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Album Review: Achat Sha’alti (One Thing I Seek)

June 18, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di5coZUGg0Y

Michael מִיכָאֵל Sabani

Kirtan is a part of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. It is done in call-and-response format, and is used to bring the chanter into and altered state of consciousness, “at once ecstatic, contemplative and — most of all — playfully improvised”. In kirtan, the goal is to chant to G-d and to develop an ecstatic state of awareness that brings insight and peace, so that we merge with the Beloved through devotion, hence the moniker “the yoga of devotion”. Borrowing certain ideas and instruments from Hindu tradition and basing them solidly in a Jewish framework, the Kirtan Rabbi, Rabbi Andrew Hahn, Ph.D. uses Hebrew texts as a basis with the lyrics “drawn from the Hebrew Bible and the siddur (the traditional Jewish prayerbook), as well as from the language of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism)”. At first I was skeptical, but it works, and it works very well.

On the newest album, Achat Sha’alti (One Thing I Seek), Rabbi Hahn has delivered a very well produced album full of affecting chants. The call and response format works very well and allows the listener to connect with the rhythm of the music and the patterns of the chanting. I found myself chanting along in the car and while working, giving me a nice respite in the middle of the day. Using the chants drawn from the bible and the siddur brought a unique insight to them, and in some cases it was as if I had heard them for the first time. On the previous Kirtan Rabbi album, Live! the music and chanting was just as engaging, though not as fresh. The production values on Achat Sha’alti are a refreshing step forward. The lush instrumentals add to the atmospheric chanting from the melodious opening Kaddish to a trance Lecha Dodi medley. The droning harmonium makes an incredible background to the traditional niggunim used as melodies and inspiration for the different tracks. As a tool for personal worship or meditation, I can highly recommend this album, especially to those familiar with other kirtan artists like Krishna Das or Jai Uttal and who want to be able to use kirtan and the bhakti yoga system as a devotional tool in service to Hashem. Or if you just like cool music!

Achat Sha’alti (One Thing I Seek) and Kirtan Rabbi Live! are available at iTunes and on the Kirtan Rabbi website.

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Podcasts & Videos, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: bhakti, Counterculture, devotion, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, kirtan, meditation, Music, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, prayer, Punk, punktorah, rabbi, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Torah, yoga

Who’s Your Rabbi?

June 6, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

“Wow, PunkTorah is really cool. I like what you’re doing. So, who’s your rabbi?”

Well, sorry kids…but we don’t have one. Here’s why:

Welcome to the 21st Century. We live in the information age. Many, many years ago, when it wasn’t as it easy to find all the information you need in a microsecond on the internet, you would naturally turn to you local rabbi for answers. He was the repository for knowledge and practice. For all intents and purposes, he was the Jewish Wikipedia of the diaspora. He had the answers you needed. Nowadays, you just Google it.

This is not to say we don’t need rabbis now. Of course we do. They lead communities and counsel, guiding the Jewish people through rights of passage and life events. They are here to comfort and even scold us when we need it. When we are asked questions, we talk to a number of different rabbis and consult tons of books in our IndieYeshiva library. However, there is a limit to all human beings. PunkTorah is all about smashing idols. Sometimes we make idols of our rabbis. Now don’t freak out, let’s look rationally at this. When we allow someone who “knows better” to spoon feed us, to tell us what we can and can’t do, we give away the power that G-d gave us to reason. We give up our responsibility.We stop making decisions because they are right, and make them because someone told us they are right.

Judaism isn’t a child’s faith. It’s not a child’s spirituality or relationship. We are a grown up faith and need a grown up relationship. We need to be able to understand that we can only have our hands held for so long. Eventually we need to walk on our own two legs.

PunkTorah has many “rabbis”, many teachers. And that’s what a rabbi should be, a guide, not a parent. We don’t have one specific one because we don’t think there is one right way to be Jewish. There is one Torah, and there are millions of Jews, and each Jew can only start where they are. We are about giving out the information, putting the Torah on the table and calling all of us up to look deeply together.

I guess all I am saying is, don’t give away your power, your responsibility. Take control of your relationship with the transcendent. And yes, when you have questions, when you have problems, turn to your rabbi. Just remember the second commandment of Judaism, “You shall have no other gods before me” and the first commandment of punk, “Question authority”.

Having said all that, if you still wanna talk to someone, our director Patrick Aleph is in rabbinical school, and would be glad to help you. Email questions@punktorah.org

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Jews, Judaism, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, prayer, Punk, punktorah, rabbi, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rebel

Ask The Alterna-Rebbe: Piercings and Judaism

April 30, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB-8ITg3OX8

“I am curious about how Judaism feels about piercings. Like nose, belly, eye brow, and so on. What do you think/know?”
-Chelsea

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Your Questions Answered Tagged With: body modification, commandment, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, piercings, Punk, rabbi, talmud, Torah

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