If you attended our Kol Nidre Service at the Tiffany Center this year, you’ll remember the beautiful song composed and sung by Havurah member Alicia Jo Rabins for the service. Alicia made this recording, which she calls “very rough,” so we can listen to it along with reading Rabbi Joey’s Kol Nidre drash, as the drash and the song complement each other. And many Havurah members have asked to hear the song again!

You can listen to Alicia Jo Rabin’s song Make Me Like the Vine here.

“This year I have been learning a lot about plants and feeling very close to the vegetables, flowers, and weeds around me,” Alicia Jo explains. “We have a grape arbor in our yard with these beautiful broad green leaves. I was already thinking about how my new love of plants might intersect with the high holidays this year, so when Rabbi Joey asked me to write a song about this midrash about grape vines and wine (a true honor), it felt natural to interpret the midrash as a prayer about what I might learn from the plants in my own yard. I hope you enjoy this very rough demo recording of the song. You can find more of my music and poetry at www.aliciajo.com.”

Alicia will also teach a class at Havurah on “Women In Torah” this coming February through May. Classes will meet from 12:00 to 1:30 pm on Mondays: Feb. 22 and 29; March 7, 14 and 28; April 4 and 18; and May 2, 9 and 16.

“Women In Torah” will delve into the complicated lives of ten bibilical women through the lens of art and creativity. Using the power of art, writing and discussion to explore stories of women in Torah, we can experience these characters – from Eve to Yiftach’s daughter – as companions in our own personal journeys. We will consider how their lives intersect with ours, and how their stories might inspire us in our own moments of struggle. Along the way we will get to know some under-studied women of Torah and reveal new angles on famous characters.

“Women In Torah” is the first full-length pilot course of the Girls in Trouble Curriculum, created by Havurah member Alicia Jo Rabins around her critically acclaimed Girls in Trouble song cycle (indie-folk songs about women in Torah). The registration deadline for the course is Feb. 8, 2016.

You’re also invited to these upcoming local events:

• A (poetry) book launch reading at Powells on Hawthorne, Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4:00 pm. Lots of Jewish themes in the book.
• Performances of “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff” at Disjecta on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5

Learn more on Alicia Jo Rabin’s website or in this story about her in Kveller.