by Max Weinberg, Tzofim S’gan (Assistant Unit Head) and Songleader

Every year, OSRUI kicks off our summer season by hosting  Hava Nashira Songleaders Workshop.  Hava Nashira is a resource for  Jewish musicians from all over the country to share music and learn new songs and techniques to take home to their camps, congregations, and communities. As a part of the week, the songleaders who will be working at all of the URJ camps in North America come together to prepare for the summer. This year, the OSRUI songleaders who attended with me were Danny Barry, Ido Damari, Naomi Gamoran, Michael Greenstone, Lizzy Scheinkopf, Emily Schwartz, Arielle Solomon, and Joe Winner. We had a fantastic week of work with musicians such as Dan Nichols, Cantor Rosalie Boxt, and Rabbi Noam Katz where we practiced our songleading skills and talked about the most effective ways to engage our campers in song. It was truly an amazing week and we are ready for the summer!

URJ Songleaders at Hava Nashira (photo by Danielle Rodnizki)