Cantors Assembly Journal of Synagogue Music

Journal

Of

Synagogue
Music

July 1991 . Tamuz 5751 . Vol. XXI . No.1

From the Editor Jack Chomsky 3

Articles:

Tonality and Motivic Interrelationships Boaz Tarsi 5

/nthe Performance-Practice of Nusach

The Road Ahead Samuel Rosenbaum 28

Remembering the Departed: Sol Mendelson and Samuel Rosenbaum 40
Biographical Sketches of Cantors Assembly Members

Review Section:

Shir Hadash Robert S. Scherr 52

Music Section:

A New Nusach for the Shalosh Regalim Jack Kessler 60

JOURNAL OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC, Volume XXI, Number I
July 1991 1 Tamut 5751

EDITOR: Jack Chomsky

MANAGING EDITOR: Samuel Rosenbaum

EDITORIAL BOARD: Ira Bigeleisen, Stephen Freedman, Edwin
Gerber, Paul Kowarsky, Eugene Rosner, Robert Scherr, David
Silverst&n.

OFFICERS OF THE CANTORS ASSEMBLY: Robert Kieval, President;
Nathan Lam, Vice President; Stephen J. Stein, Treasurer; Abraham Lubin,
Secretary; Samuel Rosenbaum. Executive Vice-President.

JOURNALOFSYNAGOGUEMUSIC isasemi-annualpublication. The
subscription fee is $15.00 per year. All subscription correspondence
should be addressed to Journal of Synagogue Music, Cantors Assembly,
150 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

Articles and Letters to the Editor should be addressed to Cantor Jack
Chomsky, Editor, Journal of Synagogue Music, 1354 East Broad Street,
Columbus, Ohio 43205. Telephone is (614) 253-8523. Fax is (614) 253-
4323. Articles should be typewritten and double-spaced. Music and
musical examples should be photo-ready. Material can also be sent on
computer disks as follows: IBM -compatible 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" using
WordPerfectS.l software or Macintosh 3 1/2" using Pagemaker software.
For further questions, contact the editor.

Copyright ©1991, Cantors Assembly

FROM THE EDITOR

We began our previous issue with what was to have been the first in
an ongoing series of articles by Rabbi Hayyim Kieval designed as a self-
study course in Jewish Liturgy. Sadly, Rabbi Kieval passed away in April.
We of the Cantors Assembly have much to remember and to hold precious
of the gentle, sharing, Torah-immersed human being he was. Many
Assembly members studied with him at the Cantors Institute and had a
special, personal relationship with him as teacher, guide and confidant. He
wasnevertoobusy to respond to a request to share his great knowledge and
wisdom at seminars, classes, or conventions. We are left with the memory
of his being, his wisdom, and his concernthat the next generation should
be able to share in what he had accumulated over the years. This
inheritance gives him a palpable presence in our midst and constitutes his
final and most precious gift to us all. May his memory ever be for a
blessing. May his soul be bound up inthe bonds of eternal life.

Dr. Boaz Tarsi's article on performance practices of nusachshould be
of special interest to anyone who performs inthe amud. We are indebted
to him for making a connection between oral practices and written ones,
and for suggesting ways in which the oral tradition is evolving today. The
inclusion of musical examples within the fabric of the text should make his
argument easier to follow. Your comments and reactions would be most
welcome.

This issue of the Journal comes following the historic 44th Annual
Convention of the Cantors Assembly. What made it historic was that it was
held for the first time in California, a long way from the customary venue
in the Catskill Mountains. Samuel Rosenbaum's stirring speech, "The
Road Ahead," was delivered at the Convention, and provides an excellent
perspective on the development of the Cantors Assembly as a truly
national organization.

The induction of women into the Cantors Assembly also took place
at this Convention. This event occured after several years of very animated
discussion. A great deal has been said aboutthis issue, and quite a bit of
material has been written about this issue, including in the pages of the
Journal. We hope that the energies of all Assembly membersand the entire

Journal readership may now be devoted to the nurturing of hazzanut and
Jewish music, and that the pages of theJournal will benefit from such a
refocusing of energy!

We have also included in this issue the remarks offered at two recent
Cantors Assembly Conventions in memory of departed colleagues. The
richness of the lives of these hazzanim are beautifully elicited by Sol
Mendelson and Sam Rosenbaum.

In the Review Section, Robert Scherr offers an assessment of new
publications from Transcontinental Music and Ashbourne Music
Publications. And in our Music Section, Jack Kessler presents a
fascinating proposal for a new nusach for the Shacharit of Shalosh
Regalim. Although this is the last item in our contents for this issue, it is
one which bears close and early examination!

■■Jack Chomsky

TONALITY AND MOTIVIC INTERRELATIONSHIPS
IN THE PERFORMANCE-PRACTICE OF NUSACH

BOAZ TARSI

When cantors ask themselves, "What is the musical basis of
Nusach Ha-Tefillah,"theyareseeking first.. .a method which will
enable them to understand what they are doing. ..and which will
help them to do it with.. .more clarity... We must find a way to
transmit the knowledge of the subtleties and the differences
between the nuschaot [sic.]... We must develop a system by
which we may be able to teach.. ..each nusach with which the
cantors work.'

The music of Jewish prayer is an art that requires its practitioner to
improvise within a given structure, often incorporating a number of
composed pieces. Any discussion of the theoretical aspects of Nusah must
consider this issue, as well as the tact that Nusach maintains a
characteristic balance between tonal and modal elements. In places, the
tonality may be vague, raising questions concerning the location of the
Tonic, or even whatthe key or mode is. Yet it may be necessary to know
the answers to these questions in order to move smoothly between
different sections of Nusach, to ascertain whether the use of a certain tune
is appropriate in a given instance, or even to define the difference between
one Nusach and another. This article will show how modal theory and
analysis can help solve these problems. It will illustrate how analytic
techniques may be applied in examining the appropriateness of the
congregational response for MiChamochaon Shabbat Shacharit and the
response for the Hatzi Kaddish on Friday night; the main components of
the Three Festival Nusach; and the differences between the Nusachim for
Tal-Geshem and for Ne'ila.

We will first examine the congregational response for Mi Chamocha
on Shabbat Shacharit. At this point in the service, a popular
congregational tune in Minor commonly is introduced into a sectionthat

'From '"The Musical Basis of Nusach Hateffillah," a lecture delivered by Leib
Glantz at the 5th annual convention of the Cantors Assembly in May 1957.
The lecture was published in the Journal of Synagogue M u sic Volume IV No.
1-2, 1972.

DR. BOAZ TARSI is a composer and theorist. He is an Assistant Professor at
the Seminary College of Jewish Music of The Jewish Theological Seminary.

otherwise is chanted exclusively in Ahavah Rabah. I believe that this
practice can be justified based on an analysis of the applicable Nusach
theory.

An examination of Nusach sources reveals a strong connection
between Ahavah Rabah and the Minor based on a fourth above the Ahavah
Rabah Tonic.2 The affiliation of Ahavah Rabah with this Minor (which I
term its "Equivalent Minor") stems primarily from the fact that Ahavah
Rabah is a "hybrid" scale: its lower tetrachord is from theMakam "Hijaz"3
and its upper tetrachord is from the Minor scale. It thus can be
demonstrated that both Ahavah Rabah and its Equivalent Minor consist of
the same note-collection: out of the 12 possible notes of the chromatic
scale, the same seven notes constitute both. Ahavah Rabah and its
Equivalent Minor are, therefore, the same scale; only the tonal centers
change. If we were to imagine any note-collection as an infinite scale,
Ahavah Rabah or Minbor could be described as two different positions
resulting from a circular shift on this scale.

Example 1

A more practical approach for a theoretical discussion is to illustrate this
phenomenon as an eleven-note scale, or an Ahavah Rabah "extension" to
the Minor key and vice versa.

2 A thorough examination of this relationhip is the subject of a future article;
the part relevant to our discussion here is its theoretical justification.

'The term "Hijaz" in the modal frameworks of Arab music refers to three
different Makamat, each of which includes at least one "Hijaz tetrachord"; 1/2
step, 1 1/2 step, 1/2 step. For a more detailed discussion see Dalia Cohen, East
And West in Music.

In many American synagogues, the Mi Chamocha passage before the
Amidah is sung to the same congregational tuneboth on Friday night and
on Shabbat morning. The following example is a popular setting which
combines a tune by Oscar Julius with that of an "unknown"composer.4

Example 3

This tune is considered appropriate for Friday night because it is written
in Minor, which suits the predominant Lithuanian Nusach.5 Since the
Nusach for Shabbat Shacharit is based mostly on Ahavah Rabah, it is not
immediately apparent that a tune in Minor would be appropriate.
Nevertheless, the frequent use of Ahavah Rabah in its "11 Note Scale"
form -- that is, with the "equivalent Minor" extension -justifies the use of
this tune during Shabbat Shacharit as well as on Friday night, at least from
the point of view of Nusach theory .6 Furthermore, the ending of the tune
(derived from the Julius version) is actually an Abavah Rabah cadence.

Example 4

4ZamruLopg. 17,19.

The Lithuanian Nusach piedominates in most n i nagogues today, as

opposed to the Nusach based on other European sources, all of which (with the
exception of J. Ne'eman's "Vohlhynian" version — "Nusah C") indicate the use
of the Major scale for Friday night.

"There arc other valid reasons why one might wish to restrict the use of the
Minor tune to Friday night only, such as the desire to make a distinction
between Ma'ariv and Shacharit, or the incompatibility of this tune with the
individual' s musical setting of Shabbat Shacharit.

Thus, the difference between how this tune is used within the Ahavah
Rabah context of Shabbat Shacharit and its use in the Minor context of
Friday night lies, not within the tune itself, but in the cadences that precede
it and the cantorial improvisation that follows it. For example, a Friday
night setting might be as follows:

Example 5

On Shabbat Shacharit, however, we might hear the following:
Example 6

Another implication of the "1 1-note scale" concept is the justification
for alternating between cadences in Ahavah Rabah and in the Equivalent
Minor within sections assigned for the Ahavah Rabah sfeiger. The
following excerpt from "Sim Shalom" by Max Wohlberg illustrates this
phenomenon?

'Among the many N usah formulations that include this characteristic are the
Nusach or the High Holiday Musaf Kaddish, Baer's fi'rac/i Dodi (Baer p. 176.
No. 778,) Baer's Kaddish Shalem for Shabbt Shacharit (Baer p. 136 No. 577,)
and A. Friedmann's Zochrenu Lechayim. It may also be observed in usages of
Ahavah Rabah outside of Nusah, such as in the song "Shalom Aleichem."

Example 7

»- fl l U» I ^J UJj J |Jg

flj^.nir i ■ i ■

A^~

r^ r- i '

1

' m ' ■ ' J ''•

i^Pi

J ni Tr

t ' i i r i — '

Based on the same reasoning, that we can move freely between
Equivalent Keys in the 11 -note scale enviomment, or Relative Keys in the
Major-Minor system, we can justify the use of the following popular
congregational response in the Hatzi Kaddish of Friday night:

Example 8

It is sometimes assumed that since this response is in Major it cannot be
inserted into a Kaddish in Minor. However, although the phrase appears
to be in Major when taken out of context, in fact, its tonality is defined by
the tonal environment into which it is inserted. It is appropriate to use this
congregational response in a Minor Kaddish so long as it can be interpreted
as centering around the third degree of the Minor scale.

