Learning to Teach Hebrew Songs

This semester I am learning to teach music to students of all ages in a Jewish setting: Hebrew and Judaic programs, camps, etc. I am being exposed to endless songs and ways to teach and incorporate music into education. The class is wonderful! It has made me think about a recent assignment that I would like to share.

Dr. Lisa L. Vendeland -Fall 2104, Liturgy- Gratz College

Zemirot Assignment- Songs/ Hymns that are sung around the Sabbath dinner table

The Zemer I chose for this assignment is by Chana Senesh ( 1921-1944) called, “ Eli Eli.” It is also known as , “Towards Caesarea,” and was published as,” Halikha Lekesaria”, in 1942, while she was still in Palestine living on a Kibbutz.¹ Although it is her most famous Poem and is a popular Zemer in Israel, I chose it because it is my favorite, “song” from  growing up. Chana was a young Hungarian paratrooper who was trained to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. She was killed by a firing squad in 1944 at age 23. She was known for her immense bravery.[1] Her Poem (Piyut) was set to a melody created by David Zahavi (1910-1975) an Israeli composer. Several Artists have sung it including Ofra Haza, Regina Spektor and Sophie Milman²

Although this Piyut has elements of Found poetry, Lyric poetry and Romanticism, it best fits the style of Hazaj, which is found in Epic poetry of the Middle East and musical rhythms. It is most common in Arabic poetry and usually presents in an aaba scheme. The Hazaj meter is also well represented in Hebrew poetry. Its meter is most commonly found in folk poetry such as do-bait (two tent hemi sticks ,when brought together bind the prose) and lullabies (la, la, i) ³. It uses a couplet structure and in this case the second and sixth lines form the couplet and express the poignant point that leaves a lasting impression. This is the purpose of the couplet structure⁴. So in this case, “ May these last forever…the prayers of mankind.”)

This poem is in the Author's own handwriting on the left.

The Song Index lists the lyrics⁵ with transliteration and translation as (numbering of lines inserted for discussion purposes here):

1.Elli, Elli

2.Shelo yigamer le’olam

3.Ha chol v’hayam

4.Rish roush shel hamayim

5.Berak ha sha mayim

6.Tefilat ha’adam

My G-d, My G-d (Introductory line)

May these last forever (my translation *: there will be, his world)

The sand and the sea (*Sand and sea)

The Babble of the water (*Rush of the water)

The lightening in the sky (*Crash/lightening, the sky)

The prayers of mankind. (*Prayers of men)

In further evaluation of the elements of the Piyut there are two other ways to interpret this:  Going from top to bottom, and in a cycle of Infinity. The Top  (the sky with G-d) and the bottom , the filler between the couplet ( the elements of g-d’s world). The elements of sound (the rushing waters and crashes of lightening from heaven),  water, and earth(sand). All inferences to the majesty of G-d’s wonderful creation being witnessed by those made in his image (mankind.) These elements in all directions as far as mankind can see. They are never ending and form a circle that is life giving and affirming: Infinity. This lends back to the elements of Lyric poetry⁶ when Chana has addressed the reader directly, portraying her own feeling and state of mind or perception of her world during a time of impending turmoil. This represents her hope for the immortality of all mankind.

According to my research ,another Zemer that uses Hazaj meter is Adon Olam.

The biographical information available to me about the writer and the timing of its writing shed an incredible amount of light onto the content of the Zemer. During such a seemingly hopeless time for Jews, one young woman held in her heart a sense of optimism for the continuation of man, for the hope expressed in prayers that could reach the heavens and the beauty of the world and of all creation.

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[1] Zemirot. Poems by Hannah Senesh. www.thejewishweek.com from New York Jewish Week magazine 22Dec2010, pulled from the Internet 10-3-14.

² Halikha Lekesaria by Hannah Senesh. www.digital.library.upenn.edu. Pulled from the Internet 10-5-14.

³Hazaj Meter. www.dbpedia.org. Pulled from the Internet 10-6-14

⁴The Purpose of the Couplet in Poetry. www.examples.yourdictionary.com . Pulled from the Internet 10-5-14

⁵Eli, Eli: Song Index, www.zemirotdatabase.org. Pulled from the Internet 10-5-14

⁶Lyric Poetry. www.poeticterminology.net. Pulled from internet 10-5-14.

Jerusalem and Prayer connections: Sharing some of my learning from this past semester

Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash have remained the focus of Jewish longing, aspiration, and prayers.There are many connections between Jewish prayers and rituals and the ways we connect with Jerusalem .Daily prayers (said while facing Jerusalem and the Temple Mount) and grace after meals include multiple supplications for the restoration of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash. Jews still maintain the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, as a day of mourning. The Jewish wedding ceremony concludes with the chanting of the biblical phrase, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning,” and the breaking of a glass by the groom to commemorate the destruction of the Temples. And the conclusion of the Yom Kippur services and thePassover Seder conclude each year with the phrase “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. The Temple was built, according to Jewish tradition, on the Even Hashtiya, the foundation stone upon which the world was created. This is considered the epicenter of Judaism, where the Divine Presence (Shechina) rests, where the biblical Isaac was brought for sacrifice, where the Holy of Holies and Ark of the Covenant housing the Ten Commandments once stood, and where the Temple was again rebuilt in 515 BCE before being destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Temple Mount is also known as Mount Moriah (Har HaMoriah), mentioned frequently in the Bible.

The Western Wall (Kotel Hama’aravi, known simply as the Wall or Kotel) is the remnant of the outer retaining wall built by Herod to level the ground and expand the area housing the Second Jewish Temple. Its holiness derives from its proximity to the Temple site and specifically its proximity to the Western Wall of the Temple’s Holy of Holies (Kodesh Hakodashim---the inner sanctuary that housed the Ark of the Covenant–the Aron HaBrit–and where the High Priest–KohenGadol--alone was permitted to enter on Yom Kippur). According to Midrashic sources, the Divine Presence never departed from the Western wall of the Temple’s Holy of Holies. For the last several hundred years,  Jews have prayed at Herod’s Western Wall because it was the closest accessible place to Judaism’s holiest site.

We also remember Jerusalem at Channukah in several ways: The obvious is in lighting theChannukiah (Menorah), Cooking foods in Oil and while playing the Dreidel Game: The Hebrew word fordreidel is sevivon, which, as in Yiddish, means "to turn around." Dreidels have four Hebrew letters on them, and they stand for the saying, Nes gadol hayasham, meaning A great miracle occurred “ there.” Of course the reference to ”there” is Jerusalem.