Since the closure of Makor, the Upper West Side has been missing a decent venue to grab a drink and hear some Jewish Music… that is until now.

The synagogue Ramath Orah on 110th between Broadway and Amsterdam are opening their doors every Saturday night and transforming their Social Hall into just that.  The venue is called the "ROC House" and will serve the role the Jewish Music Cafe serves in Brooklyn, that is, a kosher venue, with kosher drinks and real kosher music. 

Although this initially sounds kinda cheesy, the Rabbis are taking it very seriously.  They have a stage, a sound technician,  stage lighting and most importantly a liquor license. (They serve 7 kinds of beer (including Sam Adams, Fosters, Heineken, Corona, for, get this, $4.00) Transforming a synagogue into a  high end music lounge.

 Assistant Rabbi Moshe Grussgott, one of the initiators of the ROC House, sees this as a the perfect go to spot  on Saturday Night for anyone on the Uppe West Side.  "We figured so many people are going out to music clubs and bars on Saturday night, why not create that scene in here? That way people are going out and having fun, but there's also a sense of community to it. At Ramath Orah we're lucky enough to be at the intersection of the upper west side and the Columbia U. world. So we hope people from both those worlds, as well as all over NY, can come together at ROC House."

Yoni Glatt, a close friend of Rabbi Grussgott's, a NY Jewish Music scene personality (he is the manager of the Jewish Band Yaakov Chesed) is the one who brought the idea to the Synagogue and will be recruiting many hot upcoming Jewish bands. The lounge opened last Saturday night with Soul Farm and Gavriel Kahane, the show was completely jammed.

This Saturday night (Nov 15th) is Blue Fringe and Yaakov Chesed are headlining, and Glatt and Grussgott are expecting a even better show and turnout.  Piamenta and Simply Tzfat are booked for future shows, and the team is expecting to sign Chaim Dovid, Yosef Karduner, and Moshav in the upcoming months. Grussgott hopes for Matisyahu, but adds "he may be the only guy too big for us right now."

For more info join our facebook group (ROC House), go to ramathorah.org, or email info@ramathorah.org or rabbig@ramathorah.org.  Admission is $16 Stern/YU/Columbia/Synagogue Members $12 dollars. Doors open at 8pm.