This argument is supported when we consider the fact that on Friday
night, the Kaddish precedes Me'ein Sheva, which is chanted in Magen

Avot Au occasional excursion to a Relative Major realm is a typical
characteristic of the Magen Avot steiger. The following example
demonstrates the correct tonal location of this response in the Friday night
Hatzi Kaddish.

Example 9

Another part of Nusach where
the Tonic occur is in the Nusach for
most significant trait shared by the
Nusach is that they all conclude on
discuss this phenomenon as it occurs
in the special ending cadence used ii
Amidah for the Three Festivals
")

misconceptions about the location of
the Three Festivals. I believe that the
principalmotivic components of this
degrees other than the Tonic. I will
in the Misinai Tune for Akdamut and
1 the Musaf and part of the Shacharit
(henceforth called the "Amidah

We can illustrate an apparent link between Akdamut and Gregorian
chant by applying the analytical terminology of Gregorian chant to the
Akdamut tune:

Example 10

■ J£)fMr>JJ.

tfj i .'.."Jji iii ipJ i y3iji

Although this exercise may demonstrate the antiquity of Akdamut, it also
reveals one of the basic differences between Nusach tunes and Gregorian
Chant: the recitation tone in Gregorian chant is on the fifth note of the
Authentic modes (hence the term "Dominant") and on the third note in the
Plagal modes;* the recitation tones in Nusach are not limited to any
particular scale degree. No matter where the Tonic may be in the Akdamut
tune, the recitation tone is not the fifth degree of the scale. The fact that
the recitation tone in" Akdamut" is not the" Dominant" suggests, then, that
the "Finalis" may not be the Tonic.

The Akdamut motif is often used in the Festival Evening Kiddush.In
the Festival Kiddush of Baer, the first phrase establishes a G Major
tonality. By the time the Akdamut motif appears, it is clear that it begins
and ends on the 5th degree of the scale.

Example 11

i: )7^ii">Ti>^ f]

The same situation occurs in the Kiddush setting by Lewandowski. Note
that in both settings, the opening blessing (which is the same for both
Shabbat and the Festivals) is set to the tonal proof. The Akdamut tune is
introduced only when the first words that are specific to the Festivals
lasher bachar banu mikol am) appear.

Example 12

8 Apel, Gregorian Chant, p. 136.

H*^

I' ' Jl.T

in

The basic structure of the Akdamut tune consists of two diads. Both
diads constitute a perfect fourth, and the interval between them is a Major
second. The Major second is an important interval because it not only
connects the two structural diads, but also determines the characteristic
neighbor notes in the tune and is the interval that starts and finishes the
tunc.

Example 13

The first diad is presented on the wordAkdamut. The word is set so that
the accent falls on the top note (G). This establishes the fast note as an
upbeat to the top note, which suggests that the first note is not the Tonic.
Even in a setting presumably following the Ashkenazi pronunciation (i.e.,
the accent on the second syllable), we find that the last syllable of the first
word (akdamut) falls on an accented beat, and the last syllable of the
second word (millin) is accented and falls on the Tonic. Note, however,
that Baer's key signature of F Major follows the (false) notion that the first
note is the Tonic.

Example 14

w'schoJ'oji

^

Other traditions which follow the Ashkenazi pronunciation utilize a
common variant in which the accent falls on a note a third higher than in
the previous example:

Example 15

In both versions, however, the first note is an upbeat, suggesting that the
Tonic is not the first note.

However, the fact that the top note of the opening interval falls on the
accented beat does not provide absolute proof that it is, in fact, the Tonic
of the Akdamut tune. Therefore, let us examine another approach which
will strengthen this hypothesis and give a more definite answer.

This approach for locating the Tonic is based on the fact that, for at
least 350 years, Ashkenazi Nusach developed in a tonal environment?
Tonal implications of Nusach lines, therefore, may be considered Even
when discussing monophonic materials, tonal harmonic implications do
exist.

As long as you use notes of definite pitch, you must take
account of both their physical properties, and the characteristics

of the human ear [T]he ear, by a process of unconscious

association, registers not merely the pitch of notes but their
tonally inherent properties. In other words, notes imply
tonality. 10

Thus, the way we hear tonal melodies creates harmonic expectations
even when all we hear is one line.

Our harmonic expectations are flexible to some extent - they may
include more than one possible harmonic function per melodic gesture.
Nevertheless, if we played a harmonic progression that opposed the
implied harmony, we would sense the discord - an inaudible "clash"
between the outside information and the internal, instinctive concept."
Repetitive listening reduces the intensity of the clash until it may disappear
completely. Thus, the immediateinstinctivereaction is the only indication

9Theterm "tonal" is used hereto make a distinction from "modal." It refers to
the Major-Minor, triad-based, tonal system with its functional hierarchy and
strong sense of harmonic direction.

Mouth, Contemporary Music, An Introduction p. 235-236.

11 This does not suggest that we should aspire to avoid this clash and of course,
it by no means implies that there are only a few ways to harmonize a given
tune. It only offers us an additional tool to determine the tonality of a
monophonic line.

of the presence of a clash or the lack thereof.

Let us demonstrate how the harmonic expectations that the Akdarnut
tune creates can help us choose between two possible tonalities. All the
Akdamut examples I have used so far (excluding Baer) start and end on D.
It is clear that the only obstacle towards definitively establishing G as the
Tonic is the notion that the Tonic could be D.12 Using our instinctive
harmonic expectation of Akdamut, we can eliminate this possibility. If the
Tonic of the tune were indeed D, a V-I D Major cadence at the end should
be the last harmonic progression to create a"clash." When we listen to the
following D Major arrangement, however, we feel instinctively that the V-
I progression at the end is in discord with the implied harmony.

Example 16

III! J J *? 1 i n^"

#pi

On the other hand, if we use a Dominant 7th chord on the first note or,
when thepattem is repeated, on the last note, we will sense no such"clash."
Thus, the option of using a Dominant 7th chord on this note provides
additional support for the notion that the key is indeed G Major.

Example 17

j'j i m \ *n ih m

!s

^

More support for the suggestion of a G Major tonality may be found
in the second structural diad (A-E in example 13.) This fourth strongly
suggests an A Minor chord (the choice of an A Major chord is easily
elimated by the presence of a G natural in the foreground) Au A Minor

12 Indeed, in his article The Structure of The Synagogue Prayer Chant"
(Journal ofTk American Musicological Society, Vol. Ill No. 1, 1950) Baruch
Cohon claims that "Akdamut" is chanted intheAdonai Malach Steiger, a
statement which contains the false assumption that the first and last note of the
tune is the Tonic.

chord, which would make a very weak Dominant, distinctly weakens the
impression that a D Major tonality is a possibility. In G Major, however,
it strengthens the tonality by establishing a strong Subdominant realm (ii)
before the Dominant.

Example 18

■*■ p- 1

J „

\j - f ===

L ° J

Let us examine the structural similarity between Akdamut and the

Festival Amidab Blessing. Although the two patttems initially appear to
be very different from one another, their structural backgrounds are tightly
linked. The Amidah Blessing cadence is a concise summmary of the
intervals between the structural notes of Akdamut.

Example 19

The endings of both patterns are almost identical.
Example 20

From these structural similarities, it may follow that if Akdamut does
not end on the Tonic, neither does the Amidah Blessing. Moreover, the
ending for the Blessings in the Ma'ariv service for the Three Festivals, and
the cadences of the Ma'ariv Hatzi Kaddish (which constitute a Universal
Motifl3), end on the fifth degree of the scale.

13 See definition on p.21 below, and Ex. 34.

16

Example 21

Can we assume then, that theAmidah Blessing also ends on scale step
five? My contention is that although the Amidah Blessing does not end on
the Tonic, neither does it end on the Dominant. This difference can be
supported by other fundamental differences between the Akdamut tune
and the Amidah Blessing. The first is that the former is in Major and the
latter is in Minor. A more critical difference however, is that Akdamut is
an independent, closed unit, although it may be inserted into a larger
musical context. The pattern for the Amidah Blessing, on the other hand,
is always at the end of a section, and is therefore defined by it.

One approach for determining the scale degree on which the Amidah
Blessing ends is to examine sections that move into the Three Festival
ending from a known Nusach, where the initial tonality is well-established.
The clearest examples of such transitions can be found in the Shabbat Rosh
Chodesh service. Among the sections that combine the use of both Ahavah
Rabah and Minor as well as include Festival Amidah Blessing endings are,
in Shacharit, Ya' aleh 1/eyavo through Veteehezena Eynenu and the
transition from Sim Shalom to the last blessing of the Amidah; and in
Musaf, Uvroshey Chodsheichem through Yismechu Bemalchutcha and
Retze vimnuchatenu vechadesh alenu through Retze...b'amcha y/'srae/
uvitfilatam.

In a transition from an Amidah Blessing ending to a section in Ahavah
Rabah. such as before Yismechu Bemalchutchu, we observe that the

Ahavah Rabah Tonic is located one step above the last note of theAmidah
Blessing. However, all the Amidah Blessings appear, not at the end of an
Ahavah Rabah section, but at the end or in the middle of a section in Minor.
The Amidah Blessing notes relate, therefore, to the Equivalent Minor
Tonic. Since a step below the Ahavah Rabah Tonic equals a fifth below
the Equivalent Minor Tonic, the last note of the Amidah Blessing is the 4th
degree of the Minor scale. The motif for the Three Festival Amidah
Blessing is, therefore, 8-5-4 (or 1-54). Thus, the relationshipbetween the
tonalities of Ahavah Rabah, Minor, and the Three Festival ending can be
illustrated in the form of the following scale:

Example 22

Let us examine how this phenomenon i
thefollowingexamplefrom Baer,wecan see
a tonal environment of either Ahavah Rabal
Weise line.)

j reflected in the literature. In
how Sim Shalomestablishes
(top Line) or A Major (Neue

Example 23

At the point where the Nusachfor the concluding blessing(hamm'worech
es ammo j/sroe/ Bascholom) is indicated, Baer uses a three-line system.
The top two lines are a continuation of the two Nusachim for Sim Shalom,
and the bottom line shows the Nusach for this blessing on occasions when
the reading of Hallel will follow (for example, on Rosh Chodesh).

If we compare the two bottom lines (overlooking the key difference

between theml4), we see that both the bottom line and the "N.W." line start
in the same manner (5-1). However, when we compare the ending
cadences of the two versions, we see that the "N.W." ends on 6-7-8,
whereas the blessing before the Hallel creates an Amidah Blessing
cadence on scale degrees which can only be identifkl as 8-54.

An illustration which enables us to see this phenomenon very clearly
is found on pages 145 and 146 of Baer's collection. The setting foraregular
Shabbat and its parallel for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh are presented side by
side on the same page. We can see that, while on a regular Shabbat, the
Nusach for Tikanta Shabbat stays in Ahavah Rabah. the Nusach for the
special Rosh Chodesh text (Atah Yatzarta) moves to the Equivalent Minor
realm.

