My Journey into the Amidah - Part 1

I am feeling very fortunate.  I love my family, I love playing music, I have been blessed with relationships and colleagues and experiences that have connected me to some amazingly talented, spiritual and insightful people.

Now I am on a journey; A Jewish and spiritual journey. Right now I am using two words to describe the journey.  I am interested to see if the way I am headed merges or further separates the two...

I was fortunate, more than a year ago, to become accepted in the two-year Davennen Leadership Training Program (DLTI) at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. This is an Aleph (Renewal) program and is also a follow up to receiving s'micha as a Drummer of the Holy Temple two years ago now from Akiva Wharton (Akiva the Believer) through Reb Zalman. There are now three of us who have been so honored.

As part of the DLTI curriculum I am now in a focused period of study of the Amidah ('standing') prayer.  I have been reading it and reciting it daily, and am engaged in research of Talmudic, biblical, creative, interpretive understandings of this 18/19 part prayer of our daily services. I have also committed to wearing tefillin every day to learn that skill and get a sense of that ritual as well.  As a Reform Jew, I am not as used to ritual's of this type.  Which is odd considering my insight of maybe 17 years ago was that the only reason I know anything about Jewish ritual is because of what I was trained with in my pre Bar Mitzvah, Reform days or 'rote' prayer....signpost number one on my journey....

On-Going Events

I wanted to post some ongoing programs that I am involved in.  You can often find me playing as lead drummer for the local Hebrew Kirtan ensemble Kol Libeinu in and around the Boston and Brookline area. And here are some upcoming music, chant, and teaching activities.

Sunday, March 22 - 10am Sunday Mass at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard, MA - performing the Rutter Requiem

Tuesday, March 31 - 7:30 PM - Monthly chant circle with Kol Zimra alumna Eva Friedner, Congregation B'nai Shalom, 117 E. Main Street, Westborough, MA (Last Tuesday every month)
[April 28, May 26, June 30]

I teach sacred hand drumming in private lessons to rabbinic and cantorial students at Hebrew College, Newton, MA on Wednesdays.  Interested in learning? Contact me at at mitch(dot)gordon09(at)gmail.com.

Saturday shacharit services at the Hineini Healing Community (http://hineini.us/) - I am often one of the drummers helping to lead the services...10:30am twice per month...in Weston, MA  Visit the Hineini website for calendar information. (I will be there on these upcoming dates: April 4, April 17, May 2).