Welcoming Shabbat with a Motown Version of Shalom Aleichem

Every Friday we try to welcome Shabbat with a musical variation on the liturgical poems that comprise the Kabbalat Shabbat service. Over the years we've posted 30 versions of Shalom Aleichem, 28 versions of Lecha Dodi, 52 versions of Adon Olam, and many other renditions of familiar Shabbat melodies.

They represent all points on the Jewish spectrum, from Reform to Orthodox. But no one synagogue or group has given us more to post than the Los Angeles community known as Beit T'shuvah. In addition to regular weekly services, it's mission is to guide individuals and families towards a path of living well, so that wrestling souls can recover from addiction and learn how to properly heal.
 
The Beit T'Shuvah faith-based model, founded on authenticity and wholeness, integrates spirituality, psychotherapy, Jewish teachings, the 12 Steps, and the creative arts. They are a compassionate, supportive community, devoted to building an empowering sense of belonging and purpose to everyone who seeks it.
 
They also have a knack of fitting the familiar Shabbat tunes to different pop music genres, including, Rock and Roll, Country and Western, The Beatles, and most recently, the Motown Sound.
 
Here's an excerpt from last week's service with the shul band welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi set to the 1961 Motown song Please Mr. Postman, the debut single by the Marvelettes and the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. 

Please Mr. Postman became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when the Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. It has been covered several times, including by The Beatles in 1963.
 
Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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