In better news, we went to a New Moon Rising concert in person!

In better news, which we can certainly use, we saw the wonderful June 28, 2022 wonderful New Moon Rising concert!

The only time we'd ever seen Elana Arian in person before had been when she'd led a Kabbalat Shabbat service on January 3, 2020 at what I can only describe as a "Reform shtieble," the late lamented Beloved Brooklyn (one of the earlier institutional victims of the COVID pandemic). Of course, we'd also seen her in dozens of online performances since then, but it was such a delight to seen her in person again!

We'd seen Deborah Sacks Mintz many times in person before the pandemic, and, of course, many times online since March 2020, but the most recent time we saw her in person before this concert. . . well, that's a funny story. There we were at a Nava Tehila Yom HaAtzmaut concert on May 4, 2022, when I saw this familiar-looking woman sitting about two rows in front of us. I thought to myself, "Sure, it's possible, but what are the odds?" Ten minutes later, my husband leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't that woman in front of us look like Deborah?" I guess the odds were better than I thought. This was the first time we've ever seen her play the cello in person, though. Rav todot, Rav.

The only time we'd met Chava Mirel in person was when she sang in a Nava Tehila concert in February 2020--that was the last concert that we attended in person before the pandemic. But early in the pandemic, Chava teamed up with her good friend and sister singer/songwriter Eliana Light to co-lead a weekly Zoom called "Music, Silence, Love: Evening Practice," which was based loosely on Arvit/Maariv/Evening Service. I found out about it in late June 2020, and joined their little "minyan." They used to livestream the Zoom on Facebook, but after they turned off the livestream, we would all unmute and gab. This gathering continued weekly until about February 2021, and sporadically after that, until June 2021, when enough folks were vaccinated that Eliana flew out to Seattle so that she and Chava could do their last MSL Zoom in the same real-life room. So I feel as if I've known Chava practically forever, even though this is just the second time that I've seen her in person. What a delight to be able to give her a real hug without a computer screen in the way! Also, I was so tickled that she sang "Stand Up"--I love all her songs, but I get a particular kick out of hearing her in "rocker mode," 'cause she's so good at it.

If you have an opportunity to hear New Moon Rising, or any of its members, run, do not walk! In the meantime, they released their first recording as a group, so enjoy!

https://newmoonrisingtrio.bandcamp.com/releases