Dear Lab/Shul,
As a founding Storahtelling company member, my entire adult life has been dedicated to the art of translation. One of the delights of translation that I found as a musician is taking ancient text and transforming it into song. The work that goes into the process of both songwriting from ancient text and creating Storahtellings is deliciously deep and deliberate, diving into text, subtext, vernacular and meaning.
Which is why it gave me such great pleasure – especially in these turbulent times – to serve as Artistic Producer of an album of new songs featuring 13 other artists that were built from re-translated – and re-gendered – Torah verses!
We are thrilled to invite you to the Songs of Toratah: ZimraTah Album Release Event on February 29. I am so grateful to my Lab/Shul family for this opportunity to have had my mind blown and expanded in this process. It has been a thrill to delve into another spiritual pathway of existential wonder in this creative venture as we developed this collection of 10 songs that celebrate the language of Toratah and cultivate a live music experience for you all to immerse, investigate and enjoy.
What’s Toratah? From Toratah’s co-Founder Yael Kanarek:
“Toratah is a revolutionary rewrite of the Hebrew Bible. Toratah reverses the genders of all its characters, placing women at the center of our sacred texts and opens up possibilities for gender diversity. You may ask yourself “why not re-gender straight to gender-neutral/non-binary in English?” To learn more, click here.
It would be such an honor for me to have you join me this Thursday at Central Synagogue, with a multitude of local and national sponsors taking part in lifting up this new language for sacred story. If you can’t be there in person, pre-save the album.
And what a bounty of blessings we have here at Lab/Shul!
Join us TOMORROW for the launch of our next Learning Lab series: Song Circle – an intimate space to learn new music, share your favorites and sing together to practice the oldest tool for healing and being in collective, led by Shira Kline, Co-Founder & Spiritual Leader.
These challenging times are dividing loved ones and communities here in NYC and around the world. So much is uncertain, but we do know that art and music have the power to heal and create societal shift. Let us come together – in an empowered state – as an act of resistance as we lift joy to help ease pain.
With love and in song,
Naomi Less
Co-Founder, Associate Director, Ritual Leader and Raising the Bar Director of Ritual
