A new Shabbat service at Ahavath Achim Synagogue aims to make Friday a more social experience.
On June 9, the first of the monthly AAbsolut Shabbat nights was held at the Buckhead shul at 8. The event followed the usual Shabbat service and will include live music, wine, hard liquor and light appetizers.
AAbsolut Shabbat is scheduled for the first Friday of succeeding months and will not replace the regular service.
"We really wanted to do an alternative Shabbat service," said Jillian Wagenheim, director of membership services at the Conservative synagogue. "The main thing behind this is the music. We wanted to present an upbeat version of our service with live instruments in order for people to connect with our services and Judaism in a more accessible way."
The service will be outside during the summer and will be more interactive. The hope is that the food and beverages will relax the atmosphere.
"It's not going to be a passive thing," said Barry Herman, director of liturgical music for Ahavath Achim. "People are going to be invited to participate and sing along."
But Wagenheim said the services are not meant to be parties.
"The goal is really to get together, but the focus is on the service," Herman said. "It's not a social get-together. That's a byproduct."
While AAbsolut Shabbat is new to Atlanta, the idea of a more social Friday night service is spreading across the country.
Events such as Friday Night Live have been successful in New York in bringing younger people to Conservative synagogues. Reform Temple Kol Emeth in Cobb County has rock 'n' roll services on occasion, and The Temple in midtown is testing the Reform movement's Synaplex program of entertaining options on Friday nights.
But AA's program appears to be the first of its kind at a Conservative shul in this area.
"What it does is takes the Sabbath evening service and invigorate it with music, a little untraditionally if you will," said Shelley Milakofsky, who represents the Southeast Region of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. "There is dance. There is all kinds of energy. Although it is certainly a step away from a traditional Shabbat service, it has become a happening in congregations all over the country."
For New York transplants who think AAbsolut Shabbat will be the same as Friday Night Live, Milakofsky said they will be surprised.
"Each congregation is tweaking it for its own thing," Milakofsky said. "Each one is sort of an experienced spiritual outpouring that is attractive in a different way."
Wagenheim and the staff of AA hope the service draws Jews who prefer to spend Friday nights in secular settings, such as bars. "We're really hoping it's going to be a different type of service. Still a religious service, but it's something for people who might not normally be apt to be involved."