14 The isolated G Minor tonality of this line may be. explained by the fact that
Baer's setting for the Hallel as well as his settings for Rosh Chodesh are in G
Minor (Baer pp. 180 - 188.) Baer may have wished to show a connection
between the last blessing of Shacharit and the Hallel which follows it by
matching their keys. The same change of G Minor (this time from F# Minor)
can be found in Baer's setting for weekday Shacharit on which Hallel is said (p.
25).

Baer indicates that on a regular Shabbat, the blessing before this section
ends on the Ahavah Rabah Tonic, while the same blessing on Shabbat
Rosh Chodesh ends on the Amidah Blessing cadence of 8-5-4.

Example 26

M>-™i>;aj'i-.m'il feS

ps-jfei>ifiii^i

An Amidah Blessing cadence on 8-5-4 within a section of clear G Minor
tonality is found on Baer's setting for Uvroshey Chodschechem.15

Example 27

^i^k*A§*

m^

The same pattern is alluded to in another typical motif of the Festival
Shacharit Amidah. If we check the tonal location of the structural notes of
this motif, we find that they too are the 8th, 5th, and 4th degrees of the scale.

Example 28

$«st^ jd&tto^A £

Additional support for the idea that the Amiclah Blessing is based on
the scale-degrees 8,5, and 4 can be found in other Nusachim where this
motif appears. One such Nusach is the High Holiday Misod Chachamim.

15 Interestingly, in A. Friedmann's setting for Uvroshei Chodshechem. the
ending cadences follow the High Holiday Nusach.

Since we know that Misod Chachamim is in Minor and we know where the
Tonic is, we can see that here too, the Amidah Blessing motif is located on
the same scale degrees.16

Example 29

^ j jjJOTJ^ I i jjj r^Jj i

The same can be observed at the begi
Example 30

Another example is Ha ' el Beta ' atzumot of the Three Festivals: 17
Example 3 1

The Festival Amidab Blessing is not the only motif which functions

16TheNusach for Misod Chachamim is purely in Minor and is

inili;il!y seem, based on ihe Ahavah Rabah extension. Tins c
on the lack of typical Ahavah Rabah motifs, and on the fact that the note that
could serve as an Ahavah Rabah Tonic always appears on a short upbeat,
whereas the Minor Tonic occurs on accented notes, important cadences, and is
assigned longer time values. Furthermore, the manner in which the text is set
assigns the potential Ahavah Rabah Tonic to unaccented syllables. The one
accented syllable that falls on the potential Ahavah Rabah Tonic (mi-SOD) is a
construct state (S' michut). The Minor Tonic, on the other hand, falls on the
accented, rhyming syllables which are the focus of the sentence (chacha-MTM,
nevo-NIM).

"This was shown to me by Cantor Brian Mayer.

as a building block of more than one Nusach. I believe that the use of the
same motif in different Nusachim for different occasions is an important
characteristic of the music of Jewish prayer; I call these recurring patterns
"Universal Motifs."

The opening of Akdamut itself is a Universal Motif. In addition to the
Festival Kiddush, the Akdamut Universal Motif appears, as seen in
example 33, in the section that starts with Hamelech on Shacharit for the
High Holidays. It can also be found in Ha' el Beta' atzumot in the Three
Festival Shacharit. Note that in all of its appearances, the Akdamut
Universal Motif consistently starts onthe 5th degree of the scale.

Example 32

Although the use of Universal Motifs may help identifjthe location
of the Tonic in Nusach of ambiguous tonality (as we saw in the last
section), it is also important to identify places where the use of Universal
Motifs creates an erroneous impression of similarity between two
Nusachim that are, in fact, fundamentally different.

For example, the Nusach of Tal-Geshem and the Nusach of Ne'ilah
appear so similar at fiit glance, that it is difficult for some cantors not to
confuse the two.18 The major reason for the confusion is that both
Nusachim appear to be based on a pattern that I call the "Sequence"
Universal Motif (see example 34). 19 However, I will show in the following
analysis that the similarity between these two Nusachim is more
illusionary than real.

Let us first examine another piece of Nusach which is almost identical

BGlantz, The Musical Basics of Nusach Hati ftlla)

19 Eric Werner includes this motif in his category of "Wandering Motifs'"
(Werner, Eric. From Generation To Generation, p. 93). In addition to Ne'ilah
and Tal-Geshem. the "Sequence" Universal Motif appears in the High Holiday
Shacharit service in Minor. It is used throughout the High Holiday Ma'ariv
service and is alluded to in the Kaddiih for High Holiday Musaf (in the
Relative Major). In the Shabbat Shacharit service, the motif appears
occasionally on the words El hahoda'ot Adon hanifla 'ot.

to Tal-Geshem -- the Nusach for the section of High Holiday Shacharit
beginning with HaMelech and continuing through Yotzer Or: 20

Example 33

This section of High Holiday Nusach is similar to the Nusach of Tal-
Geshem in that both use the " Sequence" Universal Motif as well as another
pattern that I term the "Neighbor Notes" Universal Motif. 21

Example 34

sequence Motif

However, these two Nusachim are not confused with each other, in spite

note that this text is defined musically as a closed sect
separated from the rest by its own distinct Nusach, not only on the High
Holidays but also on Shabbat (Yishtabach Mode).

21THs motif also appears i
168, No.758).

the Hatzi Kaddish of the Festival evening (I

of their similarity, possibly because they are associated with different
sections of the liturgy.

Yet the Nusach of Tal-Geshem and the Nusach of Ne'ilah are
confused.22 These two Nusachim do share one motif which is based on a
melodic unfolding of a I J chord. Nevertheless, even that similarity is
often blurred by the fact that this motif is much more significant in the Tal-
Geshem Nusach, and therefore, is kept in its pure form, while in Ne'ilah
often appears as a variant

Example 35

Inaddition, in Tal-Geshem this motif constitutes the scale degrees 5-8-10-
8, while in Ne'ilah it is placed in the center of the tune's range, featuring 5
(below the Tonic)- 1-3-1.

But the major reason for the apparent similarity between the

2>An additional source of the confusion may be that only in the two cases of
Ne'ilah and Tal-Geshem is a service's distinctive N usach reserved solely for the
texts of the hatzi Kaddish and the Avot and Gevurot paragraphs of the Amidah.

24

Nusachim of Tal-Geshem and Ne'ila is that both use the "Sequence"
Universal Motif. The way in which the motif is incorporated into each of
the two Nusachim, however, is fundamentally different, based on the
following two factors: tetrachord structure and location on the scale.

In Tal-Geshem this motif may appear between degrees 9 and 5 as a
Phrygian, Minor, or Hijaz23 tetrachord.

Example 36

This may be followed by a repetition of the motif, this time in form of a
Major tetrachord between degrees 7 and 3 (relative Major).

Example 37

In one source (Baer p. 192, No. 824, second IfVefsJ the motif constitutes a
diminished 5th between 7 and a raised 3.

Example 38

In Ne'ilah Nusach, on the other hand, this motif constitutes a Major
tetrachord and is located between 1 and the 4 below the Tonic.

Example 39

tf^ J JBJj l

Two other significant differences between Tal-Geshem and Ne'ila
Nusach are the distinctly characteristic motifs in the beginning of each
Nusach:

Example 40

and the fact that in Tal-Geshem all the important cadences including the
ending are, in most ofthe examined sources,24 on 5, usually in a form of
a Neighbor Notes Universal Motif.

In the rare cases where some cadences in Tal-Geshem are on the Tonic, it
is usually a result of using a 5-8-10-S motif as an ending cadence.

Example 4 1

In Ne' ilah Nusach, the main cadences and the endings are always on
the Tcmc25 Another motif which is typical ofNe'ilah and which never
appears in Tal-Geshem is:

Example 42

L. Glantz's explanation ofthe resemblance and difference between the
Nusachim for Ne'ila and Tal-Geshem differs from my conclusions. The
main reason for this difference is that his thesis is based on his personal
Nusach, which he attributes to Bezalel Odessaer.This Nusach uses the
variant mentioned in footnote 25, which is more the exception than the
rule. In addition, L. Glantz's theory does not take into account the fact that
some notes may be foreign to the key (like chromatic notes in a diatonic
scale,) and therefore, the definition of the key does not need to supply the
explanation for all the notes in the given Nusach. It also does not realize
that the first and last notes of a Nusach fragment are not necessarily the
Tonic. Nevertheless, I believe that the way in which I arrived at these
conclusion still responds to L. Glantz's call for "a method which will
enable us to understand Nusach with more clarity."

24Baa"(not consistently), Friedmann. Kaiser & Sparger. Xaumbourg, Reizen,
Wohlberg.

25 Sources indicating a \ ariant ending on 4 were brought to my attention by
Cantor Brian Mayer. This variant is one ofthe reasons why L. Glantz suggested
that Ne'ila Nusach is based on a Myxolidian mode. See discussion in
concluding pharagraph.

REFERENCES CITED

Apel, Willi. Gregorian Chant. Indiana University Press, Bloomington,

1958.

Baer, Abraham. Baal Tfillah. Sacred Music Press, New York, 1954,

1985.

Cohen, Dalia. East And West in Music (in Hebrew). The Magnes Press,
The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1986.

Cohon, Baruch. 'The Structure of the Synagogue Prayer-Chant," journal
of the American Musicological Society, Vol. Ill, No. 1, 1950.

Ephros, Gershon. Cantor/a/ Anthology, Vol. 1. Bloch Publishing
Company, New York, 1929.

Friedmann, Aron. Schir Lischlaumau. Deutsch-Israelitische
Gemeindebunde, Berlin 190 1.

Gerovitsch. Elieser. Schirey Simrah. Sacred Music Press, New York,

1953.

Glantz, Leib. "The Musical Basis of Nusach Hatefillah," Journal of
Synagogue Music, Vol. IV, No. 1-2, 1972.

Kaiser, Alois; and Sparger, William. Principal Melodies of the
Synagogue. J. Rubovits, Chicago 1893.

Lewandowski, Louis. Kol Rinnuh U't'fillah.J. Kauffmann, Frankfurt,

1921.

Nathanson, Moshe, Ed. Zamru Lo, Vol. 2. Cantors Assembly, New York,
1974.

Ne'eman, Jehoshua.Wosah Lahazan, Vol. II (in Hebrew). Israel Institute
for Sacred Music, Jerusalem, 1968/69.

Naumbourg, Samuel. Z mirotWsrae/, Sacred Music Press, New York,

1954.

Routh, Francis. Contemporary Music, An Introduction. English
University Press, 1968.

Werner, Eric. From Generation lo Generation, Studies of Jewish Musical
Tradition. The American Conference of Cantors, n.d

WodakM. Hamnazeach. Ver/ag ctes 1/erfassers, Vienna, 1898.

Wohlberg, Max. "Improvisational Outline" for students of the Cantors
Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Unpublished.

Wohlberg, Max. Chemdat Shabbat, A new Sabbath morning service for
Hazzan and Congregation. Cantor Assembly, n.d.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Samuel ROSENBAUM

We meet here today, in this glittering city of stars, on a note of hope.
Let me tell you how it came to pass.

In the Spring of 1961, during his first term as President of the Cantors
Assembly, the late Moses Silverman, of blessed memory, suggested that
it was time we made a trip to the West Coast to meet with the growing group
of members there, to learn firsthand what the Jewish community of Los
Angeles was like.

