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Tunes and Meshorerim

AA Tunes Campaign

What are the AA tunes? Our rabbis hear this question yearly as the journey toward the High Holidays begins. The AA tunes are melodies that have accompanied us through countless High Holidays throughout our youth and as we grew with the congregation. Cantor after cantor, choir after choir, some melodies have followed us, embraced us, and given us a sense of the holiness of the AA prayer experience. But what are they? We embarked on a mission to “find” the AA tunes, with our community’s help. Check out the journey!

AA Tunes Campaign

9 Videos

Sing with the Meshorerim

Our Meshorerim (Hebrew for “spiritual singers”) group enhances prayer through music and song. The group is open to anyone regardless of musical background, Hebrew ability, or rehearsal attendance. Even if you’ve never attended a practice before, you can join our Meshorerim  anytime. All we ask is that you sit up front during the Holidays in the designated “Meshorerim” section and sing along when you can! See the full schedule of gatherings on the AA Tunes Linktree.

Questions? Please contact the Interim Director of Music and Tefillah: Bonnie Levine (music@aasynagogue.org).

AA Children's Choir

The Children’s Choir, introduced for the first time during the 5784 High Holiday services, will sing again this year! The Children’s Choir currently includes young singers ages 5–15 and rehearses on Sundays during our Kesher Jewish School program and Saturdays after Rebbe’s Tish.

Spiritual Preparation

They say listening to a band’s album before attending their concert can help people enjoy the show. The same is true of spiritual preparation for the High Holiday services. Familiarizing yourself with the audio tracks of the AA Tunes will lead to a more meaningful High Holiday experience! While we may not have an AA Tunes album (at least not yet), we offer sheet music and audio files for some of our selections. You can find an index with links here.

Behind the "AA Tunes"

Ahavath Achim has a rich musical history of over a century, from commissioned choral works to rock band tributes. In addition to the AA Tunes Campaign playlist, please enjoy inspirational musical kavanot (Hebrew for “intentions” or “sincere feelings, directions of the heart”) and some of our favorite musical memories and stories about our beloved “AA Tunes” and other resources.

Articles:

Videos:

Service Schedule

Kol Nidre—Friday, October 11

5–5:30 p.m.

Family Kol Nidre Service (up to 10 years old)

In-Person: Tent

5:30 p.m.

Vegan Kapparot

In-Person: Breezeway

6–6:15 p.m.

Mincha

In-Person: Sanctuary
Virtual: Zoom and YouTube

Join Zoom

Join YouTube

6:15–7:00 p.m.

Kol Nidre Service
Candle Lighting: 6:49 p.m.

7–9:00 p.m.

Ma’ariv Service

Yom Kippur—Saturday, October 12

7:45–10:00 a.m.

Childcare (6 months–6th grade)

Check-In at Ahava

8:00 a.m.–2:15 p.m.

Sanctuary and Yizkor Services
The Yizkor service will begin around 1:00 p.m.

In-Person: Sanctuary
Virtual: Zoom and YouTube

Join Zoom

Join YouTube

10:00 a.m.–2:15 p.m.

Child/Teen Programming (6 months–12th grade)

Check-In at Ahava
Registration from 10–10:15 a.m.

10:15–10:50 a.m.

10:15–10:50 a.m.

10:15–10:50 a.m.

10:55–11:30 a.m.

10:55–11:30 a.m.

10:55–11:30 a.m.

Family Services:

Pre-K–2nd Grade: Family Service

3rd–7th Grade: Audience Performance

8th–12th Grade: Speaker and Drum Circle

Pre-K–2nd Grade: Audience Performance

3rd–7th Grade: Family Service

8th–12th Grade: Speaker and Drum Circle

In-Person: Tent

In-Person: Paradies Hall

In-Person: Library

In-Person: Paradies Hall

In-Person: Tent

In-Person: Library

10–11:00 a.m.

Torah Study (Led by Dr. Douglas Ander)

In-Person: Ellman Chapel
Virtual: Zoom

Join Zoom

2–3:00 p.m.

Beit Midrash Study Hall: (Re)Engaging Differing Faith and Ethnic Communities After 10/7

Join Anat Sultan-Dadon (the Consul General of Israel to the Southeast), Victoria Raggs (Executive Director, AJOCC Atlanta Jews of Color Council), and Samuel Halpern (Senior Associate, Advocacy and Programming, AJC Atlanta/Southeast American Jewish Committee) for an important conversation moderated by Judy Marx (Operations Manager, Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta and Consultant to Interfaith Organizations), exploring the challenges that Jewish communities have had engaging with the non-Jewish world since October 7, how we might reengage and the new opportunities that have emerged.

In-Person: Sanctuary
Virtual: Zoom

Join Zoom

3–6:00 p.m.

Yom Kippur Chant and Drum Circle

Join us for our annual tradition of spending the last few hours before the afternoon service of Yom Kippur together singing, chanting, drumming, and meditating to original and familiar High Holiday melodies. Come and go; bring your hand drum if you’d like to play along; feel free to bring a yoga mat, cushion, or blanket to experience this special time. Led by Rabbi Michael Rothbaum, Bonnie and Michael Levine, and friends.

