A Jewish live music-sharing Facebook group sparked the idea for The Temple’s annual Songwriters’ Shabbat service.
Inspired by Harmony in Unison, where Cantor Tracy Fishbein had performed some of her songs, she brought the concept home, crediting congregant Stacy Beyer, who co-founded the Facebook group of nearly 12,000 members.
“I noticed that a lot of our own Nashville community members — including members of The Temple — were sharing their own music with people, and part of that was, I think, Stacy’s influence,” Fishbein said in a phone interview. “And Stacy was really good about calming people and kind of helping them into presenting on the platform. That’s what she did with me; that’s how I got involved.”
Beyer spoke to fellow congregants at The Temple about Harmony in Unison: how the project began and how healing it was for herself and the community. The first Harmony in Unison service was in 2017, and it continued for nearly three years, Beyer said.
“I mean, the response was overwhelmingly positive, and people were so very, very proud to hear music of the synagogue written by their own temple members,” Fishbein said. “We knew that this was something that we had to continue. We had to do it again.”
Fishbein came up with the name “Songwriters’ Shabbat” and the rest is history. The service has been held every July since 2018, where songwriters of all ages perform original Jewish music for congregants of The Temple.
This year, the annual Songwriters’ Shabbat service is July 19 with live performances by members of the congregation and local Jewish musicians.
“It’s a special service for our community, and one that really helps members of our community to shine, which is just such a delight for me and for the clergy and the members and the leadership of our congregation,” Fishbein said. “That’s really why we continue to do it.”
The performing songwriters range in age from their 20s to their 80s, with an array of differing musical abilities. Much of the music is folk and rock, and songs specifically written for Songwriters’ Shabbat fall under genres including pop, rock, classical and even musical theater.
“It expresses the individuality of every songwriter and the diversity of our congregation,” she said of the “wonderful blend” of musical genres.
Altogether, local composers have written nearly 50 pieces of original Jewish music for Songwriters’ Shabbat. Fishbein said she expects this number to rise in the next few months in preparation for this year’s service.
“We have people who have never written Jewish music, who maybe have written secular music, but have never touched Jewish music before, who are all of a sudden writing Jewish music,” Fishbein said. “We have people who weren’t songwriters at all; just wanted to try their hand at this and are now incredible songwriters. And we also have people who have come out of this experience, kind of finding that their way through the liturgy, or to understand the liturgy or connect with it, was through the music.”
Fishbein said recent converts to Judaism who may not be as familiar with Hebrew can use these songs to help them better “understand and internalize these words of prayer.”
“Not only is the music wonderful, but the fact that our people are taking the prayers of their shabbat service and crafting them into something that is meaningful to them and very much a piece of who they are, that’s really special,” Fishbein said.
Eitan Snyder, a Nashville musician and composer since the age of 15, is one of the performers at this July’s service who first performed at Songwriters’ Shabbat in July 2023.
“Creating new Jewish music is important because it’s a meaningful way to create in dialogue with the past,” Snyder said. “It’s a meaningful way to take something ancient and traditional and bring it into our contemporary times and be part of the chain of the Jewish people.”
Part of Fishbein’s job as cantor is to coach the songwriters through the composition process: helping with Hebrew pronunciation — as writing in Hebrew can be “intimidating” for some — walking them through the liturgy and crafting the song. Fishbein describes it as a partnership of sorts: “We will work together.”
Before the pandemic, professional instrumentalists performed for the Songwriters’ Shabbat service, but now, musicians typically come in with their own guitar or play the piano themselves.
“It’s very much like a songwriters’ night in that way, where it’s very organic, and the person just comes up and they play the piece that they’ve written,” Fishbein said. “And we can and do provide accompaniment if people want to.”
Fishbein said she will sing pieces if the songwriter does not feel comfortable performing. Most of the time, the composers are willing to perform their songs.
Snyder, who performs vocals and piano, said that last year’s audience created a positive listening environment and that some congregants joined him in singing along.
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“Just to see Jewish music flourishing right here at The Temple is a gift,” Fishbein said.
Songwriters’ Shabbat is not limited to the composers and congregants of The Temple.
“This is really open to our entire community,” Fishbein said. “And, of course, it’s our shabbat as a temple, but everyone from our community is warmly invited and welcome. We would love to have as many people as possible here to experience what is really such a special shabbat for our community.”
For more information about how to get involved, contact Cantor Tracy Fishbein at cantorfishbein@templenashville.org. Come to The Temple July 19 at 6pm for this year’s Songwriters’ Shabbat service.