Comfort in song

Shai Tsabari, fellow musicians to welcome Shabbat with the displaced

Jerusalem’s Beit Avi Chai cultural center is hosting free and online events for those evacuated from their homes in the north and south, along with local residents

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The musical Kabbalat Shabbat service taking place weekly at Jerusalem cultural center Beit Avi Chai, including November 3, 2023 at 1 p.m. (Courtesy Beit Avi Chai)
The musical Kabbalat Shabbat service taking place weekly at Jerusalem cultural center Beit Avi Chai, including November 3, 2023 at 1 p.m. (Courtesy Beit Avi Chai)

For the past several weeks Beit Avi Chai, a center for Jewish culture in downtown Jerusalem, has invited evacuees from the south and north currently staying in the city, along with local residents, to welcome Shabbat with a musical service.

This week’s musical Kabbalat Shabbat will be held on Friday at 12 p.m., several hours before the official start of Shabbat, which begins at 4:12 p.m. this week in Jerusalem.

Led by the Yigal Harosh ensemble, with singer Shai Tsabari, musician Maya Belsitzman and Rabbi David Menachem, the musical gathering will include liturgical poems, songs about the Land of Israel and conversation, all in the courtyard of Beit Avi Chai.

“We want to bring the spirit, inspiration and reflection that evolve from Beit Avi Chai’s programming and gives context to the great Jewish and Israeli story for which we are fighting,” said David Rozenson,  Beit Avi Chai’s CEO.

Tickets are free but must be ordered ahead of time on the Beit Avi Chai website. The event operates in accordance with the instructions of the Home Front Command, and is adjacent to a protected area in the building.

The cultural center is also holding in-person and online events for children and adults, including plays and musical performances, watercolor classes and theater arts workshops throughout each week.

Free parking is offered to any attendees.

Singer Shai Tsabari will be at the musical Kabbalat Shabbat service taking place at Jerusalem cultural center Beit Avi Chai, including November 3, at 1 p.m. (Courtesy Beit Avi Chai)

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