Rabbi Aims to Increase Synagogue Literacy

Chazonus.com

Rabbi Shmuli Stiefel is a Chabad Rabbi in Lipetsk, Russia who has decided to address Synagogue literacy or the lack thereof amongst his congregants with a new music video series.

In his words: “Usually, upon entering a synagogue during prayer, one is struck by the inspiring prayers, interspersed with beautiful songs and melodies. As a Chabad shliach, however, I struggle to reproduce that atmosphere. How can I, if the crowd is unfamiliar with the lyrics and tunes?

To address this, I have begun a new project – producing videos of various Jewish melodies and prayers which are sung in synagogues the world over.”

Rabbi Stiefel is hoping to release one song a week from the prayer book in a format conducive to singing along. The video will be captioned, and together with it, there will be transcription of the lyrics in Russian, explanation and background of the song in Russian, and musical notes. Listeners can learn the songs so that they can sing in together with the congregation and turn their synagogues into that same beautiful and inspiring atmosphere.