Introducing the Santa Fe Nigun Song Circle: Planting the Musical Heart of Minyan Midbar

March 21, 2026

Introducing the Santa Fe Nigun Song Circle: Planting the Musical Heart of Minyan Midbar

As we launch Minyan Midbar, we invite those who love Jewish music and soulful communal singing to join the new Santa Fe Nigun Song Circle. This circle will help shape the musical heart of our emerging Minyan by leading Shabbat morning melodies and nigunim at our first gatherings. (For more information about Minyan Midbar, click here.)

Two Hadar Seed Grants, One Shared Vision

Both the Santa Fe Nigun Song Circle and Minyan Midbar have received Hadar Institute's Community Groups Seed Grants, each providing $1,500 to support new Jewish initiatives.

Our hope is that the Nigun Song Circle will plant the musical and spiritual seeds of Minyan Midbar, helping us offer the wider Jewish community a joyful, soulful, and deeply moving prayer experience.

Aims of the Santa Fe Nigun Song Circle

  1. Develop a distinctive melodic signature for Minyan Midbar.
  2. Nurture new prayer leaders and a community of singers who bring joyful, heartfelt music to our gatherings.
  3. Build a committed core of singers who inspire others to join both the circle and the minyan.

Our Plan

One of the terms of the grant is to recruit 8 participants who commit to attending 8 times. To be a full participating member of the Nigun Circle, we ask people to commit to:

  • 5 circle meetings
  • 3 Minyan Midbar gatherings between April and June 2026

We know that this is a lot to ask, so we welcome people to attend the first two circle meetings on Wednesday evenings, April 15 and April 22nd. After attending those sessions, you can let us know if you want to continue with the remaining 6 sessions. We have listed all the sessions below.

If your schedule does not allow, you may choose to drop in at any of the scheduled dates below.

Schedule

Nigun Circle meetings: 5 Wednesday evenings, 6:30 to 8pm. Location to be announced.

  • April 15
  • April 22
  • May 6
  • May 20
  • June 17

Minyan Midbar Gatherings: Shabbat mornings 9:30 to 12pm, 4th Saturday of the Month. The Nigun Circle will help lead singing at these Minyan gatherings.

  • April 25, 2026
  • May 23, 2026 — Shabbat morning and 2nd Day of Shavuot
  • June 27, 2026

A Special Opportunity

Thanks to the Hadar Community Groups grant, each committed member of the Nigun Song Circle will receive a $72 gift toward a subscription to Song is Prayer with Joey Weisenberg — a remarkable resource offering 1,000+ instructional videos and comprehensive courses in Jewish song and prayer. It's an inspiring way to deepen your musical and spiritual practice. This subscription gift is not available for drop-ins.

Sing with Us

If you're interested in joining the Nigun Song Circle and helping launch Minyan Midbar, please reach out to one of us:

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