22 January 31 • 2019
jn

Shabbat Together

Area’
s youngest rabbis collaborate
on innovative Shabbat experience.

I

n ongoing efforts to bring sparks
of connection to a post-affiliation
generation, Detroit’
s youngest
rabbis will hold “Shabbat Together,”
an innovative Shabbat experience
with guitars, singing and a
farm-to-table dinner, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 8, at Jam Handy,
2900 E. Grand Blvd. in
Detroit.
More a collaboration of love
and friendship than work,
the evening will best reflect
the shared passions and
aspirations of rabbis such as
Yoni Dahlen of Congregation
Shararey Zedek, Megan
Brudney of Temple Beth El,
The Well’
s Daniel Horwitz,
Temple Israel’
s Jen Lader and
Hazon’
s Nate DeGroot. All are
eager to push the envelope on
innovative efforts to continue
to energize the next genera-
tions of Detroit Jews.
Last spring, with help
from a William Davidson
Foundation grant, Horwitz
and Dahlen traveled to Los
Angeles for a Jewish Emergent
Network conference to see
what they could bring home
to Detroit. Comprised of
seven innovative Jewish com-
munities in coastal cities, this
movement seeks to reinvent
and re-engage Jewish educa-
tional and ritual practice to
newer generations of post-af-
filiated Jews.
An example is a “wordless
Shabbat” The Well held in
January where 40 young adults
ushered in a Friday night
with harmonious niggunim to
allow for private meditations
rather than reciting psalms from a
traditional siddur.
Horwitz said the Feb. 8 service,
geared to those 40 and younger, is
not rooted in any one siddur but
will have the “arc” of a traditional
Kabbalat Shabbat service with par-
ticipants sitting in concentric circles.
“The evening will be completely

collaborative,” Horwitz said. “We
are excited to bring some of the best
practices on the coasts to Detroit
and are crafting a non-denomina-
tional spiritual experience. And, if
it works, we will surely do it
again.”
Dahlen said he hopes partic-
ipants will come away feeling
nourished, peaceful and will
have found an experience with
the depth and meaning they
have been seeking.
He added the friendship,
mutual respect and love the
rabbis have for Judaism and
each other made the planning
a joy and not a chore.
“The truth is that we aren’
t
working together so much as
we are dreaming and brain-
storming with one another,”
Dahlen said. “
All of us are good
friends, and it’
s truly a blessing
to be able to spend time togeth-
er to make this dream Shabbat
of ours into a reality. We get
to make music together, share
Torah with one another and
shape prayer together. What
could be better?”
Lader was excited to be the
coordinating rabbi at Temple
Israel to work on projects like
this for a “new, fun, upcoming
generation of young Jewish
adults in Detroit.”
“My favorite kind of
Shabbat services are filled
with wordless melodies that
allow the worshipper to inter-
ject their own meditations
and intentions rather than be
constrained to the words on
a page,” she said. “This is a
generation craving spirituality
and relationships, and we wanted
to create a service that appeals to a
wider audience. It will be as open
and inclusive as possible. We want to
create a Shabbat experience where no
one will feel like an outsider.” ■


Due to donors, subsidized tickets are $14. To

RSVP
, go to temple-israel.org.

jews d
in
the

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dan Horwitz

Jen Lader

Yoni Dahlen

Megan Brudney

Nate DeGroot

It Doesn’
t Have to Cost A Fortune . . .

Only Look Like It!

248.851.6989
Lois Haron, Allied Member ASID

248.851.6989
Lois Haron, Allied Member ASID

Designs

IN DECORATOR WOOD

& LAMINATES, LTD.

Complete kitchen

and bathroom remodeling

along with furniture

design and installation

including quartz, granite,

wood and many other

materials.

248-542-8022

MASTER PLUMBER

LICENSED & INSURED
AVAILABLE 24/7

EXPERT SEWER
& DRAIN CLEANING

CERTIFIED BACKFLOW TESTING

PLUMBING?
SEWER?

DRAIN PROBLEMS?
WE CAN HELP!

$20 OFF

NEW CLIENTS ONLY.

NOT TO BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS.

www.waterworkplumbing.com

FULLY STOCKED TRUCKS
TO SERVE ALL YOUR
PLUMBING NEEDS