Laura Greif doesn’t consider herself a full-blown “Swiftie,” but when her Palo Alto synagogue decided to host Shabbat services themed around pop megastar Taylor Swift, she was ready for it.
Greif, 38, attended the Aug. 30 community sing-along services at Etz Chayim, as well as a Shabbat dinner beforehand, sparkling in a colorful, sequinned jacket, a wardrobe choice inspired by Swift’s Eras concert tour. The jacket was her take on Swift’s 2014 album “1989.” She dressed her 16-month-old daughter in a bright-red onesie and black pants, in honor of Swift’s 2012 album “Red.”
Themed Shabbat services are a long-held tradition at Etz Chayim. On every month with five Fridays, the independent synagogue plans services tied to popular musical genres and artists and typically draws a good-size crowd.
Before planning began for Swift Shabbat, “I knew the song ‘Shake It Off.’ That was it,” Mitch Slomiak, 65 and a self-described “Dead Head,” said of his limited knowledge of Swift’s musical repertoire. Over the course of planning the event, he’s now “just on the edge of being a Swiftie.”
Slomiak co-chairs the synagogue’s Fifth Friday committee. Last year, when mapping out the four themes for 2024, it occurred to the committee members that the music they often pick — such as Peter, Paul and Mary, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel — may not resonate with the congregation’s non-boomer members.
When they decided to aim for more “contemporary music,” Slomiak said, the choice was obvious: “Why don’t we go to the most popular contemporary artist on the planet, Taylor Swift?”
One little problem: The committee didn’t know Swift’s music all too well.
“So we thought, we’re going to have to pull in some experts,” Slomiak said.
Fans of Swift’s music were easy to find among Etz Chayim’s bar and bat mitzvah class, as well as through its NextGen group for people in their 20s and 30s.
The committee members went to work narrowing down the dozens of song suggestions that came their way, and eventually came up with a customized Swift Shabbat prayerbook beyond their wildest dreams.
Slomiak described the “puzzle” of “taking the liturgy and the kavanah [meaning] of each prayer,” and connecting them to specific Swift songs for each part of the service. For instance, “Safe & Sound” was the choice for Hashkiveinu, and “Lover” stood in for V’Ahavta. (They sang the traditional Shema beforehand.)
Instead of Mishebeirach as the prayer for healing, the congregation sang “Soon You’ll Get Better,” a song Swift says she wrote when her mother was battling cancer. In addition to the traditional Mourner’s Kaddish, they also sang “Marjorie,” which Swift says she wrote in memory of her grandmother Marjorie Finlay. Lecha Dodi was sung to the tune of “Blank Space,” and the chorus of the song “Style” was worked into Adon Olam.
Every Fifth Friday Shabbat calls upon volunteers to form a lay-led musical band. For Swift night, the pop band grew to 15 people, some of them first-timers, Slomiak said.
“Five of them are under age 14. We’ve never had a single one under age 14 before,” he said.
Fifth Fridays typically include an oneg after services, but until now never a Shabbat dinner. Knowing about the enthusiasm for Swift among young adults, Greif, NextGen’s president, reached out to the Silicon Valley-based group Jewish Young Adults (JYA), part of the Jewish High Tech Community, to co-host a dinner.
“Generally, for our NextGen events, if we get 12 people, that’s a pretty great turnout for us,” she said. But this time, they sold out with 38 registered attendees.
Dinner featured a “Lavender Haze” cocktail named after a Swift hit song, containing gin, lemon juice, lavender syrup and butterfly pea flowers. Homemade cookies were made by a JYA volunteer using the online recipe for “Taylor Swift’s favorite chocolate chip cookies.” Like Greif, many young adult attendees wore clothes inspired by Swift’s Eras concert tour.
During the dinner, provided by Etz Chayim with support from One Table, young adults made and swapped beaded friendship bracelets, a popular activity among Swifties. They also had a Swift-themed ice-breaker bingo card with squares that encouraged people to mingle. Prizes were awarded for the two best-dressed Swifties, according to JYA president Tali Katz. (She wore a sparkly turquoise dress, evocative of “Midnights.”)
Usually JYA events are strictly social, Katz noted, but she thought the addition of Swift-themed services might entice young adults to attend.
“There is something special about being able to have an event that leads into services. I think most young adults in this area are happy to go,” Katz said. And they did.
In total, more than 100 people belted out 13 Swift songs in Etz Chayim’s sanctuary, in honor of the pop phenom’s favorite number.
Etz Chayim isn’t the only synagogue or Jewish organization engaging young adults through Swift’s music and lyrics. In Los Gatos, Reform Congregation Shir Hadash performed “Esther’s Story (Taylor’s Version)” at this year’s Purim spiel, using a prewritten, Swift-themed musical script purchased from TheSpielGuy.com.
The popular New York-based Jewish a cappella band Six13 released a Hanukkah song last year titled “Era-lution of Taylor Swift” featuring a medley of Swift’s tunes. And last Passover, Swifties had “The Unofficial Taylor Swift Haggadah” to liven up their seders.
Long story short, Etz Chayim’s Swift Shabbat was an August success in engaging a younger crowd, one that hopefully won’t slip away into a moment in time.