Journal
of
Synagogue
Music
July/Dec. 1992 . Tammuz 5752/Tevet 5753 . Vol. XXII . No. 1-2
From the Editor
Articles:
Recollections and Reflections
Max Wohlberg,
Affectionate Reminiscences
An Analysis of Three Unaccompanied
Recitatives of Max Wohlberg
Some Reflections on Two Genres
of Berakhah
Aspects of Jewish Music in
Contemporary Britain
Evening Bar'chu for Shalosh Regalim:
Will the Real Nusah Please Stand Up?
Ta'amey Hamikra: A Closer Look
Jack Chomsky 3
Max Wohlberg 5
Rabbi Morton M. Leifman 9
Charles Davidson 24
Saul P. Wachs 33
Alexander Knapp 53
Brian Mayer 62
Joshua ft Jacobson 76
Review Section:
Evening, Morn & Noon
The Sacred Music of Jack Gottlieb
Shaarei Shabbat/Musical Mazel Tov
Nishmat AddPf)
Robert S. Scherr 91
Shimon Gerwitz 92
Judith K. Eisenstein 94
Music Section:
Mi Shebeirach by Max Wohlberg
Hashkivenu
Amar Rabi Yosei by Max Wohlberg
air. by J oseph Ness 97
Boaz Tarsi 1 4
arr by Daniel Katz 1 1 o
FROM THE EDITOR
I am proud to present this very special double issue of the Journal of
Synagogue Music, a "Festschrift" in honor of the 85th birthday of Hazzan
Max Wohlberg, the greatest contemporary teacher of hazzanim. Max has
served as an inspiration to several generations of hazzanim. His personal
style, his warmth and caring and his tremendous patience for his students,
his modesty and his strength of character have pointed the way for
hundreds of students.
This issue was made possible in part through the efforts of members
of the Cantors Institute Alumni Association, who conceived the idea and
arranged for several of the articles which appear herein. I am particularly
grateful to Erica Lippitz and Brian Mayer for their efforts.
We have chosen to honor Hazzan Wohlberg more through study than
through a testimonial. Readers will no doubt enjoy Max's own
"Recollections and Reflections" and Rabbi Morton Leifman's "Affection-
ate Reminiscences," found in the opening pages of this edition. Yet the
bulk of the issue focuses on broader subjects.
Charles Davidson's contribution analyzes three unaccompanied
recitatives by Hazzan Wohlberg, each representing a different stage in
Wohlberg 's style and development. One of these recitatives is also
included in the music section in the form of an arrangement with accom-
paniment by Joseph Ness.
"Some Reflections on Two Genres of Berakhah" by Saul Wachs is
adapted from a lecture given at the memorable 85th birthday celebration
for Hazzan Wohlberg at the Jewish Theological Seminary, an event which
was also arranged by the Cantors Institute Alumni Association. This event
included a concert of Hazzan Wohlberg' s compositions and the dedication
of a beautiful portrait of Hazzan Wohlberg, the first portrait of a Hazzan
to grace the walls of the Seminary.
"Aspects of Jewish Music in Contemporary Britain" by Alexander
Knapp is reprinted from the Proceedings OT the Second British-Swedish
Conference on Musicology: Ethnomusicology. This 377-page volume
includes almost 100 pages of articles specifically on Jewish subjects. It is
available from Dr. Ann Buckley and Paul Nixon (Editors), Darwin
College, Silver Street, Cambridge, CB39EU, UK. The price isE27.
Brian Mayer's examination of the Nusah for Bar' chu in the evening
service on Shalosh Regalim gives a close-up view of what sort of choices
Hazzan Wohlberg has needed to make in order to unify and simplify ideas
about nusah. After reading his account, you may be inspired to examine
original sources more closely.
Joshua Jacobson's examination of Ta'amey Hamikra has implications
both for the rendering of tefilot and the proper cantillation of all biblical
text, This article too should encourage further study.
Our Review Section includes an examination of various recent
recordings, and the Music Section has three works: Joseph Ness'arrange-
ment of Max Wohlberg's Mi Sheb&rach, Boaz Tarsi's original setting of
Hashkivenu, and Daniel Katz's arrangement of Max Wohlberg's Amar
Rabi Yosei.
Below you will find a reproduction of the table of contents of the June
1977 edition of the Journal of Synagogue M usic, an issue dedicated to the
70th birthday of Max Wohlberg. This makes us hope and wonder what the
Journal will look like in the summer of 2007, which will mark the 100th
anniversary of the birthday of the honoree!
■Jack Chomsky
J O U R N A L
OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC
JUNE 1977 TAMUZ5737
VOLUME VI I
NUMBER 3
This issue is dedicated to the
70th Birthday Celebration of
Hazzan Max Wohlberg
CONTENTS
HASNNITTIN Transition Max Wohlbrrg 5
The Emerging Image Of The
CONSERVATIVE CANTOR Max Wohlberg 17
Max WOHLBERG A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
AND Preliminary Bibliography Joseph Price 21
Max WOHLBERG:
A SON'S APPRECIATION Rabbi Jeffrey A Wohlberg 20
MAX WOHLBERG. A RABBI'S CANTOR Rabbi Theodore Steinberg 31
A TRIBUTE To HAZZAN Max WOHLBERG Grrshon Ephros 32
MAX WOHLBERG. A Personal Memoir Rabbi Morton Leifman 33
Max WOHLBERG. A TRIBUTE Rabbi David C Kogrn 35
Greeti Ngs To Max WOHLBERG Dr. Hugo Weisgall and
Albert Weisser 36
Max WOHLBERG:
4 BROTHERS TRIBUTE Rabbi Dr Harry I Wohlberg 31
HAZZAN MQCWOHLBERG:
SERVANT OF THE COMMUNITY Dr Shimon Frost 38
The Right KIND Of Prayers Rabbi Samuel Chiel 39
Mitzvah AND BEAUTY Dr. Gerson D Cohen 43
MUSIC SECTION
A Sampling Of
Max WOHLBERG'S CRAFTSMANSHIP ANDTALENT 46
RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS
MAX WOHLBERG
Recently The New York Times published an interview with an old
Yiddish actor, Feivish Finkel, who recalled and, with nostalgic musings,
described the vital and vibrant Jewish East Side of New York of a half
century ago. My first encounter with the East Side took place on the very
first day I arrived here. However, a brief prefatory story is essential.
Being the last member of my family left in Europe, while still
a student in the Yeshiva in Szatmar, I received in due course a
ticket for the Cunard Line to travel to the United States on one of
their ships. These ships left from Cherbourg, France. I therefore
packed all of my belongings into a modest-sized suitcase and
leisurely wound my way to Paris.
On the day after my arrival there I stopped into a restaurant
where at the very next table, I heard some people conversing in
Hungarian. I could not resist and introduced myself to them.
They consisted of a young man with his mother and two young
ladies, who were sisters. What they had in common were
reservations for the Acquitania (Cunard Line) which was sched-
uled to leave from Cherbourg on the following afternoon.
Although I had not as yet stopped at the Cunard office for a
confirmed reservation, I decided to join this group and hope for
the best. We traveled to Cherbourg andboarded the tender which
took us to the ship. Throughout this trip, wherever it was
necessary, the young man in our group and one of the sisters held
up the tickets and passes and I humbly walked behind them, both
hands occupied.
On the ship we were directed to the office of the chief
steward, who was to assign cabins. Here I parted with my friends
and found an innocuous comer where I tried to relax, and waited
till the tender left the ship and headed for the shore. Then I headed
for the office of the steward. The office was already closed. It
took a few minutes to locate the steward, who looked at me with
wonder, disbelief and annoyance. Too late to return me to shore,
M AX WOH L B E RG is Nathan Cummin gs Professor of Hazzanut at the Jewish
Theological Seminary.
he reopened his office, looked through his records and found an
unoccupied upper birth in the cabin of an understandably upset
Rumanian gentleman.
After a pleasant journey, our ship arrived in New York in the
late afternoon of a Friday. Having failed to notify my family,
who lived on the East Side, of my travel plans, I was puzzled as
to how I would manage to locate their residence and, since it is
already Shabos, how I would get there. Fortunately, Providence
was gracious and helpful. Aboard ship, traveling with me, was
a distinguished looking, bearded gentleman who was met here
by his nephew. I showed him the address of my family and he
informed me that he and his uncle would be walking to their
home, which was two blocks beyond the residence of my family.
We checked our luggage and started walking. The ship
docked on the west side of Manhattan and we had to cross the
width of Manhattan to reach East 9th Street, near Avenue C. The
walk, taking more than an hour, was most impressive. The cold,
warehouse and factory-filled west side was followed by excit-
ing, busy Broadway and elegant residential 5th Avenue. Cross-
ing Madison Avenue, we glanced up to the noisy, rambling
elevated lines and made our acquaintance with the East Side.
Gradually we seemed to be seeing more and more of our own
people, some of whom, we guessed, might be returning home
from the Synagogue. In any event, we felt at home on our first
Shabbat here.
Reaching the home of my family, my guide and I walked up
one flight and knocked on the door of their apartment. As the
door opened, I heard my mother call out "perhaps a telegram
from Moshe." "No," I answered, "Moshe himself."
I spent the following years getting to know America through the lens
of the East Side. I managed to get acquainted with the intricacies of the
English language while I attended the Herzliah Teacher's Seminary.
Tuesday evenings I spent at the Educational Alliance on East Broadway
listening to a lecture sermon by the World-renowned Zwi Hirsh
Maslianasky. On Tuesday mornings the Yiddish newspapers announced
"Masliansky Yedabeir."
In those days there were a number of daily Yiddish newspapers
appearing in New York: the Forward, Morgen Journal, Tageblatt,
Wahrheit, Fr&h&t andDer Tog. The latter became my favorite and I read
it until its last day. Its daily columnist B.Z. Goldberg who, incidentally,
was a son-in-law of Sholom Aleichem, succeeded in tackling an endless
number of subjects with skill and competence. Of these newspapers, only
the Forward survived. It now appears as a bi-lingual weekly.
Next to the Forward building was the music store of Joseph Katz. It
was there that I learned of the various facets of Jewish Music; Folk,
Theater, art, cantorial, Hassidic, choral, instrumental and Nusach. Here
began my serious study of every aspect of Jewish music and the reading
of the vast multi-lingual literature relating to it.
Shortly thereafter, the store of Katz closed and Henry Lefkowitz
opened the Metro Music Co. on Second Avenue near 4th Street. Joining
the regular, almost daily group of its visitors, customers and kibbitzers, I
met such musicians as Rumshinsky, Secunda, Zilberts, his brother Mark
Silver, Abe Ellstein (his brother was for a while my accompanist) and
Kotylansky. Later Lefkowitz published two of my Yiddish songs, for
which I also wrote the text.
As by that time I had decided to enter the cantorate, I visited a large
number of Synagogues that flourished on the East Side. Congregation Eitz
Chayim on Avenue C engaged me for Shevuoth and sold tickets for
admission. And I finally wound my way to Second Avenue and Houston
Street, the headquarters of the Chazanirn Ferband, the national organi-
zation of Cantors, where I applied for membership. Since I was an
unknown young foreigner, Cantor Joshua Weisser was asked to interview
me. After a short but interesting conversation, he enthusiastically spon-
sored my admission.
Besides Weisser, with whom I established a lasting friendship, I was
privileged to get to know a number of most interesting personalities. Since
I was rapidly appointed to the Board of Directors and for many years
served as (Yiddish) recording secretary, hardly anyone escaped my notice.
Among the older members were Meisels (predecessor of Rosenblatt),
Zeidel Rovner, A.L.Rutman, Greenspan (Sholom Ananever) and Arele
Blum, who practically in minutes (for modest remuneration) would supply
you with a needed recitative. I should also include here A. Singer, whose
Zochr&nu L 'chayim - actually the refrain of one of his popular Yiddish
songs — is sung all over.
Among the musically or intellectually creative men I got to know were
Ephros, Yassinowsky, Zaludkowsky, Beimel, Wasilkovsky, Semiatin and
Rappaport. Representing the Conservative wing were A. Katchko, J.
Schwartz and D. Putterman.
The so-called stars included such names as Rosenblatt, Kwartin,
Roitman, Hershman, S.M. Steinberg, Kapov-Kagan, Pinchik, Glantz, the
Kusevitzkys, followed by Vigoda and Ganchoff. There were, of course,
many more who, while possessing beautiful voices, preferred to stay out
of the limelight. A perfect example of the latter was Sauler (father of
Gaynaand father-in-law Of Cantor Robert Kieval), cantor for many years
Of Brooklyn Jewish Center.
While I maintained friendly relations with Kwartin, Glantz, Weisser,
Ephros and others, it was Putterman who most influenced the fiiture of my
career. Our discussions regading the Future of the American cantorate and
the need for a school to train cantors resulted in our meeting with Dr. Cyrus
Adler, then Chancellor Of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and with his
successor Dr. Louis Finkelstein. Some 4 1 years ago our efforts bore fruit
and the Cantors Institute was bom.
Since I became associated with the C.I. from its very beginning there
was one unvarying principle that guided all my decisions concerning the
training of Cantors and the results we sought to achieve. A professional
cantor, I always maintained, must be a religious Jew who is a master of our
liturgy; one who is acompetent musician and possesses a pleasant voice,
one who is at home in our traditional literature and knowledgeable in
secular culture; one to whom congregants can turn with confidence with
their questions and problems.
To aSSISt Ifl the achievement of this goal, I compiled a comprehensive
list called Basic Library of A Hazzan and presented it to our students. The
four-page list covers twelve areas: Prayer Books, Liturgy, Dinim
Uminhagim, Synagogue Music-Nusach, Cantor and Choir, Recitatives,
Congregational singing, Collections (Songsters), Zemirot, Israeli songs,
For Younger Children and Literature and Musicology.
While this list may appear to be all-inclusive, I obviously omitted such
items as Sephatdi, ladro, Yiddish folk and art songs and secular music.
I simply relied on other members of our excellent faculty to cover other
areas.
As I contemplate the nature of our profession and note the changes that
affected it during the past six decades I persist in maintaining that we
continue to hold high the criteria of competence and mastery and aim for
perfection.
MAX WOHLBERG, AFFECTIONATE
REMINISCENCES
rabbi Morton M. LEIFMAN
The warm friendship that I have enjoyed with Hazzan Max Wohlberg
extends for about fifty years, going back to my adolescence in Minneapo-
lis, Minnesota, where Hazzan Wohlberg served at Beth El Synagogue, a
congregation that had developed, over the years, a fine musical tradition,
and where a well-trained twenty voice mixed volunteer choir sang on
Shabbat evenings and on the Yamim Nora'im. The previous hazzan had
grown up in Ohio and had been a student of Paul Discount, a cantor and
composer still familiar to many in the Jewish music world. The choir sang
a great deal of Discount's music. Being a still raw, not very sophisticated
youngest member of the choir, I was sure that Discount was at least a peer
of Mozart and of Bach. And then Wohlberg came to Beth El and
introduced us to Lewandowski, and then to Naumbourg, and very soon to
Sulzer. The service changed, and so did our musical liturgical tastes. I still
have a soft spot for Discount, but learned early enough that there were
other even more remarkable Jewish voices, and that the ruah hakodesh
extended its gifts to non- Jewish composers as well, sometimes in great
measure indeed.
But aside from liturgical music, Hazzan Wohlberg exposed our choir
to a full range of Jewish music experiences. We were introduced to
Yiddish and Hebrew art songs, to the cultural flowering of East European
music. We learned songs that had Hebrew and Russian words intertwined
in the same sentence. We were introduced to the newly reborn Hebrew
language through dozens of Hebrew songs. Without knowing it, we were
learning some aspects of modem Jewish history at the same time we were
being exposed to a splendid repertoire of secular and liturgical music.
I have written in this periodical on previous occasions of the private
hours that Hazzan Wohlberg spent with me when I was an ambitious
fifteen-year old. For about four months, we would meet two hours a day
for five days a week studying nusah for the Yamin Nora'im, and I was able
to officiate as the hazzan at the overflow service. The following year
Hazzan Wohlberg decided that I should have a choir helping me, and he
RABBI MORTON M. LEIFMAN is Dean of the Cantors Institute of The Jewish
Theological Seminary. These remarks are adaptedrom an address at a Convo-
cation held at the Seminary in Marchl992.
10
prepared a dozen settings— two part music - for a group that he trained
while I watched and learned how to conduct.
All of Hazzan Wohlberg's students have benefited from his
Weltanschaung as it is expressed in every aspect of his life. Btstof all, he
is at home and in love with everything Jewish; the Hebrew language and
its grammar, the Tanakh, the Talmud, Jewish history, general music,
Jewish folk music, the MiSinai tunes, nusah, biblical cantillation and its
grammar, the modern repertoire of liturgical and general Jewish music. He
exudes enthusiasm, and is able to do that in a quiet, dignified loving way.
He is critical in a quiet, often humorous dignified way. There are never
conscious insults to fellow faculty members. There is compassion -
sometimes almost to a fault. There is ahavat Yisrael and ahavaf hagriot
He always has anumber of legitimate questions about the music that he is
teaching: Is it authentic? Is it in good taste? Is it singable? Where does
it come from?"
He has an overwhelming sense of responsibility toward the tradition.
If apiyut is no longer chanted in most congregations and has a traditional
melody, then perhaps we can "redeem" the melody. Let's see where else
the melody can be used. If the piyut is temporarily "out of work," learn it
anyway; a hazzan should know it. Who knows, the poem may yet be
resurrected. One should believe in tWathametim for a good poem as well
as for a good melody.
Wohlberg has a number of other loves. His family, of course. Seeing
him in March at the Seminary convocation at which his son Jeffrey
received an honorary doctorate brought tears to many eyes. Cantor
Wohlberg presented his son to the chancellor saying, "B'ni bhori, yehidi,
yakiri" His love and concern for his grandchildren, for his daughter-in-
law, for his siblings and for his nephews and nieces is beautiful, natural,
sweet.
One must mention Cantor Wohlberg's humor, of course. He is a
master of many genres of humor as well as the psychology ofiumor. He
is also a master raconteur whose stories delight and entertain.
Of course, his love for his students is an important priority in his life.
His concern is always far their development as musicians, as scholars, as
Jews, as people, as representatives of the cantorial tradition and as shfihey
tsibbur -representatives of the congregations to the Almighty. He cares
and it shows.
He has taught at the Cantors Institute every semester for over forty
years. His devotion to teaching has been extraordinary. He now commutes
to New York from Philadelphia for two full days a week, sleeping over on
a hard dormitory bed and changing trains in Trenton in order to save the
Seminary a few dollars in travel costs, this shortly after undergoing major
11
surgery. Hisapproach tothetraining of the hazzancombines tradition with
modernity. Perhaps the following story is pertinent.
A young Seminary professor of Talmud was visiting a Yeshivah
in B'nai Brak. He happened on two youngsters studying a very
complicated Talmudic inyan. It was obvious that the youngsters
didn't understand a great deal of what was going on in the text.
The American professor sat down with them and carefully
explained the problems that the chapter was dealing with and
what the youngsters were misinterpreting. One of the young
men ran to his rosh yeshiva and informed him that a man with a
thick American accent was sitting in the bet midrash and had
taught a very difficult section of Gema rah to him and to his study
partner and had clarified a number of issues. The Israeli rabbi
came to the Bet M idrash room and asked the professor who he
was and where he was from. The young Talmudist explained
that he was from The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York
and taught Talmud there. The rabbi said that he had never heard
of that institution and asked for a description of the students who
studied there. He was answered that The Jewish Theological
Seminary trains rabbis, teachers and cantors. "Cantors", said the
rabbi. "Where on earth does your institution find teachers who
can train cantors?" "Oh," said the young professor, "We search
for and find men who know nusah and others who can teach
students how to read musical notes and these people teach
prospective hazzanim." "WTien I said 'finding teachers of
cantors' I was referring to searching for people who could teach
students the proper kavano t — what to feel in their hearts and in
their minds when they chant the sacred prayers, and you mean
people who teach young men how to read little black dots on
white papers. You are not producing cantors: Who needs
musical notes? We need properfcuvum/h."
Cantor Max Wohlberg has devoted his teaching career to making sure
that his students are learning that praying is not just performing. Wohlberg
knows about kuvunuh. He also knows that the hazzan must combine the
emotional and the religious with a knowledge of those little black dots on
that white paper. For in truth, Hazzan Wohlberg is the quintessential
Conservative cantor, responding to the sacred ancient texts in all of its
magnificence and to the modem methods of learning, preserving and
adding to the wealth of the Jewish experience. Kavanah and culture, the
12
notes, the words, the heart and the mind — all are in his legitimate
provenance, and all are what he has communicated to generations of
superbly prepared hazzanim. The entire Jewish community has gained
from his life and we are all in his debt. His life has been and continues to
be, a great blessing.
13
AN ANALYSIS OF THREE UNACCOMPANIED
RECITATIVES OF MAX WOHLBERG
Mi Shebeirach, 1950.
Mizmor L' David, 1950.
Ethics of the Fathers (6:2), 1982.
ChArles Davidson
In the area of the unaccompanied recitative, Max Wohlberg has made
a real and lasting contribution to Jewish Music. In his other works he is
faced with the requirements of harmonization, the construction of accom-
paniments or the writing of contrapuntal lines. However, in the
unaccompanied recitative he is free to use his natural melodic talent,
unencumbered by other concerns. In the unaccompanied recitative his
informed imagination is restricted only by limitations of voice and text.
The three settings which have been chosen for study are representa-
tive of three stylistic periods: 1) an extension of the east European
tradition (Mi Shebeiruch); 2) a modernization of that tradition (Mizmor
L'David); 3) a contemporary neoclassicism (Amar flab/ Y' hoshua, Ethics
of the Fathers 6:2). Each of the three recitatives will be analyzed
separately.