"If we were ever to become a truly national organization of
hazzanim," he said, "we must begin to bring the members of this region
closer to the leadership," which consisted then, almost entirely of the
members from the Northeast, mainly from the area in and around New
York City.

I agreed. Moe, a truly great Hazzan, was also an inspired fund-raiser.
In a short time he managed to raise the money for our trip from among his
friends in Chicago, and he and I came to Los Angeles.

Our first impression, I must tell you, was that all the unbelievable
things that earlier visitors from the East had reported were true: that the
people were friendly and relaxed, and that the Jewish community was
growing by leaps and bounds; but that synagogue life was very different
from what we were accustomed to; strange, and in some cases
untraditional, the ritual unpredictable. We came away puzzled and
underwhelmed.

On the other hand, we left Los Angeles with some very positive
feelings, as well. There was a certain freedom you could sense
everywhere: a vitality, an openness to experimention, that was refreshing,
and you could almost touch the excitement in the air.

We were intriguedby thepossibilities this placeheld for the future and
we decided that in the following year we wouldcome again. All in all, Moe
and I made three trips to Los Angeles. By the third time we were no longer
surprised by what we found Once again there was the warmth and
graciousness of our colleagues. We got to see more of synagogue life and
found it easier to accept. We talked more frankly with colleagues, and
came away much more optimistic about the future.

SAMUEL ROSENBAUM is Executive Vice President of the Cantors
Assembly. This article is a transcript of the report which he delivered at
Annual Meeting of the Assembly, held May 7, 1991, in Los Angeles,
California, during the 44th Annual Convention.

On the plane back from the third visit, Moe urged me to see to it that
succeeding Presidents would continue to visit the West Coast and work to
build closer relationships between the members of the East and the
members of the West. He also suggested that it was time to think seriously
about having at least one representative from the West Coast on our
Executive Council. Only in that way, he said, could we grow to be a strong
and effective spokesman for the hazzanim of all America.

And then he added, " You know, some day we will have a President
from the West Coast. It must come eventually! Somehow, we will have to
raise the extra money that will be needed, but we will be repaid many times
over for having tied our country's membership closer together. I hope I live
to see it."

Moe got only half his wish. Every President since then continued the
tradition of visiting the West Coast. Our efforts at building bridges
between us grew more and more intenseand the results more effective.

The other half of his wish did not come true for him. In May 1986, as
aresultof adebilitatingstroke, he passed away, leaving a record of 47 years
of outstanding service to his beloved Anshe Emet Synagogue and some 30
years of devotion tohazzanut and the Cantors Assembly.

But somehow I have the feeling that he is here among us today, with
that half-smile of his, that seemed to be permanently etched into his face,
dressed in the sportiest angel's robe, with kipuh to match that Heaven can
provide, pleased that both parts of his wish have indeed come to pass. Proof
positive, that if you are determined and work hardenough, visions.. . and
dreams can come true.

And that is why I say with a full heart, that we meet here today, in this
glittering city of stars, in the heart of a strong and vigorous Jewish
community, on a note of hope.

In spite of the fact for the fiit time we are meeting in a city which is,
for most of us, 3000 miles away from our familiar convention sites, some
400 hazzanim and their wives, along with friends of the Cantors Assembly
and a host of lovers of hazzanut, have made the extra effort to join in the
convention prepared for us by au innovative and energetic Planning
Committee, under the chairmanship of Nathan Lam and David Silverstein,
assisted by members of the Assembly's West Coast Region.

While many of the sessions were sure to be exciting and different,
thanks to attractions which only the film and music capital of the world cau
provide, an examination of the convention program will reassure you that
we have also retained all of the traditional elements of our past
conventions, so that everyone can feel comfortable and at home.

30

This year, as we all know, marks a milestone in the history of the
Cantors Assembly. This is the year in which we finally took cur courage
in our own hands and decided to admit qualified women to membership.

The factors and the events which led us to make this decision are well
known to all of you. Each step in the long process which brought us to this
day has been reported in great detail in the Minutes and Memoranda
distributed to the membership and need no repetition here.

The decision came after a diligent three year search for a rational
answer to the question of admitting qualified women into our ranks.

After long and intensive deliberation, the Executive Council, which
under our B y-laws has the responsibility and authority to set the standards
for admission; in response to its own conscience, and to what it perceived
to be the position of the majority of the membership, on August 3 1 st, 1990,
voted 29 to 1 in favor of a resolution to admit qualified women candidates
into membership on the same basis as men.

One factor that weighed heavily in the decision of the Executive
Council was the feeling that we could no longer continue to embezzle four
or five years from the lives of women students of the Cantors Institute. We
could no longer have a part in the duplicity of recruiting women to study
for the Cantorate, encouraging them in their studies, providing them with
scholarship assistance, helping them with repertoire and advice; the n,
when the women successfully complete their studies alongside of their
male colleagues, admit the men and bar the door to the women.

Another consideration was that for a number of years, the Placement
Committee had on its rolls some 20 to 30 positions which could not be
rilled because of the shortage of qualified men. It was no surprise and
served the cause of Hazzanut poorly, that this shortage was causing
congregations to turn away from us in frustration, and to look toagents, to
part-time amateurs, to choir singers, to disappointed opera and show
business people and to others with limited training or dedication, while we
denied placement to qualified, dedicated and sincere women who had
spent four or five years of their lives and unlimited energy preparing for
this profession.

The officers and the Executive Council were not aware of the
sensibilities of some of our members who found the wisdom of their
decision questionable, if not altogether unacceptable. But, only two
members of the Assembly resigned.

Nevertheless, despitetheir empathy with those who were not prepared
to accept women into membership, the Executive Council held to its belief
that to continue to postpone the inevitable, to continue to turn away from
the real world in which we live and in which we pursueourcareers, would
place the Assembly in an increasingly untenable position within the

Conservative Movement, whose congregations over the last 10 years have
become almost 95% egalitarian, allowing their women members most of
the privileges and responsibilities which had previously been reserved for
men.

The final considerations were the legal questions. The Cantors
Assembly's authority to commission Cantors, recognition by the Internal
Revenue Service of our special status under the tax laws, could be clouded
by our continued discrimination against women members, and inasmuch
as the continued denial of admission of women tcthe Cantors Assembly
could create legal problems, the Executive Council felt that this action was
imperative.

Finally, this morning we were privileged to welcome 14 women,
together with 19 men, into membership in the Cantors Assembly.

Barukh sheheheyanu vekiyemanu vehigiyanu laz'man hazeh!

We welcome our new members,the men and the women, and invite
them to join with us in keeping Hazzanut a sacred and honored calling.

We look now to our women members to add their own strands to the
historic weave that is Hazzanut, to enrich our treasury of sacred music by
giving voice to remembrances of Miriam, Devorah, Yael, Esther, Ruth and
Naomi;of the daughters of Zelaphhad, and of all the pious mothers in Israel
for whose sake the Ten Commandments were given.

These are some of the voices that have remained mute and unheard for
far too long. We can only hope that those members who may still have
doubts about women in the Assembly, will take the time to meet them in
person and to hear them as they carry out their convention assignments,
and that from such an encounter they will come to see that these women
are worthy to ba called Hazzan and colleague. We trust that they will be
reassured and will realize that the Cantors Assembly still remains
committed to the same principles that have prevailed since our founding.

We all understand the feelings of those who were unhappy with our
ultimate decision. We all regret that Time does not stand still: that the
world must turn if it is to continue to survive. But it should please us that
our Assembly has withstood the trauma that always accompanies change,
and we should be grateful that the organization is flexible and confident
and strong enough to move with the needs of the times, even as Judaism
itself has done down through the ages,

A teacher of mine once wondered about the folk expression: Kol
hatkhalot kashot, all beginnings are difficult. Why do we say Kol
Hatkhalot kashot, he argued, when in reality it is hemshekh, continuity,
that is really difficult? That is where the going gets rough.

And that is what this whole struggle within ourselves is all about,
hemhekh, continuity: continuity of our profession, continuity of our

organization, and continuity of our people's faith.

Let us all resolve, here and now, to maintain the unity and strength of
our organization, even as we, each one of us in his or her own manner,
continues to hold dear their own sense of the meaning of Tradition.

Notwithstanding our preoccupation with the issue of admission
standards, we have not lost sight of our responsibilities to themembership:
to encourage creativity, to offer in-service training as needed, to provide
for retirement and health insurance benefits, to publish, as funds will
permit, a wide variety of hazzanic, musical and educational materials, to
offer counselling in times of distress or disagreement, and in general to
encourage our members to rise and to succeed in their careers.

In brief I would like to review with you how we have responded to
these responsibilities.

The lifeblood of our organization is the placement service weprovide
our members and the congregation who turn to us for hazzanim. During all
our years we have made it a high priority to strengthen and update our
placement procedures.

Two years ago we abandoned a long-standing policy against
publishing a placement list for distribution among the entire membership,
and began to distribute a simple, straightforward monthly list of openings,
with a few bare facts about each congregation.

We soon realized that this was not nearly enough information for a
candidate to make an intelligent choice. Thanks to the efforts of the
Placement Committee, and particularly Stephen Stein, we have replaced
that brief list with a much more professional roster offering as much
detailed information as we can gather so that a member can make a more
informed decision.

The administrative work has been brought into our New York office
and put under the care of Abe Shapiro. This leaves Morton Shames, the
truly dedicated Chairman and his Committee, more time to do what they
do best: counsel members before they decide to make a move, arrange
auditions, conduct follow-ups on the success or failure of the audition, and
in case of dispute, try to mediate betweenhazzan and congregation.

The greatest asset of our Placement Committee is the combined
experience of its members, together with that of the officers. Every
member is entitled to make his or her own decision, but it is important that
they also consider the advice of a commitee member, who will usually
know much more about the general placement picture and the particular
congregation in which a member may be interested, than one can learn
even from the best prepared placement list. Perfect? No, but we keep
trying.

The United Synagogue no longer places hazzanim. For several years

now they have been turning over all requests for hazzanim from their
congregations to us. In light of some progress which the United Synagogue
and the Rabbinical Assembly have made in resolving their placement
differences, and at the invitation of the United Synagogue, the officers
have begun a series of informal meetings with their leadership in the hope
of working out a similar arrangement. We feel that our relationship with
the Movement would be strengthened if we could come to a similar
agreement on these outstanding placement and contractual issues.

It is encouraging that this year we have added 35 new members to our
rolls: the highest in any single year since the earliest days of the Assembly.
We must be doing something right.

The work of Sheldon Levin and his Education Committee continues
to impress. This year, Volume IV of the committee's series "Teaching
Prayer and Song to Children," with emphasis on materials for Shabbat, has
been published and distributed.

The Educational Committee has also published a massive collection
of congregational melodies by Hazzan Max Wohlberg. Entitled Azamarah
Bbdi, " I will Sing While I Am Here," the book covers every Sabbath
occasion for the Synagogue and Home.

The work of this committee cannot be praised nearly enough. It goes
to show what an energetic small group of dedicated colleagues, under the
direction of an innovative and hard working chairman, can accomplish.

