Reinterpreting Jewish Liturgy – Daniel Stein Kokin

Living Our Beliefs

Episode 54.
Since his childhood in Los Angeles, Daniel has lived in various parts of the U.S. as well as in Israel, Italy, and Germany. In each place, Daniel has enriched his Jewish practice by familiarizing himself with the local language and traditions, including trope (the melodies used to chant the Torah and other parts of the Bible in synagogue services). Another expression of his curiosity about histories and cultures is through writing liturgical texts and prayers. Daniel also taps into his lifelong fascination with the weather in order to get to know, and respond to, a place. For instance, upon moving to Arizona, he found a connection between that desert climate and Israel, inspiring him to write a new prayer for the Southwest’s summer rainy season, which he linked directly to a Torah portion read each year in June or July. In these and other ways, different aspects of his identity – including being an Ashkenazi Jew and American – reinforce one another.
Highlights:
- For Daniel, Jewish identity is grounded through food, sounds, texts, and melodies, not a particular denomination.
- Daniel values the use of different languages and melodies in synagogue services.
- He writes liturgy and enjoys exploring new elements of holidays and other aspects of Jewish tradition.
- Living in various countries has facilitated exposure to different forms of Jewish practice.
- Learning about the weather in a new home prompted the composition of new Jewish liturgy, such as Daniel’s prayer for the Southwest Monsoon after moving to Arizona.
- Exposure to different Jewish narratives in Berlin expanded Daniel’s knowledge of German-Jewish history beyond the Holocaust.

Social Media links for Daniel:
Shofarot – https://ritualwell.org/ritual/shofarot-tripartite-proposal
American Kaddish – https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2018/11/02/an-american-kaddish/
“New Simanim for a New Year (5781) – https://ritualwell.org/ritual/new-simanim-new-year-5781/
Monsoon prayer – https://ritualwell.org/ritual/tefillat-ha-monsoon-prayer-southwest-monsoon
“Praying for the Monsoon: An Arizona Liturgical Adventure” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lLGR-TBgSI
Homage to the Italian Jewish tradition (and Purim) – https://youtu.be/-njuXO2sqso

Social Media links for Méli:
Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066435622271
Transcript: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/14024564

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The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise.
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The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org/

Chapters

1. Reinterpreting Jewish Liturgy – Daniel Stein Kokin (00:00:00)

2. Introduction (00:00:05)

3. Daniel's Jewish path and identity (00:02:33)

4. Moving around (00:12:30)

5. Minority vs Majority experience (00:18:18)

6. Jewish liturgy in different languages (00:28:26)

7. Writing Jewish liturgy (00:33:01)