Religion Served with Spirits & a Side of Blues

A tavern may seem an odd place to hear a heartfelt rendition of the African American spiritual “Wade in the Water,” but the singer smiled as several people from the Jewish community added their voices to the chorus.

“I was so moved by that,” Rabbi Brian Glusman said a few days later. “Singing that song was as meaningful as davening.”

The setting on that Monday evening in October was Moondog Pub & Grub, in Chamblee, where Glusman, the Director of Outreach and Engagement at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, has been hosting programs titled, “Bible and Bourbon.”

On previous occasions, he had been joined by Christian clergy for discussions of religious beliefs and worship practices.

The most recent session was titled “Bible, Bourbon, and Blues.” Instead of clergy, Glusman was joined by four outstanding Atlanta musicians: Tyrone Jackson, piano and organ; Chris Burroughs, drums; Mike Bacarella, guitar, and Lauren Highsmith (also known as LAVAHI), vocalist.

“We are all under G-d’s umbrella,” Burroughs told the informal congregation.

Interspersed with discussion of how religion intersects with the blues, particularly as applied to Black history, the audience was treated to music that included Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Jimi Hendrix, Etta James, and Sam Cooke.

All the while, servers deftly moved about the room, delivering drink orders, along with burgers and sandwiches, fries, pretzels, fried pickles, and salads to four dozen people seated at high-top tables.

With a wireless microphone in hand, Glusman worked the room, stopping to chat with people who may never have found themselves in a rabbi’s presence.

And that was the point of the evening.

“A great mission of the Jewish Community Center is to bring people together regardless of their religious background,” Glusman said. “I believe that there is a hunger within the community to dialogue with people that are different than we are, but in a safe, neutral way that’s not driven by politics and challenging discourse.”

“There are commonalities that without question bring people together” and the 63-year-old Glusman gives music an important role in how he presents Judaism. “The JCC provides me with the flexibility and the freedom to attempt to program in creative ways.”

In August, Glusman and the Rev. Phil Schroeder, senior pastor at Dunwoody United Methodist Church, drew an audience of several dozen people who filled every available seat in the tavern.

A great mission of the Jewish Community Center is to bring people together regardless of their religious background … I believe that there is a hunger within the community to dialogue with people that are different than we are, but in a safe, neutral way that’s not driven by politics and challenging discourse.

When Glusman told Schroeder, “I’ve never been to a Methodist church service and I pass your building daily,” the minister and the rabbi extended each other invitations.

Glusman recounted that when Schroeder visited the JCC, “He’s with me in the lobby and as we’re standing there person after person says, ‘Hey, Dr. Phil,’” as many of Schroeder’s flock also are JCC members.

When Glusman arrived for a Sunday church service, “Within four seconds the head usher runs up to me and gives me a hug and says, ‘Rabbi G, I love watching you on Friday mornings do Shabbat singing at the JCC,’” where his grandchildren attend The Weinstein School. “That was wild.”

In the sanctuary, “Kids came running up. ‘Rabbi G, did you bring your guitar?’” they asked and Glusman realized that these children knew him from the “Dive into Shabbat” Fridays at the JCC’s summer camp.

“By the end of this, I was in tears, because I felt so welcome and at home and Dr. Phil acknowledged me from the pulpit,” Glusman said. “We have not as an agency even scratched the surface in terms of interfaith collaboration . . . These people that aren’t Jewish are very interested in learning more.”

Glusman’s musicality may be genetic.

His paternal grandfather, Bernard Glusman, began a cantorial career in Germany before emigrating to the United States and serving as cantor at the West End Synagogue in Nashville from 1946 to 1979.

Glusman’s maternal grandfather, Eph Tunkle, was a pianist in Birmingham, Ala., who can be found on jazz recordings dating back to the 1920s. Glusman’s uncle, Alvin Tunkle, also played piano, including on rockabilly recordings dating to the 1950s.

The future rabbi was born in Huntsville, Ala., and moved to Atlanta in the second grade, growing up in the Congregation Beth Jacob Synagogue community, where his late father, Fred Glusman, served as executive director for 26 years. He attended the Greenfield Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva High School, which have since merged to form the Atlanta Jewish Academy.

Glusman received his rabbinic degree from the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York. Before coming to the MJCCA 15 years ago, he held pulpits at Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Temple Beth El in Birmingham. In addition to his JCC duties, Glusman also conducts services weekly at Shearith Israel Synagogue in Columbus, Ga.

Back at the Moondog Pub, a program titled “Spirit of the Blues” is planned for Nov. 24.

Glusman and Schroeder will reunite for “Bible & Bourbon” on Dec. 8. The calendar may prompt the minister to talk about Advent, the four-week period, beginning Nov. 30, that leads up to Christmas, while the rabbi likely will discuss Chanukah, which begins on the evening of Dec. 14.

The more I think about it, a serving of spirits, with a side order of the blues, may offer as good an atmosphere as any to learn how people of other religions live their faith.