SHUL REVIEW: Nava Tehila (Friday Night)




Rating: 6/5- By far the best Friday Night service I've been to in my life.  Lively, musical, spiritual.


Service Attended: Friday Night Services (September 5, 2014)

About: Egalitarian and inclusive, they use varied instruments and meditation type melodies to elevate prayer
Time of Service: Friday, 6:00-8:00 pm
Mechitza: None, open seating
Women: Full participation
Meals: No mention
Frequency: One Friday per month, plus select High Holiday services, see calendar here
Language: All kavanot (talking) in Hebrew and translated in English

Review: Nava Tehila is the idealized vision of prayer and instrumentation coming together in joyful bliss.  Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan set the tone for the night by specifying that there would be absolutely no talking between prayers, but only singing and silence, and that if you came to just sit around, you were in the wrong place.  The kehilla was comprised of a very young crowd, and I recognized a number of students from the Conservative Yeshiva and Pardes present.

The seating was comprised of concentric circles (which fill up fast), with the majority of the inner circle belonging to the Nava Tehila band. One of the things that made Nava Tehila unique was the variety of instrumentation; there were guitars, an upright bass, flute, saxophone, cajon, and bongo, along with a number of singers. For Kabbalat Shabbat, they used selected lines from each of the psalms set to original tunes, in a meditative, repetitious way that lent to the entire kehilla singing and harmonizing together.  Each melody would last 5-10 minutes, and there would be absolute silence for a number of seconds between each prayer.  Bookending these psalms were the full versions of Yedid Nefesh and Lecha Dodi.

Kabbalat Shabbat ended around 7:30, and at that point the option was given for people to leave if they wanted, or stay for Ma'ariv, and many people left, which made it kind of an awkward transition, where by Ma'ariv was made less important. Instruments were put away for Ma'ariv (I would have preferred they be kept, since they had played into Shabbat already), but it was nice davening as well.  It ended with the usage of instruments for one last song at the end.

All said, while the traditionalists out there might not enjoy this, those willing to experiment with an alternative type davening will have a transformative experience that will have them wishing Nava Tehila met every week.

Nava Tehila is located In Kol Haneshama at 1 Asher Street, Jerusalem, in Speitzer Hall. Nava Tehila is also a band, so check out their music.  Also, be sure to check the calendar as they play occasionally at Tachana Rishona on Friday afternoons. For more information, visit their website.