I’m sitting in Congregation Or Ami, floating above my seat, as the spiritual-mystical-Jewish-sacred music of Israeli Rabbi Or and Feliza Zohar fills the sanctuary. There is something deeply calming in the way this married couple describe how they weave new melodies around ancient words, creating new understandings of the world. There is something soaring about the way their voices fill the sanctuary, as if the shechinah (God’s indwelling Presence) is dwelling among us.

Looking out at the community gathered here, we are people physically tired from a day of work and family responsibility. And yet, there are soulful smiles of people being illuminated by the Zohars’ mystical musings.

Rabbi Zohar is the reform rabbi in Kiryat Tivon and in the Misgav region in the Galilee, responsible for enhancing Jewish life in thirty Israeli villages. He is successfully creating Shabbat services, officiating at weddings and B’nai Mitzvah, developing Arab-Jewish dialogue groups and unveiling a reform way of Jewish engagement in a country that struggles with orthodox hegemony. Together he and his wife Feliza are using music to inspire and educate.

Through the IMPJ (Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism) and its Domim Alike congregation partnerships, and supported by the IsraelI government, Congregation Or Ami and Rabbi Zohar are connecting our Calabasas synagogue and the Reform Initiative in Misgav regional council.

May the light of learning and holiness illuminate our lives.

Check out their YouTube channel for beautiful music.