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.