Shabbat at The Kitchen
Return to Eden
What’s special about shabbat at The Kitchen? We design every aspect with one goal: moving everyone closer to God and each other. Our music, prayers, and rituals are built to provide access to the tradition of shabbat so we can return to Eden every week. And now, we’ll have a prayerbook to help us go farther than ever.
The Book
The Kitchen is known for pushing boundaries, and our project of creating a third edition of our Siddur is no different. This spiritual guidebook will be the first ever in North America to include an integration of Sepharadi and Ashkenazi prayers into a single nusach.
We invite you to sponsor our siddur in honor, or memory, of loved ones, friends, and the community. Each book will receive a personalized dedication on the inside of the front cover.
We sing rare and beautiful Sepharadi and Ashkenazi melodies and prayers, accompanied by two ouds, the best percussionist in the land, not to mention a suite of talented Gen X and Millennials. Kitchen-ites, musicians, and clergy from many backgrounds all sit and pray together. And this year, we’re taking this tradition and accessibility further than ever with a completely reimagined Kitchen Siddur.
We wanted to give you a snapshot of what we’ve built so we made this live recording (read: no overdubs) for you. We hope you like it but we still think you need to come to experience it for yourself.
The Music
Shabbat is How
“I’ve been to shabbat services in other places,” some might say. “It’s never anything like this. What makes yours so special?”
We think there’s a difference between tourists and pilgrims. Tourists stand on the side out of the way, pilgrims get as close as possible. We don’t start by asking if your mother was Jewish, we just want to know if you’re ready to show up as a pilgrim. We call this ‘tradition for everyone,’ and this idea, found in every part of our shabbat, is what makes it special.
Of all the holy experiences we create at The Kitchen, shabbat is where we begin. There’s an elegant genius in shabbat—it can bring all kinds of people together, no matter what it is we need. Shabbat is how we keep all the disparate pieces of our lives together.
When we enter shabbat, we remember Eden is real. And when we have the experience of building a holy place week after week, we realize that while the gate to the garden looks locked, if we want to enter, we can. Shabbat is the key.
Invitation to Eden
San Francisco May 16th - May 18th
We're celebrating the Kitchen’s new siddur with a complete shabbat, concert and conference.
Our prayerbook represents our community's shabbat tefillah, and is the first in North America to integrate Sepharadi and Ashkenazi prayers into a single nusach.
We’re hosting a full Kitchen Kabbalat shabbat and dinner, Shabbat morning tefillah and lunch, Havdalah and concert featuring an instrumental ensemble paytanim, and musicians from across the globe.
On Sunday, we are arranging speakers, academics who study the Sepharadi experience in the US, and both authors of existing Sepharadi egalitarian siddurim from London and New York. We’ll be honored to hear from the founders of the Sephardic Egalitarian community, Degel Yehudah in Jerusalem as well as many teachers, rabbis and practitioners, early adapters of this movement who will be joining us from Paris, New York, and Seattle.
Our honored guests include:
Osnat Bensoussan Farouz, Degel Yehuda; Arevot Jerusalem
Chen Blume, Kitchen Siddur Designer Boston
Dr. Sarah Benor, Jewish Language Project; HUC Los Angeles
Daniel Cayre, Kanisse; Editor, Mahzor Zemirot HaMizrah NYC
Heftsi Cohen-Montagu, Degel Yehuda and Arevot, Jerusalem
Rabbi Yosef Goldman, Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, NYC
Tamia Menez B’Chiri, The Hineni Collective, Paris
Simon Montagu-Cohen, Degel Yehuda, Jerusalem
Isaac Montagu, Kolot HaKahal; editor, Sidduré Or London
Dr. Devin Naar, University of Washington, Seattle
Ruben Shimonov, Sephardic-Mizrahi Q Network; American Sephardi Federation
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas, Asefa; Andalus Ensemble, NYC
We’re bringing the scholars, rabbis, hazzanim, teachers, musicians, and leaders who are bringing tradition and access together.
Kabbalat Shabbat + Dinner
Time
6:00 PM Kabbalat Shabbat + Ma’ariv
8:00 PM Shabbat Dinner
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
Weekend Schedule
May 16th
Shabbat Morning + Havdalah + Concert
Time
9:30 AM Shabbat Morning + Torah Service
12:30 PM Kiddush Lunch
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM Havdalah + Piyyut Concert featuring Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas and Rabbi Yosef Goldman
Location
To be announced
May 17th
Kitchen Conference
Time
9:00-10:30 AM Dr. Devin Naar lecture
11:30 AM–12:30 PM Panel 1
Sepharadi Egalitarian Siddur Editors featuring Daniel Cayre & Isaac Montagu
12:30–1:30 PM Lunch
1:30-2:30 PM Panel 2
Sepharadi Egalitarian Practice
2:45-4:00 PM Breakout sessions
Topic to be announced
Location
San Francisco Friends School
250 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
May 18th
Registration & Fees
Full Weekend – $360
Includes all fees and access to every event from May 16th to May 18th, whether or not you attend them all. You will be able to select your preferred events on the registration form. Please note that registration does not cover hotel accommodations, airfare/travel, or any additional meals or activities beyond those listed.
Accommodations
The Kitchen has reserved a limited number of rooms at Inn San Francisco, located within walking distance of the weekend's events. If you’d like to stay there, you must reserve your room by April 16th.
To get more details and book your stay, please email us at hello@thekitchensf.org.
Please note that the registration fee does not cover the cost of hotel accommodations, travel expenses (including airfare), or any additional meals or activities beyond those specified in the event schedule.
Individual Events
Members of the Kitchen community are welcome to join us for the celebratory events on May 16th and 17th. To attend, please register for each event individually.
Kabbalat Shabbat & Dinner on May 16th
$75 per person – Register here
Shabbat Morning & Kiddush Lunch on May 17th
No fee – Register here
Havdalah & Concert on May 17th
$18 for members / $36 for non-members
Register here