Mi Shebeiruch ( Example la) is a modernized version (1950) of the
old-style, melismatic recitative. The excessive coloratura which marked
representative selections of the period has here been reduced to a mini-
mum, leaving just enough ornamentation to be vocally challenging. There
is a grand and majestic character to the piece marked by graceful and
extended phrases. The structure is clearly evident: G minor opening
phrase (measures 1-6) followed by shifts in tonality from G minor to
DorianonG(measure 1 1) to Ukrainian-Dorian (measures 15-16)andback
to g minor for section A. Section B begins with an Ukrainian-Dorian
motive traditionally identified with the text at measures 20-26 and then
moves again to the Dorian on G (measures 23-24). After a brief excursion
through Ukrainian-Dorian (measures 25-26), Dorian on G (measures 27-
28), and back to Ukrainian-Dorian (measure 39), the section closed in G
minor (measure 30). Section C offers a congregational melody in G minor
CHARLES DAVIDSON is the Hazzan of Adat Jeshurun Congregation of Elkins
Park, Pennsylvania, Instructor in Hazzanut at the Jewish Theological Seminary,
and a prominent and accomplished composer.
14
(measures 32-39) and then continues in what is obviously a hazzanic
section in the relative Major (measures 40-41) A return to Ukrainian-
Dorian (measure 42) precedes a brief episode in the harmonic minor of G
(measure 44). A long G minor phrase, concluding in B flat Major
(measures 46-49), follows. An extensive pre-concluding phrase (mea-
sures 51-53) sets the stage for a typically bravura ending in G minor.
Because of a more than passing use of the Dorian mode in this
recitative Wohlberg's employment of the Dorian will be considered as
idiosyncratic. Of interest is the composer's occasional change of the
highest tone in phrases which arerepeated. This has been observed in other
examples as well. In Mi Shebeiruch the composer moves to a higher note
on the repetitions in measures 23-24, 27-28, 43-44. Because of the
consistency of its use here, this movement is designated as "Higher Note
in Repetition." A tendency to move melodically from one tonality to
another before the end of a phrase is also observed in this selection. In
addition, a new tropal motive is recognized in the last measure: T'vir of
M'gillat Esther. (See Example lb).
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17
Although Mizmor L 'Da vid was written in the same year as Mi
Shebeiruch, the two pieces are quite dissimilar in style, even when taking
the differences in text into consideration. The abundant melisma of Ml
Shebeiruc h gives way to the subdued, melodic statements, pristine in their
simplicity and clarity of expression, in Mizmor L'David. Mi Sheb&ruch
is filled with the sort of vocal ornamentation that was the hallmark of a
previous generation; Mizmor I' David in contrast, is spartan-like in its use
of notes. When Wohlberg's recitatives composed before the 1930's are
compared with those that follow, the general difference in styles is marked.
Mizmor I' David is a pivotal composition, marking Wohlberg's change of
style in the composition of recitatives; from the typically florid hazzanic
showpiece of the early Twentieth century to works that employ much less
melismata and vocal acrobatics.
Regarding tessitura in this setting, most of the vocal lines are con-
tained within the range of a triad. The writing is economical and strives
to be text-interpretive. The music of this setting of the Twenty-Third
Psalm is evocative of trust andhope rather than of darkness and morbidity.
The piece begins and ends with Wohlberg's characteristidTsraeli-
sounding motive," incorporating lowered 7th scale degrees. The second
half of the opening theme (I, last two beats: 3, P, G # , P) finds its answer
in IV (last four beats: C, B, A, C*, B, B) and in X (last four beats: A, B,
C # , A, B) as well as in XI (the firs three beats: B,C*, A) thus neatly binding
the whole structure together. Particular attention is paid to the four notes
which make-up the second half of the opening theme in their slow descent
to a cadence from the second scale step to the tonic (G* to P). This descent
is mirrored at the end of III, at the end of V and at the end of XII, drawing
even tighter the thematic draw-strings of the work. Mention must be made
of the intricate and yet simple multiple-modulations in the piece. Be-
ginning in F 1 the melody progresses naturally to B flat minor at II: a return
to F 1 minor leads quickly to E Major (III) and back again to B flat minor
(IV). A sudden excursion into the Ukrainian-Dorian Mode on P is evident
at V with a return to P minor at VI. Ahuvuh Rubbuh is forcefully an-
nounced at VII turning back to the Ukrainian-Dorian onP at VIII. A
dramatic change to E Major takes place at X but without any sense of
interruption in melodic continuity. It is followed by a leisurely return to
P minor and a conclusion much in consonance with the calm and tranquil
opening statement.
The introduction of a new tropal configuration is found in lll.Pushtu
of the Haftarah (see Example 2b).
18
Example 2a.
PS.23
(r-r)
I
y ;■ j v f»
n in i l
-_i i
-* — 1 *
••j -y
T' i ! ' P
r ; r I
rT\ J
DE=_^
n
"3« tiil-Mv
1 il^R-Hyl'Ipxr p—V —
V r f p : r-jtf j j?tc^m
d;
M*^? .
air
gE=?=F=
J J J
v n
f J- ^n
* * ,
h^ M ^ yL** ^ h* -v*u>-«i
V j. n J
7 ujSl/aE —
• <j*4. tx^-r'-rAV
n
5V*- Vn«rx fO-SK
X T
Kt-St r'« v* - y*
T=P=^
=F
* « n~
trw v* *y-5«/-/'V-^--fu.A\ u\f-*c h*-y*/
19
PH
m
-^
ir^ft) 3
£
=en
7 -sUv-ti _ b J ve"t f\-<h>. r\*a I s -
;*£
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Example 2b.
MoUS C^spofrJ)
?*M*
Amar Rabi Y'hoshua (PirkeiAvot 6:2) is an amalgam of Wohlberg's
most recent neo-classical style with several brief passages of restrained
coloratura; the resulting recitative combines one aspect of his earlier style
with a vocal line in consonance with those of his most recent compositions.
He begins with a short upward-moving statement incorporating the
lowered 7th scale step (I) at its conclusion. Extending to the fifth scale
degree with two trumpet-like announcements, the sudden entries of B
natural and D natural (III) add the colors of Ukrainian-Dorian to the F
minor tonality. The complaint, "Woe to the people for their disregard of
the Torah" is succinctly captured with a descending line reaching down-
ward from Db (III) through the Ukrainian-Dorian. A delicately placed
(and unexpected) lowered 2nd scale step falling from Gb to E natural to F
at the end of the phrase, adds a sudden touch of exotic coloration. The slow,
repeated triplets of descending 5th and 4th scale degrees with the rocking
motion inherent in their triplet form (to the test: "shekel mi she-eino oseik
batorah") captures the motion of the student at Talmudic study (IV). An
excursion from F minor to C minor is achieved through use of a "Kol Nidrei
motive" (IV) which extends in a tasteful melisma. The barnyard homily
of "nezem zahav b'af ' hazir, ishah yafah v'sarat fa' am (V) is stated through
a short series of descending thirds (G diminished to F minor).
20
A vocal leap from the seventh scale-step to the third gives rise to a short
hazzanic flourish on the relative Major (VII), with the announcement,
v'omer. Two higher-ascending phrases, reaching toward heaven, strive to
proclaim the Divine authorship of the mikhtav elohim. The admonition to
interpret "engraved" (harut) as"freedom" (heirut) is declaimed in a
gracefully extended line which wends its way from Ab Major back to F
minor (IX-XII). The immediate association of the wisdom textshe'efn
/' kha ben horin (last phrase of X) with a graphic representation of prayers
in free ascent is accomplished through the musical quotation of Neilah's
Enkat M'saldekha, (hereinafter, ENKAT). The interpretive use of this
motive to provide a pictorial illumination is strikingly insightful. It is in
such instances that one is aware of Wohlberg's informed inspiration in his
ability to interpret text and to promote liturgical association through the
use of selected motives. This is also in evidence in the recapitulation of the
she-eino oseik ba-Torah motive as the triplet figure appears again on the
text ml she-os&k: (last phrase of IX). The pentateuchal zarka confirms the
study admonition on the testb Talmud Torah (XIII). A simple high ending,
far removed from the bravura ending of Mi Shebeirach, concludes the
recitative.
Example 3 a.
i
p^r g r^#gp
t=Sz
m
ffiNff
ES
t
'' t' r t
frr i v r
I
fM va- yrv\ bttttf y^txtft **i-k** Ija.fli/, u.-^*ilK.
ra
£e£
S^B
<~<- act vi'fi-r^e-rct" oy U- h€«* Ub-r. -ydt ^d*
Rg?.)
re
s
*a
-» — 5- - • r -/Kf^
c - r**r; h<r-z.cm aa> -
21
m
&$
&E
r iv '' c
■ ,f j^rrvi
* <
to fTv. ^^fr^rj; f ^
Ss
m*lf ^=
gfe
hA-lw- hit ***-*-
^
£
I'rV f
^
WEl
r g. r i*
ss
rfaWq^ ) 1
fu.*t
=s — === &BS ■ i - ^ ]
il_ Kvlu- K»t *< +fc-r* K*-
rut d- U K<i'-riA± Ske-ein I - |0,a —
s
I
I.Fl ii= r
S
S
5
» ^ [. ft T^pT[ite E
fe=B
^^
£
f ^
^ ■.,._,,» — - — * «.» - i ^ ' — ■— » ■■■■ ■ ■■ — - ■
<he- -S«i|c k'fck.1- *n«*A -to - r*.U , Kv-rei i*^
I
»
^p
^
f*^»*fl,
Example 3b.
fe
%
^^
£
^
=**£
£n-K»6 W«' 5X1 - /' - ck- ctv-
22
As a composer of recitative, Wohlberg is most accurately character-
ized as a melodist, sensitive to the interpretive nuances inherent in
liturgical texts; he is a musical extensor of the exegetic process.
Wohlberg' s most distinctive musical contribution does lie inthe area of the
unaccompanied recitative, particularly the recitatives of his later period.
These are noteworthy for their interpretive character, economy of means,
bold and unexpected modulations, adherence to his concept ofneimah,
and melodic lines which are unforced and natural. In the solo recitative,
Wohlberg has distilled the elaborateand much ornamented song-form into
one which is linear and restrained.
Generally, Wohlberg' s compositions have astampof authenticity that
is derived from the abundance of cantillation and synagogal motives
incorporated within them. Certain melodicles (biblical and megillah
cantillations, motives from hazzanic recitatives, synagogal kit-motifs,
phrases of Yiddish song, characteristics of Israeli folk melodies and
others) have become a part of Wohlberg 's musical vocabulary. He
acquired these musical references through his long exposure to musical
aspects of Jewish life, a state shared by many Jews of his generation. These
musical components have been reinforced through his teaching and
research. The musical quotations (or variations of the original motives)
arrive so naturally in the course of his compositions that they seem to
evolve full-blown, not having entering the conscious awareness of the
composer until their appearance. On the other hand, there are many
instances where premeditative selection seems operational. These in-
stances are where his quotation of cantillation or synagogal motives
connect the meaning of the text with the liturgical or historical implication
of the musical source.
His general style derives from the romanticism of the late Nineteenth
century. Of particular interest is his passionate pursuit of proper Hebrew
accentuation and, particularly in the recitatives, his efforts to avoid tonal
tedium.
Wohlberg' s particular fondness for triple meter is herewith noted.
This predilection seems to be shared by other synagogue composers
similarly immersed in Yiddish culture: Israel Alter (1901-1979) for
example.* Viewed in this context, Wohlberg' s attraction to triple meter
may be due to a learned linguistic trait.
*Levine, Joseph A. Emunat Abba, Vol. IV, Doctoral Dissertation, New York:
College of Jewish Music of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
1981. (3:46)
23
Through his teachings, scholarship and compositions, Max Wohlberg
has acquired a unique position in Jewish music. The contributions he has
made in those areas are his living legacy. Regarding this study of his life
and music, it is appropriate to conclude 7am V nishlam, the ancient for-
mula customarily appended to a competed masekhet. Wohlberg' s life and
works will serve as a foundation upon which others may build — Shevah
/' El borei olam.
Editor's Note See the M usic Section of this issue of the Journal for
arrangements of Hazzan Wohlberg 1 s Mi Sheb&rach (analyzed in this
article) and AmarRahUnsei (similar to AmarRabj_Y_hoshua analyzed
in this article).
24
SOME REFLECTIONS ON TWO GENRES OF
BERAKHAH
Saul P. Wachs
INTRODUCTION
In an article entitled," On the Yotzer and Related Texts'l Morton
Smith points out a number of similarities between^ irkat Yotzer Or, and
Birkat M a-ariv A ruvim. These similarities extend to style and content.
The similarities noted by Smith include the following:
a) With an occasional note of petition (judged by Smith to be, in
all probability, a gloss), the texts are pure praise.
b) The texts are not connected to the Shema in any direct way,
though they are part of Birkhot Keriat Shema.
c) The texts do not reflect the Deuteronomic message nor do they
utilize the terminology that is distinctive to the fifth book of
the Torah and related texts. 2 That theology stresses God's
special love for Israel and God's gifts of freedom, Torah and
the land of Israel. Deuteronomic prayer texts often have
strong precatory elements (Bukushot) and typically, address
God in the second person. This tendency, to address God
directly in prayer, is strengthened during the Rabbinic era.
These are the dominant characteristics of the bulk of the
public statutory liturgy. They are exemplified by Birkut
Ahuvuh Rubbuh (Ahuvut 01 am).
In contradistinction to the Deuteronomic model, Birkut
Yotzer Or and Birkut M a-ariv 'A ruvim are concerned with
creation, nature and, in particular, light and darkness.
Moreover, they are noticeably rich in language that is
not to be found in Sefer Devarim. Words like>A d (Eternity)
and such verbs as Sader, Yatzor, Gazor, Pa' er, Yuched,
Herim, Romem, H alel, Shubeuch, to mention some of the
examples, do not appear in the fifth book of the Torah, yet they
are important in these liturgical texts.
d) These texts have a strong rhythmic structure, with divisions
often indicated by rhymes.
DR. SAUL P..WACHS is Rosaline B. Feinstein Professor of and Chair of the
Education Department at Gratz College, where he also teaches liturgy.
25
Smith's thesis is strengthened by calling attention to other
differences between the two texts and other liturgical texts in the Matbea
Shel Tefillah that reflect the Rabbinic style of prayer, a style that can be
traced back to the liturgies of SderDevarim.
a) The texts under analysis show a strong preference for
addressing God in the third person. With the exception of the
Berakhah formula itself (BartkhAm*/* Adonay ), the use of
the third person predominates and Smith believes that then
occasional insertion of the second person in the context of a
petition is a gloss, not part of the earliest versions of the text.3
b) God is the sole actor in these texts or, at least, in the earliest
versions of the texts.4
C) The message of these texts is universal. We pray them as
human beings, awed by God's majesty as manifested in
divine control (Malekhut) over nature and the ongoing acts
of creation and sustenance that make life possible. This idea
is explicitly mentioned inBirkat Chazan, the first Berakhah
of Birkat ha-mazon, a text that shares many characteristics
with Birkut Yotzer Or and Birkut Ma-ariv 'Aruvim.
(j) Thetextsaretotallyorpredominantlypositivein tone. There
is little or no awareness or recognition of the darker side of
life or human nature or of the sufferings of the Jewish
people.5
e) These texts are used to begin a section of the service.
Formally, they are characterized asBerakhot of the Matbea
'Arokh type.
f) There is a strong preference for the use of present tense or
participle forms. This is particularly true for the older parts
of the texts. The theological import of this would seem to be
to emphasize the ongoing creative input of God in the world.
We can set texts such as Birkut Yotzer Or, Birkut Mu-uriv
'Aravim, and Birkut chu-zun in apposition to Birkut AhuvuhRabbahmd
Birkut Ahuvut Olam (which are more typical of the prayers in the liturgy)
and discover two rather distinctive patterns.
I will refer to the kinds of prayers that we have been analyzing as
Genre A and the more common rabbinic prayer as Genre B and contrast
them:
Genre A usually occurs at the start of a sec tion.
Genre B usually occurs in the middle or end of a section.
Genre A utilizes the Matbea 'Arokh form.
26
Genre B utilizes the form known as Berakhah ha-Semukhah le-
chavertah (Chatimah but no Petihah).
Genre A is universal in content and tone.
Genre B is concerned with the national experience.
Genre A deals withG od's Kingship in Creation and Nature.
Genre B deals with God's role as teacher, lover, and redeemer in
the context of history.
Genre A tends to favor the present tense or participle forms.
Genre B tends to utilize all tenses.
Genre A is essentially limited to positive topics.
Genre B contains positive and negative topics.
Genre A is totally or almost totally devoted to praise.
Genre B mixes praise and petition.
Genre A sometimes utilizes pleonasms. 6
Genre B does not have this characteristic.
Genre A has only one subject-God.
Genre B has more than one subject, e.g. God and Israel.
Genre A favors the third person pattern and speaks of God.
Genre B favors the second person pattern and speaks to God.
I have already noted the tendency of Genre A texts to be "starter"
texts. It is interesting to note that the opening texts of Birkhot ha-Shachar
and Pesukede-Zimrah share some (but not all) of the characteristics of
Genre A. Both Birkat Asher Yatzar and Barukh She-amar (first half) deal
with creation. Both are primarily concerned with universal, as opposed to
national, dimensions of divine activity. Both deal with praise. It would
appear then that the Shacharit and Arvit services follow the model of the
Torah, in which the universal precedes the national and in which creation
is the primal activity of God and the initial source of human awareness of
God's presence in the world. 7 Another interesting stylistic characteristic
of Birkat YofzerOr is the large number of times that the words, "El ",
"E/o him ", "Elohe " are found. The words "El " and "Elohim " represent
two different ideas in the Torah but the differences became less significant
as the Rabbis gave unique importance to the Shem Hameforash and its
more common expressed form, "Adonuy. "8 In general, the words "El"
and " Elohim" are avoided in Tannaitic texts except when a Pasuk is cited.
Yet, in these prayers they abound.9
Another formal dimension of Birkat Yotzer Or should be noted.
I refer to the unusual profusion of words containing the letter" mem." It
is true, of course, that any Hebrew text can be expected to contain words
containing a "mem." After all, that letter forms the masculine plural and
is used in the present tense for all Piel, Pual, Hifil, Hofal and Hitpoel
27
verbs. Nevertheless, I would suggest that the sheer numbers of words
containing the Iml sound in this Berakhah, is significantly larger than in
most prayers and, in some parts of the text, the levels of Mem-alliteration
and rhyming are striking. 10 The Iml sound is interesting in and of itself.
From the point of view of sound waves, it is the opposite of the/s/ or /sh/
sound. The latter has been described as "white noise." White noise is sound
that contains every possible wave length, and is usually heard as a hissing
sound. On an oscilloscope, the sound would appear as a totally chaotic
jumble with no structure whatsoever. The opposite of white noise is pure
harmonic sound. This is a hum, like the sound of a tuning fork. On an
oscilloscope, this would appear as a perfect wavy line, the epitome of order
and regularity, denoted by the letter /mem/.ll It should be pointed out that
in many meditative traditions, the Iml sound is seen as one that leads to
tranquility and inner peace. The sound itself seems to be conducive to the
harmony that one seeks in the meditative state. . ..For example, Sefer ha-
yetzirah translates the "still small voice" in which Elijah heard God (I
Kings 19:12) as a "fine humming sound." Mem is also associated with
Malkhut, kingship, which is basic to Genre A prayers.
Another common sound in Birkat YotzerOris the sound "Ah."
This is associated with breathing. It thus seems reasonable to project a
meditative side to Birkat YotzerOr, one in which the "Gibbuv," or piling
up of praises (with many repetitions of the Mem sound) may be for
purposes other than precision in language or the presentation of ideas. In
this case, the sound, the sense of ecstasy, the attempt to say what cannot
be reduced to words, may be as important as the ideas. For that is the
essence of Gibbuv. One endlessly repeats variations on the same idea
out[of the need to truly express one's admiration. Yet the feeling persists
that, with all of the repetition, one cannot adequately praise the object of
that admiration-in this case, God. This thought is explicitly voiced in the
Kaddish, (Le-ela Min Kol Birkhata Veshirata . .J and in Nishmat f'llu
Finu....Eyn Anachnu M aspikim...). Whileeach mystical group has its own
specific techniques and ideas, there is a common core to the mystical
experience and common ways of expressing that experience in words.
Birkat Yoser Or would appear to be reflective of that attempt to sense
God's presence through sound and meditation.
SUMMARY
To recapitulate the differences in genre, the theology of
Deuteronomy consists of elements which came to dominate rabbinic
prayer texts: the love of God for Israel, God's choice of the people as an
'Am Segulah, the redemption from Egypt, the gift of Torah, and the gift of
28
EreAz Yisra l el. None of these elements are to be found in Genre A texts.
They are universal, concerned with God's kingship and His creations,
They praise far more than they request Divine aid. They adore and
describe Divine power and wisdom. Moreover, if we single out the
elements of third person discourse, universalism, a concern for God as
King and Creator, the very positive outlook and the element of praise, we
can link Genre A texts to the first paragraph of Barukh She? amar, and (to
some extent), the first half of 'Alenu.
How do we explain the existence of these different styles of
prayer within the corpus of official liturgy ? Smith suggests that the
Deuteronomic style which typifies prayer texts in [the later books of the
Tunukh, the Apocryphu, Pseudepigrapha, most of the New Testament and
Jewish liturgy is not the source of what I have called Genre A. He rejects
the viewpoint, originally advanced by Elbogen, that these prayers come
from theMerkavah Mystics, the earliest known group of Jewish mystics,
whose importance has been made known to us, largely due to the work of
Gershon Scholem.12 According to Smith, Birkut Yotzer r derives from
the Qumran literature. The language and style-Pleonastic, strings of
short cola ending with words of the same grammatical form, thus
producing rhyming-is to be found in the literature of the Dead Sea sect. 13
Smith points to possible connections to Egyptian influences in these texts
but also mentions the Psalms as possible sources for the universal type of
prayer. (Genre A is similar in many ways to Psalm 104, which has been
connected by many Bible scholars to Egyptian texts.) Smith thus
concludes that by the first century C.E, if not before, the Deuteronomic
tradition of national, petitionary prayer in rhetorical prose, appealing to
the God of the fathers for benefits and referring to the national history was
flanked by a poetic literature of praise addressed to an eternal cosmic God,
who reigns in nature and who is to be praised and adored by His creatures.
