COURTESY PHOTO

Zoriy Zinger, a world-class violinist, will perform at the Kabbalat Shabbat service.

Community invited toKabbalat Shabbat service

THERESA CAMPBELL | Staff Writertheresacampbell@dailycommercial.com

Congregation Beth Sholom ofLeesburg invites the commu-nity to what is being billed as a

"special, warm, joyous, and festive"Kabbalat Shabbat service at 7 p.m.,Friday.

"I am immensely excited about thiscontinuing tradition of our congrega-tion, both because of the highly spiri-tual nature of this all-musical serviceand because it affords us the oppor-tunity to bring to our synagogue theextraordinary violinist, Zoriy Zinger,"said Rabbi Karen Allen.

She said the name Kabbalat Shab-bat refers to the Friday evening ser-vice that welcomes the Sabbath.Many of its central prayers werecreated in Tzfat, a city in north-ern Israel which became the largestcenter of Jewish population in the16th century. Also called Safed, thecity remains to this day the centerfor study of Kabbalah, the wisdomof Jewish mysticism, which is tradi-tionally said to have been revealedto the Israelites along with the To-rah at Mt. Sinai.

Originally studied by only a fewinitiated scholars, Kabbalah hasbeen made widely accessible in ourgeneration, the rabbi said.

"Zoriy Zinger and I have enjoyeda long collaboration as concert art-ists," Allen said. "Shortly after be-ginning my tenure as rabbi of Con-gregation Beth Sholom in 2008,1composed piano and violin arrange-ments to accompany the vocal litur-gy for the Friday night service, draw-ing melodies from the Orthodox,Conservative and Reform traditionsrepresented by our membership."

Through this musical service, Al-

RABBI KAREN ALLEN

You won't want to miss thiswonderful celebration of theJewish spirit in music fromReform, Conservative and

Orthodox traditions. You will leavehumming or singing tunes that

you learned as a child, along withversions of prayers that you may

have heard for the first time.Margo Berkoff,

secretary for Congregation Beth Sholom

len introduced Zinger to the con-gregation.

"To everyone's delight, an affec-tionate and enduring relationshipwas created," the rabbi said. "It hasbeen our pleasure to offer to thecommunity, on behalf of the congre-gation and with the generous assis-tance of the Melon Patch Theatre, a

growing series of concerts combin-ing popular and classical music.

"Now, we welcome our friendsand neighbors to share with us themusical and spiritual enjoyment ofthe Kabbalat Shabbat service," sheadded. The service is free.

Margo Berkoff, secretary for Con-gregation Beth Sholom, believes at-tendees will be touched by the up-lifting service of music and song ledby the rabbi playing her keyboardand Zinger, a world-class violin-ist, who was a soloist in the RussianSymphony Orchestra before reach-ing fame in America.

Zinger has performed at LincolnCenter, programs on television, andstage shows with popular musicalartists, including Ray Charles andRicky Martin.

The Kabbalat Shabbat takes theform of the usual Friday night ser-vice for Congregation Beth Sho-lom members, and the service willbe enhanced with musical instru-ments and additional songs.

Berkoff believes the service willbe meaningful and special for thoseof Jewish faith.

"You won't want to miss this won-derful celebration of the Jewishspirit in music from Reform, Con-servative and Orthodox traditions,"Berkoff said. "You will leave hum-ming or singing tunes that youlearned as a child, along with ver-sions of prayers that you may haveheard for the first time."

Refreshments will follow the ser-vice.

The synagogue is at 315 North13th St., Leesburg, with the en-trance on Center Street. For infor-mation, go to www.bethsholomflor-ida.org, or call 352-326-3692.