More than 500 people gathered at Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah in Pikesville for the Baltimore Lag B’Omer Music Festival. The event, which included activities for children, food and five different bands, was held on Sunday, May 26, from 3-7 p.m.
Lag B’Omer takes place on the 33rd day of the Omer, a 49-day period between Passover and Shavuot, and honors Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
The three-member band Yisroel Juskowicz kicked off the celebration in the early afternoon, which concluded with the five-person band, The Shteiblers. In between, attendees enjoyed music by Chanon Bloch, Adriel Borshansky and LevSoul.
“There is a study done that [says] people who dance together automatically feel connected, as they sing and dance,” MMAE Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro said. “That is the secret of synagogues and prayer places, so this is really dear to my heart, a way of creating joy and community.”
According to the day’s program, Rabbi Yisroel Juskowicz “has produced three musical albums with soulful folk music much in the style of the late Shlomo Carlebach. He has toured across the country and has inspired and entertained Jews of all walks of life and ages.”
Guests were also treated to the music of Chanon Bloch, who shared original songs inspired by his experiences in Israel, South Africa and the United States.
Singer-songwriter Adriel Borshansky followed, with Jewish music that had soulful and folksy inspirations.
LevSoul played genre-blending Jewish music, with Dave and Josh Gerhardt on vocals, guitar and bass, Judah Bennett on guitar and Tzuriel Fenigstein on drums.
The Shteiblers closed the day on the grassy knolls, performing original and traditional songs with klezmer influences. The band featured Aharon Grayson on piano, clarinet and vocals, Nehemia Jakobovits on vocals, Joshua Solomon on violin, Eli Tarshish on guitar, and Mikhail Abramov on percussion.
In addition to the musical performances, the event offered children’s activities, including an archery demonstration, bounce houses, face painting, a bonfire and games. Food and drinks were available for purchase, with a giveaway of Judaica and books.
“MMAE is realizing its dream of becoming the place where Jewish music and local Jewish musicians can bring the entire Jewish community together for food and fun and to celebrate our shared heritage,” MMAE President Jeff Forman said. “We have been able to do this in large part due to the generosity of our benefactor, Mollie Katz, who honored her mother, Rose Katz, and her brother, Harry Katz, and allowed us to build the Rose Katz and Harry Katz Music Venue. We, and for sure, the kids whose faces were painted or who played in the bounce house all day, want to continue having these kinds of events as often as we can.”
Saadiah Angster attended the music festival with his wife and baby. Lag B’Omer, he said, is “a celebration of the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and before he died, he said he wanted to make sure this was a day of celebration, and so it’s a day of celebration for over 2,000 years. We celebrate his life, and the writing of the Zohar. For so many years, people celebrated in Meron, where [the] rabbi is buried, and that is not possible today because it’s being attacked by Lebanon. So it’s important for us to still celebrate Lag B’Omer and be proud Jews and be proud of who we are as a people.”
MMAE Associate Rabbi Eliezer Finkelstein has spent three years at the synagogue and will be leaving in August. He said this music festival exemplifies what MMAE can offer.
“This event is a good blueprint for what our shul can offer the larger Baltimore community going forward, a place of great music and community and coming together, not just in shul for Shabbos, but also during the week and for special celebrations,” he said.
