Kabbalistic Kirtan

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"Musicians regularly get into this flow [while playing] where they get beyond themselves," remarks Susan Deikman, aka Yofiyah, leader of the "kabbalistic kirtan." She says she realized anyone can have that same transcendent experience, even without years of training and practice, when she attended a Hindu kirtan. Kirtan is a call-and-response form of chanting common to Hindu and Sikh practice and similar to the qwalli of the Sufis. "I had a religious experience there I wasn't getting in Jewish services." Deikman gathered an eclectic group of some of Philly's finest—among them Joe Tayoun (dumbek), Lenny Seidman (tabla), Roger Mgrdichian (oud) and Amira Dvorah (bansuri)—for the genre-blending ticket to ecstasy. Deikman leads the group in Hebrew, Aramaic and English chants, with text she chose especially to celebrate the feminine side of the deity. "The exchange is like an ocean's tides. There is alchemy in the exchange, the ego, self-centered concerns drop away. You end in an openhearted place. Hindus say the shakti is flowing; I think of energy rising through the tree of life," she says. "I walk around with this grin on my face for hours afterwards." This Saturday, the group unveils its self-titled CD debut.

Sat., Dec. 4, 7 p.m. reception, 8 p.m. kabbalistic kirtan, followed by party, Yoga on Main, 4363 Main St., Manayunk, 215-242-6677, www.hebrewkirtan.com.

—Mary Armstrong

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