All those commandments and rules, rituals and prayers. Who can remember them all? Rabbi Dan Freelander and Cantor Jeff Klepper help out with songs such as This is Very Good, The Bimah Song, and Ruth and Naomi.

But none is perhaps more memorable than Kosher, a tune about Jewish dietary laws set to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s classic rocker, Fire.

Klepper and Freelander form the duo Kol B’seder, Hebrew for “Everything’s OK,” and are part of a growing movement that is trying to do for Judaism what contemporary gospel music has done for Christianity.

Contemporary Jewish music is little known because the market is unorganized, Freelander said in a telephone interview from his office as director of programs for the United American Hebrew Congregations. But new material continues to emerge from Jewish summer camps. Styles range from hard rock to pop to the “die-hard folkies,” he said.

What about rap?

“My kids love it,” said Freelander. “But you can’t write something that’s not in your blood. Broadway, folk, early rock and the pop music of the ’70s will always influence me. Some 20-year-old will write some good Jewish raps that will take hold.”

Freelander and Klepper met as college students in 1971 when they were both teaching music at different religious schools.

“We were depressed by the repertoire; it was 1950s children’s songs, Freelander said. “It didn’t reflect the music people were listening to. We started writing melodies that sounded like what they were listening to on the radio.”

Just as their counterparts in contemporary gospel, Kol B’seder found themselves attacked by conservative synagogue leaders in the late 1970s for pairing Judaic themes with rock ‘n’ roll.

“We took our hits badly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but that died down by the mid ’80s as we became more establishment,”

Freelander said. “The people who bought into our music as campers of the early 1980s were now leaders in synagogues.”

Originally, the pair’s intent was to educate young people and to motivate them to learn Jewish concepts and Jewish words. Now, their goal is writing for adults to help them find spirituality through music.

The duo currently is recording its sixth album, titled In Every Generation, with an unintentional theme of personal spirituality, study and adult growth. “I’m sort of amazed at the album,” Freelander said. “I really didn’t expect to be producing original material at this stage in my life. I’m a Jewish bureaucrat. I never thought we would still be in demand or have people really interested in us, but it’s gratifying.”

This Sunday, Kol B’seder performs at Shalomfest ’93, the second annual showcase of Jewish organizations and services in northwest Broward. The concert is the centerpiece of the event, which starts at noon at the Coral Springs City Centre.

Last year’s inaugural event drew about 2,500 people, chair Lorie Levine said. This year’s festival will draw more on the resources of the community. It also will be indoors.

“We had a lot of complaints last year about the heat,” Levine said.

Area synagogues will provide the children’s activities, giving them an opportunity to show off their youth programs. Games, storytelling, face painting and a bounce house are among the planned activities. There also will be a kosher cafe and information booths from various Jewish organizations and synagogues. Jewish Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale is sponsoring the event.

“We have activities to show you what it’s like to be Jewish in Coral Springs,” Levine said. “This kicks off our events for the year.”

— Shalomfest ’93 is from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Coral Springs City Centre, 2855 Coral Springs Drive. Kol B’seder performs at 2 p.m. Admission to Shalomfest ’93 is free; tickets for the concert are $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger. For information on the pre-concert events, call Jewish Federation at 748-8400 or 344-6729. For concert tickets, call the box office at 344-5990.