Let My People Sing Returns for 4th Year

Jewish entertainer Craig Taubman and his production company Craig N Co, will be producing the fourth annual 'Let My People Sing Festival - A four part Celebration of Spirit and Song' from April 5-12, coinciding with the Jewish festival of Passover.

"For four years, Let My People Sing has brought together an inspired group of artists from around the world to celebrate the human spirit - now more than ever, we need something to sing about" said Taubman. "I am particularly pleased that this year's events will raise awareness and money for the Jewish Family Service Food and Hunger programs".

The Festival kicks-off on Sunday afternoon April 5th with 'Let My People Eat', an Interfaith Pre-Passover gathering of Song, Spirit and Food for Thought at La Loggia Ristorante in Studio City. The afternoon includes Tapas, Sangria, music and inspiration with Rabbis Ed Feinstein and Rabbi David Wolpe, Reverend Mark Whitlock, singers Gabriel Mann, Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman and Elisa Waltzman and comedian Larry Miller. Space is extremely limited and reservations can be made by calling Jewish Family Services at 323-761-8800.

The festival continues with 'Friday Night Live' on April 10th at Sinai Temple. The evening will honor Tel Aviv's 100th anniversary and feature a special concert by internationally acclaimed Israeli artist Rami Kleinstein.

'Let My People Pray' will take place at Beit T'Shuvah on Shabbat Morning April 11th. Rabbi Mark Borovitz says, "We invite everyone to come for the song and inspiration and to stay for the Gefilte Fish". The Beit T'Shuvah recovery program is nationally recognized for its success in turning hundreds of souls around. To save a spot, call Barbara at 310-204-5200.

The festival concludes on Sunday, April 12th with Nature Rabbi Mike Comins leading the 20s & 30s community on a spiritual journey through a canyon above Beverly Hills. Cost of the hike is $18 and 100% will be donated to Jewish Family Service Food and Hunger Programs. Space is extremely limited and reservations are required by calling 310-481-3244

REFLECTIONS - Jewish Musical Journeys

Do you or your family know any unusual or interesting Seder or Shabbat songs? If so we’d love to hear from you – even if you don’t have the voice of an opera singer!

The REFLECTIONS project is creating an anthology of the huge range of different melodies sung in Jewish homes around Britain at Seder, Chanukah and Shabbat and recording them for posterity. Through the family stories of our interviewees we are tracing the origins of the songs and in this way developing a collection of Jewish Musical Journeys – a social history of the British Jewish community through its music.

Each family has its favourite tunes for the traditional Pesach songs or Shabbat Zmirot lyrics and the variations reflect the different family origins. We have already recorded eight different versions of Chad Gadya from Belarus, Hungary, Lithuania, Rhodes, Russia, Turkey and the UK!

Visit our website http://www.jewishreflections.org where you can hear the recorded music, read the notated song sheets and the family histories and see photographs of the people who have contributed.

It’s not too late to see your family’s musical heritage added to the anthology – phone Viv Bellos on 07956 912567 or 020 8457 8795 to arrange an interview.