Already in 1893, Kohler pointed to a possible connection be-
tween the prayers of the Anshe Ma'amad, and those of the Essenes and
between these and the mystics whostud/ed Ma'aseh Vereshit and Ma' aseh
Merkava h. U In recent years, Talmon has demonstrated the importance
of the Dead Sea group in helping to shape the future course of liturgical
prayer in Judaism. 15 More recently, Bar Ilan has analyzed the relationship
of the Yorde M erkuvuh and sections of Birkut Yotzer r ,16 All of these
groups were attuned to mysticism and this is reflected in their approach
to liturgy as well. At this time there is no consensus as to the age of the
beginnings of the Yorde M erkuvuh.
Given the role of God as sole subject or actor in Berakhot of
Genre A, it is striking that one of the unique contributions of the theology
in the scrolls of Qumran to world religion was the idea of (Monotheistic)
29
predestination. In this view God is in complete control of everything that
happens. One of the most direct indications of the strong belief in
predestination by Qumran is found in The M dnudl of Discipline, pages
three and four.
"From the God of knowledge is all that is and that is to be;
And He established all their designs before they came into
being, in a manner preconceived, according to His glorious
design, their work will be accomplished not to be changed;
in His hand are the ordinances of all and He provides for
them all their needs..." 17
The same view (with regard to nature) is reflected in thestructure
of Genre A Berakhot. InBirkhot M a'ariv 'A mm and chchZan et hsKd,
God is the sole actor in every sense of the word. The selection cited above
from the Manual of Discipline shares common thought and language with
Biirkat H azan and Birkat A sher Yatzar. In Birkat Yotzer r (as it was
expanded), there is a section in which the angels act, but they have only one
function in the liturgy and that is to praise God. In fact the constantly
repeated word "Kulldin" in this section negates the idea of individual
initiative among the angels. They are "programmed" to praise God, that is
their sole function. (In this connection, given the role of the Deuteronomic
model in affecting rabbinic liturgy, it should be noted that one of the
characteristics of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic school is the
removal of any role for angels. In general, the prophets and their disciples,
tended to denigrate if not obliterate the role of angels as active beings.) 18
How can we bridge the connections between the liturgy of the
Dead Sea sect and our own (Rabbinic) liturgy? It is possible that despite
the separatism of this group that its ideas were somehow absorbed into the
official liturgy. It seems more likely, however, that the ideas of the group
were shared by others including people who remained within the
organized community of the Pharisees and the rabbis who followed them
after 70 CE. We do not really know if the ideas (or the books that were
found in the remarkable library of Qumran) were restricted to that sect or
even created at Qumran. 19 It seems more logical to suggest that, in fact,
at least some of the ideas of the group (e.g. its universalistic emphasis),
were shared by others and that the emergent liturgy, after 70 CE. reflected
both emphases found in the two genres discussed above.
Weinfeld, in a completely different context, points out that
Universalism and Particularism are both represented in the period of the
Exile and Restoration. The universalistic trend is found, for example in
Deutero-Isaiah, while the particularistic trend is expressed in Ezra.
Weinfeld feels that the particularistic trend derives essentially from the
30
Torah which stresses the separation of Israel from the nations. Certainly
both universalism and particularism have deep roots in the Bible, and
though political, economic or social trends may have pushed one of these
emphases to a dominant position over a period of time, it seems highly
unlikely that the other was completely overwhelmed. 20
Genre A and Genre B: A Worshipper's Viewpoint
To all of this, I would add a personal reaction to the two genres.
In Genre A, God alone acts, all is positive and the human being is present,
only as observer. In reciting these texts, I find myself deeply humbled. The
message seems to be that without human activity all of the problems in the
world, misery, poverty, crime, hunger, evil and suffering do not exist;
where God alone is in full command, all is good. The message of Chapter
One of Bereshit is reviewed each day through these texts. Li ke that chapter
of the Torah, we see in Birkat Yotzer Or , Birkat Ma'ariv 'Aravim and
Birkat cha-Zan, an implied message that without human activity, all that
is distressing about the world is removed. The world is ordered and
harmonious. This idea of humility as a reaction to the contemplation of
God's creative acts is reflected strongly in theM ishneh Torah:
'"When a person contemplates His great and wondrous works and
creatures and from them obtains a glimpse of His wisdom which
is incomparable and infinite , he will straightway love Him,
praise Him, glorify Him... and when he ponders these matters, he
will recoil affrighted and realize that he is a small creature, lowly
and obscure, endowed with slight and slender intelligence,
standing in the presence of Him who is perfect in
knowledge&d so David said, 'When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers-what is man that You are mindful of
him?' " (Psalm 8:4-5) 21
Elohim ff/j (the name for God that predominates in Birkat Yotzer Or) is
manifest in the impersonal forces of nature. Human encounter with God
in nature is impersonal. The skies are distant. Nature is silent. God had a
quality of "He-anonymity." 22 Human cosmic insignifcance is exposed
through contemplation of the silent natural order, the experience of the
presence of Elohim. But if Genre A relegates the human being to the
sidelines and reinforces a sense of our limitations and our insignificance
on the cosmic level, Genre B reminds us of our dignity.We can address
God; directly (Thou). We can act and react, we are the beneficiaries of
divine attention, love and teaching. We are God's beloved and can
31
reciprocate that love through study and the practice of Mitzvot. Our dignity
emerges from the fact that God teaches us, and we can respond to the
message that is embodied in the Berk, the covenant? That message is
normative; it is a message of Torah and Mitzvot It gives us a sense of "We
consciousness," heightening our awareness of being members of a
covenantal community .24 From a worshipper's view, the two texts,
whatever their origins, induce very different views of the relationship
between God and the Jewish human being. Each complements the other,
each contributes something special to the act of prayer?
Judaism, Abraham Joshua Heschel used to say, stands or falls on
the word. Jewish prayer requires us to take words seriously. Attention to
ideas, placement of prayers, sounds and genres can increase our ability to
empathize with the authors of the prayertexts and thus achieve Kavanah
in prayer. Jewish prayer is, in Eric Werner's term, "Logogenic." The
word is central to the act of prayer. A great Hazzan, as Dr. Heschel used
to point out, is one who can help the worshipper to see a new nuance, a
different shade of meaning in the familiar words of the Siddur. This is the
crucial difference between the Hazzan and a singer. There can be no
recovery of the art of prayer, said Heschel, without a sense of the dignity
of words. To restore that sense of dignity is a worthy task for the person
who would act ^Sheliach Tzibbur for the Holy Congregation of Israel.
Notes
Morton Smith "On the Yoser and Related Texts", The Synagogue in Late
Antiquity, Ed. Lee I. Levine, Philadelphia: The Jewish Theological Seminary
of America and The American Schools of Oriental Research, 1987.
The term " Deuteronomic writing'* refers to the book of Deuteronomy, the
editorial framework of Joshua-Rings, and the prose sermons of Jeremiah For
a detailed analysis of the role and content of liturgy in Deuteronomy, see M oshe
Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1972, pp.32ff. The typical Deuteronomic liturgical formulation stresses
such topics as the Exodus, covenant and election of Israel, inheritance of the
land, and observance of the laws and loyalty to the covenant. Weinfeld points
out that the universal istic dimension is characteristic of the later texts
associated with the Deuteronomic school, cf pp.36,42.
The use of the word" Attah" in the Berakhah formula, standard since the third
century c.e., may be seen as an exception to this generalization. Some scholars
claim that the word " Attah" is, itself, a later addition to a previously used
formula "BarukhAdonay". The latter is very common in the Bible, the former
is found only twice ( Psalm 119:12 and First Chronicles, 29:10), clearly
pointing to a Second Temple origin and a gradual process of acceptance as the
normative Berakhah formula. For an extended discussion see Joseph
32
Heinematm, Prayer in the Talmud, Berlin: Walter De Gruyten, 1977, chapter
three. According to Spanier, originally, the Berakhah formula did not contain
the word "Attah". Arthur Spanier, " Zur Formengeschichte des Altjudischen
Gebetes" in MGWJ LXXVIII (1934) pp.438447. "Barukh Attah Adonay
was the preferred formula among the D.D.S. sects. TP Ber IX 12d (Rav-
Shemu'el) shows that in the 3rd C. there were still disputes as to whether or
not" Attah"is required in the Berakhah formula. (See also Midrash on Psalms
XVI: 8). As noted above, there are two Biblical examples of the formula
Barukh Attah Adonay( Psalms 1 19: 12 and I Chr. 29: 10). In neither case is it
followed by an active participle (Po el Beinoni). Both are late texts. Hurwitz
sees the presence of the formula itself as evidence of late (second) Temple
Hebrew. Avi Hurwitz, Beyn Lashon Lelashon, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1972
p. 144-5. The use of the third person reflects and accentuates the sense of awe
and reverence the author felt in the presence of the magnificence of God's
creations. ( See comments of the Rambam. above, p. 6). The insistence by the
Rabbis (normative since the third century c.e.) that every Berakhah contains
the word " Attah" thus guarantees that, even within Birkat Yotzer Or, there is
an assurance that man can address God directly expressive of the intimate
relationship that exists between God and Man. The difference in this regard
between Birkat Yotzer Or and Birkat Ahavah Rabbah is relative rather than
absolute.
4. In Birkat Yotzer Or, the sections describing angelic praise are deemed to be
later additions to the text. Their secondary status is reflected in Siddur Rav
Saadiah Ga'on, where their recitation is limited to public prayer, see p. 13.
There are a number of Genizah texts in which the version prescribed by
Saadiah for the individual's recitation of Birkat Yotzer Or is the only
version of the Berakhah offered. (See Elbogen, ha-Tefillah be-Yisra'el, Tel
Aviv: DevirCo., 1972, p. 13) Saadiah' s textreads: Barukh.... ha-Olam, Yotzer
Or...ha-Kol Hame'ir la'Aretz Wela-darim Aleha Be-rahumim Rabbim, Ve-
tuvo Mehadesh Be-khol Yom Tamid Maaseh Ve-reshit, Barukh...Yotzer ha-
Me f orot (See Siddur Rav Saadiah, I.Davidson, S. Assaf and B.I. Joel, eds.,
Jerusalem: Me-kise Nirda-mim, 1985, p. 13). See, also Ezra Fleisher, ha-
Yoserot Behitha-vutum ve-Hitpat-hu-tam, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1984,
pp.6-7.
5. In addition to explicitly positive words like "Rahamim," "be-two," "be-
hokhmah," the texts imply a very positive attitude towards creation through the
words "Yotzer "and "Bore"' which are "echo" words calling to mind the
creation story in Bereshit, chapter one, with its refrain " Ki Tov ." Those words
play a similar role in Birkat Asher Yatzar et Ha-adam be-Hokhmah (Birkhot
Hashachar) and in five of the Sheva Berakhot recited at a wedding. See Saul
P. Wachs, 'The Siddur: Words, Intertextuality and Hidden Meanings', New
York: The Rabbinical Assembly, Proceedings of the 1989 Convention of the
Rabbinical Assembly, p.200f. In Birkat Maariv ' Aravim , the penultimate
sentence(...Tamid Yimelokh Alenu . ..) may be interpreted as introducing both
a Bakkashah and a negative note. It has long been recognized that all of the
penultimate sentences in Birkhot Keri'ut Shema Shel Arvitare additions to the
33
text. (They are missing, for example in Siddur Rav Sa adiah Ga'on who also
negates the validity of reciting the Bakkashah "Or Hadash Al Tziyon Ta'ir"
in Birkat Yotzer Or.) That Bakkashah is also missing from Amram (See, Seder
Rav Amram, Ga'on, Daniel Goldschmidt, ed., Jerusalem: Mossad ha-Rav
Kuk, 1971,p. 13). Another way of understanding these supposed B akkushot is
to see them as equal to statements of faith. Thus, in Birkzat Hazan, "We'd
Yehsar Lanu" may be understood as being equivalent to "Lo Yehsar Lanu" (
See Psalm 121:3 and the comments of "Iyyun Tefillah" on the text "We'Al
Yehsar Lanu" in Siddur 'Osar Hatefillot, vol. I, p.486.). The same would be
true for the words "Tamid Yimelokh Alenu.." in Birkat Ma ariv 'Aravim,
where these words would be understood as statements of faith and confidence.
Another approach wouldsee the Bakkashot as " spontaneous" insertions in the
midst of a praise text. Thus, for example, the text of Nish mat praises God for
past gifts, The section concludes : " Ad Henah Azarunu Rahamekha, Ve-lo'
Azavunu Chasadekha" and then this is followed by the words, "We'al
Titteshenu 'Adonay Elohenu La-netzach" which is then immedately, followed
by the words "Al Ken " , introducing a sectionof praise which is an appropriate
response to Divine love. The request "We' al Titteshenu..." is missing from
Se&r Rav Amram Ga-on (p. 70), Siddur Rav Saadiah Gaon (p. 119). Sefer
'Abudraham ha-Shalem (p. 165). (Mahzor Vitry does contain the Bakkashah
as follows, "Na 'Al Titteshenu Adonay 'Elohenu We'al Takhlimenu
Laneztah." (vol.1, p.l53f)}. In this view, then, a praise or thanksgiving text
awakens feelings of gratitude which in turn trigger an intense desire that the
flow of providence not be broken. Thus, the momentary change in mood
through a brief petition embedded in [a text that is essentially devoted to praise
and thanksgiving. Yet, the transition from a petition to thefpraise i.e. "Al Ken"
is awkward and the text flows more smoothly without it, or if we assume that
"We'al" is to be understood as meaning "We-lo'."
In Hebrew, "Gibbuv", the term refers to a piling up of synonymous or related
words to the point of redundancy. Other examples of pleonasms are found,
among in the Kaddish, and in Nishmat among Other places in the liturgy. Some
rabbis had a dim view of such Gibbuv. See, for example, TB. Megillah, 25a
The use of prayers that describe creation to begin a liturgical section seems to
be a conscious liturgical imitation of the first chapters of the Bible. Moreover,
judging from some of its characterisics (e.g. One subject God, totally positive
text, stress on kingship and control of nature), the first chapter of Bereshit may
well have been the archetype for Genre A . In this connection it should be
pointed out that the first part of Barukh She'amar, which is missing in many
Genizah texts and is found in Siddur Rav Sa adiah Ga'on only for Shabbat
(Davidson- As&, p. 118) shares many of these characteristics. The second part
of that prayer refers clearly to the praises (Tishbahot) which make up the bulk
of Pestuke de-Zimrah. The first part seems out of place. There are no Genizah
texts containing the first part of the prayer. The differences between the two
halves and the fact that the second part begins with the Matbeya ' Arokh form
of the Berakhah, point clearly to the idea that, originally only the second part
was recited at this Doint of the service. The text was related bv Elbonen to the
34
section preceding Pesuke de-Zimrah, and particularly to the prayer," Atah Hu
Elohenu ( Elbogen, p. 65). It is first mentioned by R. Mosheh Gaon (circa 825
CE). Zunz ascribes it to the Saboraic period. This text, which utilizes third
person in referring to God may have been attached to the Matbeya A rokh
section which follows in order to conform to the pattern whereby God is praised
anddescribed before being addressed directly. See Heinemann's comments on
Barukh Shel amar below, note 9.
8. See, Arthur Marmorstein, The Old Rubbinic Doctrine of God, Oxford
University Press, London: 1927, pp. 17-72 particularly, pp.67-68 where they
are discussed together. Lieberman, indicates that the term "Alef Lamed" (&
Hetrodox formulation for a Berakhah) may refer to "El" or to
"Elohim". See Saul Lieberman, "Light on the Cave Scrolls From Rabbinic
Sources" in Texts und Studies, New York: Ktav publishing House Inc., 1924,
p.191.
9. In the weekday version: 'E lohe (' 01am), 'El (Barukh), (Kevody El, 'Elohenu.
In the Shabbat version: Ha'el{Hapotea\i), 'Elohe (Vlum), 'El (Adon),La'el
( l AsherShavat), (Shuvut) 'El, (Viyevurekhu) La' el,(Yitenu) Le' el, ' Elohenu
(Yitkadash). In both versions: 'Elohim {Hayyim),(Et Shem ) Ha'el,Le'el
(BarukhyEl (Chui Wekuyyum). Here, we note the use of the word " *£T or
. ' 'Eli" inBerakhot recited by the Essenes of the Dead Sea Scroll sect
(Thanksgiving Scroll XI, 16, 27-28, 30; Manual ofDisciplineXI, 15). On the
frequency of the use of the word " *£/" in the Dead Sea Scrolls, including
liturgical portions, in contradistinction to Rabbinic liturgy, see Moshe
Weinfeld, "Ikvot Shel Kedushat Yoser u-Fesuke de-Zmrah, bi-Megillot
Qumran uve-sefer Ben Sira/'Tarbiz vol. 45, (1975-6), p. 19. The article points
to numerous parallels between the morning prayers of the Qumran sect and
Birkat Yotzer '0 r. See also, Index of Hebrew words inMenahemMansoor, The
Thonkgiving Hymns, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdrnans, 1961, p.224. (The use
of 'El as the predominant term for God in Qumran literature is documented in
A . hf. Haberman, Megiloth Midbar Yehudah, Tel Aviv: Machbaroth Lesifrut
publishing House, 1959,pp. 4, 12-14, as compared to the use of the word "
'A donuy" ). Saul Lieberman has pointed to three practices which the Tosefta
labels as "Derekh 4 Aheret" (Heterodoxy). Two of them have to do with
reciting a Berakhah over the sun and the third has to do with the use of " 'El"
or . ' * Elohim" in place of * Adonay when reciting Berakhot. He points out that
the the author(s) of the Manual of Discipline, a key Qumran text, consistently
avoids the use of the Tetra-Grammaton or the word * Adonay even in Berakhot.
Lieberman concludes that the Tosefta is criticizing the behavior of the Essenes
whose acts of ultra-piety, reflected a rejection of the practices of the
Pharisees.This is not offered as conclusive evidence that the Qurnran group
recited the exact text we know as Birkat Yotzer 'Or. It does, however, suggest
another possible connection between the Essenes and some form of Birkat
Yotzer r. See Lieberman, "Light on the Cave Scrolls, pp. 190ff. Heinemann
points out that aside from \heThanksgiving Scroll, where the word " 'A donuy"
is commonly used in Berakhot, (as is the word " 'El"), other Qumran texts
appeared after Lieberman' s article in which "'Adonay" was used for prayer.
35
Heinemann, op.cit, p. 121. It is nevertheless correct that, as far as the scrolls
currently available, the word " 'El" is used far more frequently than " 'Adonay"
inprayer. While Heinemann tends to minimize the differences, (Prayer in the
Talmud, p.121, the most recent concordance supports the view that " 'El" was
used far mom often than " 'Adonay" in the texts of the Qumran group. (See,
James H. Charlesworth, Graphic Concordance to the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991).
Given the tendency to avoid the use of the words 'El and 'Elohim during the
Tannaitic period in official rabbinic circles, one can understand Smith's view,
that these texts reflect the ideas and style of another group, one for which the
universal experience of human beings was as worthy of representation in
prayer as the particular experience of the Jew. Certainly, the use of the word"
"El" provides a more common language among people of different groups and
even religions with which to talk about God. During the period following 70
C.E. leaders such as Rabban Gamli'el were more interested in limiting
intergroup religious dialogue between Jews and others than in promoting it.
The formulation Barukh Attah Adonay is found principally in the Thanksgiving
Scroll, cf.Heinemann, p.92. Heinemann, suggests that the Dead Sea group
maintained a tradition derived from "Hasidim Rishonim" (early generations of
pious men) in which " 'EY and " 'Adoncti " were wsedinterchangably.
Pharisaic Judaism departed from this tradition showing an ever-increasing
preference for the use of the word "Adonay " as the substitute for the
Tetragrammaton in Berakhot. From at least the third century C.E. Tannaitic
period, this preference became normative for Rabbinic Judaism. (See
Heinemann, p. 12 1 ). The presence of the word
" 'W three times in the Chatimah of Yishtabach is also interesting, given
Smith's inclusion of that text among those that are "related" to Birkat Yotzer
Or. It is noteworthy that the Kaddish also shares some of the characteristics
noted above. God is the only subject, there are pleonasms, third person is used
when referring to God, and praise is predominant in the first half, (judged to
be the oldest part and common to all versions of the Kaddish). Heinemann has
identified the Kaddish, the first half of Barukh She'amar and the first half of
the 'Alenu as belonging to what he calls the "Bet Midrash" liturgica Genre.
There may be a connection between this genre and what I, in this essay, have
called "Genre A." See, Heinemann, Prayer in the Talmud, Chapter ten.
10. Birkat Yotzer 'Or(Minhag 'Ashkenaz) on weekdays, has 259 words and 138
Mem sounds or more than one for every two words. (The Petichah is marked
by its own assonance or partial rhyme scheme in that every word after the
Beralchah formula has a Cholam). On Shabbat, there are 213 Mem sounds out
of 460 words. In Birkhat Ahavah Rabbah, the number of Mem sounds is 29
out of 104 words. Although one cannot easily speak of a "typical prayer", for
comparison' s sake, I took the first 259 of the Amidah Shel Choi and came up
with 61 examples of the letter Mem. Thus, the ratio of Mem sounds in Birkat
Yazer Or to that found in the Amidah Shel Choi in this limited sample was
significantly larger. Moreover, the presence of "Mem" sounds is somewhat
concentrated. For example in the sections ha-Me'ir La'aretz....Ba adeinu;
36
Titbarakh Tzurenu....be-Yir'ah, we know that Chasidei Ashkenaz had a major
role in fixing the prayer texts and that they did so with an intense interest in
mystical elements in the texts including Gematri'ot. In the system of "Atbash"
in which the "Alef substitutes for the 'Taf etc., the "Mem" lines up with the
letter "Yod." It is possible that, i n addition to its labial quality which allows
the "Mem" to be hummed continuously, the letter took on additional meaning
as the substitute for "Yod," the fiit letter of the Shem ha-Meforash or
Tetragrammaton. (Avraham Ben Azriel in Arugat ha-Bosem followed the
lead of his teachers R. Yehudah he-Hasid and 'Elazar ha-Rokeah in this. )
(" Atbash"is already found in the Bible in Jeremiah2526 and 51:41 Sheshekh-
Bevel. Seder Rav Amram Ga'on (pp 12-13) has the sections with the high
concentrationof "Men" sounds. Sa adiah has much less of this material (p.36).