It is good to report that we have continued to meet with Dr. Schorsch,
chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, as developments warrant,
to discuss matters of mutual concern. These meetings began during the
term of Solomon Mendelson and have been continued by Robert Kieval
and the officers. We have found Dr. Schorsch to be warm and sympathetic
to many of our requests, especially to our hope of becoming more closely
involved with the students, the faculty and the curriculum of the Cantors
Institute,

The closer relationship has borne fruit. As a result, we have been able
to work with the students to institute a "Dor L'dor" program, which
arranges for an older and more experienced hazzan to invite a student to
spend a weekend with him, observing and accompanying him as he goes
about his duties. Where it is possible the student is asked to participate in
some part of the services during that weekend.

Both the students and the host hazzanim have responded well to the
program which helps to give the student a clearer understanding of the
nature of the duties of the day in-day out work of the hazzan. This year ten
students have been matched with members of the Assembly to the delight

34

of all parties.

It isourplan topropose to Rabbi Leifman and to Dr. Schorsch that next
year's curriculum allow students more time away from school, say a week,
or even two, to allow the student to observe up close the weekday schedule
of a hazzan, thereby greatly increasing the benefit from the experience.

One of the most pleasant results of our closer relationship with the
school has been a series of monthly luncheon meetings. One Wednesday
of each month, Robert, Abe Shapiro and I have been meeting with the
students for a sandwich and dessert lunch, followed by an hour of
instruction and discussion of some of the many duties and responsibilities
which fall to the hazzan; some of the prac tical aspects which somehow fall
through the cracks in the already heavily loaded Cantors Institute
curriculum.

Five luncheon meetings were held this year. Among the topics
covered were such items as weddings, funerals, the art and skill of
communicating with fellow professionals and with congregants, Bar
Mitzvah training hints, schedule making, contract negotiations, financial,
retirement, Social Security and health insurance matters.

At each session, appropriate music or other duplicated materials were
distributed so that the students would have permanent information in their
hands to guide them.

In addition, Robert Kieval made a special effort to become personally
acquainted with many of the students, gaining their confidence,
encouraging them and offering them assistance with any individual
problem they may have.

At Rabbi Leifman' s invitation we are now engaged in observing the
classes of the Institute. Several officers have been sitting in on the various
courses to try to determine the strengths and the weaknesses of the
program. An open and frank discussion of both with Rabbi Leifman
following the visits should help to clear the air of some of the concerns
raised by the students, and will provide an opportunity to suggest such
changes or modifications in the curriculum which may be helpful to the
school and to the students.

Still unsolved, but not hopeless, is a way to find the money and time
to bring vocal coaching into the curriculum; or at least to provide special
scholarships to individuals who need coaching. This, in addition to the
annual stipend (this year $20,000 which we contribute to the Institute's
scholarship fund.

I imagine that few here know or remember that we helped the
Seminary to establish the Cantors Institute by raising a gift of $125,000,
a lot of money in those days, and still a goodly sum. Or, since 195 1, that
we have raised and contributed over $800,000 to the Seminary in behalf

of the school. That is cause for pride and hope.

It is our hope that at least two new endowment funds will be
announced during this convention, which may help finance the plan to
provide for vocal coaching, which is such an important aspect of a student's
preparation for the Cantorate.

You know, I am sure, of the serious shortage of baaley tefillah, which
is even more urgent problem today than the shortage of hazzanim, because
of the passing of the older generation of dedicated and knowledgeable
baaley tefillah. I need not emphasize to you the importance to the infra-
structure of the synagogue and to the hazzan of the presence of a competent
baa/ tefillah in the synagogue population.

It is for this reason that some years ago we commissioned Hazzan
Pinchas Spiro to begin to prepare a series of manuals for thebaa/ tefillah
consisting of text, music and tapes, so that the proper tools would be
available with which to train new generations of lay prayer leaders, or
those individuals who may just want to be able to daven knowledgably
before the amud on a yahrzeit or other observance.

We now have materials for the weekday Shaharitp' usukey dezimra
for Shabbat and festivals, Minhah for Shabbat, and lastly, an outstanding
major work, Shaharit for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

On a trial basis, we scheduled three sessions at last year's convention,
led by Hazzan Spiro, to give our lay guests an opportunity to become
acquainted with the manuals and to purchase them for study at home at
their own pace. We were truly pleased with the results. 35 guests took the
course and expressed their delight with it.

Since then word of the availability of this material has brought
requests, not only from individuals, but from congregational presidents as
well, who want to have them on hand in order to train local people to take
over these duties properly in the absence of a professional.

It became obvious that the need for baaley tefillah is nationwide, and
if we could obtain a grant to finance it, we could establish formal Baal
Tefillah Institutes in several key Jewish communities. In March, we
prepared a grant request which was sent to a philanthropic foundation.

We proposed to establish a two-year trial program to organize a Baal
Tefillah Institute in five major cities: New York, Los Angeles, Boston,
Philadelphiaand the Washington/Baltimore area. The plan would provide
a standardized curriculum based on our publications. We projected an
average of 20 students for each of the five pilot Institutes, thus conceivably
producing, in the two year period, 100 trained individuals. Publicity would
be directed through the press, via the regions in which these cities are
located, and to synagogue presidents in those areas.

Total costs for the project would be $100,000 covering teachers'
salaries, production of books and tapes, publicity, administration, site
rentals, travel where needed, etc. Total income per year is estimated at
$30,000 from tuition and book and tape sales.

We asked for a grant of $50,000 a year, even though we suspected that
we would not get that large a sum from one source. I am pleased to inform
you that the foundation has responded with a grant of $20,000.

We hope to make up the remainder from a gracious gift from the
Milken Family Foundation, from some part of the income from the two
new scholarships of which I spoke earlier, from a loan from the Friends of
the Cantors Assembly funds. Mostly we are banking on the fund-raising
genius of our President-elect to find us a willing donor or two who will
agree that this is a worthy cause which deserves to be supported.

We believe that our record of these last few years gives proof that the
Assembly is not content only to react to problems as they arise but has
moved to act aggressively in an innovative fashion when we recognize a
need. This gives us all reason for pride and hope, in spite of the surveys and
the prophets of doom who have been predicting the demise of the
synagogue and hazzanut

We stand at the doorway to a new century and a new era and it is time
to stop fearing the dark and start cheering the light. We have a proven track
record; we have a plan and a program and a destiny to fulfill. Having
survived sacrifice and success, disappointment and victory, we must have
faith that together we surely will overcome, and that, united and
strengthened by the struggles we have overgone, we will move hazzanut
into a new day of progress and achievement.

Our tasks may change. Many Jews have lost the art of prayer; many
have never learned it properly. It falls to us to help them find it, as it falls
on us to help to produce another generation of hazzanim and another
generation oibaaley tefillah.

The unique role which the hazzan can play in the personal lives of
Jews came home to me with stunning impact last February at the height of
the Scud attacks on Israel.

In mid-February, Solomon Mendelson, Chairman of our Israel
Affairs Committee, received an urgent request from the Masorti
congregations in Israel to send a delegation of hazzanim on a 5 day mission
to help bolster the spirits of our Israeli brothers and sisters in their terrible
hour of need as a token of solidarity with American Jewry. Sol
immediately began to solicit volunteers from among our colleagues, and
called to ask whether the Cantors Assembly could help defray some of the
costs. I answered in the affirmative. In short order, Sol found his men and

M

we arranged to help with subventions.

Help came promptly from two friends of the Assembly: A call to Mrs.
Robert B. Mayer of the Nathan Cummings Family Foundation of Chicago
brought us a gift of $5,000 by return mail. A call to Haim Wiener brought
a pledge of $2,000. Our own Cantors Assembly Foundation made up the
shortfall.

On Tuesday evening, February 19th, the twelve hazzanim left for
Israel. Their first appearance was at a noon concert in Tel Aviv on
Thursday. They sang magnificently, even with gas masks at the ready.

The effect of the singing of the hazzanim and their physical presence
in the face of danger was electric. It forged a strong bond of solidarity
between them, the audience and the American Jewish community whom
they represented. The crowd dispersed after the concert but the bond
remained to comfort in the days that followed.

The next day, erev Shabbat, the hazzanim moved to different parts of
the country to officiate at twelve Masorti synagogues.

The men were struck by the strange paradox of Israel's position, of
being at war and not being at war, being attacked and not being able to
respond. The unhappiest moment of all was on the Shabbat, when, early
in the evening, the peace was shattered by the Scud missile. It was no
wonder that the emotions of the Israelis were torn in two directions.

In a letter of thanks sent by Rabbi Levi HaLevi of Kehillat Hayovel
in Jerusalem, he wrote: "I feel impelled to tell you of Hazzan David Feuer's
davening at our shul. The impact on me was tremendous. I didn't realize
how much I needed to hear him. When he sang the Shaharit kedushah with
devotion and in the traditional nusah I love so much, something in me
broke,. Those were the tensions of the war in me which at last burst out. That
helped me better to bear up under the Scud attack that very evening.

"A wave of quiet but very strong energy passed through the shul like
an electric current. I am sure that it was the most significant moment I've
had in shul in all the fifteen years I have been here."

This experience of the rabbi and his congregation was one, which in
a single mystical experience, expressed the entire message and mission of
Hazzanut throughout the centuries. For a moment, the congregation felt in
touch with a precious treasure of our people and sensed themselves
uplifted by the presence of something beyond the walls of the synagogue,
beyond the earthbound tragic events of their lives.

There are moments, special moments, when the voice of a hazzan can
lead us into the presence of something beyond reality. A hazzan can
provide moments of illumination which cast a new light on the
commonplace and the familiar, and give comfort and hope,.

I experienced just such a sense of presence in a strange and beautiful
way some weeks ago, and in closing I want to share it with you.

As many of you know,Ina and I spent February and most of March
here in Los Angeles to escape the Rochester cold and to be close for a short
while to our son and his wife and our two grandchildren.

A good deal of my time, however, was spent together with Nate Lam
and David Silverstein working out the many details of this Convention.
Many a night I could not sleep, my mind teeming with a thousand details,
the concerts, the programs, the decisions all jumbled together in my mind
with my hopes for the convention.

During the night before we were scheduled to return home, I was
awakened suddenly by the sound of my own voice reading a poem that I
had never heard or read before. I could hear the poem distinctly andclearly,
exactly as I copied it down from memory at 5 o'clock that morning.

i was very moved by the simplicity of the words and strangely
comforted by them. I have been trying to write poetry for a long time, yet
never had a poem been fed to me so complete, so finished, so perfect as at
that moment.

Writing, as you know, like singing, is not a simple art. It is not pulled
from the sleeve. It takes work and thought and much practice. But there it
was! A poem, whole and complete, without a line or a word that needed to
be changed. That moment of presence, of being for an instant lifted out of
space and out of time, illuminated for me anew an insight into the roots of
the reason I chose to be what I am and validated my years spent as ahazzan.
I read it to you now, exactly as I heard it read to me, in my own voice,
early that morning. I hope it may open a door of understanding for you as
it did for me.

THE SONG*
In a thousand dim lit rooms
all are singing the same song.
And it matters.

The singing is not perfect
but that does not matter,
the song must go on.
One day, they say, the singing will be better,
and so they continue to sing, far, far into the
deep, deep darkness hoping for the light.
And that does matter.

May the bokher beshirey zimrah, the Great Listening Ear who delights
in song, bless us all with faith and hope and deeds worthy of our calling;
for faith and hope and deeds of the present arc the threads that bind the
eternity of the past to the eternity of the future.

