First off, I want to thank my amazing wife Michelle for steering the Shabbat ship all weekend long, keeping the Matis tent clean and organized for all to enjoy. Secondly I want to thank Matis for spending nearly all of shabbos at the tent, giving all those interested a taste of a beautiful day, and words of inspiration. Lastly, thanks to the Shabbat team for the constant energy.
Here are some highlights from the Shabbos experience: - Thursday morning I wake up at 6:00am, drive Michelle to work, so I can use the car for setting up the shabbos site. I pack every nook and cranny of the car, fitting in a 30 gallon cooler, 4 steal poles & 4 pvc poles for building the shabbos eruv, tents, sleeping bags, 12 gallons of water, 50 prayer books + additional photo copies, a 10 foot long Matis banner, 250 hand flyers, a tube of half-used bottle of mouth wash, 4 pairs of oven mitts, 4 90 Watt florescent lights with extension cords and light timers, and one over ripe banana. The camping director and I have been getting along beautifully, and he escorts me into the site. The rental company arrives right on time, and we get to work. 30 X 30 tent, 10 8foot tables, 80 chairs, pipe-and-drape to build a mechitza (curtain used to make separate seating for men and women during prayer times) are up in no time. Soon Richie Weissman shows up (eruv expert) and we build one of the best eruvs I've ever seen (seriously, I'm not one to brag, but if you're in need of a portable eruv, please get in touch, this one was amazing).
- Friday morning we reload the car with enough food for a small village: 200 falafel balls 150 pitas, 10lbs of chummas, 10lbs of babganoush, 10lbs of eggplant salad, 10lbs of tossed salad, 10lbs of tuna salad, egg salad, hearts of palm salad, chick pea salad, one gigantic party challah (feeds 25 people on it's own), 15lbs of brownies and cakes, 20 bottles of assorted wine, $400 dollars worth of the hard stuff, ....I'm so full my brain refuses to remember any more of it. (If you're ever in South Florida you've got to hit up Sara's: www.saraskoshereats.com )
- Friday night services are great. Matis leads the introduction to Shabbat prayers, and much dancing ensues, gathering the crowd for the true spirit of Shabbos. About 60 campers stay for dinner, and Matis gives a simple but beautiful talk about the torah reading for the week, and it's relevance to taking Shabbat to a festival like Langerado. (Summary: the torah reading speaks of a rare case where back in the day on this special occasion the Jews would take a red-cow outside of the community for a sacrifice. This particular sacrifice is different from all other sacrifices in two ways: 1) This sacrifice had the ability to purify the entire community, and 2) All other sacrifices were always done in the midst of the community, and not 'outside' of it. So too sometimes, in order to spread purity and insight, we have to leave the comforts of our own community, and be 'outside' our safety net, so that the others can also experience the taste of spirituality. This is what Matis was doing; going outside the usual Shabbat setting, giving the community at large a taste of the magic and purity of shabbos).
- Saturday: Bringing a torah was a last minute decision approved by The Shul of Bal Harbor, so no one from the shabbos team prepared the reading. Nonetheless, it was amazing to watch Simcha throw the melody signs to Illan and Shmuel like a catcher to his pitcher on the mound, and although it was a long reading it was truly the workings of a beautiful team.
- Saturday night we check out some late night music, MMJ and Disco Biscuits. The Shabbos team is dancing in full effect back stage at the Biscuits show, and the next thing we know Matis is invited on stage. Needless to say, he dominated. The bass player and guitarist did their best to fall in line with the Hasidic dance step, and Matis blasted out the Shema to the 7,000 person crowd.
- Sunday morning was mellow, but Matis' set rocked. During warrior, he came down from the stage and lead the Shabbos team in a dance line up to the VIP elevated seating area (which is located about halfway through the crowd). Like the ending of Lecha Dodi, the whole crowd turned to face Matis now dancing 3 stories above the crowd, clapping and dancing feeling a bit elevated a bit blessed to be a part of it all.
One of my songs (Book of Ruth) from my latest CD "On the Seventh Year" is the ending theme music in a short indie film called 'Soul Searching'. The film is currently in a festival called Third Screen Film Festival. Well, amazingly, when I wasn't looking the movie made the final round of this festival. Please [CLICK HERE] or on link below, watch the film, hear my song, and VOTE.
I have no idea what happens if this movie wins, but I assume I'll have to buy a tux and make some kind of speech...so please act now. Much love to all...and please SPAM everyone you know to vote!
From the Jewish Federation Annual Pre-New Year Magazine...
Adam Weinberg: On the Seventh Year
The only sound heard on this disc is that of Adam Weinberg's guitar. Like Leo Kotke, Michael Hedges, and Christopher Parkening, Weinberg reminds us that this is plenty. Some pieces are reworkings of Jewish melodies, like "Henei Ma Tov," while others are inspired by Jewish sources like "The Book of Ruth." And some of the tracks are structured more familiarly, while some seem more like sonic experiments; overall, this disc in the same style as C Lanzbom's "Meditations," but freer.
Lollapalooza! & The New Record @ JDUB Records
Current mood: calm
Big THANKS to Matis and crew again for Lollapalooza, it was a good one. Also, you can now get my new CD 'On the Seventh Year' at JDUB Records! [BUY IT HERE] Check out Adam's full discography [HERE]
Adam's Solo Release 'On the Seventh Year' Now Available!
So it took a little bit of time, but the new CD is finally available for you to get your hands on. And through July 4th everyone who orders the CD from cdbaby.com will get a bonus track emailed right to 'em. ENJOY.
As I gear up for the release of the new solo album "On the 7th Year" I searched long and hard to find all remaining copies of 'the illtet' and 'shed' CDs. I found a few, and they're now at CD BABY...so give it a listen and perhaps buy one...sound good...
calm
