Friday Night Liturgy in the Spanish Portuguese Tradition

Join us for an 8-week course to learn the tools to lead Kabbalat Shabbat/Arvit in the Spanish Portuguese tradition, as led in the Bendigamos community in Amsterdam and London.

Each week we will learn how to chant/sing the prayers of Kabbalat shabbat and explore different aspects of the Kabbalat service such as the structure of the service, relevant customs, decorum, how to engage and encourage community participation and more.

There will be opportunities to support your learning during the week via a Whatsapp group, as well as short recordings sent after each class. In the seventh week, the reading week, we provide a student-led zoom space for you to come together to practise all you have learnt and get ready for the mock Kabbalat shabbat service led by the students in the last class.

The course starts on Tuesday 6th February 2024 for eight weeks on Zoom, running through to Tuesday 26th March 2024 at 19:30 - 20:45 GMT*.

*All times UK, adjust to your local time zone.

Cost: Full Course £84.00 or Concession/Student £63.00

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Meet the Teacher

Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira

Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira is the community leader and Chazzan (Cantor) of the Bendigamos community in Amsterdam. His family has been part of the Portuguese Jewish community of the Netherlands for four centuries. After studying political science and a short corporate career, he decided he wants to spend most of his time teaching and rebuilding the Jewish community in Amsterdam. This community is still suffering greatly from the WWII atrocities. Today, he works for the Jewish Seminary of Amsterdam, teaches many bar- mitzvah students, writes for a Jewish news website and organises Jewish concerts.

Course Key Learning Points

Week 1: Mizmor l’David + exploring Friday Night liturgy.
Week 2: L’cha dodi + exploring Friday Night liturgy.
Week 3: Mizmor shir le yom haShabbat + exploring Friday Night liturgy.
Week 4: Kaddish + exploring Friday Night liturgy.
Week 5: The Berachot of Shema + exploring Friday Night liturgy.
Week 6: Everything after the Amida + exploring Friday Night liturgy
Week 7: Reading week (an opportunity to learn with your classmates and practise for the mock service together).
Week 8: Mock Friday night service led by the students.

Beyond the weekly breakdown above, there are further topics to potentially explore, such as the differences between various S&P traditions, what to do on Rosh Chodesh or Chanukkah, background to some of the prayers, toolbox of a Chazzan, pronunciation in the Amsterdam S&P tradition, zooming in on how to pronounce words correctly in general and what to do if there is no minyan.