Singing The Universe Into Being

I clamber up the stairs of 144 Fifth Ave known as the Chabad Loft, and open the door in breathless anticipation. It’s Monday night and I’d normally be making the weekly pilgrimage to my beloved yoga class. But this week, I’ve suspended my normal routine in light – or in dark – of 26 year old Yael Pittman’s plight.

On Simchas Torah, while the rest of New York danced the night away, Yael returned home from her Yom Tov meal, only to discover that her Crown Heights apartment had been reduced to rubble by a vicious fire. Tonight, I join a hundred or so fellow Jews at the “Fire Benefit Concert,” organized by Rabbi Saadya Notik and featuring the Moshe Hecht Band and Gavriel Kahane, as we mobilize to transform Yael’s tragedy into blessings.

A quick conversation with Yael reveals that she is indeed in dire straits. After the fire, Yael turned to her rabbi, friends and family for help, but soon realized that the complete devastation of her apartment’s contents would require significant funds (beyond her loved ones’ capacities) to replace. Yael, who is a sheitelmacher (wig stylist), estimates that, in addition to the furniture, clothing and appliances she lost in the fire, just the professional tools she needs to be back in business would cost $2000 to replace.

An architect of safe spiritual havens that envelop their occupants within an aura of calm inspiration, Rabbi Saadya has refined the art of erecting spiritual bridges that help guide us back to ourselves – and each other. Monday at the Chabad Loft is usually reserved for Rabbi Saadya’s weekly Torah class: a journey along avenues of Jewish mysticism and lifestyle that unites NYC Jews from across the globe. This Monday, however, Rabbi Saadya has elected to channel his master builder talents towards constructing a fund raiser on Yael’s behalf.

“I didn’t give up our class to host a benefit concert,” said Rabbi Saadya, as a matter of fact. “The benefit concert was our class. Indeed, it imparted our most important lesson yet – that Torah study must lead to action.”

Surveying the diverse group of guests gathered at the loft for the concert, I am struck by the joy and uplifted ambiance in the room. I draw closer to some of the guests and ask them to share their thoughts.

Actress Raquel Reich Grunwald, a native New Yorker, in her sixties, is a self-described devotee of Jewish musician Shlomo Carlebach. Raquel describes Moshe Hecht as a “Counter-culture” musician who is revolutionizing Jewish music in a similar vein to Shlomo. According to Raquel, Shlomo extracted Jewish music from the realm of Chazanus, or cantorial singing. She credits Moshe with having “illuminated, touched, moved, inspired and turned everything into simcha” with his very unique voice quality and presence, in her opinion both expressions of an incredible and authentic soul.

An attorney who lives in the immediate vicinity, this is Danielle’s first encounter with Moshe Hecht. “What a great, unique sound!” is followed by “It sounds like reggae – folk,” but soon she retracts that statement and exclaims “It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard!” For Danielle, 34, the highlight tonight is clearly “Lamplighters,” a song composed by Moshe to commemorate the tragic murder of Chabad emissaries Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg in Mumbai.

Danielle comments on the event as a whole as “one of the most fun evenings I’ve had on a Monday,” and one that has her leaving “very uplifted.”

Taking the stage in place of Zacharia, Gavriel Kahane blends his soulful lyrics, with looping mantras and tracks to carve grooves that melt the agitated anxiety off our hearts and minds. After a long spell of performing for secular audiences, Gavriel expresses his excitement at sharing his music with a crowd that can connect with the higher source from which he draws inspiration.

My conversations with Yael’s “guests” come full circle when I encounter Adam Jano.

An American-born Israeli geologist, who currently resides in Sierra Leone, Adam, 27, is particularly moved by Moshe Hecht’s song “My Heart is Alive.” The lyrics are inspired by a phrase in King Solomon’s Song of Songs, “I am asleep, but my heart is awake.” A traditional Jew, Adam describes this song as an accurate depiction of his body and mind, indifferent, yet simultaneously aware of his wide-awake Jewish soul. Although “My Heart is Alive” is Adam’s personal highlight, he feels the collective highlight of this evening is the common connection we’ve experienced.

Adam tells me how he’s never quite felt “at home” in his hometown of Jerusalem, since first leaving to tour the world after his army service. Living the paradigm of the “travelling Jew,” Adam has habituated himself to feeling like a tourist, but tonight, Adam recognizes his “home” in the sensation of brotherhood that emanates from the music and pulsates through the people in the room. He compares his existential paradox to that described by author Shai Agnon when he spoke of Jerusalem in the 1920s.

Agnon referred to “Yerushalayim shel Maalah” Jerusalem on high, as somehow constantly permeating “Yerushalayim shel Matah” Jerusalem down low, the then-filthy, poverty-stricken city, with an atmosphere of holiness.

Our ability to build a permanent structure via our connections and interactions with our fellow man is highlighted tonight. The loss of Yael’s home is transformed, from tragedy into blessings. Not only do we have the power to take part in the rebuilding of Yael’s home, but our contributions continuously involve us, link us, each with one another, setting the tone, the foundation of a new more lasting “home” – one of love – ahavas yisroel, where our hearts come alive and celebrate our being together.

Yael needs $10,000 to rebuild her life.

Please help Yael by making a donation now