Rabbi Andrew Hahn

Kirtan Rabbi spins into southern California

By Roberto Loiederman
March 1, 2011

People twirl ecstatically, eyes closed, repeating, in a call-and-response fashion, chants led by Rabbi Andrew Hahn, who plays a harmonium while others play guitars and percussion instruments — repetitive, hypnotic sounds that seductively nudge the crowd, young and old alike, to sway and swirl and chant.

It looks like an Indian Kirtan, a participatory mystical-devotional practice in which Sanskrit mantras are chanted to dronelike musical accompaniment. But this Kirtan is different: Hahn, 52, chants in Hebrew, using traditional Jewish prayers. As his Web site says, Hahn’s “vocation is to make Torah accessible … in a way that is participatory and memorable.”

Based in New York, Hahn is touring Southern California shuls, as well as yoga studios and New Age centers. His main local event will be on March 5, at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. Hahn’s Web site advises participants to “bring your open hearts, voices and dancing socks to a full band full-on rocking Kirtan.”

In an interview, Hahn talked about the remarkable process that took a self-proclaimed “academic pinhead” from his scholarly Jewish roots to become a leader of ecstatic participatory musical/spiritual events.

Early on, Hahn hoped for a career as a classical guitarist, studying music at Carnegie Mellon University and even spending time in Uruguay with a classical guitar master. Then, setting this path aside, he pursued an academic career, earning a doctorate in Jewish thought at New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary. And then, moving in yet another direction, he received his rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

In 2003, as a freshly minted scholarly rabbi in his 40s, he set about looking for rabbinic work, imagining that he would be writing sermons. But it didn’t turn out that way.

“For reasons that are still mysterious to me, I couldn’t find a job, either in the academic Jewish world or in the rabbinic world,” Hahn said. “I just wasn’t fitting in anywhere. … You could say that God wanted me to do something different.”

Frustrated, Hahn moved to Colorado, where his brother lives. Feeling “down, really low, in the pits,” he started attending study sessions with the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Hahn was skeptical. “I wasn’t really a follower, more of a misnaged [opponent], really. But I just started going, and I was completely amazed by him and his ability with text. … My understanding of what Judaism could be was being expanded.”

At the same time, Hahn was exposed to Kirtan chanting in its Sanskrit form. Just as he had been skeptical about Reb Zalman at first, Hahn initially was unmoved by Kirtan chanting. When he first heard it, he said, “I was like a yeshiva bocher — I just didn’t get it.” But one day, feeling “depressed,” he listened to a Kirtan CD, and “it was very uplifting, that deep devotional chanting. It made me really happy.”

It was a transforming experience. “I ordered a harmonium,” Hahn said, “and started to go to Kirtans and observe and listen and become familiar with it and become a part of that community.”

Little by little, drawing on “the ecstatic energy of Shlomo Carlebach niggunim [melodies],” as well as the Hebrew chants he’d heard in New York’s B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue, Hahn made the connection between Kirtan chanting and his own tradition. “The part of Judaism that always grabbed me,” Hahn said, “besides the ideas, was the music and Shabbos and the singing around the table. … So I thought, ‘Wow, this would be amazing in Hebrew.’ ”

Using traditional Jewish liturgy, Hahn began to create Kirtan-style chants in Hebrew. “Eventually, I called synagogues,” he said, “and asked if they wanted me to do it. … I picked up a percussionist along the way, and it just started to grow.

“The form of call-and-response works very well in Hebrew … in Jewish liturgical music. I’ve done some research, and there was some kind of call-and-response chant or antiphonal kind of singing, probably in the Second Temple period, some of the psalms. There’s precedent for it in the Jewish tradition.

“Hebrew is considered what is called a vibrational language, along with Sanskrit, meaning that the Hebrew language itself has certain vibrational sounds,” sounds that resonate with the senses. “Anyone who has sat around a Shabbos table knows that the Hebrew language is meant to be chanted.”

Hahn said that, in late 2006, “for the heck of it,” he telephoned a large yoga studio in New York, told them he was a rabbi and asked if they would host a Kirtan in Hebrew. They agreed, and a large crowd showed up. That studio has asked him back many times since then.

“My main mandate is to the Jewish world,” Hahn said, “to bring this kind of yogic, devotional, sometimes contemplative, sometimes ecstatic, totally participatory chant — and fun — to the Jewish world.”

At the same time, Hahn said, he brings “Torah and kabbalah and Jewish wisdom to the yoga world and the New Age community. So I have a dual track, and it’s quite a blessing.”

