Updated: December 26, 2022.
*Oneg Shabbos" means "the joy of Shabbat". Click to view this learned interpretation of its meaning. We are rendering it with the Ashkenazic dialect here instead of the Sephardic pronunciation: Oneg Shabbat. This is a nod to Clara and Jordan (who are experts in Ashkenazi Jewish music.)
The Shabbat with Friends Ensemble has recently adopted the new name, The Oneg Shabbos Ensemble. Our ensemble brings to our Shabbat gatherings beautiful, joyful music. Our musicians do not intend to perform. Our purpose is to incite you to sing. We are part of the modern Jewish movement to restore Jewish traditions of group singing (sometimes call community singing). In past generations Jews did group singing acapella style in worship and around the Shabbat/Festival. As liberal Jews we incorporate musical instruments on Shabbat (Musical instrument playing is forbidden in Orthodoxy.) to increase the joy of Shabbat and to make it easier for all participants to learn and enjoy much more our huge Jewish musical heritage.
What sorts of Jewish music does the Oneg Shabbos Ensemble share at SWF gatherings?
Starting winter 2023, Clara and Rabbi Dov are forming an Oneg Shabbat Singing Core for people who love to sing, who seek to expand their knowledge of the Jewish songbook, and who would like to be part of a small group that serves as a catalyst for participatory group singing at our gatherings. If you would like to be a part of the Singing Core, email Rabbi Dov Gartenberg at dov@shabbatwithfriends.org.
More about Clara and Jordan below.
*Oneg Shabbos" means "the joy of Shabbat". Click to view this learned interpretation of its meaning. We are rendering it with the Ashkenazic dialect here instead of the Sephardic pronunciation: Oneg Shabbat. This is a nod to Clara and Jordan (who are experts in Ashkenazi Jewish music.)
The Shabbat with Friends Ensemble has recently adopted the new name, The Oneg Shabbos Ensemble. Our ensemble brings to our Shabbat gatherings beautiful, joyful music. Our musicians do not intend to perform. Our purpose is to incite you to sing. We are part of the modern Jewish movement to restore Jewish traditions of group singing (sometimes call community singing). In past generations Jews did group singing acapella style in worship and around the Shabbat/Festival. As liberal Jews we incorporate musical instruments on Shabbat (Musical instrument playing is forbidden in Orthodoxy.) to increase the joy of Shabbat and to make it easier for all participants to learn and enjoy much more our huge Jewish musical heritage.
What sorts of Jewish music does the Oneg Shabbos Ensemble share at SWF gatherings?
- Shirim-short songs inspired by the Bible, rabbinic folklore, the prayerbook, and the Jewish history.
- Niggunim-wordless melodies originally a feature of the Hasidic tradition, now undergoing a revival through the efforts of Joey Weisenberg and others.
- Zemirot-longer form Shabbat songs sung around the table based on rabbinic and medieval Hebrew poetry.
- Shirei Ertetz Yisrael. 20th and 21st century Hebrew songs emerging from generations of Israeli Jews.
- Shirei Edot: Songs from distinct Jewish cultures such as Eastern Europe Yiddish and Klezmer melodies and Sephardic/Mizrahi songs from Iraq, North Africa, and around the Mediterranean.
- Liturgical Songs: Melodies tied to passages from the Siddur and Mahzor. American Jewish music is characterized by much creativity in this endeavor.
- Klezmer: Jewish celebratory and dancing music with origins in European communities.
- Yiddish Folk Songs: Closely related to Klezmer and a tradition in which Jordan Wax, an ensemble member specializes.
Starting winter 2023, Clara and Rabbi Dov are forming an Oneg Shabbat Singing Core for people who love to sing, who seek to expand their knowledge of the Jewish songbook, and who would like to be part of a small group that serves as a catalyst for participatory group singing at our gatherings. If you would like to be a part of the Singing Core, email Rabbi Dov Gartenberg at dov@shabbatwithfriends.org.
More about Clara and Jordan below.
Clara Byom is the lead musician of the Oneg Shabbos Ensemble. She is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, electronic musician, musicologist, arts administrator, and tunesmith who has been described as having “radiant energy” and “immense talent.” Clara has premiered over 40 new classical works as soloist, collaborator, or with the New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble, which she co-founded in 2016 with Dalton Harris. Clara frequently plays for contra, English Country, and International Folk Dance with The Parson Sisters and performs with the indie folk rock band Dust City Opera. Clara has a strong connection with Klezmer music through her work with the National Klezmer Institute. She holds a Master of Music degree from the University of New Mexico in Clarinet Performance and Musicology (2017) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College (2012).
Jordan Wax (accordion, violin, mandolin, and vocals) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and traditional musician. For the past twenty years he has studied non-classical musical traditions with elders from a variety of cultural lineages in New Mexico, Mexico, and the Midwest. In 2019 he was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts to study klezmer through the New Mexico Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. This program pairs master artists with students to keep traditional arts alive in the Southwest. He also studied Yiddish language at the Oxford Institute of Yiddish Studies and features a large Yiddish repertoire in his appearances. He is a founding member of the StopGolus Collective, a cultural arts initiative dedicated to empowering young adults to explore Ashkenazi identity outside of the contexts of religious institutions.