Nusah Paras has an expanded set of alphabetical Acrostics based on the model
of "Kullam Ahuvim" see Shelmo Tal (ed) Nusah ha-TefdlahShel Yehude
Paras, Jerusalem:Makhon Ben Tzvi, 1981, pp.57.
11. Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, New York: Schocken
Books, 1985,pp.l29-130.InSeferha-Yesirah f or example, "Mem" represents
water (Shin= fire), "Shin "represents a hot chao tic state of consciousness.while
* l Mem" denotes a cool harmonic state (Kaplan, p. 129). I am indebted to John
Hamilton, sound engineer, Hi Fi House, of Broomall, Pennsylvania, who
explained that when the Oscilloscope measures the waves of sound, "S" or
"Sh" are recorded as chaotic waves. "M" is a passive or reflective sound,
suitable for meditation. It is not static or caustic. Of all consonants the "M" or
"N" sounds are most passive and reflective. Only the vowel" O" sound would
be more restful. (Note the"0" rhyme in the Petichah of Birkal Yotzer 'Or.
Birkat Yotzer 'Or is also rich in the number of "Nun" sounds. (Weekdays 33;
Shabbat 63). Thus, the total of "Mem" and "Nun" sounds for Choi is 171 out
of 259 words and on Shabbat 276 out of 460 words.
12. Gershom G .Scholem, Major Trends in Jelwish Mysticism. New York:
Schocken Books, 1941, Chapter Two. See also, David R. Blumenthal,
Understanding Jewish Mysticism: A Source Reader, New York: Ktav, 1978.
13. Blumenthal sees a definite connection between the Merkavah tradition and
Jewish liturgy." The most important trace of Merkabah Mysticism, however is
to be found in theliturgy of Rabbinic Judaism. ("Ha- 'Aderet ve-Ha'emunah" -
Pirke Heykhalot 28: 1 is actually part of the liturgy.) Some of the Piyyutim are
of the Heikhalot form and tone and even the daily liturgy makes use of the
multiplicative, hypnotic style of the Heikhalot literature. Also, th [occurence
of certain phrases such as "Yotzer Vereshit", Nehedur Bekhavod Al
Hamerkavah. More subtly, the angelology of the morning liturgy and the
Kedushah areevidences of an attempt by the liturgists to somehow allude to the
mystical experiences of the Merkavah tradition. Similarly the theme of parallel
doxology (that the earthly doxology parallels the celestial one) and perhaps
even the entire theme of God' s kingship- which constitutes one of the central
insights of Rabbinic Judaism, are indicative of the efforts of liturgists to come
to terms with the insights and experiences of this mystical realm. The Rabbi -
liturgists acted on the material inthree ways:
37
a)They eliminated the ascent and name-seal themes and greatly
attenuated the splendorof thecelestialpersonnel and hymns, thereby
creating a truly modest and more subtle rendition of the mystical
element in worship. They also intertwined the mystical themes with
other rabbinic themes, Torah, study, purity of heart,
redemption, history etc. In so doing the rabbis added a subtle mysti-
cal element to Rabbinic Judaism and they "saved" Merkabah
Mystcism from becoming a historical curiosity. By "taming"
merkabah mysticism, the rabbis made it part of the living religious
tradition of the people.*' ibid., p. 97. Heinemann also sees definite
connections between the Essenes and the Merkabah mystics, see
Joseph Heinemann, Prayer in the Talmud, Berlin: Walter De
Gruyter, 1977, p.274.
14. Heinemann, ibid. The presence in the Kedushah of the angels in Birkat Yotzer
'Or is also indicative of its remoteness from the tradition of Deuteronomy.
According to Weinfeld, the Deuteronomic ideology is reflected in the omission
of the role of angels in the redemption of the people of Israel whereas angels
have such a role in texts associated with the "E' source. Angelology was an
important part of the Qumran' s religious life. The Mishnah makes no mention
of them whatsoever. Caster has suggested that there is a clear connection
between the "Litany of the Angels" and Birkat Yotzer 'Or. He has also
suggested that we push " back to a remoter antiquity that lore of the Heavenly
Chariot (Merkabah) which formed a staple of later Jewishmysticism and which
some scholars have attributed to the Essenes," Theodore H. Caster, The Dead
Sea Scrolls, (3rd ed.) New York Doubleday Anchor Book, 1976, 284-295.
15. Shemaryahu Talmon, " The Emergence of Institutionalized Prayer in Israel in
the light of the Qumran Literature,'* in Qumran, Sa Piete, Theologie Et Son
Mileu, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, vol. 46, ed.
M. Delcor, pp. 265-284, Louvain: 1978. Talmon points out that the
renunciation by the sect of sacrifice while the Temple yet stood forced them
to deal with the situation faced by the Rabbis after 70 C.E. The prayers they
instituted to replace the sacrifices may well have provided models that found
their way into the Matbea Shel Tefillah.
16. Meir Bar Ilan has analyzed the relationship between Nishmai and Heikhalot
Rabbati and between 'ElAdon and Merkavah mystical texts. Meir Bar Ilan,
SitreTefillah we-Hekhalot, Ramat Gan:Bar Ilan University, 1987, especially
chapters 3 and 4.
17. Yigael Yadin, The Message Of the Scrolls, New York: Simon and Schuster,
1957, p. 117. The same theology obtains throughout the Thanksgiving Hymns
See, Yadin, p.l07ff.
18. See on this, Alexander Rofe The Belief in Angels in the Bible and in Early
Israel, Jerusalem-: Makor Publishing Ltd. 1979.
19. See Norman Golb, "Who Hid the Dead Sea Scrolls?" Biblical Archaeologist,
June, 1985, pp.68-82. Golb has argued that the contents of the scrolls reflect
the ideas of Palestinian Jewry of the first century, in general, rather than that
38
of sectarian Jews and that some, if not all of the scrolls found at Qumran, were
brought there for safekeeping after Jerusalem was placed under siege. This
view is decidedly in the minority among scholars at this time.
20. Moshe Weinfeld, "ha-Megamah ha'Universalit ve-Hamegamah ha-badlanit
bi-Tekufat Shivat Siyon" Tarbiz, vol.33, March 1964. See Note 12 above.
Weinfeld offers numerous examples of similarities in topic, language and text
between the liturgy of Qumran and that of the Babylonian rite-based Siddur.
The idea of Havdalah, featured in Birkat Ma'ariv 'Aravim is also very
important in Qumran liturgy, cf.Weinfeld, pp. 20ff. He also points out that the
connection between Birkut Yotzer '0 rand the recitation of Psalms (Pesuke de-
zimrah) is common to both, the Qumran liturgy is immediately preceded by
Psalm 150 showing that this connection is quite old, cf. T. B. Shabbat 118b.
Qumran liturgy stresses Psalm 145 and also includes lectionaries (L'lktQ
Pesukim) as does ours. Segal has shown that Ben Sira's hymn of praise also
has a connection between praises (Tishbahot) and the idea of God as creator of
all (Ben Sira 51:12-14) cf. M. Z. Segal, Sefer Ben 5 it' a Hashalen Jerusalem:
Bialik Institute, 1953, pp.355f. Louis Finkelstein suggests that Birkat Yotzer
'Or and others of a similar universalistic nature were ordained by the Anshei
Kenesset Hagedolah (thus being pre-Tannaitic). See Max Kadushin, Worship
and Ethics, Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1964, p. 261, note 209.
In chapter 4, Kadushin offers a full discussion of the relationship of each
Berakhah to Keriat Shema in the complex known as Keriat Shema
uVirkhotecha. George Foot Moore (Judaism In the First Centuries of the
Christian Era) and Solomon Schechter(Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology)
discuss both universal and nationalistic emphases during the relevant era.
21. Mishneh Torah, Sefer Mada, 2:2. It is noteworthy that one of the salient
characteristics of the Hoduyot, the liturgy of the Qumran community,
particularly in its petitions, is the contrast between the weakness and
insignificance of the prayer and the infinite power of God. See, on this, Ben
Zion Wacholder, The Dawn of Qumran^ Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College
Press, 1983, p.88.
22. See the i&as of Joseph B. Soloveitchik as interpreted by David Hartman in
Conflicting Visions, New York: Schocken Books, 1990, p.151.
23. I am indebted to Professor Reuven Kimelman for pointing out that in the Torah,
Moses is presented as the teacher and that the i&a of God as teacher is almost
lacking. Though the liturgy abounds in Biblical language, it often uses that
language to introduce rabbinic ideas. For other examples of this, see Saul P.
Wachs, " Alenu:Rabbinic Theology in Biblical Language', Conservative
Judaism, vol. XLII number 1, Fall 1989, pp.46-49.
24. Hartman, Ibid., p. 152.
25. It is striking that the musical mode which dominates most of Birkhot Keriat
Shema and the Amidot of Shabbat in the Ashkenazic synagogue is known as the
" 'Ahavah Rabbah" mode. Idelsohn explains the name by saying that it is
derived from a prayer in the morning ritual with which, on the Sabbath, the
precentor usually introduces this mode into the service.*' (A. Z. Idelsohn.
Jewish Music, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1929, p.88.) Perhaps we
have here a musical reflection of the sense by Ba' alei Tefillah, that with the
39
advent of the Ahavah Kabbah prayer, they were confronting a text that was
significantly different from the text (Birkat Yotzer 'Or) that preceded it.
I should like to express my appreciation to my colleagues at Gratz
College, Professor Nahum M. W aldman and Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin who read this
paper and made helpful suggestions.
40
Preface
The article on the following pages is an abbreviated version of a paper
comprising the following sections: Preface, Introduction, chapters on Jewish
Settlement 111 Britain Jewish Music in Britain, Dissemination, The Present and the
future, a Summary, Appendix A (a partial listing of dissertations on aspects of
Jewish Music submitted to British Universities and other institutions), Footnotes,
and references to 33 recorded musical examples interspersed throughout the text.
In its present form, this paper will be confined to Jewish Music in Britain, The
Present and the Future, Footnotes and a new Bibiliography (incorporating selected
entries from Appendix A).
This paper appears by kind permission of the Editors of the Proceedings
of the Second British-Swedish Conference on Musicology: Ethnomusicdogy,
Cambridge, 1989. The Proceedings, comprising over two dozen articles in all,
contain a further five which cover various additional aspects of Jewish music:
Babylonian, Anglo-Indian, Klezmer, Italian, Israeli, Yemenite, Karaite, etc. The
publication can be purchased (£27.00 inclusive of postage and packaging, payable
in sterling only) from Dr. Ann Buckley and Mr. Paul Nixon (Editors of the
Proceedings), Darwin College, Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EU, U.K.
ALEXANDER KNAPP is a musicologist and author in Cambridge, England.
41
Alexander Knapp, Cambridge
Aspects of Jewish Music in Contemporary Britain
Since most Jewish music has been imported into Britain from different
parts of the world at different times, it may be useful to identify six main
categories, before attempting to assess the extent to which a set of blended
British- Jewish styles may have evolved. The main genres (starting with the
least acculturated) are: liturgical, semi-religious, folk, art,
popular/commercial, pop; and these function as 'umbrellas' for a host of
sub-genres.
Liturgical music comprises: psalms and cantillations of Biblical texts;
prayer-modes (nusah, akin to Arabic maqamut or Indian ragas) used
mainly for non-Biblical prayer text and hymn-poetry (piyyuttim); fixed
chants; choral music. Semi-religious styles include: the music of the
Hassidic Jews; graces and table songs (rmirot). Folk idioms encompass the
Klermer music (see below) of the Ashkenazim3 and the Romunceros of the
Sephurdim/ and so many more besides. Jewish art music may be defined
as a Western (or, arguably, Eastern) 'Classical' framework for composition
into which distinctive Jewish elements (especially traditional texts and/or
melodies) have been introduced. Popular/commercial music denotes the
folk-art synthesis found, for example, in Broadway musicals (and typified
by Fiddler on the Roof). The most common form of the final category is
'Hassidic Pop' which usually consists of ancient or modem Jewish texts,
sacred or secular, set in the contemporary Jazz or 'pop' idiom.
(Traditional Hassidic dance and traditional American Jazz share
syncopation as an essential feature).
Jewish languages used in this country arc: Hebrew and Aramaic, and
Ladino (among Sephurdim only) for sacred texts; Yiddish (among
Ashkenazim), Judco-Spanish (among Sephurdim), and various forms of
Judeo-Arabic, etc. (among the Oriental Jews) for secular texts. The use of
English in Jewish song is generally more limited in Britain than in North
America where itappears frequently, both in liturgical and secular contexts.
In the synagogue, music is usually provided by a soloist and/or choir,
with or without instrumental accompaniment (according to denomination);
and musical participation by the congregation may occur to a greater or
lesser extent. Although some Sephardi, Oriental, and Ashkenazi tfussidic,
'Conservative', 'Reform" and 'Liberal' congregations may have a solo
cantor (Heb: Hazzan originally Shliah tsibbur. 'messenger of the
congregation*), most will rely vocally upon the services of a lay reader
42
(Heb: Ba'al tphilla), or upon a choir, or upon congregational participation.
It is mainly in the Ashkenazi 'Orthodox' community that the cantorial
vocation has been preserved (although , even here, in recent years, there
has been a policy of phasing out full-time cantors in favour of part-time
professionals and lay-rcadcrs). Although there arc sizeable numbers of
'Orthodox' Jews of West European origin in Britain, it happens that the
vast majority of 'Orthodox ' cantors are of East European stock.
What arc the characteristics of this kind of traditional Jewish music?
East meets west in a unique and delicate synthesis, as exemplified in Fig.l:
the Russian- American cantor Z'vulunKwartin's setting of a traditional Eve
of Passover text, Leil Shimurim. 6 Oriental qualities include: modality,
microtoncs, melismatic ornamentation, improvisation, recitative (i.e. a
predominantly non-rhythmic style), elements of West Asian (i.e. nasal and
occasionally glottal) voice production, emotional intensity, oral
transmission.
Although most cantors in this country, whether British-born or visitors
from abroad (mainly Israel and North America), are proficient in Western
notation and well able to learn the necessary repertoire from sheet music
(with or without the help of an experienced colleague), many will have
learned famous liturgical 'set pieces' by celebrated predecessors direct
from records. Deliberate modifications may be made in order to ensure a
more comfortable tessitura or to create an individuality of interpretation
distinct from that of the original 'composer-performer'.
Most published sheet music in this genre is printed in North America,
especially New York. There arc no surviving publishers of cantorial music
in Britain. Much of the repertoire, however, is preserved in manuscript
(especially where transpositions and new arrangements have been made).
Multiple photocopies are circulated among the cantorial fraternity; these are
sometimes so faint and dogeared through repeated copying that
superimposed inking is the only way to render them legible. Errors
frequently occur in the process, and valuable archival information (name
of cantor-composer, date and place of composition, etc.) may be lost. This
is particularly unfortunate in the case of composite works which may
comprise juxtaposed text settings by various individuals. In any event, the
sheet music may often be regarded as no more than anaide-memoire, since
unpremeditated abbreviations and interpolations in performance arc quite
normal practice.
The oriental features referred to above arc most in evidence during a
Sabbath or Festival Service in the synagogue, when the use of musical
instruments is forbidden; the voice is consequently unfettered by Western
equal temperament. If there is a male choir' it will usually provide slowly
43
changing sustained chords in Western harmony (brumming*) and will not
interfere with the solo line. Furthermore the congregation may offer
heterophonic support in a variety of undertones.
But a transformation takes place when cantors give recitals (never on
Sabbaths or Festivals), or perform at a Meiave Malka (- a Sabbath night
communal entertainment, involving a sequence of music, informal lecture,
and light refreshment). On such occasions a piano or organ must be
provided for accompaniment, even though little regard may be paid either
to the quality or tuning of the instrument, or to the expertise of the
accompanist! Acculturation to western norms is reflected in the presence
of an 18th. 19th. or occasionally 20th century harmonic backcloth which,
to some extent, neutralizes the microtonality occurring naturally in East
European cantorial performance practice (quite a separate issue from
'singing out of tune', which is also not unknown...). The cantor may sing
liturgical items and folksongs; and sometimes even operatic arias from the
popular repertoire (to the delight of some and the consternation of others).
Very few cantors have enjoyed successful careers in opera. (The
Americans Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker are rare examples).
Nevertheless, the operatic art and that of the cantor (Heb: hazzanut) share
a number of features in common. For example, both utilize coloratura (of
different kinds), and both encourage the 'cult of the individual*.
Cantors who are well known throughout the international Ashkenazi
community (invariably billed 'world famous', 'world renowned', etc. in the
Jewish press) will attract large audiences and command handsome fees,
whether the event takes place in a modestly sized synagogue hall or on
London's South Bank. Fulfilling the established convention of beginning
their set-pieces slowly and quietly in low-middle tessitura, they will thrill
the cognoscenti by inexorably raising tempo, amplitude and pitch levels,
and climaxing at the end of the piece prestissimo, fortissimo, in altissimo
(not always in keeping with the meaning of the text). Many cantorial
compositions incorporate a metrical folksong; if it is familiar, the audience
will join in spontaneously (singing and/or rhythmically handclapping) and
the soloist may take a few bars rest. (The accompanist, however, cannot).
Programmes are made available to the audience; but apart from the
advertising revenue, they are largely redundant, since the cantor usually
decides at the last minute what he will sing, and in what order (often
completely at variance with what is printed), and will announce each item
to the audience together with some background comment (humorous or
poignant, as appropriate). The accompanist must be comfortable with all
aspects of the cantor's style and repertoire, so that he or she may enter into
44
the spirit of 'composing-performing' at the keyboard, especially irthe case
of pieces that have not been rehearsed.
Most such concerts double as fund-raising activites, and they may last
anything from 2 to 3 hours, having usually commenced between 15 and
30 minutes after the advertised starting-time in order to accommodate late-
comers. A long interval is scheduled, about half way through, to allow for
a raffle, numerous announcements/speeches, and an opportunity for those
present to indulge in animated adulation or denigration of the celebrity,
according to values that seem, at best, ill-defined... (In rare cases, such
conversations may occur during the concert itself). Another well
established pattern is the cantorialcum-choral concert, in which the choir
(men and/or boys) will normally open each half of the programme. The
cantor will then present a few pieces with instrumental accompaniment and
each half will conclude with items for cantor and choir.
When listening to a 'live' concert performance or a recording, the
professional reviewer, Jewish or non- Jewish, is faced with a dilemma: Is
he or she to listen with wholly occidental ears, and apply to a rendering of
traditional Jewish music the same criteria of assessment as would be
applied, for example, to a Lieder recital? Or must there be a complete
change of gear, as it were, in attuning to an oriental ambience? In the
context of instrumental accompaniment in the European idiom, we may ask
whether the western emphasis on precision and a degree of predictability
is in keeping with the oriental preference for spontaneity and improvisation.
The 'cult of the individual', referred to earlier, is present also in the
field of male- voice choral music; and this results in the very antithesis of
the western 'ideal' of a perfectly blended sound? Just as the cantor might
wish to emulate the opera-star, so the chorister may wish to be compared
with the star-cantor. This phenomenon is especially apparent when choral
pieces with solo parts are sung by soloists from within the choir. To the
uninitiated listener, the vocal pyrotechnics inspired by internal rivalries can
be bewildering; for example, extended fermatas on high notes, or the
superimposition of unwritten harmony notes on top of a concluding chord
(usually triadic). Undisciplined, rather than oriental, is the common habit
of anticipating a choral entry- as if to check the layout and harmony of the
next chord - well before the end of an unaccompanied solo passage. But,
reservations aside, a really fine Jewish male-voice choir can be as
nuanceful and compelling in performance as any equivalent body of men
from Wales or the U.S.S.R.
Sephardi synagogue choirs are also all-male. But the style in Britain is
generally more acculturated. Although generalizations can be misleading,
and every rule has its exceptions, it may be fair to assert that the ethos of
45
East Ashkenazi choral music tends to be more toward nostalgia, and that
the Anglo-Sephardi manner reveals a lightness of touch redolent of
Victorian music of the last century.
'Non-Orthodox' choral music will be discussed shortly. Meanwhile, a
few words about congregational participation in the ^Orthodox' synagogue.
The solo chanting of the Bible (cantillation) - as distinct from that of the
liturgy - is normally undertaken by knowledgeable lay members of the
community. It is a demanding skill: much must be learned by heart, since
the scrolls used in religious services contain only Hebrew consonants
specially calligraphed; no vowels, or musical 'accents' (Heb: ta'amei
hammiqra) are shown. Members of the congregation can develop a
substantial following, especially if their vocal qualities parallel their textual
expertise.
But the desire for musical self-expression among congregants more often
than not extends to active corporate participation. Gone are the days when
congregations were satisfied to respond to a religious service as they would
to a secular concert:
Music should in the main be conducive to the congregation 'joining in'.
Once it has largely departed from this aim, the congregation by leaving
it to the Cantor and the choir and becoming listeners, has become an
audience. If, as an audience, it finds itself becoming musically
appreciative, then it is leaning. . . on the 'crutch of culture', a substitute
excluding the religious objective.10
These challenging words, written by Henry Goldstein, a British Rabbi in
the 'Reform Tradition*, sum up the rabbinical attitude toward music"
across most of the ethnic and religious spectra, with only one notable
exception: the Hassidim. They regard the limitlessness of song to be
superior to the finiteness of prayer as a medium for communicating with
God, and will often replace liturgical texts with a variety of syllables long
ones (e.g. 'yai, yai, yai') for slow, reflective melodies; short ones (e.g.
*biri-biri-bim-bom') for fast, joyous tunes.
Hassidic Jews would doubtless concur with another Reform Rabbi,
Jeffrey Gale, when he observes that "the purpose of synagogue worship is
not simply to charm our senses and stimulate our imagination, but to put
us in the proper frame of mind to study and perform God's Will". 12 But
how would they respond to his assertion that "while Jewish music and
prayer should appeal to the emotions, we must never overlook the
intellectual aspect of Judaism"? 13 Rabbis, whatever their theoretical
46
objections, do accept that music is an integral part of Jewish prayer in
particular and Jewish life in general, Rabbi Goldstein again:
A modern Israeli melody must rub crotchets with European classical and
chasidic-type tunes. This may be, to some, a musical hotchpotch, not
perhaps aesthetically pleasing - to a music lover possibly rather
confusing - but so what? This is what we are. These styles reflect the
way we think. We are the children of many traditions."
