Cantor Banter

My Thursday Night

In America, going to a sing-a-long is probably the lamest thing you could do. In fact, just the phrase “sing-a-long” immediately brings to mind the image of a “We Sing” cassette popping out of the tape recorder in my mother’s car around 1986.

In Israel, it’s a little different. Here, sing-a-longs are remarkably popular events that center around nationalistic unity through song. They are a deep and legitimate way for Israelis to connect to the past and to their hopes for the future. There’s a live band playing classic Israeli folk songs, with the big screen playing the lyrics. Think group karaoke, except without alcohol, and a near-guarantee that no one will be singing Achy Breaky Heart.

I’m attending one of these sing-a-longs tonight party because I have to for one of my classes, and partly because it’s a pretty fascinating aspect of the nationalistic and musical culture of Israel.

Mostly, I’m glad to see that the costumes have evolved somewhat since 1962.

Jonah seems to think I don’t blog enough. It should also be pointed out that Jonah doesn’t have a blog.

So I haven’t been blogging lately.

But I did change my blog layout and reblog a bunch of Molly’s posts. That’s something, right?

"Qua?" Moment of the Day

mollyandbessonmoshehess:

A Story of Molly’s First Driving Experience in Israel.

Molly and Dave were heading out of Jerusalem for the weekend and needed to get on Route 1 going north. No problem, right? Except, oh wait…this is Israel and there are TWO route 1’s! That obviously makes sense.

Luckily Molly and Dave had their special GPS, “Yoni Regev”, on speed dial to help sort out that situation.

It's been a while

Yes, I’ve been horrible about blogging lately. Unfortunately, blogging time isn’t taken into account in the creation the schedule of the HUC cantorial program. Needless to say it’s been a busy couple of weeks. It’s hard to believe we’re a month away from the end of the fall semester, but it seems to be upon us. The days have been long, making the weeks feel short. Really, it feels like I’m a Freshman voice major at BU all over again, except I’m taking History of the Second Temple Period, instead of Group Piano. Outside of classtime, some highlights of the last few weeks have included:

• A trip with my Israel Seminar group to a local high school to meet with some Israeli 12th graders. It was a fascinating chance to visit what in Israel, is considered one of the most elite, highly regarded schools in the Jerusalem area. From American standards however, it resembled the average public high school in Harlem. Once getting past the complete lack of authority in the Israeli educational system, it was fascinating speaking to these students, who are months away from entering the Israeli Defense Forces. Some were excited about the opportunity to enter combat, and others were frustrated, even angry at the idea of their upcoming mandatory service. The students were incredibly bright, relaxed, and engaged as we discussed their Israeli identities and the differences and similarities between Israeli and American Jewish society and culture.
• Lots of big group Shabbat dinners, including a mini-Schechter reunion with some people I hadn’t seen in over ten years, and soup-only dinner at my apartment, aptly titled - Shabbat ShaSoup. To be clear, while this dinner was held at my apartment, I was in no way involved in any sort of preparation.
• Service Planning. I’m co-leading my first HUC service with the lovely Sarah Lauing in about two weeks, and I’m getting very excited about that. After spending a lot of energy on academics over the past few months, it’s great to being to put what I’m learning into practice!
• Ordination of the HUC Israeli Rabbinic Program. It was so wonderful to watch this ordination. The notion of becoming a member of the Reform clergy in Israel is completely different from any part of the world. A little background: since the Israeli government is run by the Orthodox movement, Reform and even Conservative Rabbis and Cantors are not recognized as legitimate clergy by the government. For instance, if you wanted to get married in Israel and have your favorite Reform or Conservative Rabbi conduct the ceremony, the government would not recognize that marriage as legal. The Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism has done some amazing work, ensuring that progressive Jewish life has a place in Jerusalem and in Israel, but given all this, the choice to become a Reform Rabbi in Israel, let alone a female reform Rabbi in Israel (of which there were four ordinees) is incredibly significant. Aside from this, I’ve found it very easy to get focused on the difficulties and frustrations of daily seminary life. To be reminded of the ultimate goal, and to see the emotions of those who achieve that goal was very dramatic for me, and for many of my classmates.

That’s all for right now. I’ll try to blog more. Really.