Center for Jewish Life in Franklin County
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Hiddur Shabbat
Friday, January 13 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Join us for a monthly musical Kabbalat Shabbat– Friday night prayer service– led by vocalist Molly Bajgot and Rabbi Andrea, accompanied by musicians Richie Barshay and Myk Freedman. Services followed by kiddush and refreshments.
There’s an opportunity to learn the songs and tunes sung during Hiddur Shabbat on Thursday January 12 at 6pm in the Social Hall. Rabbi Andrea and Molly will teach the songs for Hiddur Shabbat so you can sing with all your heart on Friday night!
This event is free and open to the public. Donations are always appreciated and can be made online here. Please specify “Other” then “Hiddur Shabbat.” Families and kids are welcome! There will be a space set aside for kids to play during the service with their supervising adult.
The Jan. 13th event will take place in the Social Hall, while the Feb. 10th and Mar. 13th events will take place in the Sanctuary.
Accessibility Information: The January event will take place in the Social Hall which is wheelchair accessible with the use of an elevator. The program will be available to watch on Zoom. Contact the office for the Zoom link (office [at] templeisraelgreenfield.org] or sign up for our newsletter to receive the link in weekly emails.
COVID Protocol: This is an indoor event and masks are required for everyone 3 years old and up. Masks are not required at the meal after the service. Please stay home if you or anyone in your household is sick or has recently tested positive for COVID.
About the musicians:
Molly Bajgot (she/her) is a young adult queer Jewish musician, educator, and activist living on Nipmuc & Pocumtuc land in Easthampton, MA. As a singer, songwriter, and community weaver, Molly writes songs for quenching the soul and melodies to enliven Jewish liturgy. As a communal prayer leader, Molly has led services for Nishmat Shoom, Kavod Boston, Temple Israel Greenfield, and currently leads regular Shabbat services for Congregation B’nai Israel in Northampton, MA. She facilitates song circles and life cycle rituals and has performed on albums of Jewish music by Aly Halpert, Batya Levine, and Rabbi Micah Shapiro. She is currently the Director of Education for B’Yachad religious school in Springfield, MA. You can find her original music at soundcloud.com/mollybajgot.
Composer, leader, and performer Myk Freedman is an active member in the Brooklyn creative music scene and can regularly be heard in various projects and ad hock ensembles led by local luminaries. Since 2001 he’s lead the Toronto ensemble Saint Dirt Elementary School, a nine piece junk yard jazz band dedicated to his numerous tunes. In Brooklyn he fronts Myk Freedman and the Mykfreedmans, a quintet of distinctly unique improvisers who interpret his music. He is also a consummate member of Kenny Warren’s otherworldly country band Laila and Smitty, Joey Weisenburg’s Hadar Ensemble specializing in modern Jewish vocal music and Yoshie Fruchter’s Turkish-Americana quartet the Sandcatchers.
Myk has performed with John Zorn, William Parker, Elliot Sharp, Cyro Baptista, Erik Friedlander, Kenney Wessel, and many others. His compositions have been recorded by his own groups, as well as by The MK Groove Orchestra, In a China Shop, and Laila and Smitty. The Toronto duo Martin & Haynes, has released two records dedicated to his music. In 2008, Myk worked with iconoclast John Oswald, arranging Strauss’ music for the Sun Ra Solar Arkestra.
Myk’s arrangements have been premiered at venues such as The Blue Note, John Zorn’s The Stone, The Knitting Factory and the Distillery Jazz Festival, where he was nominated for the Emerging Artist Award.
Richie Barshay began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and continues banging on things worldwide to this day. Noted for his work with the Herbie Hancock Quartet in the 2000s, he’s been dubbed “a major rhythm voice on the rise” by Downbeat magazine, and The Guardian (UK) praises “the arrival of a major innovator who also knows how to have fun.” Find him on stage and recordings with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Lee Konitz, Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, and Pete Seeger among others. Since 2004 he has led outreach projects across 5 continents as an American Musical Envoy with the U.S. State Department. He can be heard on over 80 recordings as a sideman, and his two self-produced albums: Homework featuring Herbie Hancock (2004), and Sanctuary featuring Chick Corea (2014). Based in New York City and Northampton, MA, he is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher and maintains a private practice for performing artists and others to regain better mind-body coordination and ease of movement.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and Temple Israel Greenfield.