This is especially the case with regard to 'non-Orthodox' establishments in
Britain and abroad, viz. 'Conservative', 'Reform' and 'Liberal', whose
liturgical musics are decidedly heterogeneous. Of the three, 'Reform' is the
longest established; and a few words about its history will set the scene for
a discussion of music originating and developing essentially outside the
'Orthodox' sphere.
The 'Reform Movement' began in about 1800 in Germany, as a
consequence of the emancipation of the Jews which, in turn, was one of
the direct results of the French Revolution. Equal rights found European
Jews eager to be accepted- legally, professionally, socially and culturally-
as full citizens of the countries in which they lived. Some converted to
Christianity, and became 'assimilated' into the host society. (But even they
were not immune from residual antisemitism.15) Others - not prepared to
take quite such a radical step, but nevertheless in pursuit of substantial
'integration' - rejected the ethnicity of their religious and cultural heritage
and attempted, consciously or subconsciously, to become 'more French
than the French', 'more German than the Germans'. Traditional dietary
laws, prohibitions relating to the Sabbath and Festivals (work, travel etc.),
and many other hallmarks of Jewish life were abandoned. The countless
generations that had been subjected to enforced 'nationhood' behind Ghetto
walls were now seen, by this section of the Jewish population, as a tragic
legacy of the past. The waves of nationalism that swept Europe in the
middle of the 19th century, by and large, had little influence on Jewish
self-perception at this time. Political Zionism was not to develop
dramatically within European Jewry as a whole until the last two decades
of the 19th century.
The early 'Extreme Reformers' were anxious to place as much distance
as possible between themselves and their 'Orthodox' co-religionists. So
they dispensed with the Hebrew language, the cantor and the cantorial
style, the ancient cantillations, prayer modes and recitatives. In their place,
they introduced the language of the country in which they lived, four-part
chorales in the Lutheran idiom accompanied by organ, major and minor
47
keys, strict metres and regular phrase lengths. This musical ethos has been
preserved with the least alteration by the 'Liberal' movement in Britain.
Later 'Reformers' had doubts about this wholesale disposal of Jewish
musical tradition. 'Moderate Reform' reacted against these excesses and
reintroduced traditional tunes, arranged and harmonized in accordance with
the conventions of European art-music. Two of the most important
synagogue composers whose music exemplifies this style were Louis
Lewandowski of Berlin and Salomon Sulzer of Vienna.
Though some interest in aspects of the 'Reform Movement' was shown
in Eastern Europe, it was essentially in Western Europe and America that
it found the widest response. And both 'extreme' and 'moderate* elements
have been preserved in the music of British 'Reform Jewry', though there
is some bias toward the 'moderate' approach.
Many changes over the past two centuries have, in a musical sense,
brought 'Orthodox* and 'non-Orthodox* closer together. The position of
'choirmaster' and the use of four-part harmony in the 18th and 19th
'classical' tradition - 'Reform inventions' as it were - are now wholly
acceptable in the 'Orthodox' synagogue, as is the use of the organ or
harmonium for weekday services, memorials and weddings. Cantillation
and cantorial recitative (even if not usually the cantor himself) have been
reinstated in many 'Reform' synagogues, and the substantial use of Hebrew
in all; and in some congregations there has been a recent move away from
the use of the organ (and even the choir) on the grounds that it inhibits
congregational singing in unison. Nevertheless, two of the largest
metropolitan congregations - the West London Synagogue ('Reform') and
the Liberal Jewish Synagogue - are each justly proud of their magnificent
four-manual organs.
What, then, are the clear differences in musical practice? 'Orthodox* and
'Conservative' choristers are male, and usually non-professional; all (with
very few, rarely acknowledged, exceptions) are Jewish and may
instinctively retain a Jewish vocal style absorbed during childhood; most
have some knowledge of Hebrew. 'Reform' and 'Liberal' choirs are
usually 'mixed', though some are all male or all female; some synagogue
choirs are partly or wholly non- Jewish, whereas other synagogues insist on
an all- Jewish complement; some choirs may be professional, others non-
professional, yet others a combination of both; voice production and
performance practice may bear the stamp of childhood memories or
training in western art-music or a mixture of both elements; familiarity
with the Hebrew language may vary widely from one individual to another.
A full account of rabbinical pronouncements giving support to one or
other of these divergent standpoints would involve extended and
48
painstaking analysis of the Talmud 16 , the numerous codifications of law,
and responsa of subsequent centuries. In principle, 'Orthodoxy' espouses
tradition and centralised authority (the Chief Rabbi is 'Orthodox'), whereas
'non-Orthodoxy' inclines toward autonomy and self-determination.
In some congrcgadons, music is high on the list of priorities; in others,
this is not the case. Consequently, musical standards differ enormously. But
the question remains: according to what criteria are standards per se
assessed? Is it axiomatic that professionals are more suitable than non-
professionals? There are comparatively few Jewish singers (especially men)
with a formal western vocal training; fewer still seem enthusiastic about
participating as choristers (as distinct from choirmasters/mistresses) in
synagogue choirs. Paradoxically, a higher level of commitment may be
found, not only among Jewish amateurs, but also among non- Jewish
professionals! (It would be interesting and instructive to look into the
psychological reasons for this...)
Most British composers of choral music for the synagogue are Jewish.
Among the best known of the older generation are Israel Mombach ('West
Ashkenazi/Orthodox'), Samuel Alman ('East Ashkenazi/Orthodox'), David
de Sola ('Sephardi/Orthodox'), and Charles Salaman
(' Ashkenazi/Reform). 17 Their respective styles may seem, to non- Jews,
indistinguishable from British non- Jewish choral music of the period; but
British Jews of all denominations will recognise their music as 'Jewish'.
Some regularly used compositions are by non- Jews. Handel figures once,
and Beethoven three times, in Kol Rinnu vToda (The Voice of Prayer and
Praise)", the Ashkenazi 'Orthodox' British chorister's 'bible'. And the first
choirmaster at the West London Synagogue was Dr. C.G. Verrinder, some
of whose compositions and arrangements show a deep sympathy for
tradi tion Jewish melos.
During the latter part of the 20th century, the sources of Jewish choral
music in Britain have proliferated, through increased research and
improved processes of dissemination. Traditional tunes mingle with Jewish
music from the 17th century Italian Renaissance, the 18th century Baroque
and Classical, the 19th century German Romantic, and in this century the
music of countless Israeli and American composers.
Non- Jewish music, also, finds ready acceptance once it has been
transformed in any or all of the following ways: secular or profane words
are replaced by suitable religious or other texts in Hebrew, Yiddishjudeo-
Spanish, Judeo- Arabic, etc.; major tonalities are often (but not always)
converted into major or minor modalities or minor tonalities; a Jewish
voice production and performance practice is applied; and if the music is
repeated frequently enough, within one or two generations it will be
49
revered with as much affection as any 'traditional' melody of much older
provenance. The rationale behind this is summed up in the Hassidic
principle of "saving secular tunes from the Devil". 19 But the process was
taking effect long before the rise of Hassidism in the late 18th century, and
continues in the present day. One 'Liberal' congregation in the suburbs of
London, for example, sings a joyous Hebrew song (Ehad/ra yodea, from
the end of the Seder service on the first night of Passover), in English
translation, to the melody of the Englishfolksong "Green Grow the Rushes,
0!"
Just as some 'Orthodox' Jews feel as if they were in 'church' when
attending a service in a 'Reform' or 'Liberal' synagogue, so some 'non-
Orthodox' Jews tend to judge music in the 'Orthodox* synagogue as a
fossil of the ancient orient, a product of centuries of insularity. The extent
of acculturation, as indicated in the foregoing pages of this paper,
demonstrates that Jewish music in even the most close-knit communities
has undergone a gradual metamorphosis. But, more to the point, can the
'nonorthodox' sections of the community claim to have been untouched
by that attitude of mind that creates the very insularity they scorn?
Conditioning is a fact of life, no matter what may be one's religious
persuasion. So, in practice, 'Conservative', 'Reform' and 'Liberal' Jews
have their established traditions too; the only difference is that theirs are
of more recent origin.
And with what vehemence are these traditions upheld! I have witnessed
respected members of a 'Reform' synagogue castigate an individual to the
point of tears for daring to teach one traditional tune as a setting for a text
usually sung to another. Such incidents can lead to lasting personal or
factional antagonisms. Curious it is, that, in place of worship, music can
be reduced to a weapon... And, by all accounts, this is a problem not at all
unique to Judaism.
Our survey has, so far, centred upon liturgical music, though other
genres have been introduced in passing. Unconventional treatment of
cantorial song introduces a new dimension. Avant-garde techniques such
as serialism have not been adopted in Britain, though they have been
experimented with by American cantors. But the admixture of
contemporary Jazz techniques, not only in keyboard accompaniments, but
also in voice production, has gained ground in Britain, so creating a
'popular/commercial ethos somewhat removed from the devotional
atmosphere usually associated with the synagogue. (Admittedly, such
performances would not be integrated into a religious service in the
synagogue itself, but would rather form part of an entertainment in the
50
adjoining synagogue hall or in some other secular context). Some listeners
enthuse; others recoil; few are indifferent.
Hassidic-Pop music is much in demand among modern Jewish youth,
especially in the larger conurbations. Yet it is fast being equalled in
popularity by Klezmer (a Yiddish contraction of Hcb. kle-zemer, lit.
'musical instruments'), a form of music-making that traces its origins to the
distant past and which, after a period of eclipse, is enjoying a remarkable
revival in many parts of the Jewish world. Though Klezmer in the present
century has absorbed some of the salient traits of Traditional Jazz, it is
founded on the highly acculturated Jewish folksong and dance styles of the
European continent. Centres for its study and performance arc springing up
in various parts of Britain (e.g. London and Sheffield), and a number of
Jewish and non- Jewish folk-musicians arc showing akeen interested in this
genre.20 Klezmorim (exponents of Klezmer) were traditionally called upon
to play at Jewish weddings and other family and communal celebrations.
And it is especially in this milieu that Jewish folksong and dance are
preserved in Britain at the present time.
The Israeli Hora is known throughout British Jewry, though it tends to
be danced more among the less acculturated groups. Hava Nagila is
probably the best known example within and outside the Jewish sphere.
This idiom is a direct descendent of the much earlier, but still popular,
Hassidic circle-dance from East Europe. Another Hassidic form is the
'crocodile', where all dancers face in the same direction, with one hand
stretched out and placed on the shoulder of the person in front, and the
other hand waving a white handkerchief. 21
Ashkenzi folksongs in Yiddish, Sephardi folksongs in Judco-Spanish,
Oriental folksongs in Judco- Arabic: all have been carefully preserved in
transit, and are sung in Britain much as they would have been in the
country of origin. Whereas Ashkenazi folksongs may be sung
interchangeably by men or women, the Sephardic folk heritage tends to be
transmitted through the female line (though there are also some fine male
exponents of the idiom, especially in Israel and America). A distinct line
of demarcation between men's song (domestic and social topics) and
women's song (epics, love lyrics and lullabies) has been preserved in the
Oriental folk tradition.
'Artistic' arrangements of folk materials have been made over recent
decades, both in Britain and abroad, according to the pioneering principles
adopted by several Russian- Jewish composers andfolksong collectors who,
in 1908 in Leningrad (then St. Petersburg), combined together to create
The Society for Jewish Folk Music. But whereas one can identify a
Russian- Jewish folk tune - or indeed an American- Jewish folksong using
51
English words - and distinguish them from their non- Jewish counterparts -
there is no such Anglo-Jewish equivalent. So East Ashkenazi' in Britain
means unequivocally 'East European', and 'Sephardi' means
unambiguously 'Mediterranean'. Jewish folk singers who are British-born -
whose families may have been settled in Britain for generations -
instinctively retain an inherited style that distinguishes them from
indigenous folk singers.
A consideration of consciously Jewish art music in Britain, however,
reveals a rather different situation. But first, what do we mean by the term
'Jewish Art Music'? Does it encompass all the music of a composer born
Jewish, even if there is no Jewish intention or traditional content in his or
her work? Furthermore, does it exclude all the music of a non- Jewish
composer, even where there is a clear Jewish purpose or substance? To
what extent do context and proportion play a role'? A definition that will
suffice for most other categories of Jewish music (e.g. 'that music which
traces its origins directly or indirectly to the Levantine music of Temple
times, but which has, for two millenia, been subjected to the innumerable
influences of the Diaspora'), will not be adequate in the field of art music.
For, in the western world, Jewish composers have had rather less than 200
years in which to adapt to a non- Jewish musical culture that is at least
1,000 years old. 22 And that - rather than the Temple - is the starting point.
There are a number of British Jews who have gained prominence, in
varying degrees, in the mainstream of 20th century composition. Most are
of Ashkenazi stock. All media of expression have been utilized: solo
instrumental, solo vocal: chamber instrumental, choral; orchestral, operatic.
Brief references to the works of a sampling of these composers will
illustrate the extent to which 'Jewishness' is a significant ingredient in their
music.
Samuel Alman, one of the few 'Orthodox' synagogue choirmasters to
receive a formal western musical training, composed a large quantity of art
music in addition to his liturgical settings. His opera, King Ahaz, was
commissioned to open the Feinman Yiddish People's Theatre in London's
'East End' in 1912. Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926 , best known for his music
in a lighter vein, has also used traditional material in a few of his
compositions, such as Ghetto Song for guitar. Wilfred Josephs (b. 1927)
has composed a Requiem, based upon the Kaddish, a Jewish prayer of
praise most often associated with memorials for the departed. Malcolm
Lipkin (b. 1932) wrote his chamber work Clifford's Tower after having
read an account of the massacre of the Jews of York in 1190. It was
premiered at the Cheltenham Festival in 1980. Kaddish for Terezin, for two
solo voices, two narrators, two choirs and orchestra, by Ronald Senator(b.
52
1926) was first performed at Canterbury Cathedral in 1986. Malcolm
Williamson (b. 193 1), Master of the Queen' sMusick, has identified closely
with the Jewish community in general and with Jewish music in particular.
Hashkivenu AdonaP is a setting of a traditional liturgical text. Most of the
above works have been inspired by the more melancholy aspects of Jewish
life and history.
Mention should be made of other British Jewish composers of the
present and recent past whose contribution to Jewish art music is
significant. They include: Brian Elias, David Fligg, Erika Fox, Benjamin
Frankcl, Alexander Goehr, Franz Reizenstein, Robert Saxton, Malcolm
Singer, and David Stoll.
An unusual and effective means of introducing modem Israeli art music
into in Britain is the series of beautifully illustrated recordings entitledThe
Living Bible 24 This twelve-record set comprises readings from the Old
Testament by Sir Laurence Olivier, accompanied by performances of works
by Mcnahem Avidom, Josef Kaminski, Oedoen Partos, Shoshana Shapira,
Karel Salomon, and others. The music of Paul Ben-Haim is used as a
backcloth against which the words of God arc spoken.
Jewish works by non-British Jewish composers are often performed and
recorded by Jewish musicians in Britain. For example, the Zemel Choir
have in their repertoire not only much Israeli choral music, but also
Avodurh Hakodesh ('Sacred Service') by the Swiss-American composer
Ernest Bloch. And settings of Psalms 137, 1 14, and 22, form part of a
recording (not yet released) consisting of Bloch' s complete songs made by
soprano Andrea Baron and pianist Roy Howat.
It seems, at present, that most Sephardi, Oriental, and Hassidic Jews in
Britain do not pursue a line that integrates their respective musics into the
mainstream of British art music. Where involved as executants, they tend
to keep professional activities separate from any involvement in
'traditional' music-making.
The Present and The Future
A 'renaissance' of Jewish music in this country could be initiated in a
number of ways:
(1) By seeking funds available for commissioning works for the
synagogue and the concert hall, from composers who feel 'Jewish'
according to temperament and/or persuasion.
(2) By transcribing, harmonizing (where possible), orchestrating (where
appropriate) and recording the tradition chants and songs of Hazzanim
resident in this country. . . There is a risk that their individual musics may
53
eventually disappear unless something constructive is done to preserve
them.
(3) By reaching a wider public, both Jewish and non- Jewish, through the
media of recitals, concerts, broadcasts, symposia, lectures, publications, etc.
(4) By gathering together colleagues in music andrelated fields who are
in sympathy with these aims, but who at present feel despondent at the
apathy that surrounds them, and isolates them from kindred spirits. . .
(5) At a future date the climate may be favourable for setting up a
Jewish department of ethnomusicology at university level in this country.
General issues (e.g. acculturation; cultural prejudice through ignorance;
positive and negative powers of music in religious and political conflicts;
etc.) in relation to [Jewish] music and its practice both here and abroad
could then be disseminated as serious and 'respectable' studies in depth.
This peroration first appeared in an article published in the Jewish
Quarterly fifteen years ag3.25 How much have things changed since that
time? Let us begin by taking each point in turn, and see where it leads:
(1) Money has always been plentiful for some ventures within British
Jewry, and limited for others. Music is not regarded as one of life's
necessities. Most musicians are expected to feel 'privileged' or 'thankful
for free publicity' or 'charitable', and are made to feel guilty if they
behave in the business-like manner that is the norm in all other professions.
Even concert organisers are predisposed to give automatic funding priority
to expenditure on publicity, postage, piano-tuning, administrative and
staging costs; and, too often, the performers - especially 'innocent* young
professionals - will be offered remuneration only if there is something left
over at the end. But a Jewish musician successful in the wider community
will also be successful within the Jewish community. And such is the
appetite for kudos that non- Jews suspected of even the most tenuous Jewish
association will be brought into the Jewish fold! Bruch, Ravel, and Bizet
are but three among many non-Jews who occasionally appear in
compilations of Jewish composers, either because of the sound of their
name, or because of their affinity with traditional Jewish melos, or by
reason of family connections. Conversions to Christianity, as, for example,
in the cases of Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Schoenberg, 26 are disregarded in
considerations of ethnic identity. But what if any of these composers had
wanted to marry a Jew? How assured might they have been of a
wholehearted welcome? Is there an emotional 'double standard' at work
here? - a gulf between 'image' and 'reality'?
(2) Standards of musical literacy have certainly risen. But the collection
of traditional tunes is not keeping pace with the disappearance of what
might be termed the 'holocaust' generation who brought countless melodies
54
intO this country. Some folksongs have been preserved through
transformation into art-songs. However this process is not without its
problems. At a recent conference, I was made acutely aware of the strength
of feeling that many folk musicians have in regard to 'authenticity'. Some
arrangements (including one of my own) that I had demonstrated, of a
Judeo-Spanish romancero from Turkey, were likened to an exercise in
'western imperialism', because they were written for voice and piano,
thereby constraining the voice into equal temperament and other
non-oriental practices. I took the point - although at no time had there been
any suggestion that these arrangements were intended to supplant the
original version of the song, but rather that they offered a variety of
interpretations of a melody full of expressive and harmonic implications.
Cantorial song is equally vulnerable. Sensitive or insensitive treatment at
the hands of accompanist and choirmaster can respectively enhance or
destroy. The extent to which there is familiarity with nusah and the skills
of improvisation determines the degree to which there can be 'harmony'
with the cantor, without neutralizing modality or interfering with
spontaneity.
Of course there is acculturation; this can be a creative- not competitive
- encounter between east and west. But as soon as western performance
criteria can be applied, so can western criticism. Hugo Weisgall, the
Americancomposer and scholar, has complained of the "pervading
atmosphere of the second-rate which makes it difficult for the
uncompromising musician to remain active in Jewish music." 27 He
continues:
Even among professional groups where normal professional competition
might be expected to force proceedings to a high level, one is frequently
subjected to 'concerts' of the worst possible music executed in the worst
possible taste. The difficult task of training a popular audience. . . has,
in large measure, been shamefully neglected by our professional Jewish
musicians. Frequently this is caused by the lack of adequate training
among the people charged with the task of purveying Jewish music.
This can and is being overcome. 28
If this has been the situation in America, with its Jewish population
running into several millions, what may one fairly expect from the British
community of merely one- third of a million - and steadily decreasing? Is
it any wonder that Jewish musicians in the 'mainstream' are embarrassed
about the state of Jewish music? What are the sources of this prejudice?
55
Reactions such as these may be the result of ignorance and
misconception: Jewish music is 'compared' with western music and found
wanting. Those Jews who think it too 'foreign' or 'oriental' find it difficult
to appreciate that some non-Jews are deeply attracted by its exotic qualities
(though others are not). Education, in the widest sense, would help to
minimise the adverse effects of 'judgment'. At any rate, concerts of Jewish
music are drawing ever more eager audiences; large halls in London are
often 'sold out'; and the response to such events in the large centres of the
north are, if anything, even more vigorous.
(3) Dissemination of Jewish music has increased considerably over
recent years, mainly as a consequence of the enthusiasm and commitment
shown by many individuals and institutions. But there is always the danger
of parochialism. It has often been noted that Jewish music is a potent force
in the preservation of the Jews as a distinct 'people*. While this is
doubtless true, its expressiveness is no more confined to a single ethnic
group than the communicative qualities of Christian-inspired music are
restricted to Christians. In its quintessential forms it can transcend the
limitations of the written word and penetrate cultural barriers. An open
perception brings awareness of the unity of music at deeper levels: and the
implications for real ecumenism are enormous.
(4) Some of the despondency mentioned in paragraph (4) of the
quotation stems not from apathy but from the imposition of standards by
those whose 'qualifications' to do so are minimal or absent. Inthe
synagogal context, it is usually the wardens (Heb.Gabba'im) who have the
greatest administrative powers over the conduct of the ritual. Since much
lay-authority is vested in them, the temptation to inspire fear is not always
resisted; nor is dissent always tolerated. 'Political' pressures can lead to
wrong decisions being made in the interest of expediency. The choice of
music and musicians may be determined by those whose perception of
music is, at best, limited. Where there are arguments concerning
participation versus contemplation, tradition versus modernity, intuition is
rarely allowed to play a part...