May we all leave here uplifted by the comradeship we share, by what
we have heard spoken and sung, determined to continue to sing.

And that will surely matter.

TRIBUTE TO DEPARTED COLLEAGUES 1990-91

EDITORS NOTE:

There are many ways in which the history of the profession of the
hazzan may be written. Whether the focus of such history be ancient or
contemporary, one of the most challenging aspects is the gathering of
information. As Mark Slobin noted in Chosen Voices, the hazzan as an
influential figure has been virtually written out of American Jewish
history. " Nearly all the basic socilogical works on American Jewish life,
down to recent reevaluations of the 1980' s, not only shortchange but
actually ignore the cantorate's contribution.'" It is our hope that such a
statement, if true, will apply only to the past, and not to the present and
future. The responsibility for this change falls upon the current generation
of hazzanim.

To this end, we offer on the next several pages capsule biographies
and poetic glimpses at the lives of members of the Cantors Assembly who
have passed away during the past two years. Naturally, we would prefer to
tell the stories of these men during their lifetime. In fact, articles by and
about some of them have appeared in past volumes of the Journal.

It is hoped that their stories will serve as an inspiration to colleagues
and a reminder to all of the overwhelming variety of ways in which
hazzanim have served and continue to serve their respective communities.
And by printing their brief stories here, we preserve for posterity at least
some permanent record of their contributions.

We are naturally indebted to Hazzanim Solomon Mendelson and
Samuel Rosenbaum, who compiled and wrote the moving tributes
contained in these pages and delivered these eulogies at the Memorial
Services held at Cantors Assembly Conventions in May 1990 and May
1991 respectively.

1990... HESPED BY SOLOMON MENDELSON

Tzar li blayich achi Y' honatan na-amta li m"od. (2 Samuel 1.26)

The words that rise from our aching hearts are the words of David
lamenting his friend. I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan! You were very
dear to me. Tzar li-we grieve for ourselves, for the painful loss that so many
of us share for the ten men of the Assembly who passed on this year.
Naamta li m'od- for you were dear to us as brothers- Alekha we grieve for

Slobin, Mark, Chosen Voices, U. of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 1989, p.xii.

you, our dear departed. For your sake, for your having toleave behind what
you created, what you accomplished, for leaving behind your loved
ones. And we grieve for what you have left undone, for what you were not
given to fulfill in your lifetime. We grieve for your denials and frustrations.
Would that it were possible in this brief hour of memorial to give even
a cursory evaluation of the lives and achievements of ten colleagues who
have been called to the academy on high. Every life has been compared to
a sefer torah. The passing of a human life evokes for us the same grief as
the sight of sefer torah shenisr'fah, a sefer torah that has been burnt. Our
colleagues, all of them dedicated to the service of God, were such living
s/fref torah. We should want to read a parshah of each one of these. Now
we must content ourselves with little more than a few p'sukim. Life being
what it is, it is sometimes onlyac/iare/ mot that we articulate the precious
qualities of our k'dosim.

Aaron Itzkowitz Edgar (a tribute by Hazzan Ray Edgar)

My father, Hazzan Aaron Edgar, was born Aaron Itzkowitz in
Rozvadov, Galicia (then Austria, now Poland). He began singing in public
at an early age, and his lovely alto voice was soon heard in shtiblach and
synagogues all through the region. He was a special favorite of the
Zhikover Rebbe, and was at one point apprenticed to a Cantor in Tamow.

After a life fraught with hardship and poverty, the family came to the
United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan. My father used to be fond
of telling how, on the trans-Atlantic voyage, he entertained the first class
passengers non-stop,with his lovely alto voice, and actually supported the
family in style while at sea.

My father's father, Asher Itzkowitz, had come to Detroit some years
earlier, and had established himself as Executive Director and s/iamas/i of
one of its Orthodox synagogues, so young Aaron had immediate access to
the Jewish community. News of his voice spread swiftly, and he was soon
busy singing in synagogue choirs, davening by theamud. and entertaining
at community affairs.

He taught for one year in Cleo, Michigan, near Flint. It was at this time
that he dropped the name Itzkowitz and became Aaron I, Edgar.

Realizing his cantorial service was more compatible with his talents,
my father gave up teaching and turned to the synagogue. After serious
studies with hazzanim in Detroit, and with Adolph Katchko in New York,
he answered his first call to the cantorate, at the Jacksonville Jewish Center
in Jacksonville, Florida After the crash of 1929, he left Florida to serve
Congregation Tifereth Israel in Des Moines, Iowa, a position now held
with preeminence by our colleaguePinchas Spiro. In 1936 he moved to

Beth El Congregation on Omaha, Nebraska, where he served until his
retirement in 1972.

In the earlier years of the Cantors Assembly he served as National
First Vice President in 1972. Until his death in July of 1989, he served his
beloved synagogue as its very active Hazzan Emeritus.

Besides his great love of bel canto singing, which always took fist
place, he was especially fond of children. In an age when few cantors were
preoccupied with the young, he put a great deal of effort and love into
children's choirs and bar-bat mitzvah training, aiming at a musical level
that was the very best each child could achieve.

It was for this effort that he gained the love and respect of an entire
community.

Eugene Goldberger

In his 86th year, Eugene Goldberger passed away in Jerusalem, where
he settled in 1986. Born in Czechoslovakia, he studied in the Royal
Conservatory of Music in Vienna and began his career in Yugoslavia,
continued in Czechoslovakia and then in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I believe that a historical footnote is in order. It is a fact that only
2% of Danish Jewry perished during the Holocaust. This is no doubt a
tribute to the Danish Christian population who were steadfast in their
determination to protect their fellow countrymen.

Eugene Goldberger, as a Jewish leader in Denmark, made close
contact with the Lutheran community, who ultimately were his saviors. It
should come as no surprise then, that his son, Dr. Leo Goldberger, wrote
two books, one on the "righteous gentiles," and another on the rescue of
Danish Jewry.

After immigrating to North America, Hazzan Goldberger served in
the Adas Israel Congregation of Montreal for two decades and then in San
Diego. Among his four sons is Eric, a talented Hazzan and dedicated
member of the Cantors Assembly.

Hazzan Eugene Goldberger found his final resting place in Har
Hamenuhot Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Mordechai G. Heiser

Hazzan Mordechai G. Heiser was born in Kovno and was brought up
in Berlin, Germany, where he attended Public High School. After his
graduation from college, he entered the Rabbinical Seminary
Hohchschule fur die Wissenschaft des J udentums.

As a youngster, he caught the attention of leading cantors, who urged
him to study for the Cantorate. His great love for music was so strong that
he decided to enter the Conservatory of Music in Berlin. Under the

43

guidance of the well known Hazzanim Aaron Friedman and Leo Gollanin
he studied Hazzanut Still a very young man, he was elected to occupy the
pulpit of one of the oldest synagogues in Berlin.

Upon his arrival in America, he was called to serve the B'nai Israel
congregation, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the largest Conservative
synagogues in the Tri-State area, leading their tefilot with distinction and
devotion. He was a consummate musician and possessed an outstanding
tenor voice which served him well up until his demise.

Hazzan Heiser was one of the founding members of the Cantors
Assembly and the Jewish Music Forum.

A resolution by his congregation afterhispassing states: "WHEREAS
MORDECHA1 G. HEISER in his capacity as Hazzan touched the hearts
of worshipers, and aspired to the Gates of the Heavens, and WHEREAS
MORDECHA1 G. HEISER was Hazzan, teacher and emissary of the
congregation.

"Therefore, be it resolved that the Rabbi, Officers, Board of
Governors, and members of Congregation B'nai Israel lament his passing,
His mark on the Congregation and Jewish Community life is indelible.
Generations yet to be will beshaped by the principles he laid down for
synagogue and students. May the memory of his golden voice be a
harbinger of the joys he brought in life,"

We of the Cantors Assembly as well, affirm this resolution and
resolve that it, together with this entire eulogy become part of the
permanent record of our proceedings. We pray that the neshamah of
Mordechai G. Heiser will rise to the highest heavenly spheres.

Arthur Koret

At last year's Convention, we were treated to a reprise of the art, the
person, the gorgeous voice of Arthur Koret. In a session he led,
overflowing with his students, colleaguesandadmirers, on ce more, Arthur
rose to new heights, even after he was afflicted with illness.

His voice waslegendary, butitsurely wasnomyth. " Hewasmorethan
a talent," his Rabbi stated. "He was a collector's item, an artist, a rare
institution. We the congregation, are his posterity."

An energetic Past President of the Cantors Assembly, Arthur was a
prolific fund raiser, especially in the Assembly's early days, when it was
necessary to raise large sums of money to found the Cantors Institute.

A radio and television artist and personality. Arthur was perhaps most
fulfilled as a teacher on the University level, and was the inspiration for
over 40 students to enter the Cantorate. How many of hi peers could ever
boast of such an achievement? His good name was virtually synonymous

with the West Hartford community, for Jews and non-Jews alike. Arthur
was able to influence the President of the University of Hartford to sponsor
the innovative three day seminars together with the Cantors Assembly, to
stimulate young people to enter the Cantorate. Arthur had the zechut to
officiate at his daughter Debbie's wedding right before he passed on, and
to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary with his beloved Bea. His
memory shall forever be a berachah, even as was his life!

Murray Und

Some of our colleagues acquired or developed their interest in
Hazzanut as they journeyed through the path of life, but Murray Lind was
destined to join ourrankseven while he was in his mother's womb. The son
of the famous Joshua Lind, outstanding Hazzan, composer and teacher,
Murray and his two brothers all entered the Cantorate. A wunderkind at
the age of 5, he grew up in the synagogue.

At one point in his career he performed as part of the Lind Brothers
Trio and for a while they enthralled the world of entertainment. In doing
so, he helped to raise large sums of money for Israel Bonds and was
presented the Key to the City of Hope for his dedication to the disabled,
retarded and the blind. He held the post of Hazzan at Shaarey Tikvah in
Chicago for over 25 years. Murray understood that there is no dress
rehearsal in this theater called life, and so he went through it in grand style
and enriched the lives of so many with whom he came into contact.

Abraham Marlon

We recall also Abraham Marton. He was one of those uprooted from
his native soil (in his case Czechoslovakia) and found haven in our land
and field for service in his love ofHazzanut.

Seven of the ten men being eulogized this year were, in a paraphrase
from Isaiah, "hurled into a new place." That these men were not broken by
this violent displacement, but thatthey rose again and built again and lived
again, is a tribute to their dogged determination to serve their faith.
Abraham Marton was one of their number. He studied at the Yeshiva of
Pressburg, then at the Schubert Conservatory in Vienna, with Chief Cantor
Emanuel Frankel. In the United States, he resided in Youngstown, Ohio
and New York, before moving to Jacksonville, Florida in 1946,where he
remained until his passing. He was proud of the fact that he taught B'nei
Mitzvah and trained choirs. He was also especially pleased to have been
part of a course of study for members of the Assembly during the summers
of 1950-1953 at the Jewish Theological Seminary. An ardent Zionist, he
was active in the Zionist Organization of America and Jewish National
Fund.

Edgar Mills

Edgar Mills was one of the founding members of the Cantors
Assembly. Hazzan Mills served Oheb Shalom Congregation of South
Orange, New Jersey for 35 years with distinction and elegance.

