RABBI MILES KRASSEN WITH HAZZAN RICHARD KAPLAN: Invoking the Seven Beggars

Rabbi Miles Krassen with Hazzan Richard Kaplan

Invoking the Seven Beggars

© 2004 Rabbi Miles Krassen

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

A 4 CD set of music and teachings on joy, based on Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's "Tale of the Seven Beggars."

notes

A Neo-Hasidic Method for Inner Transformation.

In this four hour workshop, Rabbi Miles Krassen explores the seven fundamental aspects of Simkhat Olam (Divine Joyful Connectedness)that can lead us to freedom. The profound teachings of each of Rebbe Nachman's beggars are directly applicable to our daily spiritual reality and practice and to the refinement of consciousness. Included are eight contemplative niggunim (melodies), drawn from all corners of the Jewish world, each of which offers an entrance into the inner experience of joy and freedom.

RABBI MILES KRASSEN - BIOGRAPHY

Reb Miles Krassen is a musician, author, mystic, scholar, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he was one of the earliest figures in the folk music revival to embrace and popularize the fiddle music of the Southern Appalachians. He later studied Irish traditional music, producing recordings of traditional Irish music in America and editing the revised edition of O'Neill's Music of Ireland. Reb Miles also played a modest role in the Klezmer revival, aiding Henry Sapoznik in rescuing many rare early recordings of East European and American Klezmer music.

His interest in mysticism and spirituality dates back to the 1950s, when he began studying Yoga, Buddhism, and Taoism. In the 1960s, he became interested in Western Wisdom traditions dating back to Plato, the teachings of Gurdjieff, Sufism, Christian Mysticism, and later, Tibetan Buddhism.

During the 1970s, several providential experiences led him to discover the great, hidden depths of the Jewish Mystical tradition and Hasidism. That discovery involved so deep an identification that to this day, although Reb Miles continues to study and honor all Wisdom traditions, his path remains centered in Hasidism and the Kabbalah.

His first Jewish teachers were Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, may his memory bless us, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, from whom he later received ordination in 1996. Under their influence, Reb Miles lived in Boro Park and studied at a local yeshivah. During that time, he was privileged to experience the teachings and spiritual practice of a number of great Rebbes, especially Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam, the late Bobover Rebbe.

As a result of these experiences, Reb Miles soon came to the realization that these precious relics of an earlier time preserved many deep spiritual truths and methods for transformation. Nevertheless, it was equally clear that these treasures were embedded in cultural forms and attitudes of an earlier period in human and Jewish history and that they needed to be renewed in order to guide us in our present state of development.

In order to acquire the textual skills required to gain access to the treasury of Jewish mystical tradition, Reb Miles turned to the world of academic scholarship. Initially, he studied with Professor Lawrence Fine at Indiana University. He later became a student of Rabbi Arthur Green at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Ph.D. in Religion, and wrote a dissertation on the spirituality of early Hasidism. Reb Miles was also a Lady Davis Fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he was privileged to study with leading scholars of Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah, including Moshe Idel, Yehuda Liebes, Rachel Elior, and the late Rivka Schatz-Uffenheimer.

After completing his doctorate, Reb Miles taught at Smith College and at Oberlin, where he was Associate Professor of Religion and Director of Jewish Studies. During that period he wrote Uniter of Heaven and Earth, a study of mystical experience in early Hasidism and Isaiah Horowitz: the Generations of Adam, an introduction and translation of a major portion of an important Kabbalistic work of the 17th century.

In 2000, Reb Miles resigned his position at Oberlin in order to devote himself completely to mystical studies, teaching and the training of teachers of Jewish mysticism. He currently teaches classes and workshops on Jewish meditation and mystical practice, based on a deep love for traditional sources, familiarity with many non-Jewish wisdom traditions, and respect for the latest findings of contemporary scholarship.

Reb Miles is Professor of Judaic Studies at Naropa University.

HAZZAN RICHARD KAPLAN - BIOGRAPHY

Richard Kaplan (aka Shlomo Natan ben Menakhem Mendel veNekhamah) was born into a musical family and began singing professionally at age 14, fronting R&B bands in his native Los Angeles. He was active in music programs at his local high school, where he sang in the madrigal choir and studied music history with Salvatore Spano. While he was still in his teens, a friend opened up his musical horizons by playing him recordings from around the world, long before what later became known as "world music" had emerged as a viable marketing concept. "I found I was able to appreciate other musics - from Korean to Mongolian to Tibetan to Shinto to Turkish," he recalls. "I don't think there is a traditional music on this planet that I can't take in. But then, I could argue that all of them are part of everyone's aural DNA." At age 19, this led to his joining "The Morning of the World," a vocal ensemble specializing in ethnic-based music which was signed by the Elektra and A&M record labels.