Isolation is felt especially by Sephardi and Oriental Jewish musicians
who may feel insecure within the more confident Ashkenazi society that
surrounds and overwhelms them. There is evidence of anxiety, in
anticipation of doubt being cast upon their knowledge of, and expertise in,
their own traditional musics. The process of bridge-building is slow and
painstaking. If understanding between Jew and non-Jew is to be
encouraged, is not the same equally desirable between Jew and Jew?
(5) The teaching of Jewish music at Tertiary level in this country still
lags far behind that available in the U.S.A. In New York there are three
56
institutions that offer extensive and intensive, full-time courses in Jewish
music: Yeshiva University ('Orthodox'), Jewish Theological Seminary
('Conservative'), Hebrew Union College ('Reform'). Each contains cantors'
institutes; each has facilities for research to higher degree levels. In Israel
there are universities and academics where Jewish music is taught. In
Britain, however, there are no musical, musicological or
ethnomusicological full-time courses in this subject at undergraduate or
postgraduate levels at this time. The younger generation of British-born
cantors officiating in British synagogues have either trained abroad, or
privately with an experienced mentor in this country.
But despite the lack of ready-made facilities, research is being done here
and there (see Bibliography). The vast majority of academics and students
in the field of Jewish music, both in Britain and elsewhere, are Jewish.
Why is this the case, when, for example, the Indian or Chinese ethno-
musicological fields are full of non-Indian or non-Chinese scholars(some
of them Jewish . When the overwhelming majority of researchers into the
culture of an ethnic group are, at the same time, members of that group,
the problem of encroachments upon intellectual freedom and impartiality
arises. This is especially the case when the culture is 'on the doorstep'. Is
it inevitable that the 'insider' will react either positively with pride, or
negatively with shame, to the subject of research; or is it possible to be
objective, unemotional, and psychologically 'unattached'? Does the 'inside
information' of the 'insider' - that 'essence of being', unknowable to the
'outsider' - help or hinder observation? Can the 'insider' be allowed to
disassociate him- or herself from the expectations of other 'insiders' (e.g.
conformity lo the traditional mores and religious beliefs of the group,
commitment to the continuing and separate identity of the group)? These
are just a few of the many questions awaiting serious attention.
Notes
1. Transliteration of Hebrew and Yiddish words is according to one of the
'popular' systems in current use. The letter H is pronounced in a lightly
guttural manner.
2. 'Ultra-Orthodox' sects who wear traditional 18th century Polish dress.
3. Jews who originally settled in Eastern, Central, Northern, and Western
Europe.
4. Jews who originally settled in the Iberian Peninsula and thence around
the shores of the Mediterranean.
5. Not ^Reformed' ( - a designation used for some Christian Churches).
57
6. Transcription first published in Cantors' Review Newsletter, no.20, ed.
Elie Dclieb, The Association of Ministers/Chazanim of Great Britain,
London, April 1978, p.18
7. Hampstead United Synagogue in London is the only 'orthodox'
congregation with a mixed choir; the continuing controversy centres around
the traditional role of women in Jewish society, and the putative effect of
women's voices upon male congregants.
8. An onomatopoeic term for choral humming with the mouth closed.
Pauses or consonantal accents will, respectively, anticipate or punctuate
changes of harmony. This form of accompaniment may have its origin in
the boy-soprano (singerl) and bass who, in previous centuries, would stand
on either side of the cantor and support him harmonically in thirds and
sixths, as appropriate.
9. The seeds are sown in boys' choirs in 'Orthodox* synagogues and
Jewish schools, where the training encourages a 'grittiness' of sound
entirely different from the 'purity' and restraint so characteristic of Church
and Chapel choirs.
10. Rabbi Henry Goldstein, "What the Rabbi would expect", RSGB Music
Handbook, ed. Bernard Pearlstone, London, 1987, p.4
11. This ambivalence has many social and historical sources. Two will
suffice here: (i) there is a traditional rivalry between rabbi and cantor in
matters of status and authority in the synagogue and (ii) 'music" especially
secular or instrumental, is regarded as something of a frivolity. However,
throughout the ages, and in the present day, certain rabbis have felt and
expressed a deep musical affinity, and have contributed substantially as
musicologists and/or executants. Dr. Norman Solomon, presently Director
of the Centre for the Study of Judaism and Jewish Christian Relations in
Birmingham, is an 'Orthodox' Rabbi who holds, apart from other degrees,
a B.Mus. from the University of London.
12. Rabbi Jeffrey Gale, "A Rabbi's View",RSGB Music Handbook, op.cit,
p.10
13. ibid.
14. Rabbi Henry Goldstein, op.cit, p.5
15. See Richard Wagner ('Karl Freigedank'), "Das Judentum in der
Musik", NeueZeirschriftfur Musik, Vol.XXXIII, 3 and 6 September 1850.
16. Rabbinical interpretations of the Old Testament of the Bible,
originating in the two great centres of Jewish learning - Jerusalem and
Babylon - and compiled in the 3rd. 4th and 5th centuries A.D.
17. Mombach (1813-80) was born in Pfungstadt. He came to London,
where he taught cantorial song at Jews' College, and directed the choir of
the Great Synagogue for 52 years. Alman (1877-1947) studied at the Royal
58
College of Music, and became choirmaster at several London synagogues
successively. De Sola was the cantor of the Bevis Marks Synagogue from
18 15 until 1860. Salaman, whose middle name - Kensington - refers to the
district of London in which he was born, wrote over 100 settings for the
West London Synagogue. His 84th Psalm (Ma Yedidot) was included in
the service for the re-opening of Worcester Cathedral.
18. A Handbook of Synagogue Music for Congregational Singing.
Arranged and Edited for the United Synagogue with the Sanction of the
Chief Rabbi, By Rabbi Francis L. Cohen, Chief Minister of the Great
Synagogue, Sydney, N.S. l/l/., David M. Davis, Late Choirmaster, New West
End Synagogue, London. With Supplement (1933) Arranged and Edited by
Samuel Alman. A.R.C.M., Choirmaster of the Bayswater and Hampstead
Synagogues, London. Third Edition 5693-1933. Office of the United
Synagogue, Woburn House, Upper Woburn Place, London, W.C.I.
(N.B. The Jewish date - in this case 5693 - is calculated from the
traditional date of the creation of the world, according to Biblical
chronology, and is sometimes followed by the initials 'A.M.' -Anno
Mundi).
19. Similarly, the Christian 'Salvation Army' poses the rhetorical question:
"Why should the Devil have all the best tunes?"
20. I know of a Jewish fiddler in Exeter (Jewish population c.80) who
hitherto specialized in English folk dance music, and who has now added
Klermer to his repertoire.
21. Among the Hassidim, men will dance only in groups with other men,
and women similarly only with other women.
22. It is sometimes argued that, since western art music is founded on
Gregorian Chant, and since Gregorian Chant derives substantially from
Temple Chant, therefore Jewish music can be claimed as the basis of
western music! This view of twenty centuries of musical history and
development is, for reasons too many to enumerate, simplistic to the point
of distortion. Suffice it to observe that, by the time European polyphony
was beginning, Church and Synagogue had long since diverged, and were
travelling - musically and otherwise - entirely separate paths.
23. There are seven names of God that 'Orthodox* Ashkenazi Jews will
pronounce only in prayer. When these names occur in items sung in
concert or in recordings, a recognized substitutewill be used. For example,
Adonai will be replaced by Adoshem or Hashem; Elohenu by Elokenu.
Sephardi, Oriental, and 'non-Orthodox* Ashkenazi Jews, however are not
bound by this custom, but sometimes adhere to it in order to avoid causing
offence to 'Orthodox' Ashkenazi m.
59
24. "Presented for His Master's Voice by Douglas Fairbanks Jr.", HMV
ALP 193344. Musical research and supervision by Cyril Ornadel.
25. Alexander Knapp, "The Jewish Music Heritage", Jew ish Quarterly,
Vol. 22 no. 3 (81). London, Autumn 1974, p.31
26. Schoenberg reconverted to Judaism towards the end of his life.
27. Hugo Weisgall, 'Jewish Music in America", Judaism, Vol.3, New
York, 1954, p.435
28. ibid.
References (not including works listed in the Notes)
Altmann, Maxine (1983): The Jewish and Christian Rites: A Comparative
Liturgical and Musical Study. University of London Goldsmiths'
College, B.Mus. Diss.
Apple, Raymond and Tobias, Alexander (1971): Sabbath in the Home.
Songs and Prayers. London.
Astor, Richard (1976): The Liturgical Music of the East-European
Ashkenazim as used by the Chassidim. Eton College, Advanced Level
Music Essay (unpubl.)
B'nai B'rith Jewish Music Festival Official Rogrammes (1984, 1986,
1988). London.
Cantor's Review, 1-28 (1969-82). London.
Camer, Mosco (1938): Jewish Music and Jewish Composers in the
Diaspora: I.England. In Musica Hebraica 1-2. Jerusalem.
Care, Valerie (1987): The Role of Women in Jewish Liturgical Music,
University of London Goldsmiths* College, B.Mus. Diss.
Fine, Morris and Himmelfarb, Milton, eds. (1975): American Jewish Year
Book, Vol.76. New York and Philadelphia.
Heskes, Irene (1985): The Resource Book of Jewish Music. London.
Hills, Ruth (1987): Ernest Bloch and his Jewish Music. Graduate Diploma
Royal Schools of Music, Diss.
Hipps, Simon (1984): The Development of Synagogue Music to the End
of the Nineteenth Century. University of Liverpool, B.A. Diss.
Japhet, Roger, ed. (1989): Jewish Year Book 1989. London.
Knapp, Alexander (1989): Jewish Music Directory. A Register of Jewish
and non- Jewish Institutions and Individuals (professional and semi-
professional) involved in the Creating, Performing, Collecting,
Studying, Disseminating and Teaching of Jewish Music in the British
Isles, (typescript)
Leigh, Michael (1967): Jewish Observance in the Home. London.
60
Manassch, Sara (1985): Sabbath and Festival Songs of the Babylonian
Jewish Tradition: A Study of Variation and Stability - Baghdad to
Bombay and Beyond. University of London Goldsmiths' College,
M.Mus. Diss.
Noy, Dov and Ben-Ami, Issachar, eds. (1975): Studies in the Cultural Life
of the Jews of England. Jerusalem.
Oxley, Ruth (1986): Ernest Bloch: A Wandering Jew. University of Hull,
B.Mus. Diss.
Prior, Roger (1983): Jewish Musicians at the Tudor Court. In Musical
Quarterly LXIX (2)
Romain, Jonathan (1988): The Jews of England. London.
Sandelson, Michael (1989): Arnold Schoenberg's Jewishness. University
of York, B.Mus. (typescript)
Sargon,Sharon (1981): Jewish Music - The Development of the Synagogue
Song. Roehampton Institute (typescript)
Sealy, June- Alison (1982): The Legacy of Ezra: the practice and function
of Jewish Biblical cantillation in England today with special reference
to its utilisation on the Sabbath in North West London. University of
London Goldsmiths' College, M.Mus. Diss.
Sendrey, Alfred (1970): The Music of the Jews in the Diaspora. New York.
Sephardi Melodies (193 1). London.
Solomon David (1982): The Synagogue Music of Salomon Rossi.
University of Reading, B.Mus. Diss.
Walker, Daphne (1986): A Study of the Music for the Jewish Sabbath
Morning Service. Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology,
Graduate Music Diploma. Diss.
Wallach, Michael, ed. (1982): Jewish Year Book 1982. London.
Weisser, Albert (1969): Bibliography of Publications and Other Resources
on Jewish Music (Revised and Enlarged Edition). New York.
61
F\6rl
lciu SHtMtun
^^^
62
EVENING BAR'CHU FOR SHALOSH REGALIM:
WILL THE REAL NUSAH PLEASE STAND UP?
HAZZAN BRIAN Mayer
At the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America, nusah for Shalosh Regalim is taught from a corpus of tunes
compiled and determined by Professor Max Wohlberg. These "Mi-Sinai
tunes" are currently presented in the C.I.'s written curriculum (hereinafter
CIWC). The CIWC is seemingly comprehensive. Professor Wohlberg
has taken great care to present the American cantorial student with a
thorough andauthentic model of Ashkenazic nusah. In doing so, Professor
Wohlberg homogenized the variations of many European communities
into one bona fide rendition.
Such a compilation is based on a selective process. Inevitably,
some versions of a particular chant or tune are excluded in favor of others
and it is fascinating to examine that which has been eliminated. Under the
guidance of Professor Wohlberg, I am writing my doctoral dissertation
pursuing these very elements of nusah which are often overlooked. My
approach is to compare the CIWC with all of the available western, central
and eastern European sources, In effect, I am retracing Wohlberg' s steps,
examining anew the sources from which he culled the CIWC. For each
tune I examine the modal content, identify significant motifs and distin-
guish any metrical melodies. In some instances I have discovered whole
passages of nusah which were apparently fundamental to the liturgical
music of Ashkenazic communities but are no longer employed. These
tunes have not only fallen from the practice of contemporary Jewry, but
they have also remained beyond the study of today's cantors.
The nusah for the Evening Service of Shalosh Regalim is
somewhat enigmatic. When looking at the CIWC, one encounters mixed
signals in the very first item. Bar'chu is presented in two entirely different
versions. Line 1 is written in the major mode while Line 3 is minor
1. The term "Mi-Sinai tunes" is used here in a very broad context,
encompassing many portions of chant which would not qualify under a more
narrow definition Mi-Sinai tunes.
HAZZAN BRIAN MAYER is Cantor of Temple Emenu-El, Providence, Rhode
Island, and Instructor in Cantillation at the Cantors Institute of The Jewish
Theological Seminary.
63
(Example 1). It is clear that Wohlberg intended to preserve two separate
traditions despite his usual desire to present his student with a
homogenization. In the space of this article I will focus only on the
material pertaining to CIWC Line 1.
Example 1.
** HMtvolWicH.
*A
ft*- KM*. *T A-U-Hh * m-tl ji' ftAKd —
Acloselookat QWCIine 1 reveals a near duplication of No.157
in Joseph Sulzer' s 1905 edition of his father' s Schir Zion (Example2). The
respective opening motifs (hereinafter Opening Motif A) are the same, the
metrical settings of the words " et Adonai " are identical and they both
return to the tonic in similar fashion. The fascinating characteristic about
both settings is what they do not portray.
Example 2.
64
Opening Motif A
^ mmm
As was often the case, Josef Sulzer took some substantial liberties with his
father' s work.2 For this study it is imperative to return to Salomon' s original
works to search for his rendition of the nusah. Salomon' s quest for
authenticity is stated in the preface of Schir Zion 1(1839): "I see it as my
duty ... to consider as far as possible the traditional tunes bequeathed to
us, to cleanse their ancient and deeorous character from the later accretions
or tasteless embellishments, to restore their original purity ..."
Salomon' s Bar' chu, No. 42 (Example 3). which he labels alte
Weise, opens with the identical motifs in the tenor line as appear in the
previously citedexamples (Opening Motif A and Metrical Tune-part A).3
In the fifth measure, however, the tenor line rests and the sopranos sing a
metrical tune (Metrical Tune - part B) different from the tenors' third
measure, but apply it to the same words.
'frmprl
Example 3.
,-WJ. «ttr WrUr
2. See Eric Werner, A Voice Still Heard, Pennsylvania State University
Press: 1976. pp.2134, for an appropriate lambasting.
3. I view this metrical tune as having two related parts, since although
part A sometimes appears alone, part B almost never does; it follows directly on
the heels of part A. The same is true of the better known metrical tune for the
evening service of the High Holy Days. It, too, does not always appear in its
entirety, but its fragments often do appear in order as one complete tune.
65
Metrical Tune - Part A
i i' U-lJ luj M
Metrical Tune - Part B
ULr LLLi [ f i
This additional tune rears its pretty head in other composers'
settings of Bur' chu. Not surprisingly, Moritz Deutsch, a devoted student
of Salomon Sulzer and his assistant cantor from 1842-1844,4 employs it
albeit without the repetition of words. Curiously, though, Deutsch does
not open with his teacher' s choice for the opening motif; he delays its
appearance by placing another motif (Opening Motif B) before it. He also
embellishes Metrical Tune ■ part A (Example 4).
Example 4.
II. Theil.
Abeadgebet fur die Fettugp.
Allegro moderate.
••1 h*-ar w* .
Opening Motif B
rj 1 Hi J 1 -4-
4. AZ, Idelsohn. Jewish Music in Its Historical Development, (New
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1929). p.288.
66
Finding in Deutsch the tune omitted by Josef Sulzer does not
provide enough evidence to prove that Josef overlooked an important
element of the nusah; one might conclude that Deutsch simply repeated a
nigun of his mentor' s creating. However, a look at Samuel Naumbourg' s
Evening Service will show that this tune was known beyond Sulzer' s
circle.
Samuel Naumbourg, the chief cantor in Paris from 1845-1880,
clearly was not a Sulzerprotege. Naumbourg was thoroughly imbued with
the nusah of South Germany. His forebears were cantors extending back
three centuries and his formal training came in Munich at the hands of the
venerable Low Sanger and in the choir of Maier Kohn.5 Throughout his
introduction to T mirot Yisrael, published in 1847 (just eight years after
Schir Zion I and several decades before Josef Sulzer' s orDeutsch' s
publications), Naumbourg relates his understanding of the age-old nature
of this music. Thus, he often labels his settings " ancienne maniere" or
"anciennemelodie," reflecting his attempt to transmit a tradition, much of
which he attributes to the Maharil.6
Naumbourg' s Bar' chu is set for male trio (Example 5). an indica-
tion that this rendition echoes the style which was so favored by the
eighteenth century and early nineteenth century cantors like Sanger. It
opens, after a declamatory calling of the first word, with the familiar
metrical tunecommontoalloftheaforementionedsettings. Thesametune
gracefully repeats itself, extending what has been a two-measure phrase
into four measures.'
Example 5a
71*108. iDtn
nee b*b anso*
i (trr, IMS:
6. Samuel Naubourg, Z' mirot Yisad, (Paris: 1847), p.ll. The Maharil
is the acronym for Rabbi Jacob Molin. the revered rabbinic authority and precentor
in the Rhineland, who died in 1427.
7. This repetitionof themelody appears to be Naumbourg' s innovation,
for no other source repeats it, including Sanger and Kuhn; see Idelsohn, Thesaurus
of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, Voi. VII, (Ktav: 1973), pp.28 and 136.
67
,/.,>r .
Example 5b
^b
MM f»4H iNM.
r 1 -ifl-'.y;f ,
W-
{<i , si jr. di . Ju» BW-..I-
y
^ -
/T\
[f* A r -j
* — tm__ rnw |
i ,- /-*_ _' ■ j
r-JBBLp— = ^ r« i n
Huh bl _
» Jt h
pc . iwfc » - »i»
. i fir rw-
»* _ dim hr.r«* . in
imV.» f r M fit
— ■ *" ' " t' r- '
■ J. U ■ ,1-
1 m i-l J
-, ,r*=
r^\. f j "=—
* =i m ^r- ■■■• —
1 * < * * : r^
i r ? f [/-Lara
, /^ jT» Q i> -5
Lj«J pS <■
f .
lo
^T*^ ""»*"** **^
^W^?t-
iMiiV.. ■? f~ji
•» - a- jon-cfao »• _
..
__ _ _-
Adajrio noD troppft
Example 5 c
This tune reappears at the end of Naumbourg' s Pesah Achlu
(Example 5b); the words " v' ga' al. . bimei hag pesah" areset with his four-
measure version of the metrical tune from Bar' chu. The very next measure
proves that the tune in Salomon Sulzer' sEar' c/zwwas not a creation of the
Viennese synagogue tunesmith, but rather it was an integral part of the
tradition. Naumbourg' s setting of the text, Pesah Romim, which he labels
anciennemelodie, is unmistakably the same as S. Sulzer' sBar' chu in his
soprano line. Naumbourg' s version of the tune goes on further, up a major
third, with a complete sequence.
Looking back to thebeginning of Naumbourg' s Pesah Achlu, the
piece is set, like Ear' chu, in the male trio style. Interestingly, the three
voices sing the word "pesah' 'in unison and employ the same motif
(Opening Motif B) that Deutsch used to open his Bar' chu setting. The top
voice in Naumbourg' s piece continues, just as Deutsch' s, with an extended
version of Opening Motif A. Furthermore, Deutsch applies this same
68
extended version to the corresponding Sukkot text, to' and nit' &tz' mahot
(Example 5c).8
Naumbourg' s source for Metrical Tune - part B is not clear.
Neither of his Munich pedagogues, Maier Kohn nor Low Sanger employ
it in their settings of Bar' chu or PesahAchlu? Sources from other areas,
however, employ various combinations of theopening motifs and parts of
the metrical tune. From Berlin, Louis Lewandowski and Aron Friedmann
provide similar renditions (Example 6).l" For Bar' chu, both employ
identical opening motifs which begin with only part of Opening Motif B,
and then continue with all of Opening Motif A. Friedmann, in his Shir
Lishfomoh, proceeds with Metrical Tune - part A and finishes with a motif
that includes a descending minor seventh." The remainder of
Lewandowski' s Kol Rinnah Utefillah and Todah Wsimrah settings ne-
glect the motifs in question, each blazing unique paths.
Example 6
N9 238. Win
,, M area to. A he Melorlie.
, ^ rp i i
__p^ 31.
y 4! i. JiJ^j^J'ijjj
[ Jk*' * I ttji " fj* J I
1 vJJjJS^^ J J *^
fl O.m y t^t^i i
, Recit. ^-^
Bo- rin-.li iL>duii-D4>j h* - m'-wau
- rock 1'- au . lorn wo . ed.
U - ma • * - *rir jurim a • ue -
8. Although this discussion deals primarily with the service of Pesuh it
should be understood that, with some specific exceptions, the nusah for Pesuh also
applies to Sukkot and Shavuot. Naumbourg, in an asterisk attached to his Bar' chu
(No. 108), comments that "an intelligent officiant can easily adapt these melodies
to the words of the Other piyut'M) which are nearly always the same form."
9. A.Z. Idelsohn, Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, (Ktav,
1973), vol. VE, pp.2829 & 136.
