Prayer is the sum total of all of the expressions of our deepest feelings – and that’s what music is too.
Joey Weisenberg, TBS Kavanah Retreat Scholar
Musician, composer, and teacher Joey Weisenberg is the founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, which cultivates grassroots musical-spiritual creativity in Jewish community. Joey works to educate and train communities around the world to make music a vibrant, joy-filled force in Jewish life. He is the author of The Torah of Music (2017 National Jewish Book Award) and Building Singing Communities. His ninth album of original music, Selah, will be released on Rising Song Records in early 2025.
Experience a mindful, joyful prayer community built through music
January 24-25, 2025
The 2025 Kavanah Retreat – TBS’ acclaimed yearly experiential event – features Joey Weisenberg, an award-winning author, singer, songwriter and musical leader. He believes passionately in the power of music to build community and elevate people everywhere. Joey’s first book, Building Spiritual Communities, focuses on using music to create intimate space and meaningful relationships. His second book, The Torah of Music, is based on an incredibly simple yet brilliant idea: compile our sacred Jewish texts about music and analyze the role music plays in our lives.
In The Torah of Music, Joey considers the central role music plays in Jewish religion, ritual, and life – and how it unites and improves us. He writes that music is fundamental and “[t]o sing is to be fully alive.” He explains how music can help us to be quiet, listen, join together, heal our brokenness and give voice to our praise and gratitude. In addition, the book features a compilation of 180 important texts that he relies upon, separated into categories (Torah, Prophets, Halakhic and Hasidic).
Joey’s informal style, joyful music and infectious spirit will enliven our Friday and Saturday services. His Saturday afternoon teachings will expand on the theme of the power of music in our lives and bodies. We continue this theme with a Sound Healing Circle after lunch on Saturday sponsored by Sisterhood.
The Kavanah Retreat was created in 2018 to bring leaders in Jewish Spirituality to Temple Beth Sholom by allowing us to learn from and pray with these distinguished scholars.
We hope that you will join us for this special opportunity to learn from a master during a meaningful weekend of spiritual events.
Schedule of Events
Friday, January 24, 2025
6:00 pm – Davening with Joey: Kabbalat Shabbat – Enter Shabbat with musically and spiritually uplifting Friday evening davening, using an adjusted room set-up that places the prayer leader in the palm of the people and featuring both old and original melodies that invite communal participation.
7:15 pm – Enhanced Potluck Dinner and Desserts – Reservations required
8:00 pm – Mindfulness in Music (#1): The Art of the Nigun – Focusing on beautiful old melodies nearly lost to history as well as Joey’s original compositions, we will collectively bring this music to life. Drawing on Joey’s extensive experience with nigunim (wordless melodies), nusach (prayer chant) and other musical styles, this workshop will guide the participants in an exploration of the soul of any melody.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
9:30 am – The Torah of Music – Drawing from his 2017 National Jewish Book Award-winning book, Joey explores the spiritual teachings of music through a wide range of Jewish musical-spiritual texts and stories. “Where there is song, there is prayer” (Talmud Bavli Brachot 6a).
10:30 am – Minyan Service with Joey Weisenberg: A Deep-Dive into Psalm 150 & Nishmat Kol Chai
12:00 pm – Israeli-inspired Lunch
1:00 pm – Sound Healing – chairs provided or bring your own mat – Sponsored by Sisterhood
2:15 pm – Mindfulness in Music (#2): Architecture of Listening – An interactive exploration of the relationship between song and silence.
3:15 pm – Soul Snack
3:30 pm – Mindfulness in Music (#3): Building Singing Communities – Using concepts, actions and visions from his book Building Singing Communities, Joey discusses strategies for bringing people together to make music a lasting and joy-filled force in shul and Jewish life. We will sing, discuss, and have time for Q&A.
4:30 pm – Closing Ceremony