Hahn said that his road to becoming the Kirtan Rabbi evolved slowly but inexorably. “It’s become my way to be a rabbi, my rabbinate. It’s not like I left behind my Ph.D. or my rabbinic studies. [Kirtan] became my way to bring my background into my music. It was a return to music for me, because I’d started out, way back when, as a classical musician.

“The real lesson in life in all this is that nothing gets lost. You can have everything back again if you say, ‘Yes, I can do this.’ ”

For more information about the Kirtan Rabbi’s schedule, the CDs or to see videos of past events, visit kirtanrabbi.com or call (212) 663-4160.

Kirtan Rabbi to bring blend of Judaism and Eastern spiritualism to Hoboken

Rabbi Andrew Hahn sets Hebrew prayer to Indian chants

By Josh Lipowsky
November 19, 2010

Rabbi Andrew Hahn, second from left, brought his Kirtan Rabbi Band to Bhaktifest in Joshua Tree, Calif., in September. Hahn will perform his blend of Hebrew and Indian chants Saturday night in Hoboken.

This isn’t your abba’s Lecha Dodi.

Hahn, aka the Kirtan rabbi, will bring his unique blend of Indian and Hebrew chanting to the United Synagogue of Hoboken Saturday night. Kirtan is a call-and-response, participatory form of chanting that originated in the Hindu temples of India. Kirtan is also considered to be the highest form of yoga, bhakti or spiritual yoga.

“It’s a kind of street music for the masses,” Hahn told The Jewish Standard. “The idea is to have a lot of fun.”

Instead of the Hindu words of praise, though, Hahn uses short Hebrew phrases from the Jewish liturgy. He has Kirtan-ized the Sh’ma, Lecha Dodi, and even the Kaddish. Hahn now finds himself an ambassador, bringing yoga meditation to the Jewish world and Jewish wisdom and Torah to the yoga world.

“There is an initial hurdle as to what this is, but once it’s overcome people readily embrace it,” Hahn said. “For many people this is a way for them to connect with Judaism that they have not been able to before. The most common comment I get at a yoga studio is, ‘I haven’t touched Judaism in 20 years and this is the first time I get it.’ It’s very gratifying and quite unexpected.”

Hahn received his doctorate in Jewish thought from the Jewish Theological Seminary and he was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He didn’t want to be a pulpit rabbi, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. He went to Boulder, Colo., home of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, and took part in regular study groups with the rabbi. Hahn didn’t consider himself one of Schachter-Shalomi’s disciples, however, and he was still looking for how he fit into the Jewish world — and the job pickings were slim.

“I expected to maybe be a funky but regular Reform rabbi — wear a tie and give sermons,” he said. “I was ready to give back something and it wasn’t working out.”

Hahn fell into a depression, but in 2004 he received a CD of Sanskrit Kirtan from a friend. After listening to it, Hahn thought he could do the chants in Hebrew. He ordered a harmonium — a European keyboard instrument that became a staple in India after the British introduced it — and began setting Hebrew words to the chants.

Since then Hahn has brought his energetic chants to synagogues, conferences, and retreats. During his concerts — Hahn prefers to think his audiences are performing in concert with him rather than just listening — he typically gives a short explanation of the Hebrew words.

“Increasingly the way I’m teaching Torah is through this context,” Hahn said.

Hahn has performed for Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform audiences, as well as yoga centers. He doesn’t push any particular view of Judaism with his music, he said. He wants it only to be a gateway to education.

“There’s no ‘ism’ in Kirtan,” he said. “It’s just let it be what it is, let people enjoy it for what it is, and allow people to trust their maturity and respect their spiritual decisions.”

Like Hahn, United Synagogue of Hoboken’s Rabbi Robert Scheinberg hopes people will look at Kirtan as a re-entry to Judaism.

“It’s always been very sad for me to see that for all of Judaism’s spiritual richness, there are some people who are never invited into Judaism’s spiritual doorways, and if the first time they’re invited into spiritual doorways it’s through another religious tradition, they just assume that tradition is spiritually richer than Judaism,” Scheinberg said.

There is a buzz in the synagogue about the program, the rabbi said, and he noted that some people who are planning to attend have looked outside of Judaism for spiritual fulfillment.

Hahn’s mix of Eastern chants and Judaism is “unambiguously Jewish,” Scheinberg continued.

“It’s Jewish, but in an art-form or an aesthetic form borrowed from another culture, and that’s something we’ve seen repeatedly in Jewish tradition,” Scheinberg said. “It is clearly in no way a religious or theological compromise.”

