This weekend for Simchat Torah, our community is in for a treat that is so special, it’s hard to put into words! But allow me to try.
Danny Maseng will be our guest musical artist and scholar in residence this Friday through Sunday.
Danny’s talent, creativity, knowledge and wisdom spans a breadth and depth unlike anyone I have ever met or worked with. I was lucky enough to get to know him during my time in Los Angeles. I started off as his student, and ended up getting to record and perform with him over the years. To have the chance to share his talents with the Micah community feels like coming full circle.
Here is a little bit of his bio to give you a taste of who he is:
Danny grew up in a "unique Jewish Israeli family, where everyone was an artist, philosopher or a professor," His grandfather, Rabbi Harry Davidowitz, translated the complete works of Shakespeare, Chaucer and Beowulf into Hebrew. His grandmother Ida B. Davidowitz was the first theater critic for The Jerusalem Post. His mother was an accomplished pianist, and his father was a poet and archeologist.
By age 10, Maseng was playing classical guitar. By 14, he was the star of one of Israel's first TV shows.
After moving to the US to appear on Broadway in "Only Fools Are Sad" in 1971, Maseng rushed back to Israel in October 1973 to serve his country in the Yom Kippur War. But he returned to the States in 1975 "to evaluate myself and my life," he said.
During his soul-searching period, Maseng turned to Zen Buddhism. "It took me 14 years of study and contemplative thought to realize that my own religion, Judaism, had everything I was seeking elsewhere," he said. "I eventually came back to my religion in a much stronger, deeper way.”
Since then, Maseng has released numerous albums, has appeared in films and on television, written books and a wrote and performed a play that he performed off-broadway as well as internationally called "Wasting Time With Harry Davidowitz." Using the stories of his grandfather, Harry, as a framework, the show traces Maseng’s own spiritual journey using homily and song.
For decades, Danny has served as Chazzan at congregations from New York to Los Angeles, and though he no longer serves a congregation in a full-time capacity, he was recently ordained as a Rabbi!
Danny is one of the most popular and respected composers of contemporary Liturgical and Synagogue music in the world. Some of his most popular liturgical settings (many of which you heard over the High Holy Days at Micah) include Mah Tovu, Elohai N’tzor, and Kedushah.
And if all that weren’t enough—Danny is now the author of a regular blog featured in the Times of Israel where he eloquently shares his opinions and thoughts on current events in the Holy Land.
This weekend you will have three opportunities to see, hear, and meet Danny. I hope you will take advantage of as many of them as possible.
Friday night at 6, Danny will lead us in prayer, song, and dance as we celebrate Shabbat and Simchat Torah along with our choir and guest musicians.
Saturday night at 7pm, Danny will present a “Havdallah Cafe” concert with stories and song.
And Sunday morning at 9:30, Danny will lead a special T’filah and teaching for our J-Lab religious school families.
After the year we’ve had since last Simchat Torah, I can think of nothing we need more as a community than an uplifting, spiritually cathartic, and musically satisfying experience to bond us together.
Invite a friend or two, and we will see you this weekend!
Sincerely,
Cantor Josh Goldberg