Mr. Kaplan went on to earn a BA in Ethnomusicology at UCLA, followed by a Master's Degree in Musicology from UC Berkeley, with an emphasis on Baroque vocal technique and choral conducting. He had developed a deep connection with medieval and other forms of early music. "The Dutch historian Huizinga, in his book The Waning of the Middle Ages, once asked the reader to imagine how much more sensitized Medieval folks must have been to the natural world: a fire, the wind, or 'a single, distant cry.' " Kaplan explains, "The scalar forms of early music and the dastgah-ha, ragas, and makamat (Persian, Indian, and Middle Eastern modes) all contain psycho-spiritual elements and a certain romanticism, almost a musical shamanism, that is tremendously evocative, sensual, and intuitive. I think their shared ancient roots contain an ocean of esoteric knowledge capable of healing our innermost selves, which have been deeply wounded by the crass demands of post-modern life."

Wanting to "do" music rather than merely to "speak" on the subject for a lifetime, Mr. Kaplan started to write his own material and work as a jazz pianist. He lived in Manhattan for a time, performing the Gershwin, Ellington, and Porter songbooks for a livelihood. "I set out to make a living doing something I loved, as I have never believed we were put on this planet to be miserable from 9-5 for 50 years," he says.

Upon moving back to the West Coast, he spent seven years as a Professor of Music at Skyline Community College, teaching a course called "Sacred Musics of the World" at JFK University, New College of San Francisco, and acting as choral conductor for the Albany Adult School Choir. "When I taught World Music in colleges, I would spend a week on the music of Burma, six weeks on classical Japanese music, and four weeks on Native American traditions," he says, "I went on this way once for two years, week to week, never repeating a culture."

Throughout this busy period, Mr. Kaplan was also an impassioned spiritual seeker, immersing himself in Zen Buddhism, Siddha Yoga, and Sufism. He studied with Master James Wing Woo, a Taoist teacher of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Kung Fu, for eight years and later taught Chinese Martial Arts for over a decade.

The seeds of his return to Judaism were planted by an Israeli-born friend and artist, Michael Sgan-Cohen, who introduced him to the works of Martin Buber and to Zohar. Mr. Kaplan was inspired to keep the Sabbath and Holy Days, study Torah, and to immerse himself in the music of his forbears. "There is sadly, too often, a profound antipathy toward one's own heritage, a kind of knee-jerk baby-out-with-the-bathwater reaction," he muses. "I had to do a lot of healing, but finally came home to the musical traditions of my own ancestry, embracing a fabulous world-wide inheritance of Jewish musical and spiritual culture." Over time, he was inspired to embark upon the cantor's path, absorbing the traditional liturgy during a three-year apprenticeship with Conservative Hazzan (Cantor) Mark Dinkin. In 1997, Mr. Kaplan was named cantor of Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative synagogue in Oakland, California, a position he still holds.

Mr. Kaplan's life is now mainly concerned with Jewish music, practice, and study. Aside from his cantorial duties, he maintains a busy schedule as a concert artist and travels the world leading workshops on various subjects in the Jewish music field. He has recorded two albums dedicated to Jewish traditions from throughout the Diaspora, "Tuning The Soul" (1999,) and "Life Of The Worlds" (2003,) both of which showcase his magnificent high baritone voice and have sold in the thousands. He sits on the Spiritual Advisory Council of ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal, where he received his cantorial smikha (ordination) from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. He continues to study Hasidic music with Reb Zalman, who jokes that he is "downloading" his own tremendous knowledge of Eastern European spiritual music into Mr. Kaplan.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • What a Great CD!
    author: Avi Melson

    This CD was very helpful for me. All the Beggars have something to teach you! A Must Have!

  • Heartfelt, in-sight-full teaching by Rabbi Miles Krassen accompanied by Chazan R
    author: Rayzl Feuer

    Rabbi Miles combines in-sight and humor to transmit the wisdom of this timeless Bratzlav tale. Chazan Richard compliments the poignancy with appropriate nigunim which help the listener digest and integrate this wisdom. Kudos to both teachers.

  • Beautiful and personally helpful
    author: Judy Rosendeld

    This CD is beautifully done combining music and spoken word. The stories are incredibly helpful and I hope to listen to their wisdom over and over.

  • Musically energizing and spiritually uplifting
    author: Marty Gross

    This CD set was a joy to listen to and imbibe. Reb Miles takes us on a magical mystery tour of the Soul with the Seven Beggars tale so masterfully transmitted, and Cantor Kaplan has chosen just the right piece of music to communicate the heart of each beggar in the tale. Energizing and uplifting. Not to be missed.

email

Please log in to email this artist.