(Photos by Felicia Black)
Josh Milner, prayer leader at Ohev Shalom in Washington, led 20 Tikvat Israel congregants in a drumming circle on May 26 as part of the shul’s Omer Project. The main objective of the Omer Project is to awaken our senses, bring self-discovery, find our inner rhythm and recognize that we are interconnected as a community. The drumming helped us realize that aspiration in a meaningful way.
Milner connected participants to the rhythm of niggunim based on a variety of sources, including the Psalms and the melodies of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. He also taught those attending about the kabbalistic concept of tsimtsum, which says that Hashem retracted His light during creation from a certain space to make room for us. Just as Hashem did this, so were participants instructed to stop drumming during certain measures to make room for the drumming sound of others.
Drumming forms a concerted chorus of praise and spirituality that brings worshipers together. Jewish drum circles have been evolving since the early 1960s and continue to form. The Rhythm of Life: A Drumming Circle was intended as a way to prepare participants physically and emotionally to receive the Torah.