He was a gifted and dedicated hazzan, a consummate musician and a
recognized scholar of Judaica and German Literature, which he taught at
Seton Hall University for many years. He was active in the leadership of
the Cantors Assembly, helping to guide and strengthen the organization
during its formative years. We are proud of our beloved colleague who
received his Ph.D. from New York University in languages, and authored
books such as They Spoke Words f Wit and Wisdom and wrote a
dissertation on Martin Luther and thejeivs. Still, this modest and diffident
scholar found teaching B'nei Mitzvah his special sacred task.

Morris Okun

We recall sadly, but with much affection, that cheerful gentleman
from Richmond, Virginia, Morris Okun.

Indeed, his good name was Richmond, Virginia, and it is synonymous
with the Cantors Assembly, for he served it well since its beginning, as a
founding member, sharing the dream, that we were to be the Masters of
Tomorrow!"

A native of New York, Morris graduated Yeshiva Yaakor Yoseif and
studied at Yeshiva Yitschak Elchanan. He was a graduate of New York
University. His wife, Helen, was the daughter of the esteemed Cantor
Adolph Katchko with whom Morris studied. Shebrought to the household
an understanding and empathy for Hazzanut. Incidentally, at the wedding
of Morris and Helen, in addition to the great Katchko, David Roitman,
Kapov-Kagan, Leib Glantz and Berele Chagy also officiated! Hazzan
Okun's tenure at Beth El in Richmond began in 1941 and continued until
his retirement in 1986. He was active in many facets of our Assembly, but
will probably be remembered most forhis flawless Torah reading at so
many of our Conventions. A high point of his life and of our Assembly's,
surely, was his being designated as the ha' a/ koreh on Shabbat Nachamu
at the Rothschild Synagogue in Paris on the return trip from that
memorable first Cantors Assembly Convention in Israel in 1964.

Moshe Rosenfeld

Moshe Rosenfeld was born in Rumania. After being uprooted during
the scourge of World War II, he found his way to Israel and fought in the
War of Independence. Then, after immigrating to America, most of his
years were spent as Hazzan in Cleveland. Moshe was an extremely

sensitiveperson. He was a lover and connoiseur of art, and looked beyond
his amud for nourishment of his soul.

In the last years of his life, he served as thebeloved hazzan sheni and
teacher in Roslyn, New York. He never felt that it was beneath his dignity
to do so, establishing a marvelous reputation in Roslyn. I remember once
when he picked me up at the airport in Cleveland, he sang Pinchik' sRoro
cfShabbos on the way to our meeting. How he loved celebrating the
Sabbath! Now he has earned his Yom Shekulo Shabat in eternity.

Hy man Sky

Hy Sky passed away recently at the age of 62. He served
congregations in Kansas City, Union, New Jersey and Philadelphia. In the
busy schedule of an involved Hazzan, there was one engagement that he
would never break, his time for study. He enriched Jewish scholarship
with over forty articles in journals, on Jewish and comparative liturgy.

He was self effacing, had a wonderful sense of humor and was a true
ohevet habrior, sharing empathy for other people almost to a fault.
Already stricken with a terribly debilitating illness, he nevertheless joined
with us together with his dear wife Zena at our 40th Convention in Israel.
I well remember how we had to lift him up from his chair so that he could
lead zemirot at our Oneg Shabbat at the Laromme Hotel. But he raised us
up with his father's penetrating nigunim, which I myself cherish as Hyman
was my beloved cousin.

Hyman Sky added to his name by the good deeds that he manifested,
by his capacity to give, to grow in service, and to accept suffering as he
did. He added a B.A. to his name from Yeshiva University. He added an
M.A. to his name from New York University, and he added a Ph.D. to his
name from Dropsie College for his thesis The Development of the Office
ofHarzan Through the End of the Talmudic Period. And now we add this
to his name the letters zayen ■ tzadi ■ lamed, zecher tzadik livrakhah.

The ranks of the yeshivah shel ma-alah have been enlarged by a
Minyan of consecrecated Hazzanim who have joined their colleagues
from yesteryear.

We take leave as well, of thedecade of the 1980's, and we can all take
pride and instruction as how the lives of our departed were antithetical to
that decade's all-night party of celebrating the self.

These men had a different credo! They were givers, not takers. Their
talent, creativity, friendship, integrity, and honor was their legacy. Dear
departed colleagues, na-amtem lanu nrtod ... you were very dear to us -
we bid you a sad farewell. . we shall miss you! Tih'yenah nishmoteihem
tz'rurot bitzror khayei hanetrakh shel hekhazanut.

1991... HESPED BY SAMUEL ROSENBAUM

The universe is so constructed that nothing is ever lost. Not a drop of
rain, not a grain of sand, not a breath of air entirely disappears. When, in
the fall, a leaf falls to the ground, in short order it becomes part of the earth
again, even as we do.

How much more precious than a drop of rain, or a leaf, or a breath of
air, is a soul? The Almighty, in His wisdom, has promised that no soul, no
leaf, will ever be lost.

When the time comes and a soul drops from our midst, we, as partners
of God in Creation, must lend a hand and save that soul from oblivion by
remembering.

Each year, we record in our convention program with pride, love and
respect, the names of our colleagues who have passed on over the years.
But, unhappily, every year a new group of colleagues joins that Assembly
on High, and so we gather together at this special time each year to explore
their memories while those memories are still fresh, while we can still
remember them first hand, as they really were.

It is not an easy task. These are not just names on a list, but a
compendium of knowledge, wisdom, wit, loyalty, love and caring. Bach
a unique and special sheliah tzibbur. Each, his own man; each with his own
approach to his sacred calling.

Each of us will recreate the men as we remember them. But however
we may picture them, we will all agree that they are comrades who should
not be forgotten.

We are taught: Ehad mibney hahavwuhshe-meyt Mag kol hahavurah
"The death of one of our circle diminishes the entire circle. " Al ahatkamah
vekumuh when seven of our havurah are taken from us.

Our circle of veteran members grows smaller. And although we can
point to the 35 new members we have just welcomed into membership, and
while we are grateful and elated over that number, the seven we have lost
will never be replaced. Their places in the ranks cannot be filled.

Victor Jucoby

Although we have the brightest hopes for our new colleagues, it will
be years before we can boast of another Victor Jacoby: a hazzan, tried and
tested in the old school, a yodea sefer, a man of mature and thoughtful
judgement, & sheliah tzibbu in heart and soul and sinew; a role model, a
teacher whose own life was his curriculum, anish shalem, a whole man.

Saul Meisels

How long will it be before there appears in our ranks another Saul
Meisels? A former President of the Cantors Assembly and an
extraordinarily capable one. For me, a close and dear friend, of more than
four decades. For the profession, a hazzan of consummate skill and
artistry, his soul soaked through with the dveikut of countless generations;
an innovator who was not only a thinker, but a doer; a colleague who was
never too busy to help a neighbor with a bit of zogachts, or with a copy of
a rare song or recitative; a performer who demanded the supreme best of
himself and of his colleagues; a hazzan for whom hazzanut came before
every other responsibility: family, home, health and even honors.

He was a singer who carried in his soul hundreds of songs, nushaot,
melodies, ideas and memories, drenched in the tears and joys of
generations of Jews; an interpreter whose lips were incapable of uttering
a careless vowel or consonant; whose vocal chords just could not vibrate
to a false note or cadence.

I hope that we shall always cherish the memory of Saul as he was
during those wonderful years when work and hope and joy abounded and
flourished: vibranfelegant, impeccable in bearing and imperious in
manner; feisty and demanding, he radiated confidence and dependability.
A joy to be with, yet he did not easily tolerate incompetence or fraud. He
had a passion for perfection in himself and in others. He demanded and
gave only the best.

Dov Propis

How long will it be before we can boast of another Dov Propis? A
hazzan who knew instinctively how to put his people in touch with the
precious treasure that is Jewish nusach. A hazzan, who in certain moments
of sadness or desperation, or at special times of happiness and elation could
create the uplift which only ahazzan's sincere prayer can bring.

Dov Propis was that kind of she/iah tzibbur.

For him, hazzanut was not a performance, it was a gift of the heart. In
his approach to prayer, he chose for his style not the clarion, powerful,
brassy tones that are meant to stir up thunder in the heavens and to awaken
an ancient, weary God? He saw his duty in another direction. He chose,
instead, the still, small voice that aims at the hearts of those whom he led
in prayer. The samestill, smallvoicemay have led Elijah to find God, after
wind, earthquack, fire and thunder had failed.

He believed that it was the still, small voice that could bring a heart
to tears, to understanding, to resolution, to faith and to hope. For it is the
still, small voice that comforts most, that reminds us of the innocence and
purity of our youth. It is the still, small voice that can release in us the

deeply buried tunes that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers sang;
tunes that sprang from Jewish sensitivity, from Jewish sensibility, from
Jewish mercy, from Jewish history, from Jewish martyrdom.

It was Propis's still, small voice's every-day simplicity, its ingratiating
familiarity and warmth that made his presence meaningful in the lives of
his congregants.

Yech/'e/ Rosen

How many decades will it be before we encounter another Yechiel
Ronen?Gentle,modest, unassuming, with an encyclopedic store of Jewish
law and Jewish lore; a man blessed with the natural instinct for teaching.
A career with which he crowned his last years as an instructor at the
Cantors Institute. He was, in short, a hazzan in the full meaning of the
words as it was understood and to be found in Poland at the time of his birth,
in 1913.

It is interesting to note, and much to the point in view of the issues we
have faced in the Assembly in the last three years, that infusedts he was
with Orthodoxy from childhood, as throughly Yeshivah-trained as he was,
and although he served a major part of his life in Orthodox congregations
in Manchester and London, England; when he was called to serve Ohev
Shalom Congregation in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1957, he applied
immediately for membership in the Cantors Assembly.

In his application, when asked why he wanted to join the Assembly,
he wrote in his beautiful penmanship; "Because I think that the
Conservative style of the hazzanut is the most appropriate for our time; and
as I am serving a Conservative congregation, I feel I must belong to the
Cantors Assembly." How meaningful and appropriate are those words;
even today as they were in 1957.

In his last years, his expertise as a sofer and baa/ keriah was such that
he was called to teach those subjects at the Cantors Institute where he felt
thoroughly comfortable and at home, leaving only to live out his life in
dignity and peace in Israel.

His skills and his heart will be different to replace.

Hurry Silversmith

Harry Silversmith, widely separated in training and practice from
Yechiel Rosen, served Pittsburgh's well-known Conservative
congregation, "The Tree of Life" for over two decades with great
distinction. With his God-given talent, with sincerity and unfaltering
devotion he tended to the spiritual needs of that left-wing congregation.
But he, too, felt that he belonged in our midst.

Paul Niederland

Paul Niederland wasaman who wascontentjust to be free in America.
Coming to Utica, New York in 1939, from a distinguished concert and
pulpit career in England and Germany, he was proud to be a cantor, proud
to be an American, proud to serve a small American community with the
samedevotion and distinction as that with which he had served in large and
moreprestigious institutions in England, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and in
Palestine. For 3 1 years he looked after the spiritual and musical activities
of his congregants while a whole succession of rabbis came and went. He
once told me, " A man may come to this country, and if he knows his job,
if he has something to give to others, he belongs at once. In the United
States, I can come and go as I please, walk the streets proudly and
confidently, meeting only friendship and kindness in return for my own
friendship and kindness."

