Music for ‘mind, body, soul’ at Keneseth Israel
Jewish musician Noah Aronson will be nostalgic Saturday when he brings his band to Allentown’s Congregation Keneseth Israel. Aronson attended Muhlenberg College, and his first job at a synagogue was at Keneseth Israel.
Aronson says he presents “music for the mind, body and soul.” With songs in Hebrew and English, his music connects with contemporary spiritual life without regard to boundaries.
In a phone call from his home in New York City, Aronson says, “Jewish music is written by Jewish people for Jewish people. There is no one specific way it should look or sound.” Since Jews have a worldwide presence, Aronson sees that their music and culture have a wide variety of influences.
The members of his band — Tali Rubinstein (recorder), Noam Israeli (percussion), Micha Gilad (keyboards) and Tamir Shmerling (bass) — have played music in many genres. His concert will be mostly his own songs, nearly all of which are written for audience participation. “The point is to jump in and sing along. Almost every piece has a moment where people do that.”
Aronson plays acoustic guitar when he sings, even though his primary focus in college was piano. “With guitar, it is easier to be a leader and walk around,” he says.
The murder of 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 28 will influence the concert. “It is impossible not
to have it affect the program,” he says. “But my goal is to get out of my own way,” letting the music speak for itself and provide healing.
Aronson attended Muhlenberg in 2001, before he transferred to the Berklee College of Music, where he earned a degree in jazz composition and piano.
“It will be an interesting homecoming. I have not been back since 2002,” he says. His original interest at Muhlenberg in theater, music and dance
“It will be an interesting homecoming. I have not been back since 2002. I gave up on being an actor [at Muhlenberg] after I found I spent more time in the music practice room.”
— Noah Aronson, Jewish musician
changed when he was there. “I gave up on being an actor after I found I spent more time in the music practice room.”
“Doing Jewish music was not my initial intention. But it is part of my heritage and there was a lot of Jewish music in my home. It is part of my DNA. It was fighting against the inevitable.” Noah grew up in New Jersey, where his father served for 45 years as a cantor.
Aronson also credits a parttime job at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Mass., while he was at Berklee for leading him to his musical specialty. But before that, he was at Congregation Keneseth Israel. “It was my first job in a synagogue. I taught religious school there, taught children music and helped with the choir.”
He will be the artist-in-residence at Keneseth Israel the weekend of the concert. He will sing at the Friday night service. “I will infuse my own music into the service to give it a different energy,” he says. Aronson says he uses more traditional music and familiar melodies at services than he does at concerts.
On Sunday he will lead a workshop with religious school kids and parents. He says it will involve education more than prayer.
Nearly all churches and synagogues have seen a drop in attendance among younger people, which the 35-year-old Aronson recognizes.
“It is a tough sell for my age group of 20 to 40. But when people of that age do hear my music, they are pleasantly surprised they can enjoy it.”
Aronson’s latest CD is 2017’s “More Love.” He says it is the first album he has released with his current band of five years, instead of as a solo project. “It is a combination of expressions of love — of country, traditions and partners.”
In 2013 he released “The Other Side of the Page.” “The new Reform Judaism prayer book of 2008 was designed so when it is open, the right side is traditional liturgy and the left side has contemporary poems that evoke meanings and interpretations of the liturgy. I set a lot of those poems to music,” he says.
He used the title song of his album “Am I Awake” for a recent online project. “I wrote the song about 10 years ago. It has taken off, and is now used in the services of most Reform Jewish congregations. I opened it up to let other people write their own lyrics to express what it meant to them.”
This year he also initiated the Chai Project. “‘Chai’ means ‘life’ in Hebrew. It relates to 18, a special number in Judaism. So I wrote 18 songs for 18 congregations in 2018.”
Dave Howell is a freelance writer. jodi.duckett@mcall.com Twitter @goguidelv 610-820-6704