About 5 truck stops South of my hometown of Charlotte, NC (past the Gafney peach and about a dozen Fireworks stores) is the road to Clemson. That road takes you to the Georgia mountains on the Appalachian trail. That is where I was last week, in Clayton, for a Hillel-sponsored conference at Ramah Darom. 

Many highlights to report, one being the opportuinty to lead services with Josh Nelson, 
a young Jazz educator and Jewish music composer. The service we lead was the “creative liberal” 
one – and after I gave a short drash on “tzedek,tzedek tirdof” he broke into the 
Police’s “Message in a Bottle.” 

You might be thinking that this was corny. But at that moment, overlooking a calm lake and summer evening sky, it was the opposite — it was serious and moving, and many people remarked that it was the high point for them in the davenning. 

Josh is both an accomplished guitarist and a singer with serious range. He’s got a new album coming out with Universal – slickly produced pop with a Jewish message. Check him out