"All these things, you may say," he continued, "are ordinary,
everyday things, but it is not so. They are luxuries; luxuries which some
kings and emperor5 cannot boast."

in his proud and dignified manner he touched the lives of hundreds of
youngsters, of scores of men and women, with his knowledge, with his
pride as a Jew, with his pleasure to be an American, with his love for music
and hazzanut.

A quiet man you will say, living a quiet life in a quiet little central New
York town, not celebrated for unusual cultural achievement. But with his
sincerity and hard work he left his mark, and in his quietudeand excellence
he will be remembered with love and honor.

Herman Hammerman

Like his late brother Michal, and lehibadel bahayim, and his brother
Saul, he began his career in Brooklyn singing in the choirs that
accompanied many of the greats of the Golden Age of Hazzanut. Like
them, he learned his craft well and Hazzanut became his great love. At an
early age he began to study the piano, and there, too, he excelled, winning
a number of prizes as a wunderkind. But that was not all. God blessed him
with a heart full of melody. During his lifetime he composed dozens of
liturgical pieces which he was always willing to share with colleagues.

He composed in the secular vein, as well, but always on religious
themes. His song, " Happy Is the Man who Loves His Brother" was named
the anthem of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. His hymn-
like tunes pleased people of all faiths; Mahalia Jackson, the well known
gospel singer, recorded a number of his spirituals in 1960.

He served a number of congregations in the Los Angeles area,
concluding his career at B'nai Israel Congregation, completing 41 years as

a Hazzan who we are all proud to call colleague and Mend. He passed away
at 77 after a long battle with kidney disease.

In a way, the life-stories of these seven souls is a picture of our
membership in miniature, representing a variety of backgrounds, a variety
of practices, personal and public, a variety of beliefs, a variety of talent and
of style. Yet all believed that membership in the Cantors Assembly was an
important part of their lives and they remained valued and participating
members to the end, finding no hindrance to their membership in spite of
the diverse ways in which they serve their own lives.

They leave a void in their family fabrics not easily filled, but they
leave us exemplary tokens of dedication to Hazzanut which will remain as
models for those with the wisdom to learn from them. Maytheir loved ones
be comforted in the memories they share and the love they knew.

They nishmoteyhem tzrurot bitzror hahayim ut'hey menuhatam
slitilom.

May the souls of our departed colleagues be bound up with the souls
of the living in an eternal unity. May their repose be serene and peaceful.

SHIR HADASH

Robert S. SCHERR

There are recent publications from Transcontinental Music and
Ashbourne Music Publications worthy of particular notice.

A new series of choral compositions for Hanuka, edited by Joshua R.
Jacobson is entitled Chanuka Around The World. (Dr. Jacobson is
chairman of the Department of Music at Northeastern University, the
founder and conductor of Zamir Chorale of Boston, and a respected
authority on Jewish choral music.) In the first three publications of this
series are one familiar and two new songs. You will find Jacobson' s setting
of the Binder arrangements for the candle brachot and Maoz Tsur to be
very tasciul and effective, with SATB choral arrangement and optional
keyboard accompiniment (which doubles the. choral parts).

Alcih Nciri is a beautiful melody by Chaim Parchi (Parchi is music
director of Boston's Solomon Schechter Day School.) The melody is
love ly and is presented first as a solo overeffec tive "ting-tang" background
by the SATB choral part. The melody is effective, and should be
considered as a new melody in the Chanuka repertoire. Parchi brings this
delightful, lilting melody:

Example 1

ROBERTS. SCHERR is Hazzan of Temple Israel of Natick, Massachusetts.

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The inclusion of a singable English text makes it possible to sing this song
in either Hebrew or English, broadening its potential to use by community
choruses.

Mi Zeh Y'Malel is another Sephardic melody which Jacobson has
arranged for SATB and baritone solo. As in the Aleih Neiri , the melody
is introduced by the solo voice,then picked up by the chorus. Again, a
singable English text will make the piece widely accessible. There is some
part splitting in the middle of the piece, but the music is not difficult, and
this should not be a deterrent to amateur choruses.

Example 2

From the commissions of Cantor Nathan Lam in the Stephen S. Wise
Temple Jewish Music Series come two fine works for solo voice based on
traditional texts. Magen Avot by Moshe Ganchoff, arranged by Israel
Goldstein, is extraordinary-- it is truly an art song for the Erev Shabbat
liturgy. Ganchoff has combined a feeling of traditional nusach with an
elegant vocal line, which is as luscious for the voice of the singer, as to the
ear of the listener. The melismatic passages are singable and elegant.
Goldstein's accompaniment supports the vocal line without obscuring any
of the subtlety. This is a magnificent contribution to the literature.

56
Example 3

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Michael Isaacson' sShiviti takes a fresh approach to the traditional
memorial text from the 16th Psalm. It is not the plaintive mood which
Isaacson gives us here. Rather, one hears a line with modem feeling
expressing, Sova s 'machot et panecha~"I am filled with joy at Your
Presence." The accompaniment compliments the vocal mood, and sets off
the voice advantageously. The arrangement is set for baritone and organ.

Example 4

Shirim Lumakhelat Hanoar by Charles Davidson; Published by

Ashbourne Music, contains 19 songs, well-arranged for two part chorus.
These are very singable melodies which would be especially useful for
children, whose young voices would be well-displayed by lively settings
such as Chaverim Kol Yisraei or Yismach Moshe. One should appreciate
the singability of these arrangements, without sacrifice of a quality
musical statement. With many pieces, Davidsonnotes that there are fuller
arrangements available for more voices, or with instrumental
accompaniment. In addition to the 13 pieces for regular liturgy, this
publication includes 6 new songs for Chanukah, which are going to be
wonderful additions to our treasury of Chanukah melodies. Vayitzak
Matityahu has a driving dance rhythm to tell of Mattathias' heroism in
upholding the Torah. As in the new songs mentioned at the beginning of
this review, Davidson's A Wondrous Light would lend itself to choruses
unfamiliar with Hebrew who were searching forChanukah material..

Example 5

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Example 6

A WONDROUS LIGHT

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A NEW NUSACH FOR THE SHALOSH REGALIM

One of the maxims of Max Wohlberg which I have carried with me
since my days as his student at the Cantors Institute is that Ashkenazic
Nusach is characterized, even defined, by the richness of its variety.
Living by this standard, our liturgical year is a rich tapestry, a cyclical
mandala in time, made of the melos of weekday morning, evening,
Shabbat evening, morning and mincha, Shalosh Regalim evening and
morning, Hallei, Rosh Hashanah evening and morning, and Musaf Yom
Kippur in all its complexity, plus "special events" likeTaf-Geshem and
Simchat Torah. To any Hazzan or informed layperson this is familiar.
When we walk intos/iu/, the very melody tells us immediately what part
of what day of the worship it is. There is a delicious fragrance (did
someone say refach hanicho'ach?) to the appropriate nusach sensitively
used in service of the liturgical text. This marriage of text and chant is the
vehicle for theprocess we call Tefilah, day in, day out, through the spiritual
and calendar year.

There is a curious exception to the variety of the Nusach cycle. (Max
has been known to say, "Nusach is like specialized furniture: is there
anyone who would sensibly put his bedroom furniture in the dining
room?") On Shalosh Regalim mornings, fromB'fi Y'sharim through Ga'a/
Yisrael, the Ashkenazic minhag is to use Shabbat morning nusach This
is arguably an improvement over the idea of using weekday nusach for
the same service. There is, after all, considerable linkage, both liturgically
and in home observance, between Shabbat and the other Holy Days. On the
other hand, ever since I was sensitized to the issues of variety and
appropriateness of nusach, I have felt that something has been missing
from the musical palette. Here is a major unit of the traditional service, the
entire Sh' rmuvir choteha for Shalosh Regalim (plus more if we include B'fi
Y'sharim) which does not enjoy its own nusach! This may not be a
significant problem for some, but frankly it has struck me as an anomaly
in the tradition. As Hazzan , I am in a sense defined by nusach. I stand for
nusach: we areinseparable. Therefore, I set out several years ago to design
a new nusach for this part of the Shalosh Regalim which, while grounded
in traditional modality, would have its own clear character. 1 give my
profound thanks to Hazzan Max Wohlberg, who has advised me a number
of times in the course of this project.

JACK KESSLER is Hazzan of TempleSholom in Philadelphia, Pennsylva

Scale

Whereas the Shochen Adnusach on Shabbat is based a minor scale of two
conjunctive tetrachords (common tone on the fourth), this nusach is a
combination of two Dorian scales, the first beginning on the tonic and the
second on the fifth:

The minor-scale commonality implies some similarity toShochen Ad.
However, whereas on Shabbat the use of the raised sixth is occasional and
for dramatic effect., its use in this nusach is regular and therefore integral
to the unique character of the chant. Several notable features of this scale
are the diminished fifth between the third and sixth tones, the major ninth
between the tonic and supertonic above the octave (which functions
regularly as the fifth of the fifth) and the minor ninth between the third and
tenth tones. All these are sources of harmonic tension which can be
creatively explored by theHazzan.

M otifs

As this is the Shalosh Regalim, the motivic palette is drawn substantially
from Hallel, with some connection to Amidah nusach. The basic building
blocks are units of thuds with some runs in fifths.

Note that the tonic and fifth are constantly emphasized, with a conspicuous
de-emphasis of the fourth, whose use is so typical on Shabbat. The closing
motif is typical of Hallel.

The motif which is the standard closing motif in Amidah nusach is used
occasionally (e.g. to end Mi Chamocha), but not as a primary ending for

khatimot, and the harmonic implication is different from that of the
Amidah.

In actual use, the Hazzan begins on thetonic and gradually moves to
the second tone center, on the fifth. The mid-part of a section of text
typically remains focused on the fifth and only at closing cadences back to
the tonic. Several important features of the nusach are:

. The scale is an extended version of material which is already familiar
to the nusach-knowledgeable ear.

.The motivic patterns are thoroughly grounded in traditional
Ashkenazic Shalosh Regalim nusach, albeit with different harmonic
implications and dramatic effect.

.Notwithstanding the above, the nusach has its own character, enabling
the listener to distinguish it from other nuschaot.

.By virtue of the interrelationships of the scale tones, using the motivic
material available, the Hazzan is provided with a working medium that
contains simple melodic units with which congregants can daven along, as
well as a rich potential for interpretive Hazzanut. My complete setting for
this liturgy includes, incidentally, a number of both simple and, as ossia,
complex settings of texts. The adventurous may wish to explore the nssia
for Kedushah which at one point employs the original scale in inversion.
I suppose the ultimate test is ins/iu/. I confess I have been using the
new nusach for several years, developing it as I went along. The small but
significant group of real daveners in my Synagogue seem completely
comfortable at tbis point with the nusach. It is very satisfying to hear these
people davening along with me, and responding appropriately, all the
while using this music which has come through me.

The fact is, the Sbalosh Regalim in this era need all the help they can
get. What we all need, what our Yiddishkeit and our synagogues need, is
the "sense of special," which is strengthened by beauty and variety in
worship. I hope this nusach will contribute to the growth ofthat feeling.

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