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MP3 MIRAJ - A Moon Note
13 MP3 Songs
SPIRITUAL: Jewish Folk, FOLK: Progressive Folk
Show all album songs: A Moon Note Songs
Details:
MIRAJ writes and sings a cappella music for Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh and other sacred times.
MIRAJ is an acronym of our names: Margot, Rayzel, Juliet.
MIRAJ is a blending of harmony and a weaving of friendship.
MIRAJ offers songs for prayer, for meditation, for fun.
WHAT DO THE CRITICS SAY?
"MIRAJ belts, croons, warbles, and whispers."
" They sound like the Jewish Roches."
"…a musical dvar torah…"
"…a toe tapping, finger snapping tour de force!"
The MIRAJ Story
MIRAJ is a creative collaboration between three Jewish leaders and educators: Rabbi Margot Stein, Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael, and Juliet Irene Spitzer. The three women met many years ago in a Hebrew grammar class as students at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. They formed a study group to help overcome the monotony of the course, and soon found themselves laughing and munching on chips as much as studying.
The three later began working together on a book about Jewish women''s rituals. During retreats to work on the book, they began to sing together-all had been singers and songwriters before meeting-and realized how well their voices blended together in harmony. Then singer-songwriter Linda Hirschhorn asked them to open for her at a local concert, and MIRAJ was born.
"We have met every Tuesday each week since then for rehearsal, but really it''s more like lunch, life and laughter," says Rabbi Raphael. Commenting that it is the group''s "exquisite good fortune to have this sacred, weekly time together," Juliet Spitzer adds that the women "sustain each other in ways that defy simple description." The members of MIRAJ have become close friends, supporting each other through subsequent childbirths-they have 8 children between them, ranging in age from 1 to 17-as well as the deaths of family members, job transitions, health issues, and other life changes.
The group''s songs sometimes come from these life events-the crisis or celebration of the moment. The women write richly harmonic original compositions for Jewish life rituals, Shabbat and holidays, as well as songs about Biblical heroines and events and new interpretations of traditional liturgy. Their focus is on developing songs that can make a service more powerful and inclusive of women''s experience-what Rabbi Raphael calls a "feminist transformation of Judaism through songs, ritual writing and prayer."
The women somehow manage to make time for their music in the midst of very busy professional careers and family lives. Says Rabbi Raphael, "Music seems to sustain us as we get through the tough times. As we know, it is a powerful tool for cultural change, empowerment and healing."
The members of MIRAJ have recorded ten CDs, three of them as a trio, the rest solo or in other collaborations. Look for "Healing Chants for the Soul," "Counting Angels in the Wilderness," and "A Moon Note," as well as "Full Glory," "Create out of Nothing," Bible Babes A''Beltin'', "Shifting Edge," "Friday Night Revived!" and, with the musical troupe Shabbat Unplugged, "A Night of Questions: A Passover CD."
(excerpts from Orlando Jewish News story)
INDIVIDUAL BIOGRAPHIES
Rabbi Rayzel Raphael is an international award-winning singer-songwriter who specializes in women''s spirituality and also works with interfaith families throughout Greater Philadelphia. She serves Congregation Beth Israel in Woodbury, NJ. In addition to her collaborative projects, she has two solo CDs, Bible Babes A Beltin'' and Friday Night Revived. Visit her website at https://www.tradebit.com.
Juliet I. Spitzer, https://www.tradebit.com. is an international award-winning singer-songwriter and recording artist. She composes for, and performs with Theatre Ariel, Philadelphia''s professional Jewish theater company. A member of Shabbat Unplugged/ Havdallah Live as well as Tof B''Yadah, Juliet is the guest cantor at Congregation Beth Israel in Media, PA, and is on the faculty of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-Schools in Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia, PA, teaching on a variety of topics in Judaism.
Rabbi Margot L. Stein is an international award-winning singer/songwriter and has produced or co-produced 8 albums of original Jewish music. Her musical play, "Guarding the Garden," toured North America for four seasons, was seen by some 20,000 people, and was featured on the cover of Lilith magazine. She is on the faculty of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in Philadelphia, PA and has led spirituality retreats for such organizations as Ma''yan and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
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