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Renewal Of Spirit

Debbie Friedman is the doyenne of Jewish spiritual music.
She performs Sunday in Oak Park.

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SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News

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ebbie Friedman, who per-
forms at the Maple/Drake
Jewish Community Center
this Sunday, fills her con-
certs with upbeat messages that merge
Jewish themes with American folk
sounds.
The composer-guitarist-singer
begins the new year on the strong
experiences of 1997 — the release of
her 16th album, the establishment of
a foundation to promote spiritual
healing and a rousing concert at
Carnegie Hall.
Friedman's optimism has not been
daunted by her personal bouts with an
illness that has confined
her to a

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wheelchair for weeks at a time.
She talked about her upcoming
concert and moving into 1998 with
the JN:

JN: What do you have planned for
your Michigan concert?
DF: I have a certain number of songs
I do every time, such as "Miriam's
Song" and "L'chi Lach," and I respond
to whatever the community is asking
for. I have to know who's there and
what's happening before I can know
what I'm doing completely.

JN: What does last year's recording,
The Journey Continues, mean to you?
DF: It's a recording to accompany a
feminist seder. It incorporates
the whole seder with tradition-
al music as well as my own. I
like to think about the people
who sing this music at their
seders.

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JN: Why is a feminist
seder important to you?
DF: A feminist seder is
important to all women
and men because it pre-
sents another piece of
history that is not
acknowledged. Without
the women who raised
Moshe and without
Miriam, who drew
him

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"Debbie Friedman at Carnegie
Hall" showcases the recording
artist's first concert, in Januar),
1996, at America's most famous
performance venue; "Renewal of
Spirit" contains songs from Fried-
man's healing service.

Suzanne Chessler is a Farmington
Hills-based freelance writer.

from the water, we wouldn't have
Moshe and we wouldn't have Passover.
Without acknowledging the woman's
voice in Jewish history, the seder is
incomplete. We see that both men
and women have the opportunity to
lead together, and that's a very impor-
tant feminist principle. Everybody has
equal power and strength to offer to
the community.

JN: Can you tell us about the foun-
dation you established in 1997?
DF: The Renewal of the Spirit Foun-
dation was established to provide the
community with vehicles by which it
can deal with issues of healing. The
objective is to get materials to people
who really are in need of some spiritu-
al rejuvenation and reinforcement. ---±\
One project that we intend to do is
provide videos and audio tapes for
shut-ins — people incapable of leav-
ing their homes and in need of some
spiritual accessibility to worship expe-
riences. Another project is to train
people to create and lead healing ser-
vices. There's a lot to be done.

JN: Do you consider yourself healed
DF: I don't think anyone is healed. I
think we're all struggling. I think that
we all have to meet challenges, and
everyone's challenges present them-
selves in a different way. For some, it's
physical; for some, it's emotional.

JN: What do you mean when you
talk about healing?
(
DF: I'm not talking about medical
stuff at all. I would never be so pre-
sumptuous as to think that. I know
there are just some things that can't
be healed. I'm more concerned with
attitude — knowing that, in the
face of whatever struggles we have
to confront, we can maintain a
level of spirituality and confidence
as we recognize there are gifts, (--/
promises and hope to enrich our
lives. By doing so, we can look
to the sustenance of other
things. — hope, spirituality
and a sense of something
greater in the world. To go
beyond self is critical in know-