10. Lewandowski, known primarily as the choral director and composer
for the somewhat liberal Oranienburgerstrasse Temple, spent the first twenty-five
years of his career in the old orthodox Heidereuterstrasse synagogue. His
understanding of nusah was cultivated by Abraham Jacob Lichtenstein, cantor of
the old synagogue. Friedmann served the same community. Although his tenure
began in 1882, seventeen years after Lewandowski moved to the new temple,
Friedmamis nusah often corresponds to that of Lewandowski, probably reflecting
the lasting influence of Lichtenstein.
11. This concluding motif will be dealt with further on in this paper.
69
^'' 'Tjjjjj i ijij a juJjJ^jj i r 3 ^^^^
wt loj - lo a-maw-dtl beo-jatim u • wen laj-lo »-dao- noj ,
i'. wo-*ua *cfa r -
MAAJtrW L'SUHOLOiCtt B'GOLUi.
-VBf.
Lewandowski' s PesahAchlu in Kol Rinnah Utefillah No. 70,
opens with the entire Opening Motif B, skips Opening Motif A, and uses
Metrical Tune - part A. Opening Motif B returns in his Pesah Tukkai, but
is appears in the upper octave. Friedmann' sPesah Achlu and Pesah
Tukkan No. 241, begin with Opening Motif A and B, respectively, and
employ Metrical Tune - parts A and B in both texts (Example 7).
Example 7
m ho Btf.lo _
70
N9 *41. nDD
l Moderato.
chau* sim bi - me
kn wiha-chkk !'■ ms 1'- bar- e - nu mn ntf - lo
Other such combinations of these motifs appear in the Frankfurt am
Main sources, Fabian Ogutsch' sDer Frankfurter Kantor, and Selig
Scheuermann' s Die gottesdienstlichen Gesange der hraeliten (Example
8). Ogutsch' s Pesah Tukkan employs all of Metrical Tune - part B, albeit
with an awkward modulation. Scheuermann' sBco^dm is much like Josef
Sulzer' s, using Opening Motif A and Metrical Tune - part A.
Example 8
Nr. tot rep
1, Borchu.
II. Teil.
Scholosch regolim.
A, Pesach arvis.
71
Still another source, from Hungary, is M. Wodak' s Ham' natzeach. It
is invaluable, for it is among the very few publications which account for
Hungarian -Eastern European nusah for the Three Festivals. Wodak' s
Bar'chu is full of typically Eastern European embellishments, but it
follows the same parameters of the nusah: it employs Opening Motif B and
both parts of the metrical tune (Example 9).
Example 9
W33«.
rt u Cinror.
Abraham Baer' s Baal Tfillah, published in Leipzig in 1877,is the only
nineteenth century source which frequently includes more than one
version for chanting a text. It attempts to encompass more than just
renditions of local custom, though it falls short of being comprehensive.
Baer' sNo. 719, Weise I is the clearest example of applying a full range of
motifs to Bur'chu (Example 10). His first two measures employ both
opening motifs for the word "Bur'chu". The words "et Adonai" areapplied
to Metrical Tune - part A; Metrical Tune - part B with the sequence is set
without text; the closing motif arrives at the tonic in the same fashion as
do the Sulzers' versions.
Example 10
Gesange Ciir den ersten Pesach-Abend.
N»7I».
1313**1
(I* *• fntUf AfcuA, m
••ft wlrt, «U» G«t«l« (•<
Mc Uilc* wf m«f taj
4».w» krU rrv>fo g*>
72
Although Baer' s work provides the broadest picture of the contempo-
rary practice, there is one motif for which Baer does not account. It is the
closing motif found in Deutsch's Bar'chu. This motif, applied to the word
"Ham' vorach," begins on scalestep eight and drops a minor seventh
before making its way to scale-step one. This figure, with its somewhat
unusual interval, appears in several sources.
Whenlookingat Deutsch, onemustalways consult his teacher' swork.
Although Sulzer's Bar'chu does not employthis motif, his setting of Pesah
Achlu does (Example 11 - Schir Zion II, No. 94). The same phenomenon
occurs in Baer' sPesah Achlu (Example 12 - pp. 731, Weise2) and Pesah
Tukkan(N 0.732, l/l/e/se/ & 2).Given these close ties between Bar'chu and
Pesah Achlu, demonstrated above in Naumbourg, Friedmann and
Ogutsch, it is no surprise to find this closing motif with the descending
seventhi n either Bafchu, Pesah A chlu or Pesah Tukkan in nearly all of the
* ¥ -
ncs
Example 11
_ res
imT^-j-^ '
.u..:- #. -.-.,.,.,..
W ^
Example 12
trnne ib:n noc
73
mn*.
The one curious exception to much of what has been discussed above
is Wohlberg' s CIWC. The CIWC never employs Metrical Tune - part B,
with the possible exception of two veiled references, 12 nor does it dem-
onstrate the unique closing motif with the descending minor seventh.
Example 13
}Z - S*H TU- «A»J^Zn * **tf«- >MK J-oT —
— «/-M*ff -hu.- ft w-M-tfr_ fir.** - jtfM-?e.4fir.
fSfectMMfcl^Uf )
fW-?fl- /fcS SuK.KAT-S^- t*«_ A-
t* -
*/u. >/*-*«_ km.- A- *n yTi-M
*L _ *»- Au y^u-SH^tA^ y«>»
12. The fourth and third to last measures of Wohlberg' s Pesah Tukkan
(line 22) and Haporeis (lines 35-36) seem to allude to the beginning of Metrical
Tune part B. CIWC lines 21 and 34 begin with a metrical tune which is somewhat
similar to Baer' s Pesah AcHu, no. 731 Wehe2. This tune, as Wohlberg' s presents
it, does not appear in any of the sources (Example 13).
74
The reasons behind Wohlberg' s omissions are consistent with his
overall philosophy about teaching andrendering nusah in the latter half of
twentieth century America In 1977 he wrote about "two trends present
throughout our history. The first, more dominant one, is reverence for
tradition. The second is accommodation to the present."13 All of his
decisions about nusah are influenced by the tension between tradition and
accommodation. In the case at hand, Wohlberg knows that Josef Sulzer
and others omitted Metrical Tune - part B, thus giving him a historical
precedent for the CIWC. He also disapproves of long melismas, par-
ticularly ones like Metrical Tune - part B which are not set to the liturgical
text and are often sung with nonsense syllables. Wohlberg' s avoiding of
the descending minor seventh cadential motif again reflects a historical
precedent while also affording the cantorial student an easier motif to
negotiate.
Like Professor Wohlberg, my mentor and teacher, I have found that
the sources from the past two centuries have a great deal to teach us in the
field of nusah. The evidence is convincing that in less than one hundred
years, significant change has occurred; the expectant ears of the informed
congregant no longer demand to hear the fundamental motifs and the full
metrical tune of the Festival Evening Bar' chu. Although it is impossible
to turn back the clock and undo the development of a dynamic tradition,
I do propose the reintroduction of melodies like Bar' chu which are not only
readily accessible, but are also part of a once vibrant whole. Today' s
cantors should be mindful of Salomon Sulzer' s charge, "toconsider as far
as possible the traditional tunes bequeathed to us."
13. Max Wohlberg, "The Emerging Image of the Conservative Cantor."
J ournal of Synagogue Music, Vol. VIL3, June, 1977. p. 17.
75
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baer, Abraham, Baal Tfillah, Leipzig: 1877.
Deutsch, Moritz, Vorbeterschule, Breslau: 187 1.
Friedmann, Aron, Shir Lishlomoh, Berlin: 1901.
Idelsohn, AZ. Jewish Music in Its Historical Development, New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1927,
Idelsohn, A.Z., Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, Vol. VII, Ktav,
1973.
Lewandowski, Louis, Kol Rinnah l/tef/7/ah, Berlin: 1871.
Lewandowski, Louis, Todah W simrah, Berlin: 1876 and 1882.
Naumbourg, Samuel, T mirotYmA, Paris: 1847.
Ogutsch, Fabian, Der frankfurter Kantor, Frankfurt am Main: J.
Kauffman Verlag, 1930.
Scheuermann, Sdig, Die Gottesdienstlichen Gesange der Israeliten,
Frankfurt am Main: J. Kauffmann, 1912.
Sulzer, Salomon, Schir Zion I and HVienna: 1 839and 1 866,respectively .
Werner, Eric, A Voice Still Heard, Pennsylvania State University Press,
1976.
Wodak, M., Ham' natzeach, Vienna: 1901.
Wonlberg, Max, "The Emerging Image of the Conservative Cantor,"
Journal of Synagogue Music, Vol. VIL3, June, 1977.
76
TA'AMEY HAMIKRA: A CLOSER LOOK
Joshua R. Jacobson
What's wrong with these tunes?
Example 1
i j j m n i j j n i
W 9 m - ' w | u ^ #» - » * 1 J
ta • mid lo cha -sar la - nu. ve - al yech - sar la
Example 2
fa J J 1 J J- J I J J J J 1 J J J J I J J
ka- ka - tuv ve - a - chat - U ve - sa - va - U u - ve - rich - u
Example 3
In the first example the word /a-nu was changed by the composer 1
to h-nu. La-nu means "to us;" kwiu means "they stayed overnight."
In the second example the same composer changed the words vc-
a-chal-/a and u-vcy-rach-/a to vc-a-r fca/-ta and u-vcy-rar/r-la. Vc-a-chal-
ta and u-vcy-rach-m mean "you shall cat" and "you shall bless;" vc-a-
chal-vi and u-vcy-rar/i-ta mean "you atc M and "you blessed."
In the third example wc see how the careless application of nusach
to this text changes its meaning from "He who abides for eternity, exalted
and holy is His name!" to "He who abides for eternity is exalted, and holy
is His name!"
Well, who cares about such linguistic nit-picking? and whatdoes all
this have to do with ta'amcy hamikra, anyway?
Ta'amey hamikra refers to the Jewish traditions of scriptural
cantillation: the system of motifs that are assigned to the text and the
1 MosheNathanson
JOSHUA JACOBSON is chair of the Department of Music at Northeastern
University and Founder and Director of Boston's Zamir Chorale.
77
graphic symbols that represent those motifs. The three functions of
ta' amey hamikra are (1) to enhance the aesthetic quality of public reading
by providing the texts with melodies, (2) to indicate the syllabic stress of
each word* and (3) to clarify the syntactical sense by parsing each verse.
As Jewish music professionals, we are most often concerned with
the first two functions: how to chant the Torah, the haftarot and the
megillot with appropriate allocation of the motifs.
According to traditional Jewish practice, one is obliged to be
scrupulousaboutpronunciation whenreadingscriptureinpublic. If aba' al
k' riyah makes an error in cantillation that results in a change of meaning,
he is to be interrupted, the correct reading is to be pointed out and he is to
repeat the phrase with the correction.
The Shulchan Aruch, a sixteenth-century code of Jewish law
compiled by Joseph Caro in Venice, stipulates:
In the first place, the reader is obligated to read with
absolutely correct te' amim and pronunciation, so that he
does not confuse voiced schwa with unvoiced schwa and so
that he knows which letters take daggesh.... If he makes an
error in the reading, even in the pronunciation of a single
letter, he is obliged to repeat it and pronounce it correctly.3
The Mishnah Berurah, a nineteenth century commentary on the
Shulchan Aruch by the Chafetz Chayyim, elaborates on this passage.
If the reader makes an error in the melody of the
te' amim, and that error results in a change in the sense of the
text (for example, if he chanted a word with a conjunctive
ta' am in place of a disjunctive ta' am), he is obliged to repeat
[the phrase].4
Unfortunately, many of those who are scrupulous about observing
the correct word stress in cantillation are not always as careful when
chanting the liturgy and singing hymns. As we saw in the first two
examples cited above, a change in a word' s stress can change a word' s
2 Most te' amim (except the prepositive, postpositive and interlogic signs)
indicate where in the word we should sing the "body of the trope" (to borrow
Prof. Binder' s term).Those who are confused about where to place the Proper
stress on words which have prepositive and postpositive tropes should consult
the Koren editions of the Bible. The editors have consistently adhered to the
policy of placing a secondary tropal sign on the stressed syllable of any word in
which the trope falls on an unstressed syllable.
3 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim, §142 (the present author' s translation).
4 Mishnah Beruruh. Orach Chayyim, §142 (the present author's translation).
78
meaning. Example four shows Louis Lewandowski's well-known setting
of the verses included in the zichronot portion of the Rosh HaShanah
service*
ion *fo ,n *^t rt * IDX n:3 ^^ Q^^v^awahingTn^n
it i / I v v.- : t » * - — i - («•■ I-.- I • ** » r- -i - | - - i
Jcr. 2:2
Ezek. 16:60
Note the difference in accentuation of the word tiidt. In the verse
from Jeremiah, the word is za-c/rar-ti, "I remembered." Bui in the verse
from Ezckicl the word appears with"vav consecutive" ("| l D rr n l 1) as ve-za-
char-f/, "I shall remember;" theacccnt has shifted and the lense is changed.
Was Lewandowski aware of this distinction when he composed his
setting? 5
Example 4: Two excerpts from Zacharti Lack by Lewandowski.
rfl i\r
f r
1 ' ^
■i—
Zo -
clur -
ti
loch
A*
Md
n'u
n
yidt.
Zo -
char -
ti
loch
dw -
Md
n'u
ra
ytch.
Zo -
char
ti
loch
che
Md
n'u
ra
ytch.
Zo - chit - ti loch
n'u ra - yiA,
f^jli
11
W-20-
dur
ti
a
ni
12
v«-zo-
char
li
a
- ni
Bl
w-zo-
ch*r
ti
•
- n.
B2
w-zo-
char
u
a
- ni
5 I realize that it is tremendously difficult to impose new rhythm on a hymn that
the congregation has been singing in its own way for years (although I confess I
79
Ta'amey hamikra also function as an elaborate system of punctua-
tion, indicating the placement of major and minor pauses in the reading,
as well as groupings of words which are to be syntactically connected.
Every word in scripture is marked with a masoretic accent, or "la'am."
Te'amim are either conjunctive or disjunctive. A conjunctive ta'am
indicates that the word is joined in meaning to the word which immediately
follows. A disjunctive ta 'am indicates a syntactic separation followingthe
word. The masoretes instituted the te'amim as a means of clarifying the
meaning of the sacred texts at a time when the Jewish people were no
longer fluent in the use of the Hebrew language.
Without punctuation, a verse could be open to more than one
interpretation. For example, this short verse from Gen. 24:34, nay hokm
■OiK orraN could be read in any of three ways:
(1) with a disjunctive accent on "ny*.
AsET«ts^*1arnAhi*im"! ,> pJl$ 0^13 ** ^$ ""5**J
(2) with a disjunctive accent on nmaN:
AhKitni'sseivirts^'TM'^^S^ CPj^t* T3» "^N**!
(3) with a disjunctive accent omnK , i:
The third version is the masoretic punctuation.
Another verse from the same chapter serves to further illustrate the
point. Observe this phrase from Gen. 24:65.
Tteeratoid,^^ynwler:;^3^K Kin *\ZVT) "IDK*\
One who is careless about the te'amim, making the "insignificant"
error of confusing a mer'cha (a conjunctive ta'am) with a tipcha (a
disjunctive ta'am), might easily pervert the sense of this verse, rendering
it:
He said, "the servant is my master." 'J'llTJttn n^Pl nDR»T
Another interesting example is this enigmatic verse from ISam.
3:3.
80
:DV6h
At first glance we might translate this verse as "The lamp of the
Lord had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the
Lord where the ark of God was." 6 However, the masoretic interpretation
is quite different, and takes into account the fact that the young Samuel
would never have been allowed to sleep in the sanctuary. The ta'am
etnachta on the word :n? indicates lhe main dividing point in the verse.
The phrase ending with the etnachta must therefore be treated as a
parenthetical phrase. The adverbial phrase "in the Temple..." modifies
"gone out/' not "sleeping."
| / -i v v -i j- •■ ; *■ ft i * v i m : • n.y «•■ t
"The lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out (while Samuel was sleeping)
in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was."
At times an improper inflection in the reading can lead to a heretical
interpretation. In Isaiah 6:2 we encounter the following four words:
1 , ? l ?PnnD^nS?D , 'S ta ltt?.Connectingthelasttwowords^ *? b B B 13
would rcsull in the unacceptable translation, "Seraphim are standing
above Him." Isaiah's vision surely would not have allowed any creatures
to appear superior to the Deity. The masoretic interpretation places the
disjunctive ta'am pashta on the word ?1M3D, separating it syntactically
on high for [to serve] Him."
In the liturgy for lhe High Holidays we frequenlly encounter the
phrase: 71 Dtt?l3 K*lp*l. In chanting this phrase, should we pause aflcr
the first word or after lhe second word? According to the masorclic
interpretation, the latter would be more correct. The source of Ihis phrase
fficod345 :n otfa mpn Dttf ta» asrnn p'»a h Tin
"The Lord came down in a cloud; He stood with him [Moses] there, and
proclaimed the name Lord." 7 According to Ibn Ezra, Tl is the subject of
the verblOjVl; God uttered His own name to teach Moses how to invoke
Him.8
6 Note that this is how the verse is translated in the new JPS Tanakh (Philadel-
phia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985),
' Tanakh.
8 Note that in this case Rashi disregards the masoretes and follows instead the
Targum, interpreting the subject of Kip"! as Moses.
81
Contrast this verse with Genesis 12:8.
•n ofeYiripn nirrf? hb m b#-p» ,, i oni? n »»m
Here (he conjunctive ta'am mer'cha on the word ron indicates that the
word is in construct form (s'michut), implying that Abram is calling "in
the name o/the Lord." The disjunctive ta'am tipcha on the word K "I p " 1
causes a daggesh to appear in the first letter of rox
Another commonly misread^verse is the quote from Jeremiah 31:11
whichwechantinthema'arivservioe wtJ3^ 2j?i>^"rit$ H n*^"*^
. t : ^ 3 Q P p T T] 1 * P /TfcrtheIJ3rdwiflimsomJ.xob^
one too strong forhim." The ta'am tipcha indicates a slight pauseafter the
word "P& , while the mer'cha on pm indicates that it is connected
syntactically to the word n Q &. The common practice of pausing between
P?n anduoo contradicts the sense of the text.
In the Torah service, we often hear the fourth verse from Psalm 34
chanted as:
Example 4
Ga-dc • hi U-do-shem— i - ti ■ - w - ro- me-m ihe-mo ytcb-dav.
*■ I - J I » 1 1 A • J - Jt-
The presence ofa disjunctive ta'am on the word n oon i lmightsuggestthe
following alteration 9 :
Example 5
CVde - In I*, dotbem— i - ti u-ne-rome-m* the • mo— yaclxUv.-
Note thatSulzer'soriginal setting of the text shows that he was quite
sensitive to the correct accentuation and phrasing.
9 Note that the te'amim for the book of Psalms are different from those of the
twenty-one prose books.
82
Example 6, Salomon Sulzer, Gadlu
f7\ =»- rrs
Ga-de- 1u la-do-shetn i - ti u-no-rome- mo she-mo yach- dov.
We would also do well to follow more closely Sulzer's original
setting of the "Yehalelu" from the Shabbat Torah service. From an
examination of the te'amim 9 wc observe that there should bea slight pause
after (not before) the word 1 Qtf,
* rr t t 1 v r: - a - i J : rt j ■ »■ •„■ < 1 - 1
"Let tliem praise the name of the Lord, for His name is sublime — His alone."
Example 7: Salomon Sulzer, Yehalelu
Ye-ha- le - lu es shem A-do - shem ki nis -gov- she- mo te-va * do.
Up until this point the emphasis has been on demonstrating how the
te'amim can serve as a guide to the correct pronunciation of individual
words and the proper inflection of verses. But we can also reverse the
process. By applying the principleof "continuous dichotomy" 10 to a verse
of scripture we can analyze the sentence structure and thereby predict the
ta'am for each word.
Lctuscxamincasimplcvcrsc: .vfrn 3^j Tim rinKQ intfK unni
"His wife looked Kick and she became a pillar of salt " (Gen. 19:26)
The main syntactic division of the verse separates the two predi-
cates unm and' run
9 Note that the te'amim for the book of Psalms are different from those of the
twenty -one prose books.
10 Continuous dichotomy refers to the process of dividing a scriptural verse
into two parts according to the syntactical structure, then further subdividing
each part into two smaller parts, and continuing until the smallest indivisible
syntactic unit is reached. While this process was probably originally derived
from the parallel structure of Biblical poetry, it was later applied to the prose
books as well.
83
^
n"?Q n-sj 'nni rinKQ inrcx
^
m
Each of the two halves of the verse can then be further subdivided.
According to one of the basic rules of syntactic subdivision, a phrase that
begins with a verb is subdivided before its final complement. 1 1
|nnKQ|in^K unnj
modifier subject verb
In the second half of the verse we apply the principle that two words
in construct state must remain togetheras a syntactic unit. Since3*2H and
rV?Q must remain together, the division must come before the word a " X 3.
&
compund noun verb
Now that we have successfully parsed the verse down to its smallest
possible units, we next insert the te'amim appropriate to each syntactic
position. The disjunctive ta'am marking the last word in a verse is siluk.
nhn n*3u |*nrn
nrwahrupK mm
The disjunctive ta'am marking the last word in the first half of a
verse is etnachta.
The disjunctive ta'am marking the next subdivision is tipcha.
ri^oa'X] *fTnT)nn«ia|'in»»rarS
The conjunctive ta'am "serving" tipcha is mer'cha.
1 1 A complement (O^tffi) can be subject, object or modifier.
84
The conjunctive ta'am serving siluk is also mer'cha.
nbn arsu pfirn vnnKDiintiNoarn
The verse is now fully accented.
Let us examine a slightly more complex verse.
.lrnnn&Ka usod nv *n uyv k 1 ? *7Dk "int^ 1 ? lava imin "irm iodi
"We have brought in our hands other monies with which to buy food; we
do not know who put the money in our bags." (Gen. 43:22)
The primary dichotomy separates the two predicates lanifi and
WT.
