first Musical Shabbat happened just over 9 months later on March 5th, 2022.  Am Kolel kicked us off with a generous grant, and from March 2022 until July 2023, Musical Shabbat met once a month. In June 2023, DC Musical Shabbat was awarded Federation funding, enabling us to increase to twice a month starting in September 2023. We are very grateful for the support.

Q: Is DC Musical Shabbat organized by Am Kolel?

A: Am Kolel is DC Musical Shabbat's fiscal sponsor (a role Am Kolel has fulfilled for many startup Jewish groups) but does not organize DC Musical Shabbat.  When Am Kolel offered fiscal sponsorship for what was then just an experiment, we jumped at the opportunity to be able to collect tax-deductible contributions (including from Ari & me) without setting up a separate nonprofit entity. 

Q: What is Shir Shalom?

A: Just a made-up placeholder name that we used at the beginning of this musical shabbat experiment.

[Sara Schoen]

Musical Shabbat tomorrow (Saturday, February 8th) 4:30-6 pm at 1416 Montague St NW (Sara & Ari's home), ending with havdalah. We'll have some food; feel free to bring fruit or other food to share (or for yourself/your crew), but absolutely no need to.  RSVP by email for any updates.  Please invite anyone you'd like, and it's never too late to RSVP.   All welcome - ages 0-120, Jewishness, theism, and kids all completely optional. 

Our friends at the Micah Storefront Project are hosting Duo al Rouh (Arabic for “soul”), Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil and oud player Rabbi Zachi Asher, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on February 20th. All ages welcome, also featuring Rabbi Healy Slakman and storytelling, sharing personal and shared histories and a journey of friendship, resilience, and healing.

And if you don't yet receive PJ Library books, which celebrate Jewish values and culture for families with children from birth through 12 years old, sign up for free here.

Other upcoming Musical Shabbat gatherings: 

February 22 @ 1416 Montague St NW

March 8 & 22 @ 1416 Montague OR outdoors if the weather's nice

April 5 & 26, May 10 & 31, June 14 in Rock Creek Park (or 1416 Montague if it rains)

The Musical Shabbat Google Calendar has the RCP picnic sites we've reserved for April - June:  VIEW it here  SUBSCRIBE to it here

Join the Musical Shabbat email list here: https://groups.google.com/g/dc-musical-shabbat

[Sara Schoen]

Musical Shabbat this Saturday, February 22nd 4:30-6 pm at 1416 Montague St NW (Sara & Ari's home), ending with havdalah. We'll have some food; feel free to bring fruit or other food to share (or for yourself/your crew), but absolutely no need to.  RSVP by email for any updates.  Please invite anyone you'd like, and it's never too late to RSVP.   All welcome - ages 0-120, Jewishness, theism, and kids all completely optional. 

Upcoming Musical Shabbat gatherings (new addition bolded below): 

March 8 & 22 @ 1416 Montague OR outdoors if the weather's nice

April 5 & 26, May 10 & 31, June 14 & 28 in Rock Creek Park (or 1416 Montague if it rains)

The Musical Shabbat Google Calendar has the RCP picnic sites we've reserved for April - June:  VIEW it here  SUBSCRIBE to it here

Join the Musical Shabbat email list here: https://groups.google.com/g/dc-musical-shabbat

If you don't yet receive PJ Library books, which celebrate Jewish values and culture for families with children from birth through 12 years old, sign up for free here.