Rabbi Steven Blane and Sim Shalom, the online synagogue, brought a jazz quartet for High Holiday Services to the iconic Bitter End in the West Village on Rosh Hashanah onMonday, September 26th, and Yom Kippur, Oct. 5th. The venue was filled to covid capacity and the audience included dozens who have joined Sim Shalom for the past eight years at live services.
Blane was joined by Kevin Hailey on bass, Jack Glottman on piano, Frank Levatino on drums and Carol Sudhalter and Michael Johnson on sax. All accomplished New York jazz musicians they provided a joyous and uplifting vibe to the services. Here is a link to view the Rosh Hashana service.
Blane, also a singer/songwriter, shared several original tunes he’s written to reflect the essence of the holy season. Two of the crowd favorites were The Ramble (about Blane’s beloved Central Park) and Spark. All of Blane’s songs can be found on Spotify.
Clearly ahead of his time, ten years prior to covid, Rabbi Steven Blane founded Congregation Sim Shalom which was the world’s first only fully online synagogue and offered worship services. The live services provide a lovely addition to the offerings of the online shul and streaming them on zoom allowed for year round congregants from all over the planet to join in.
At the same time, he also founded the online Rabbinical School, JSLI- Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute. To date, Rabbi Blane and his staff have trained and ordained more than 200 Rabbis and Cantors who are serving Jewish communities around the world.