Hahn is known for his Kirtan and building a bridge between Judaism and Eastern philosophy, but the rabbi part of his title still outweighs the Kirtan side, he said.

“This is the way for me to be a rabbi,” he said. “This happens to be my rabbinate. The goal is to bring Torah or Jewish wisdom to the community, to both Jews and non-Jews.”

An Interview with Rabbi Andrew Hahn, PhD

Rabbi Andrew Hahn (Reb Drew) maintained an interest in music throughout his years of academic and rabbinic study and ultimately began to attend Sanskrit kirtans led by Krishna Das, Wah!, Deval Premal and Miten, among others. Reb Drew learned to play harmonium. It seemed only natural to Reb Drew, as someone who had danced in synagogues and pounded more than a few Sabbath tables, that Hebrew would function wonderfully in a kirtan framework. Utilizing Indian instruments and chant melodies in a call-and-response kirtan style, Hebrew Kirtan and the Kirtan Rabbi were born.

Integral Yoga Magazine (IYM): How did you become the “Kirtan Rabbi”?

Reb Drew (RD): I had done some Yoga and had taught martial arts for more than 30 years. I had a PhD in Jewish philosophy and was a Reform rabbi. I was trying to find work, but I couldn’t find a regular job. I was clearly somehow “outside the box.” I went to Boulder, Colorado and came under the influence of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. There was an “east-west” connection with Reb Zalman. He had spent time with the Dalai Lama and was featured in the book, The Jew in the Lotus. I am told that he and Swami Satchidananda were close. A lot of my friends were listening to Krishna Das, but I was skeptical at first. In Boulder, alone in an apartment, I began listening to Krishna Das CDs and found I enjoyed them. I thought to myself, “This could work well in Hebrew.” I didn’t know anyone doing Hebrew kirtan, so I went back to New York City and, without ever having seen one, ordered a harmonium. Meanwhile, Omega had its first ecstatic chant weekend, so I heard my first live kirtan there. Then, when my harmonium came, I sat down and immediately knew “This is where I belong.” More importantly, I realized I could teach Torah through this.

IYM: Did you have a theory behind your approach to Hebrew kirtan?

RD: I didn’t have one. In retrospect, despite all efforts to get a regular job, I discovered God wanted me to do something different. I couldn’t fit as a pulpit rabbi or regular academic. So, leading Hebrew kirtan became the perfect seva (selfless service) which allowed me to mobilize all my skills. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and Debbie Friedman revolutionized Jewish music in the 1960s and ‘70s when, rather than just having passive congregants listen to great cantors, they got everyone singing. With Hebrew kirtan, I feel like we are bringing everything that came before and taking it to another level. Not too long ago, I heard my buddy David Newman (Durga Das) comment at IYI in NY that we’re in a kind of “age of kirtan,” that this practice is desperately needed at this time. I had caught the wave myself and realized that I was bringing kirtan to other places, other audiences. I am deeply influenced by the relational philosophy of Martin Buber, I should add.

IYM: What is the relationship between traditional kirtan and Hebrew chanting?

RD: I wanted to reach into the Jewish world and enliven it with the kind of passion and pathos we get when we go to a Jai Uttal kirtan. I love Hebrew, which is recognized as a vibrational language, like Sanskrit. I chant Sanskrit all the time for myself. But as a rabbi, I chant in Hebrew, a language just yearning to be sung. When we chant in Hebrew, we choose beautiful verses and move the energy through the sephirot (aspects) of God. This is all cross-fertilization for me. I’m involved in the Yoga world and I bring Jewish stories and wisdom into Yoga studios. I also bring bhakti Yoga and Tai Chi to the Jewish world.

I believe that religion and spirituality are not necessarily the same. Our spirituality is a more individual experience. By myself on a desert island, I might not pray in a Jewish form; I’d probably practice Taoism, to be honest. But I don’t live in a vacuum. I have family and a tradition. In the world, I place myself in community as a Jew. Thankfully, we live in a time where I can be a Jew who loves Yoga and Tai Chi! My friend Rabbi David Ingber recently conveyed a wonderful image from Swami Ramananda, president of the IYI in New York: You have a deck of cards. The back of the deck is all the same, but when you turn it over there are many different faces. That’s what God is like. So, we’re bringing just such a multi-faceted spirituality through kirtan to Judaism. By the way, there are many names for God in Judaism – and we sing them all, male and female!

IYM: It could sound like you are saying that Judaism doesn’t have spiritual energy.

