For nearly a decade, Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich of Beth Sholom Synagogue has been aware that younger people aren’t attending synagogue in the same numbers as what he called the “entrenched older cohort.”
He’s aware the issue isn’t specific to Beth Sholom, but that it speaks to “a larger problem throughout North America.”
After brainstorming with Beth Sholom’s Cantor Eric Moses about ways to give the Shabbat morning service “a new sound,” the two landed on a cappella as a possible solution.
In 2013, a Google search lead Rabbi Flanzraich to an article written in The CJN about J-M Erlendson, a member of Toronto pop/jazz a cappella singing group Countermeasure.
Inspired, Rabbi Flanzraich and Moses approached Erlendson and Aaron Jensen, Countermeasure’s composer and arranger, and asked if they’d be interested in helping to develop a choir.
“It was a perfect fit,” Erlendson said. “We worked with them to produce the Ruach Singers, which now has a home at Beth Sholom.”
Comprising a core group of eight singers whom Jensen and Erlendson either know from Countermeasure or the local music community, the Ruach Singers have been incorporated by Rabbi Flanzraich into a special, monthly Shabbat morning service that he established last spring.
Dubbed “Shabbat Beth Sholom,” the service’s purpose is to help congregants of all ages and backgrounds better connect to prayer and to their faith.
It is, therefore, shorter, more condensed and, as Rabbi Flanzraich put it, “crisper” than a traditional Shabbat service.
Only two hours long – compared to the usual three and a quarter – and beginning at 9:45 a.m. instead of 8:45, the halfway point of the service is marked by the Ruach Singers entering the sanctuary and performing traditional Hebrew liturgical songs with a unique, contemporary twist.
Using their voices to create an instrumental sound, the Ruach Singers use melodies informed by contemporary music, as well as integrate samples from existing songs and cross genres, ranging from pop to beat box to folk.
Their repertoire includes part of the Kedushah set to the song One Day, by Jewish rapper Matisyahu, and a rendition of Adon Olam to the tune of When I’m Gone, from the movie Pitch Perfect.
“There’s quite a range of artists that we draw inspiration from, and we’ve used samples from anyone from Mumford and Sons to Kelly Clarkson,” Jensen said.
Though Jensen does the arrangements, the process is collaborative, with both Rabbi Flainzraich and Moses contributing their visions.
“They’ll approach me and say, ‘Can we treat this piece in this particular way?’” Jensen said. “Or they’ll send me samples of songs that capture a certain spirit, and then I’ll hole up at home, work on something and send it back to them.”
He maintains that it’s this partnership, as well as the Ruach Singers’ innovative sound, which make the group one of a kind.
“Musically speaking, I’m not aware of any other ensemble that’s taken such musical chances in terms of re-envisioning this body of songs,” Jensen said.
Rabbi Flanzraich noted that liberal congregations in the United States are increasingly using musical groups, equipped with instruments, to draw young people to shul, but the Ruach Singers are special insofar as they simulate the sound of instruments with their voices.
“No one’s doing anything like this,” he said, “weaving an a cappella group’s singing into the liturgy and tfillah itself. It’s very unique and unprecedented.”
The feedback, he added, has been extremely positive, and people in their 20s and 30s, both Beth Sholom congregants and guests who’ve heard about the service through word of mouth, are increasingly attending Shabbat Beth Sholom.
The turnout on these Shabbats has ranged from 250 to 700 people, he said, whereas the typical Shabbat service usually has anywhere from 150 to several hundred people.
“When the Ruach Singers are performing, there’s a lot of swaying, clapping, smiling,” he said. “There’s a real engagement with it.”
The Ruach Singers are in the process of recording an album that will feature Moses on some tracks.
“We’re so excited to…take this revolution in Jewish music and make something we can show to people at other synagogues,” said Erlendson, “to others interested in putting a twist [on traditional liturgy.]”
Rabbi Flanzraich stressed that this evolution in Jewish music reflects people’s “urge to pray, access and worship God. That hasn’t changed, it’s how we do it that has, and will continue to change.”
The next Shabbat Beth Sholom scheduled for April 18 was cancelled. The next one is planned for May 16.
* Parts of this article have been modified since it was published.