In-Person: Paradies Hall

5:15 p.m.

Mincha
Reading of the Book of Jonah

In-Person: Sanctuary
Virtual: Zoom

Join Zoom

6:15 p.m.

Neilah Service

7:32 p.m.

Ma’ariv/Havdallah/Final Shofar Blast Service

7:45 p.m.

Break Fast

Gold Doors and Breezeway

Visit our events calendar for the Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah schedules!

Community Partners

Congregation Bet Haverim

Congregation Bet Haverim is a Reconstructionist Jewish community in Atlanta. Our mission, in a nutshell, is to provide contemporary Jewish spiritual, educational, cultural, and social experiences in which an individual can integrate practice of Judaism with other aspects of their life, including social consciousness, intellectual curiosity, sexual orientation, and familial bonds. We serve and support the lesbian, gay, and transgender communities and promote the Reconstructionist concept of Judaism as an evolving religious civilization.

Ma'alot

Ma’alot is an inclusive spiritual community that transforms lives through nature, music, and Jewish wisdom. Through immersive gatherings, we experiment, we remember, and we reimagine powerful Jewish practices that have transformed communities over the centuries. We take creative approaches to building holistic Jewish lives and welcome you just as you are.

18Doors

18Doors is dedicated to empowering people in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life and make Jewish choices. We encourage Jewish communities to welcome these families and provide educational content, programs, and resources to support them in their Jewish journeys.

Presenters

Featured Presenter—Music in Common

Music in Common curates experiences for people across social divides to discover common ground through facilitated conversation and music. Our nonprofit organization’s mission is to strengthen, empower, and connect communities through the universal language of music.  

At our core, we hold high two foundational principles: it is hard to hate up close, and music can change the world. Our proven person-to-person methodology is informed by evidence-based social psychology and education models that help communities work through conflict. Gordon Allport’s Intergroup Contact Theory, Elliot Aronson’s Jigsaw Classroom, and 21st Century Learning’s Four C’s (communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking) are the cornerstones of our unique approach.  

Since 2005, our programs and projects have directly served more than 10,000 people in over 400 communities worldwide, bringing together face-to-face Black and White Americans, Israelis and Palestinians, refugee, immigrant, and American-born youth, and Jews, Christians, and Muslims, among many others. 90% of MIC program participants surveyed report new learning about different faiths and cultures and resolve to reject stereotyping and increase respect for others moving forward.

Liliane Kshensky Baxter

Lili Baxter, a writer and teacher, was born in a DP camp in Sweden and grew up in Paris and New York. Having witnessed the familial and social ravages of hatred and war, she has devoted her life to the study and practice of nonviolence. Lili was hired by Coretta Scott King as the King Center’s director of nonviolence education and training and served for two decades on the U.S. and international boards of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the world’s oldest interfaith peace organization. She directed the Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education at the Breman Museum and, upon her retirement, was invited to return to The King Center as NV365 Senior Educator. Lili holds a PhD from Emory University in Women’s Studies and Human Development.

Jordan Forman

Jordan Forman has been the Ba’al Korei at AA since 1998 and has been the Ritual Coordinator and one of our Shlichei Tzibbur since 2010. In his role as Ritual Coordinator, he has been the “closer” for our B’nai Mitzvah and maker of MP3s for those looking to assist with T-ah, Haftara, and tefillot. In his “spare time”, Jordan is a Partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. Jordan has been married to native AA member Lori Tillem for nine years. His son Joshua is going into his third year at Georgia Tech, and he also has two stepchildren, Maxwell and Isabelle.

Audrey Galex

Audrey Galex is the author of the children’s picture book Turtle Rocks and the creator of The Abandoned Mattress Photojournalism Project. She serves as Community Engagement Director for AIB Network (Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters.) Audrey is on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta and Essential Theatre boards. She enjoys making a fool of herself on the dance floor, telling, listening to, and sharing stories and folktales, playing miniature golf poorly, drinking strong coffee, pulling weeds in her vegetable and herb garden, doing Duolingo despite the lack of mastery in any language other than English, and schmoozing with friends.

Gayanne Geurin

Gayanne Geurin currently offers vocal coaching and healing work in both individual and retreat settings. She served as music director at CBH for 18 years. Her experiences as a spiritual leader, music director, singer, and psychotherapist, along with her skills in vocal function and improvisational exploration, offer a unique and diverse toolkit for guiding folks in their journey with their voice. She came to claim her own singing voice through a long stop-and-start journey mixed with fear, spiritual cultivation, and expansive possibility. You can hear her on her album on Bandcamp: by the god tree and recordings by Congregation Bet Haverim on Spotify. What calls and inspires her now is how each of us develops a deeper relationship with the natural world, Earth. She can be reached at gayannegeurin@gmail.com.