RD: Judaism has traditionally had incredible spiritual energy. But I think, in some quarters, we’ve lost the passion of the heart. I don’t want to ignore our traumatic history or forget it. We have too often been pushed into in a reptilian fear response, which is sadly understandable. I’m not trying to change Judaism or our weekly services. But, I am trying to nudge Judaism. The opposite of love is not hate; it’s fear. Part of my mission is to say, “Sure, let’s advocate for ourselves. Let’s distinguish ourselves. But let’s not do it out of fear-driven self-entitlement. Let’s focus on Judaism as a religion of love, a religion that is God-filled, positive and joyous – and bring that to the world.”

IYM: For those unfamiliar with either Sanskrit or Hebrew, how important is it to understand what one is chanting?

RD: Krishna Das famously remarks that, when we chant, the words don’t matter. I agree, and I always say that it’s the vibrational tone and intention of the heart that is all-important. But, for the kirtan wallah, the person leading the kirtan, the knowledge of the words really matters. As the “kirtan rabbi,” the rabbi side of me is more heavily weighted than the kirtan side. The Hebrew phrases I chant are precisely chosen. It matters deeply that I know the etymology of the words, how they are used in the Hebrew Bible and how they have developed within rabbinic Judaism as well as in Kabbalah.

A concrete example. Shoshana Jedwab, my percussionist, largely taught herself percussion. She’s not a trained musician; she’s a “primal drummer,” you could say. I could get a tabla player who has been trained in India. But Shoshana has been a Jewish educator for 20 years, and she deeply knows the Hebrew language. It matters to me that the percussionist knows the intention and meaning of what we are chanting, even if she doesn’t “sing.”

For those participating, it’s quite the opposite. While we distribute papers with the transliterated words and translations, the words matter less than the intention (kavannah) we set and the resulting connection with the Divine. I like to say: “We don’t sing too many words, but we sing ‘em a lot!”

IYM: Are your kirtans very planned out and what role does the audience play in them?

RD: It’s crucial to me that the kirtan is mostly improvised. I lay down a basic chant, and then the audience determines where it goes. As a rabbi, I have tried to cultivate the attitude of a “disappearing point.” I do not matter. For example, I sometimes “want” to bring a chant to a close and I cannot. Despite my desire, it may take 10 minutes to end, because the participants are not ready for it to end. I’m merely what, in Hebrew we call a shaliach tzibbur, an emissary of the public. So, my practice is to divest myself of any ego and will of my own. It’s an honor to facilitate the kirtan but, in essence, the kahal, the community, is leading it. (Of course, I like to think something channels through my voice, too.)

When leading kirtans, I often make a joke about this after the first chant. I’ll say, “Now it’s time to introduce the performers….” And, of course, the people always think I’m about to introduce the band. But, then I continue, “…but there’s just too many of you out there.” Sometimes a professional singer approaches me and says, “If you need a backup singer, I have a strong voice.” I always think to myself, ”Well, that’s a strike against you!” I don’t want strong singers; I like people with sweet voices who are shy. We invite the audience to participate; we don’t want to be performing. Krishna Das has just such an inviting voice. If he were an opera singer, people would think they should just sit back and listen. I always tell my musicians, “If at any point you have to stop singing or playing to increase their participation, then do it.” And that goes for me, too, of course.

IYM: What are your hopes for Hebrew kirtan?

RD: In Judaism, we speak of ha-Olam Ha-ba (the World to Come). Through meditation, we know that this world is accessible to us now. God is like the radio tower that is beaming access to the divine. We have to tune ourselves in to receive it. The goal of kirtan is to gain ec-stasis, which means, “stepping out,” leaving the material status quo. If I had to sum up the essential goal of Hebrew kirtan, it is to have Ha-Olam Ha-ba right now. Then we fold it back into this world in order to strengthen our mission of tikkun olam (repairing of the world). I mean, I finally want to emphasize that Judaism always has been and remains about taking care of the poor, orphans, widows and disenfranchised among us. Kirtan gives us the staying power.

Reb Drew began college as a classical guitarist at the music conservatory at Carnegie-Mellon University and later received a PhD in Jewish philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Hebrew Union College and now travels the country teaching workshops and offering Hebrew kirtan. He is Resident Scholar at CLAL: the Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. His new CD, “Kirtan Rabbi: Live!” is available from: www.KirtanRabbi.com. Reb Drew leads monthly Hebrew kirtan at the New York IYI.

“Every few generations, Judaism transforms itself. One such radical change has been underway now since the 1970s. A powerful force within the current wave of revitalization—the ecstatic movement—counts among its proponents, an emerging leader, Rabbi Andrew Hahn, ’The Kirtan Rabbi.’”
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