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.

---

[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. 

Seeing With New Eyes: Simchat Torah

What a difference one year can make!

This time last year I wrote about comparing my Daughter's mini Torah from her Consecration with that of my own from my Consecration. I had spent days considering endings and new beginnings. The reading of the last part from one Torah and immediately following, the reading of the creation story from our family's second Torah. It is said that each year we read the Torah again, but each time as if with new eyes. We are different people.

A year has passed and I am indeed a much different person.I have moved my office to a better location closer to my Daughter's school and our home. Our family time is simplified without the stress of a long commute. Our practice has Hospital partners in place, so I am called out for deliveries less often. I am a year further in my studies at Gratz. My Hebrew is improving. I am a different person in so many ways.

This Simchat Torah I was honored to be able to carry one of our Temple's Torahs in our celebration! It was the first time that I ever actually held a Torah, other than my mini Torah. An honor that I had not experienced even at the time of my Bat Mitzvah, nor at any Jewish camp or youth group event. I don't think that I ever really gave much thought to what I might have been missing.Not until this Friday that is.

As we were whirling and dancing around the Sanctuary, I heard the Cantor call my name along with three other names. As I ascended onto the Bimah and was handed this beautifully wrapped gift, my heart lept with joy. Singing and dancing through the Sanctuary was amazing: my precious daughter at my side and my partner nearby! Without a doubt, this brief snapshot in my life will be forever one of my most memorable.


My sentiment is not uncommon in this regard. I am following an interesting blog called The Wondering Jew (which I highly recommend) In her installment about experiencing Simchat Torah she expresses the same joy and lack of self consciousness: it is a good read that I highly recommend.

It can be found here:
http://wonderingjew.forward.com/207569/torah-mosh-pit-my-simchat-torah-experience/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=WonderingJew_General&utm_campaign=WonderingJew%3A%20General%20%3ALast%20Chag%20before%20Hanukkah 

I am sharing these few photos of my daughter (dressed in white) and I from our Celebration. I hope that as we look ahead we all see the Torah with new eyes, find renewed meaning in our celebrations and form joyous new memories.

Lehitra'ot (see you later) Shalom (peace).




       

Anniversaries : Jewish ways to celebrate as we mark a special occasion

This week marks the happy occasion of this Blog's first " Birthday". For one, in retrospect very short year, I have attempted to research, review, read and write about contemporary events in life from a Jewish perspective including an educational component that would appeal to a wide range of individuals. I have spent an entire week reading different blessings, learning the structure of a blessing and learned ( no surprise here) that there are not blessings appropriate to "machshev" computers or computer based enterprises.

 Since the title of this blog is "studying Torah on the iPhone" and it is computer based,I thought simply that thanking HaShem for technology would work. Then I got to thinking about a story that I had to write for my Hebrew class this past year. My final thought was that after a "lifetime" of working a computer doesn't really die, it instead becomes extinct!
So, if it has a lifetime, and this blog was technically born, then this is truly it's  first Birthday.

During this past year I have become fond of a website called Ritual Well. It can be found at http://www. ritualwell.com . It is here that I read that one way to celebrate an anniversary or Birthday is to recite special prayers: Special times call for special blessings.

Sanctuaries and Summers

When I last posted I was knee deep in my 6 graduate hour Hebrew course. Which for anyone who is interested I passed with a great score and I am ready for round two in The fall semester... But first I get to open this wonderful gift called summer. While sitting in the Sanctuary at our second home, Temple Ahavat Shalom, in Palm Harbor, Florida, I pondered summers past and the idea of using the silent prayer, reflection time to consider the summers of my past. While I enjoyed many summers away at Jewish Summer camp, I had many other summers at Girl Scout camp. We learned all the traditional out door activities at both places: swimming, row boating, kayaking, sailboating, crafts, etc.. But during my many summers at Jewish camp I really learned about what a sanctuary was. The feeling of belonging. The quiet to disengage in. The being lost in your own thoughts. The protection from outside influences. The connecting with others with the same belief system and way of life. The songs and prayers and dances and customs that provided the groundwork for my life! My own sanctuary. Portable, plausible and plentiful. The tools have lasted my whole life. Now I study about the structure of the first stationary sanctuary. I learn about the story of Ruth and her mother in law Naomi and our holiday of Shavuot. Naomi was Ruth's first sanctuary. It is not surprising that she says,"where you go, I will go". Because even when they were no longer physically together, Ruth still had her sanctuary: her teachings that would last a lifetime.

