Thursday, May 28, 2009
For the past 31 years, hippies, seekers, tree huggers and music lovers of all stripes have descended upon the Sonoma County Fairgrounds for the Harmony Festival.
Add rabbis to the list of attendees this year.
For the first time, the Harmony Festival will include a Shabbaton at the annual music and lifestyle gathering, which typically draws between 20,000 and 40,000 attendees, June 12 to 14 in Santa Rosa.
Chassidic reggae singer Matisyahu — who is headlining the festival — will spend Saturday teaching and learning at the Shabbaton.
“Rarely does the Bay Area Jewish community get a chance to come to a festival that has deep Jewish concepts and the opportunity to hear the wisdom of other cultures,” said Rabbi Jack Gabriel of Congregation Shir Shalom in Sonoma. He and others will teach at the Shabbaton.
The Shabbaton will include a kosher Shabbat meal and services Friday night, Saturday morning services and learning sessions with Bay Area rabbis and Matisyahu. It will conclude with Havdallah on Saturday night.
Shabbaton participants can camp in a special area of the festival, but the day of learning will be available to people of all denominations of Judaism and all non-Jews as well.
“Anyone who wants to share in the learning, who wants to hang out with Matis and the gang, is welcome,” said Howard Sapper, CEO of the Harmony Festival and the organizer of the Shabbaton. “We feel the tent is big enough for everybody to sit under it.”
Shabbaton participants can access all of the Harmony Festival highlights: the Dome of Devotion, an area dedicated to spiritual thought and music; the Goddess Grove, an area dedicated to feminist speakers and female musicians; and the Eco Village, an area dedicated to permaculture and sustainability.
The Jerusalem Peacemakers, a group of Jews, Christians and Muslims from Israel, will also lead workshops at the festival. Meanwhile, within the Shabbaton, rabbis will lead prayer, text study and discussions.
“The promoters of this event are really universal in their outlook, and in that universality, they don’t forget to present the Jewish tradition in a beautiful way,” Gabriel said.
Sapper, an active member of Gabriel’s Shir Shalom, has a long history with the Harmony Festival. At the festival’s inaugural year in 1978, and for five summers thereafter, Sapper traveled to Santa Rosa from Oahu, Hawaii, to sell music produced by his record label, Global Pacific Records, at the festival. Eventually, he joined the festival’s board of directors, and two years ago he became the CEO.
“The festival gives you a sense of what the possibilities are — for three days, we create an environment where you live your highest and best self,” he said.
In 2007, Sapper organized a backstage Friday night Shabbat meal and service for about 40 people. “It was low-key, eclectic and open,” he said.
In light of that success, Sapper this year approached Matisyahu’s management and asked: Why not do a Shabbaton with Matis and make it available to the public?
“He was very excited because he keeps Shabbos anyway,” Sapper said. “He told me he’s more nervous to lead services than to sing for 20,000 people. I told him it’s a pretty safe crowd.”
The Harmony Festival Shabbaton will take place June 12-14 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. Tickets: $300 for a three-day camping, music and Shabbaton pass. Day passes are also available. Information: http://www.harmonyfestival.com.
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