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Shabbat for Dead Heads10:41 am Friday, October 23, 2009by emily savage A Bay Area synagogue will host a Grateful Dead-infused Shabbat service next week. For serious. Congregation Etz Chayim plans to celebrate a Halloween-y Shabbat weekend with "Erev Halloween Grateful Dead Service" at 6:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. The service, which includes a helpful booklet, will explore spiritual interpretations of the Dead's music. There also will be a wine and cheese reception before the service. Sounds like fun times to me! As many (most?) of you know The Grateful Dead was formed in 1965 in the Bay Area and grew to acquire legions of ultra-fans, known as Dead Heads. The group disbanded when lead guitarist Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995. The music, however, lives on (as do the surviving band members with various reunions and musical incarnations). Among the band's many iconic graphics, is the set of smiley-faced "dancing" bears seen here on this attractive kippah:
For more info on the rock'n'roll Shabbat service, visit http://www.etzchayim.org. Did I mention it's free? Permalink Leave a comment Spread the Word E-mail a friend
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grateful dead, dead heads, shabbat, jewish, halloween, service, erev, jerry garcia
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10/31/2009 at 12:30 AM
What a tremendous event… turnout of about 200 people (four or five times a normal Friday night service) .... some coming from as far away as Oakland (such as me) and El Cerrito ... lots of tie-dye and hippie clothes ... the nine-piece band rocked ... a few people dancing; one even spinning ... everybody sang Dead songs, especially chosen for their spiritually relevant lyrics ... and some Hebrew prayers sung to the tune of Dead songs ... And the cake at the oneg that was decorated with dancing bears, well, I guess you could say that was the icing on the cake ... I’ll be writing a column about this wonderful event (Etz Chayim has other uncommon services every 5th Friday)—so look for it in a few weeks .... Andy Altman-Ohr of j.
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