Orit Arfa
Orit Arfa is in her final year of rabbinical school at Geiger College. A journalist, novelist and singer-songwriter, Orit has devoted much of her studies to determining how to create a creative synagogue service while keeping true to Jewish tradition. She holds a BA in Bible and Journalism from American Jewish University and an MA in Bible and Jewish Thought from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Sessions
Contemporary Christian worship music has transformed prayer into a powerful pop-rock experience—often drawing directly from the Hebrew Bible for its lyrics. Can Jewish worship adopt this energetic style while remaining true to Jewish tradition? In this interactive session, Orit Arfa explores the rise of Christian worship music and its overlap with Jewish liturgy, and looks at Jewish and Israeli artists who come close to this style, with an eye toward inspiring more moving individual and communal Jewish prayer.
Come join musical rabbinical students from Abraham Geiger Kolleg as we greet Shabbat. Like the psalmist writes, we will praise the Eternal with harp and lyre (and perhaps djembe and keyboard), joining with all that have breath. The service directions and drasha will be in English, but the the spirit of the service will be universal. We will be leading from the Nachama/Sievers "Tefillah L'Chol HaShana" but please bring your own siddur of any kind.