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New forms of worship often begin in urban areas, propelled by the mix of diverse needs, ideas, and people. One new approach to prayer that has exploded in cities across the United States is the independent, shortened to indie, minyan, whose guiding spiritual resource is Jewish music.

By marrying an expanded musical repertoire and instrumentation to a traditional Hebrew-based religious service and the communal formats created by the havurah movement of the 1960s, these worship groups deliver a powerful spiritual mix.

"It is the latest version of a grassroots community, where leaders are all volunteers and people are empowered in their Judaism," explained co-founder Pam Edelstein. "The volunteers are regular people striving to increase their Jewish observance and the celebration of their Judaism in their lives." One way they do so is to lead prayer in order to engage others. "Our model is for different people to rotate in as prayer leaders," said Edelstein.

The musical format so basic to Zamru's vision was inspired by many of the founders' experience of services at the B'nai Jeshurun, or BJ, synagogue in New York, where 3,000 people may be drawn to a single service. Edelstein described a BJ service: "It is a musical service that flows seamlessly. It is traditional prayer, but every prayer is sung. It flows in a way that people are really able to be fully engaged in prayer." The music at BJ, and at Zamru, is not only traditional synagogue music but a fusion of styles, including Ladino, Sefardic, and Israeli.

In the spring and summer of 2009, Edelstein and her husband Dean brought together a group of suburban Jews in the Princeton area, many of whom had moved to the suburbs after a significant period in New York City. Over a half-year or so, they met in homes to begin the process of molding a Friday night service that would realize their vision, with the help of a former cantorial intern at B'nai Jeshurun. Over several months they experimented with services in homes, followed by potluck dinners and eventually hired a professional musician -- guitarist Dan Nadel, an Israeli-born Masorti Jew. In December, they were ready to go public.

The founders joined together with the Jewish Graduates and Professionals networking group at Princeton University and held their first service at the university's Center for Jewish Life Dec. 4, attracting a total of 75 attendees. "What was very exciting was how incredibly intergenerational it was," said Edelstein.

The founders, many of whom are members of area synagogues, emphasize that the idea behind Zamru is not to replace their synagogues, but to augment what they offer. Rabbi Julie Roth, executive director of the Princeton Center for Jewish Life and a Zamru participant, observed, "This group is not looking to build a synagogue, but to offer a certain type of prayer experience to the community at large once a month."

What has been important for leaders and participants at Zamru is the spiritual nourishment the service offers.

Edelstein, who grew up minimally engaged in Judaism, somehow found her way to BJ for a service while in her 20s, and she was hooked. "I was learning about how exciting prayer could be," she said, "and I've been on that journey ever since with my husband, who grew up in typical Conservative synagogue environment."

Roth grew up in a fairly traditional Conservative synagogue that never used musical instruments in a service. The only places she experienced music as part of a service were in Reform synagogues and at camp, but in both cases the style -- either performance or "campy folky" -- did not work for her as a prayer experience. But BJ and its suburban offshoot Zamru, she said, by "bringing the augmentation of the musical instrumentation can create greater sense of rhythm, liveliness, a fuller musical experience -- in a way that makes it still feel grounded in traditional davening [prayer]."

Pam's husband, Dean Edelman, who grew up in the Conservative movement at the Brothers of Israel synagogue in Trenton, reflected in an email on what Zamru means to him Jewishly. "In my prior Jewish experience I came to it intellectually," he wrote. "While that is still important to me, through Zamru I have the chance, as I did at BJ, to experience the spiritual aspects of our wonderful tradition."

Starting in the summer, Deborah Beim, a second-year doctoral students in American politics at Princeton University, has been a regular participant in Zamru services. "I see them as being very celebratory," she said. "When I went to a Kabbalat Shabbat service at the Conservative synagogue where I grew up, it was about observing the Sabbath; this feels more like celebration, like a restful end to the week, like a treat on Friday night that you get to do this. It is peaceful, happy, and feels like a joyous occasion."

Anyone interested in Zamru is invited to the next service Jan. 22, at 8 p.m., at the Center for Jewish Life, 70 Washington Road in Princeton. For more information, go to zamru.org.