Love Songs: A great way to learn Hebrew

February is flying by at the speed of light it seems. In our Hebrew Classes we are challenged each week by our Morah (teacher). We are making conversation, congugating verbs and writing in cursive. Much the way school children learn by repetition and determination we are mastering our language. One splendid weekly event is singing! As a child I hated singing, although I was pretty good at it.. If only my parents didn't keep comparing me to my Grandmother's operatic voice( which was also quite good- she was one of our Synagogue's soloist at the High Holidays). I didn't care for opera! Now however, I do enjoy listening to music and singing on occasion. So , in the same way that language binds a people, our songs bind us as a class. We are silly, off-tune and clumsy with our pronunciations and grateful for the "la-la-la's." Magically, with each song (Shir) we sing we accelerate our aquistion of our vocabulary and have fun doing it. As we appreciate the songs in thier own right, we also are learning more about Israeli pop culture and are beginning to feel like we too belong. Really, how cool is it to know of a cool music group that tours and has a website? Especially when your not a kid anymore? So in this blog I am going to provide the links for one of my current favorite groups: I thought I would like to share Gaya, an artist that can be found on ReverbNation. Here are some links to check them out. Profile Page Link: http://www.reverbnation.com/gayagroup Songs: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/433401 Show Schedule: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_shows/433401 Videos: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_videos/433401 Photos: http://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_photos/433401 Never underestimate the power of a Love-Song. L'heat (cool for see you next time!)

Nak Hon, Lo Nak Hon: Correct, Not-Correct. Correcting Children & Derech Eretz

As you know from my last post, I am taking Hebrew this semester. It's pretty intense and given that my class is from 9-10 pm a couple of nights a week, after an already long day of being a Doctor and a Mom, I am never quite sure how much I am actually retaining. Well actually, up until yesterday morning, I wasn't sure how much. What event happened yesterday morning that assured me that I was retaining something, you may ask? The total melt down of my now 7 year old darling Daughter (DD)! Yup, over french toast which she spit out at me! I was accused between her tears, my screaming and her gulping for air, that I was trying to poison her! "you're trying to kill me she said (hysterically and dramatically), it tastes like MEAT!!" After trying to assure her that there was no meat in , on or around the pan that the french toast had come from and telling her about children in other countries who had nothing to eat (yes Mom I DID SAY THAT), she still refused to eat said french toast. We are not vegetarians, but DD prefers a meat-less diet. As my blood was boiling, over the lack of food in her tummy before school and her melt down, I screamed at the top of my lungs , "LO NAK HON!! LO NAK HON!!" at which point DD looked at me and stopped her hysterics and said perfectly calmly, " you don't make any sense you are so mad.. what did you say?" I said, " Lo Nak Hon!" , "It means this is not correct. Not acceptible. NOT, NOT, NOT." It wasn't acceptible to me that I went crazy because she spit out nourishing food, or that she spit it at me, or that she wasn't eating, or that she accused me of trying to poison her. Then it occured to me. I was getting it! Yippeee. Nakhon is correct in Hebrew when used as an adjective. And, Lo means NO. Nakhon comes from the root of (being) true. I laughed. And DD laughed and then she told me the french toast needed... Maple syrup!! When once applied, she ate! What I wasn't getting was that I needed to be teaching my DD about the concept of Derech Eretz. Derech Eretz is "the code of proper behavior that binds us to each other as human beings and as Jews. According to the midrash, derekh eretz "precedes" the Torah (Leviticus Rabbah 9:3). We can understand this to mean that even before we begin to do important things like study Torah and live in accordance with the mitzvot, we must live with derekh eretz. Helping your child to learn common decency and appropriated hehavior is crucial, and one of the most difficult parts of parenting." 1 In my case, not only did I forget the Maple syrup which should have preceeded the attempt at feeding my DD, I forgot what was age appropriate. As a good parent I needed to remind myself that a 7 year old needs more than 35 minutes to dress and eat in the morning and it was my responsibility to provide the setting where she could be successful in meeting my expectations for her in the morning. I want to teach my DD that there is always room for both of us to grow and change and be better people. This morning she had a full hour to dress, eat and get herself ready for school. There were no melt downs on either side. I was surprized and delighted when she said, "Nakhon?" and I replied, "Nakhon". We were both correct. So until my next post, no meat for us and lots of time and sweetness in all forms including maple syrup! _____ 1. www.myjewishlearning.com , Teaching Your Children about Derech Eretz. How to raise a family of mensches. by Sara Shapiro-Plevan, pulled from the internet Jan.30, 2014.