Meet Ori Salzberg

I am so excited to accept the position of Spiritual Music Innovator! I was inspired to collaborate in crafting this part time position after listening to many fellow congregants about their passions and hopes for our Shul community. I too have been feeling more and more centered and connected through my budding role with Minyan Shelanu!

I grew up in Monsey, NY in a maximally engaged orthodox community. Studying talmud at a young age, benefitting from day schools, religious-zionist summer camp experiences, NCSY and more - I always felt the push to give back to religious life. After high school I kicked off 9 years in Israel, studying in Hesder Yeshivot, serving in the IDF, attending the Rimon School of Modern Music and finally getting my degree in Philosophy & Musicology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I also met my wife Navit in Jerusalem and together we’ve built a home in Atlanta with now 3 kids!

The path that has brought me here has been a complex one, and I feel that here at Shearith I encounter colleagues & friends that raise the level of my own spiritual practice. They also challenge me to think of new ways to engage in rooted ritual and Jewish education so that it deepens our communal and personal lives.

As Spiritual Music Innovator I will be working with you, the congregation, in building innovative musical, energetic practices that will enrich our sanctuary Tefila as well as spiritual practices outside of the sanctuary. WE are the ones who can make this happen! Sounds vague - need examples?

1. Cultivating a cohort of Shlichei Tzibbur - prayer leaders who craft new standards for singing and joy in the sanctuary.
2. Leading services at times in the sanctuary, at times in the chapel, growing Minyan Shelanu, holding special Shabbatot with special invitations to a broader crowd.
3. Collaborating with Rabbi Kaiman on our newly forged singing circle.
4. Creating new educational on ramps for tweens and teens, before and after Mizvah time.

I’m pumped and I can’t wait to discuss it in greater detail with all of you!

Rav Todot - Many Thanks,
Ori