Well Versed : Debbie Friedman, a Top Performer of Jewish Music, Has a Way of Melding Melody and Story

When the American Jewish Congress Feminist Center puts on its annual Passover Seder today at Stephen S. Wise Temple, singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman, guitar in tow, will offer her musical spin on the Exodus.

While based on true stories, her tales often have a humorous edge. Here is her take on Nahshon, the leader of the tribe of Judah, and apparently the first to jump into the water when the Israelites reached the Red Sea.

“I picture it as Nahshon standing there and the Israelites waltzing on the shore, responding to him:

“Come right into the water,

“Come right into the sea,

“All you have to do is

“Come right in and follow me.”

One of the foremost figures in contemporary Jewish music, Friedman, 44, will chronicle in original song this and other adventures that befell the Hebrews on their 40-year journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom. Rabbi Laura Geller will lead the service.

“I’ll teach these songs so that participants can easily join in,” Friedman says. “I’ve written about different characters and incidents that occurred during the wandering.”

Friedman, who records for the San Diego-based Sounds Write label, has released 12 albums, notably the poignant “And You Shall Be a Blessing” (1989) and “Live at the Del,” recorded in 1990 at the Hotel del Coronado. One of her great joys is composing for friends or family members to celebrate happy events or to honor “whatever is needed” at the time.

Demonstrating in the elaborate studio at her San Diego home, seated before a giant synthesizer, Friedman proceeds, eyes closed, to put down chords and design a melody around a given birth date.

She defines Jewish music as “anything that uses Jewish text and responds to it appropriately.”

“If you are going to sing a prayer that is recited when somebody dies, then putting it to upbeat rock music is totally out of context and inappropriate,” she says. “There are definite laws and rules. There are some prayers where you cannot repeat the words twice, some where you have to put accents on certain syllables.

“In the beginning I made a lot of mistakes, but now I check with rabbi friends of mine. I won’t compromise the integrity of the text.”

Friedman also takes pains to ensure that the language she uses is inclusive, addressing not only men and women, but also the disabled and “those who are different from the norm.”

As such, her music remains a strong influence on feminist Judaism, says Geller, who often has joined Friedman in worship.

“Her messages are inclusive, and she is one of the first Jewish composers to do that,” says Geller, who in August was ordained as senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.

“But Debbie’s music enables you to participate whether you speak Hebrew or not, whether you are musical or not,” Geller says. “There is no sense, when in her presence, that this is one exclusive club.”

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Friedman, who has had no formal musical training, taught herself the guitar at 17. Following a stint in Israel studying Hebrew, she started song-leading at retreats and religious schools, and later was invited to sing at Sabbath services at Reform and Conservative synagogues.

“One night I went to synagogue, and realized sitting there I was bored,” Friedman says, recalling the genesis of her career. “I realized the rabbi was talking, the choir was singing and nobody was doing anything. There was no participation.

“Shortly thereafter, on a bus from New Jersey to New York, a melody came into my head, which I put to the prayer ‘V’ahavta’--’And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.’

“I went to a conclave and taught it to the kids. At the time we were singing James Taylor, Carly Simon and Melissa Manchester. All of a sudden they stood up, grabbed each other’s arms, and joined in this prayer. I realized something powerful was happening. So I started writing and putting songs to liturgy and then to poetry.”

Friedman serves on the faculty of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations’ summer Kallah programs at Brandeis University and the University of California, Santa Cruz, leading services and workshops. She also performs her music at conferences, concerts, retreats and synagogue services around the country. Her record sales have made her the top-ranking performer of Jewish music in the United States.

“There’s a whole cadre of contemporary artists but none comes near her in terms of sales,” says Velvel Pasternak, founder of the Owings Mills, Md.-based Tara Publications, distributors of Jewish music recordings and publisher of the new “The International Jewish Songbook.”

“The distribution of Jewish music defies any other kind of distribution,” he says. “We send out mail-order catalogues by the thousands, and have exhibits and present materials at conventions where Jews gather.” (Recordings also are sold at Judaica and temple gift shops, as well as at specialty stores.)

Friedman, in discussing her calling, refers frequently to a passage from Scripture (Genesis 12:1-2):

“And God said to Abraham . . . ‘And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.’ ”

She pauses, then reiterates:

“We are all meant to go out and do our thing and be a blessing to the world. I don’t see myself as a musician but as somebody who desperately wants to take text and make it accessible.

“These prayers, these poems, help me to know in times when I might doubt that there is something beyond me that is essential in making the world more livable and more sane.”

* American Jewish Congress Feminist Center Passover Seder takes place at 6 p.m. today at Stephen S. Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, Los Angeles; (213) 651-4601.