Swampscott rabbi offers modern take on holy days

SWAMPSCOTT – Tradition meets technology at Congregation Shirat Hayam as Rabbi B gets ready to stream spiritual videos featuring yoga and Israeli rock to celebrate the 3,300-year-old High Holy Days.Beginning Sunday evening with Rosh Hashanah, the congregation that began seven years ago as a combined effort of Temple Beth El and Temple Israel will engage in multiple expressions of traditional prayer, chanting and drumming, yoga, Torah study and musical services to ring in the Jewish new year.”This is not your grandfather’s synagogue,” said Rabbi B, otherwise known as Rabbi Baruch Halevi.Rabbi B, 39, said synagogues on the East Coast will be so filled on the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah on Sunday and Yom Kippur on Tuesday, Sept. 26 that worshipers will have to buy tickets just to get a seat. Rabbi B said during the Holy Days, the synagogue maxes out its capacity at 1,100 people, compared to just 300 to 500 on a typical Saturday.For those who can’t squeeze a seat in the synagogue. Rabbi B has it covered with videos that he calls “shul casting.” According to Rabbi B, Shirat Hayam is the only synagogue in the country to stream services online and has 30,000 watching worldwide. The “shul casting” even features different channels to suit traditional and alternative tastes.”The beauty of the Web is that you can get thousands more online,” said Rabbi B. “The goal is to be in every nursing home and in every computer in the country as a source of Jewish spiritualism.”Rabbi B said the videos and services in the synagogue draw participants outside the Jewish faith since the principles of Rosh Hashanah apply to everyone at this time of year.”It’s a 10-day period to jump start a process, to fix the brokenness in our lives, so when we show up on Yom Kippur, it’s really only between us and God,” said Rabbi B. “It’s to make amends, to say I’m sorry, and to right wrongs.”The rabbi explained the Jews spend these days in prayer, studying the Torah and “trying to open our minds and hearts and spirits.”Rabbi B said this time of year, with many returning to work or school after months of warm relaxation, is a time where people look forward to a fresh start.”I don’t think it’s coincidental that the Jewish High Holy Days are at a time of summer to fall,” he said. “People are returning from the beaches back to their homes and it’s an introspective time. Human beings naturally start to turn inward. Jewish spiritualism doesn’t leave a lot to chance, and it gives us rituals to engage in that.”Rabbi B said his podcasted sermon on the first of the three days of Rosh Hashanah is based in universal values as it features children singing Rent’s “Seasons of Love” and a piece on how people should adopt Apple computer founder Steve Jobs’ thirst for life.Rabbi B said he thinks his videos are so popular because it is never the intent of his sermons to convert anyone outside the Jewish faith, but rather let the spiritualism cast a wide net with the message of “if you are a good person, then just do what you do.”The message of a more modern yet conservative Jewish faith is the basis of Rabbi B’s new book, “The Revolution of Jewish Spirit: How to Revive Ruakh in Your Spiritual Life, Transform Your Synagogue and Inspire Your Jewish Community.” Rabbi B said the key to drawing crowds of mixed ages and faiths is to “take tradition but give it a modern twist and make it more relevant.”To watch Rabbi B’s videos and subscribe to his podcast, go to www.rabbib.com.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].