I lrnmioxa udod nm "o ny v w? *7dk -op 1 ? urn lmin inx he
In the first half, we mark the primary subdivision before the final
complement.
pDK -otH urn lmin -inx ^c}d
modHStr modifier v«rb obj*cf
We can now sub-divide the inner phrase; the dichotomy is before
the predicate.
iji irm *]ifz
Into lmiji inx nte
The second half of the verse subdivides before the compound
complement.
v«rt» I
85
The object itself is a phrase which further subdivides before its final
complement.
hrnnnQxJ uses op
mwftfi*r object v«rb
%
We now apply the te'amim according to the hierarchical structure
of the parsed verse. The final word of the verse is marked with the
disjunctive siluk, and the final word of the first half of the verse is marked
with the disjunctive etnachta.
j irn ft n n tj a uddd nm ^ i3yr vh> ^airiatf 1 } lava imin| -inK iodi I
In the first half-verse we marie the last word of the first sub-division
with the disjunctive tipcha.
The last word in a phrase which is subordinate to tipcha is marked
with the subordinate disjunctive, f vir.
We can now mark the conjunctives which "serve" the disjunctives.
Before tipcha — mer'cha.
irnhnoula TEODDWTjbrr^ byy^tib y\yz injVipps todi
Before t'vir, since there are two intervening unstressed syllables —
darga.
The second half-verse is accented in a similar fashion. The final
phrase before siluk must end with the disjunctive, tipcha.
86
The first subdivision, since it is on a higher level lhan tipcha, must
be the disjunctive, zakef.
The conjunctive which serves tipcha is mer'cha.
1" 1 ' ('ft- >r i fc » » A * 1 • 1 t- v 1 1/- I v- - I » f* •
The conjunctive which serves zakef is munach.
:i3'nhnn«a uao? wn\ w\* tb ^slnatf '> uya im1h -inn ids i
The verse is now fully accented.
With knowledge of the rules of parsing scripture and of the
hierarchy of the te'amim, one can apply this method to any verse in the
Bible. Although this procedure may seem complex when revealed in such
a cursory fashion, a practiced reader studying the subject with a step-by-
stcp approach can become rather proficient.
Regrettably, this method of analysis is not well known outside of
Israel, where it is taught to young children in many schools. The benefits
of this knowledge to a ba'al k'riyah should be obvious. The ability to
predict patterns of te'amim can greatly facilitate the process of what often
seems to berotememorization. The introduction of this method of analysis
into the curriculum of our day schools and Hebrew high schools could
potentially improve the students* ability to understand the Hebrew Bible
and could even increase the number of skilled ba'alcy k'riyah in the next
generation. Ta'amcy hamikra does not have to be laught as a purely
musical pre-con formation exercise. It can and should be integrated into the
curriculum of Bible study.
Unfortunately, there are no textbooks in English that adequately
treat this subject. Binder's text is an excellent resource but is limited to
87
musical interpretation of the motifs. 12 Cantor Samuel Rosenbaum' s books
on Torah and Haftarah chanting reflect au earnest attempt to present the
techniques of cantillation in a logical manner, but contain a number of
errors.13 Maurice Gellis and Dennis Gribetz' s book presents many
grammatical rules which are extremely helpful to the ba' al k' riyah.14 Yet
none of these authors explains the relationship of the te' amim to the
grammatical structure.
Solomon Rosowsky' s revered tome 15 is many things. It is an
extremely thorough treatiseon every possible permutation of the ta' amey
hamikra as they would appear in Western notation. It even presents a
method for cantillating the Bible in Swedish translation. While Rosowsky
does deal with grammatical aspects of the te' amim, he does so primarily
from the antiquated concept of the "chain of command" (emperors, kings,
dukes, and so forth). There is no attempt to correlate the te' amim to
grammatical parsing of the text.
The best (and only) book on the subject in the English language
remains William Wickes' Treatise on the Accentuation of the Prose Books
of the Old Testament, available now in a reprint edition. 16 Wickes gives
a thorough explanation of the relationship of te' amim to the syntax,
includingtherulesforparsingscripturalverse. But hisbookisbettersuited
to scholars than to young students.
In Israel, many scholars have delved into the complex functions of
the te' amim. Rabbi Mordecai Broyer has written a thorough explication of
the subject in his Tu'amey HaMikra. 17 There is one author, however, who
stands alone in his single-minded dedication and his ability to present the
complexity of ta' amey hamikra in a clear and understandable way.
Michael Perlman. now living at K' vutsat Yavneh. has already written
more than twenty books and continues to add to the list each year. His
12 Abraham Binder, Biblical Chant. (NY: Sacred Music Press, 1959).
13 Samuel Rosenbaum. A Guide io Torah Chanting and A Guide io Haftarah
Chanting. (New York: Ktav Publishing, 1973).
14 Morris Gellis. and Dennis Gribetz, The Glory of Torah Reading, revised
1983 ed. ( Jersey City: M.P. Press, 1982).
15 Solomon Rosowsky. The Cantillation of the Bible. (New York: The
Reconstructionist Press, 1957).
16 William Wickes. Two Treatises on the Accentuation of the Old Testament.
2 vols. 1881-1887. (reprinted.. New York: Ktav Publishers, 1970).
17 Mordecai Broyer, Ta'amei HaMikra. (Jerusalem: 1982. Reprint ed.
Jerusalem: Chorev, 1989).
88
seven-volume Dapim LeLimud Ta' ameyHaMikra 18 presents the subject
in a series of fully-cxplnined graduated lessons, with exercises for the
student at the end of each lesson. His six-volume Chug LeTa' amey
Hahlikra 19 is a collection of lectures on various topics relntcd to cantilla-
tion, including fascinating parshanut based on the te' amim. He has also
initialed a series displaying the text of the Bible grammatically parsed with
his own system of analytical symbols, Always concerned with the practi-
cal application of his work, Mr. Perlman has issued pamphlets for the
shaliach tsibhur which display liturgical texts with the parsing symbols, a
tremendous boon to Ihose who are concerned with the correct rendering of
the prayers.20
This article represents an attempt to stimulate interest in an area of
study which is largely unknown in this country and to raise the banner for
correct pronunciation and inflection of the sacred texts. Many performers
arc extremely careful about consulting an authoritative ur-text score in
order to discover a composer' s original intentions regarding the notation,
phrasing and articulation of a particular passage; yet these same musicians
are ignorant of the phrasing and articulation of the text of a Biblical
passage.
If we believe that Hchrew is a language meant to be understood, not
merely a gobbledygook of menninglcss sounds to be spun out. then we
must make every effort to speak and chant the language correctly. Would
we respect a professional actor who constantly mispronounces words,
destroys syntax and evidences only a minimal undcrstnnding of a script?
Certainly we, as Jewish music professionals, should hold to the same
standards in bot h performance and teaching.
The fact that most congregants can' t tell the difference should not
bcadetcrminingfactor. *Tfliy ftJiN "0 > ^ x ? Yt. Acknowlcdgementofthc
Divine Presence demands that our public prayers and reading of scripture
18 Michael Perlman. L&imud Ta' amei HaMikra. 1 vols. (Jerusa-
lem: HaMachon HaYisra' eli LeMusikah Datit, 1962).
19 Michael Perlman. C hug LeTa' amey HaMikra. 6 vols. (Tel Aviv: Zimrat,
1971).
20 To my knowledge, there has been only one attempt lo translate Mr.
Perlman' s work into English. Alan Smith, a student of Perlman' s, has put
together a booklet entitled, Removing the Mystery from Ta' amey HaMikra. i
lucid and entertaining introduction to the subject. Copies may be obtained
directly from Mr. Smith at 27 Bet Zayit, Harey Yehudah. 90815, Israel.
89
be formulated in the ancient sacred language. We now have the opportu-
nity and the sacred obligation to lead our communities with this knowl-
edge.
Select Ribliogmphy
Avenary, Hanoch. The Ashkenazi Tradition of Biblical Chant between
1500 and 1900. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 1978.
Binder, Abraham W. Biblical Chant New York: The Sacred Music Press,
1959.
Broyer, Mordecai. Ta' amei HaMikra. Jerusalem: 1982. Reprint ed.
Jerusalem: Chorev. 1989.
Davis, Arthur. The Hebrew Accents. London: Myers and Co., 1900.
Gellis, Morris, and Dennis Gribetz. The Glory of Torah Reading. Revised
1983 ed. Jersey City: M.P. Press, 1982.
Encyclopedia Judaica. S.v. "Masoretic Accents," by Avigdor Herzog
Encyclopedia Judaica, S.v. "Music," by Hanoch Avenary
Kadari, Yehudah. VeShinantom LeVanecha: Li mud Ta' amey HaMikra.
Jerusalem: HaMachon LeMusikah Yehudit, 1989.
Ne' eman. Yehoshua L. Tseliley HaMikra. 2 vols. Jerusalem: Israel
Institute for Sacred Music, 1971.
Perlman, Michael, Chug LeTa' amey HaMikra. 6 vols. Tel Aviv: Zimrat,
1971.*
Perlman, Michael. Da pirn LeLimud Ta' amei HaMikra. 1 vols.
Jerusalem: HaMachon HaYisra' eli LeMusikah Datit, 1962.*
Perlman, Michael. K' lal&HaTe' amim Shel S/fref Emek. 4 vols. Tel
Aviv: Zimrat.*
Perlman. Michael. Sefer BaMidbar. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1981.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer B' reshit. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1979.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer Devorim. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1981.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer HaHaftarot. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1987.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer Shemor. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1981.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer Tehillim. Tel Aviv: Zimrat.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer Vayikra. Tel Aviv: Zimrat, 1980.*
Perlman, Michael. Sefer Yehoshua. Tel Aviv: Zimrat.*
Rosenbaum, Samuel. A Guide to Torah Chanting. New York: Ktav
Publishing, 1973.
Rosenbaum, Samuel, A Guide to Haftarah Chanting. New York: Ktav
Publishing, 1973.
Rosowsky, Solomon. TheCantillation of the Bible. New York: The
Reconstructionist Press, 1957.
Schachter, Hershel. "Lesser Known Laws of Torah Reading." Journal of
Jewish Music and Liturgy VII (1984-85).
90
Sperber, Alexander. A Historical Grammar of Biblical Ndbrew. Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1966.
Talmudic Encyclopedia. S.v. "Te' amim."(Volume 20)
Wickes, William. Two Treatises on the Accentuation oftheOldTestamenrt
(2 vols, originally published 1881-1887). New York: Ktav Publish-
ers, 1970.
Yeivin, Israel. Introduction to theTiberian Masorah. Scholars Press,
1980.
Zeitlin ,Shneur Zalman and Haim Bar-Dayan. TheM egillah of Esther and
Its Cantillation. Jerusalem: Kirynt Sefer, 1974.
*AII of Michael Perlman' s books and tapes are available through Zimnt
Publications, K' vutsat Ma' aleh Gilbo' a.Doar NaGilboa 19145, Israel.
91
MUSIC REVIEWS
EVENING, MORN, & NOON
THE SACRED MUSIC OF JACK GOTTLIEB
Reviewed by Robert S. SCHERR
Jack Gottlieb is an accomplished talent whose music encom-
passes many sacred and secular idioms. Indeed, the publicity for Gottlieb' s
newest recording, Evening, Morn, & Noon, suggests that the very purpose
of this project was to present sacred music which "embraces jazzy
intricacy, folk-like simplicity, art songs and Broadway tunes, (while
seeking to) remain true to its sacred intent and still reach a mainstream
American audience." It is a sampling of Gottlieb' s music from severalfull-
length sacred services, as well as individual prayers and meditations.
The cd (Premier Recordings PRCD 1018) is organized around
the rhythm of the Sabbath Day. After opening with three Psalm settings,
music for Evening includes Candle Blessing No. 1, Ma Tovu, Hashkivenu,
and V shamru. The Morning section opens with Shachar Avakeshcha and
Anim Zmirot, before moving on to traditional texts such as K' dusha and Etz
Chayim. Noon includes Tsur Yisrael, Retsei Vimnuchateinu, May the
Words, and the recording concludes with a pastoral Benediction.
The listener should not anticipate traditional nusach, nor sounds
of the last century on this recording. These compositions celebrate the
contemporary idiom in their approach to melody, harmonics, and even the
use of electronic instruments.
If one did not already know of Gottlieb' s long association with
Leonard Bernstein, it would be apparent in the fiit selection, Psalm 95,
where jazz rhythms and an energy of dancing remind us very much of his
mentor. Through most of the recording, adjectives like "lyric", 'pastoral",
and "calm" describe the mood. But since the colors vary from one piece
to the next, the collection does not seem repetitious. Ma Tovu, for tenor
and brass, is a charming piece, in which the voice and instruments
compliment each other. "Come My Beloved," for soprano, flute, and piano
is a thoughtful art song utilizing the text from the Song of Songs.
Throughout this recording, voices and instruments are integrated
sensitively, as we hear thoughtful renderings of text and artistry of
performance. Cantors appearing on the recording include Robert Abelson,
RO BERT SCHERR. Review Editor of the Journalof Synagogue Musi cjsHazzan
of Temple Israel, N atick, M assachusetts.
92
Richard Botton, David Lefkowitz, Helene Reps, Howard Stahl, and
Meredith Stone. Actress Phyllis Newman appears as reader. Harry Huff,
organist, the Metropolitan Brass Quintet, the New York Motet Choir, and
Conductor Steven Sturk, round out the distinguished cast of performers.
The recording is a very useful archive of Gottlieb' s synagogue
music, and will stand well as an example of creative sacred music of the
late twentieth century. Singers will appreciate the quality of performance
and splendid vocal writing. Historians of synagogue music will recognize
that whHe this imy not be a record day,
it does represent an aspect of the contemporary idiom.
RECENT RECORDINGS
Reviewed by CANTOR SHIMON GEWIRTZ
SHAAREI SHABBAT, a new cassette recording issued by
Transcontinental Publications, contains 28 songs, blessings and prayers
that can be sung in the home as well as the synagogue.
Arranged and produced by Doug Cotler, atalented performer and
cantor from the west coast, the cassette features a number of cantors
(mostly female) from in and around Los Angeles, singing the traditional
melodies associated with the enclosed selections.
While the musical background is tastefully done, there are some
jarring notes to be found in various prayers. For example:
1. The pronunciation of the third and fifth word of each verse of
Shalom Aleichem is incorrect, being pronounced "malchey"
instead of "malachey". .. the meaning being entirely different.
2. The introduction to the Morzi should have been done with —
at least — two people, rather than one person responding (in-
correctly) to him/herself. (The introductory "Shir Hamaalot" is
also inconsistent in pronunciation, while using the traditional
melody).
3. Why is there no introduction to the Havdalah blessings? Even
a simple chanting of the words would have sufficed.
SHIMON GEWIRTZis Hazzanat Congregation Torat Yisrael, Cranston, Rhode
Island.
93
Despite these quibbles, therecording is a welcomeaddition to the
field of Shabbat music that can be used at home as well as the synagogue.
Incidentally, all of the material may be found in the new manual
for Shabbat, called: SHAAREY SHABBAT • Gates of Shabbat • A Guide
For Observing Shabbat, published by The Central Conference of Ameri-
can Rabbis.
Cantor Paul Zim has recently issued a number of recordings that
reflect well on both his talents as a singer, cantor and composer of Jewish
liturgy and songs.
His recording of Jewish wedding music, called A MUSICAL
MAZEL TOV TO THE BRIDE AND GROOM is an enjoyable and
helpful compendium of songs, blessings, prayers and instrumentals that
can make any wedding a joyful experience. It includes selections from the
ceremony all the way through the freilach atmosphere that should be
sustained throughout the entire affair.
While many of the numbers are simply tasteful settings of
traditional material, there are a number of original pieces (or little-known
ones) scattered throughout the recording that can be used or adapted by
other cantors.
One of the appealing aspects of cantor Zim' s singing on this
recording is that although he possesses a beautiful tenor voice he chooses
a lyric baritone range for most of the " sing-along" selections, which make
it easier to join in on the fun.
In addition to the cassette, one may alsoobtain a music book with
all the selections, including lead sheets and chords. Both the recording and
book are published by SIMCHA Productions.
Another recent recording of Cantor Zim, which is certain to
appeal to all lovers of liturgical music, is called "IN THE CANTORIAL
TRADITION." The selections afford Cantor Zim ample opportunity to
display both his hazzanic gifts and fine tenor voice.
Most of the nine pieces included on the recording are recreations
of well-known classics recorded by some of the great cantorial masters,
such as Koussevitzky (with whom Zim studied and who he later replaced
at Temple Beth El in Boro Park), Waldman, Ganchoff and others.
The orchestral arrangements enhance what had originally been
piano or organ accompaniments, adding depth and excitement to Cantor
Zim' s singing. The one small reservation I have concerns the male chorus
that is heard on some of the selections. The vocal arrangements did not
always serve the singer or the prayer, and seemed somewhat "heavy" in
presentation. Still, the chance to hear another masterful rendition of
Vimaalei , Mi Sheoso Nisim, Shuvi Nafshi and others done with taste and
devotion are well worth any small quibbles one may have.
This recording is also published by SIMCHA Productions.
94
NISHMAT ADAM, THE SOUL OF MAN,
For Baritone, Soprano and Orchestra- Robert
Starer
Reviewed by J udith K. EISENSTEIN
The title given above, provided by the composer, doesn' t quite
define this exciting new work by Robert Starer. We should probably call
it a cantata. It requires a speaker as well as the two singers, and it speaks
both more and less about the " soul of man." It is a sort of confession, of
faith and lack of it, of the strugglebetween loyalty toone' speopleandpast,
and the search for a spiritual core to one' s own being. Thus it becomes a
paradigm for the struggle of large numbers of American Jews in our time.
Starer looks for answers in a wide selection of quotations,
garnered from his reading over many years, and ranging from the Bible to
Shakespeare to Stephen Wise, from Yiddish folk song to Yehuda Leib
Peretz to the Mishnah. They are bound together by his own comments, and
of course, by the music. This might sound a bit forbidding, lending itself
to pompous platitudes. Nothing could be less true. Starer has demon-
strated, in the past, that he has a unique, and totally fresh approach to text,
as though he reads it for the first time, without the interference of time-
worn cliches. This produces an immediacy of expression in music of a
variety of moods-tenderness, anger, humor, and more.
The music itself, direct as it may be, is, nevertheless, highly
sophisticated. It requires the services of two singers who can cope easily
with the difficult intervals and irregular rhythms that are intrinsic to
contemporary sound.
The instrumentation is rich, demanding a full stint of woodwinds,
brasses, percussion (not timpani), strings and harp. This work could be
performed with piano accompaniment. The piano score I have seen was
provided by the composer, who happens to be an accomplished pianist. It
would take a similarly skilled person to negotiate the score, and compen-
sate for the loss of instrumental color.
The composition is divided into seven parts. The opening theme
becomes a unifying factor throughout. It appears in many guises, dimin-
ished, expanded, inverted, in various movements, and returns in full force
at the end. Part one is a statement of the struggle and the questions. The
baritone sings Starer' s words, which break off at one point with a poignant
chanting of the blessing Sheheheyanu, and continues with the questions,
JUDITH K. EISENSTEIN is a noted musicologist and author.
95
concluding with the resolve to look to books for answers, because "we are,
after all, the am ha-sefer, the people of the Book."
However, his first quotation is not a literary one. Part II
represents the composer' s link with his ancestry, tying his family past to his
musical life in the present, by way of a set of variations on the familiar Oifn
Pripichik. After the statement of the theme, sung by the baritone, the piece
is purely instrumental, a little gem of variation writing which could stand
by itself as a performance piece.
Part III is a setting of Shylock' s famous speech from The
Merchant of Venice, in which Starer uses Shakespeare' s words to express
his own anguish, and that of all of us — Are we really different?" Here
too, we have a solo which could be effective independent of the cantata,
and indeed could be sung with a piano reduction of the score. In Part IV
we find a complete shift of mood. Here is the first mystical source, a
quotation from Peretz: "The instrument is the body, the melody is the
soul." And now we find tender melody, introduced by the English horn,
which seems to me to be a metamorphosis of the opening theme, and
developed by voice and flute. The strings provide the mystical
atmosphere.
In Part V the soprano utters the awesome oath of allegiance to
Jerusalem from Psalm 137, while the baritone continues with the spiritual
search, in words from Psalm 139: "Search me, Lord, and know my
heart," etc. At this point I must call attention to the fact that the Hebrew
texts are always sung in Hebrew, but they are sung as well in English
banslation. By and large this works well, though I have some small quarrel
with some of the translation, too niggling to identify here.
"One Jew sins and all Jews suffer" says the speaker, introducing
Part VI, and the singer intones the Hebrew "Yisrael — echad chata
vekhulam ne y enashim" m a chant resembling cantillation. This leads to one
of the choice moments in the cantata, a ballad-like passage telling a
delightful Talmudic tale with charm and humor (another Starer hallmark).
It leads directly to the large seventh part, which sums up the whole, both
in its words and music. Two themes play against each other. One voice,
quoting both Hillel and Stephen Wise, sings the pride of self-reliance and
activism, and the melody reminds one of the old songs of Zion, in the days
of the Chalutzim, in march rhythms, and work rhythms. The second voice
joins, singing: "The light of God is the soul of man." (Proverbs 20:27)
That, of course, is the passage which gives the title to the whole piece.
Both voices end with that passage, in what can only be the triumph of a
reconciliation. The orchestra reiterates the opening question in a written
out allargando.
The premiere performance of Nishmat Adam was recorded, and
96
should soon be available, presumably with its score as well, through the
Milken Family Archiveof 20th Century American Jewish Music. It will
appear, together with a number of other compositions described as "The
Jewish Music of Robert Starer." We shall be grateful, indeed, to the
"Archive" and to its creator and architect, Dr. Michael Isaacson, to be
given access to this, along with the larger repertory of music produced in
America. The prospectus seems to restore the balance, in Jewish musical
affairs, between art and popular music. It shouldbeaspurtoserious young
composers to devote some of their energies to Jewish expression, and an
incentive to the powers-that-be in the Jewish community to provide
occasions and means for the performance of these treasures of ourgrowing
heritage.
97
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105
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fromthePsalmsartdPirkeiAvotiBksnsPark, PA: Ashbourne Music Publications,
1992). The piano part was composed in March for Yael Fischman. The fermatas,
the barring, and the heading "parlando" are the composer' s; all other marks are the
arranger's.
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