Cafe Shalom

Saturday, Feb. 9

Temple Shalom Synagogue-Center

74 Bradman St., Auburn

Admission: $5 in advance, $7 at the door

Temple Shalom welcomes all to its cafe
Singing, laughs and desserts featured Saturday night

AUBURN – The deep baritone voice that guides services at Temple Shalom will lead an annual coffee house celebration, Cafe Shalom, Saturday at the Auburn synagogue.

Rabbi Hillel Katzir plans to take the stage, perhaps singing a Nat King Cole pop song, in a lineup that is scheduled to include other musicians and a comedian or two.

“I’m known for singing and playing a bit of guitar,” said Katzir, who worked as a cantor and a disc jockey before becoming Auburn’s only rabbi.

This time he hopes to be backed by a friend on a keyboard.

“It’s all in fun,” he said. The event has been happening for each of the past three or four years, and an audience is building.

“There’s nothing religious about it,” Katzir said. Instead, the event is seems to work under the synagogue’s mission as a cultural and social center.

“It’s part of our outreach into the wider community,” he said. Jewish folks might visit for the first time. Anyone with an interest in music or baked goods is welcome.

Coffee and dessert are part of the event.

“We have a lot of people who are members who are really good at baking,” Katzir said. “It’s a night for everyone to go off their diets.”

Synagogue members will spend the next few days baking while others will begin decorating the gathering hall with mood lighting to resemble an old-fashioned coffee house.

Last year’s cafe drew more than 100 people. The hectic lineup of performers kept Katzir from taking the stage.

This year, he’ll make it, though.

For years, Katzir has sung Israeli and Yiddish songs and folk tunes. Gordon Lightfoot is a favorite folk singer.

This year he’s moving toward Nat King Cole’s “Natural Boy.”

“I love to listen to his voice,” Katzir said of the 50s balladeer. “It’s like silk.”