Yesterday I had a Cantorial class. This was really the start of the Fall session. He is starting early for me in order to give me some extra lessons since that is my entire reason for being here. I was quite surprised by this, but also quite pleased. I am back on the “twice a week” schedule and will work around the holidays.
As I mentioned last week, I went through most of the Friday night service yesterday. There are some rough spots that I will work on, plus I now have several pieces for the Saturday morning service.
We finished the Ulpan book today. Just in time for the test on Tuesday! Funny how that worked out. The class has been shrinking lately, and we are now down to 7 or 8 people from the 30 we had earlier. People are leaving the country or starting other schools.
I am also starting to get ready for the High Holy Days coming up next week. I really have no expectations of it being any different than I am used to with the exception of different melodies. I will undoubtedly write about it between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Well, I made it to that shul down the road that I was supposed to have tried last week. While I had been told it was a Conservative synagogue, once I got there I found that it was actually a Reform temple. This was my first Reform service in Israel so I had no idea what to expect. The service was very nice, although I had a bit of difficulty initially following it in my Orthodox book. This is because many of the early morning prayers that are said at an Orthodox service are omitted from the Reform service. Apparently they also skip some of the prayers that are in the book they use as it is their custom to do.
Once the main parts of the service were reached, it was a very simple matter to follow along as the primary prayers are always said in the same order. During the Torah service I was honored with Hagba (lifting the Torah after it has been read and holding it while it is prepared to be returned to the ark in which it is kept).
Apparently this Temple does not have a Rabbi, but has a female director that performs Hazzanut. Unfortunately she was not there this weekend, so I will have to go back another time to hear her.
The people there were extremely friendly, insisting that I stay for a while to partake of food and conversation. They were all interested in “the new person in the neighborhood” (it is about a 15-minute walk from the apartment), and were all inviting me to come back. Some asked if I could lead part of the service for them some time as they love to hear new melodies. I stayed there chatting with people for about 40 minutes after the service. All-in-all it was a very pleasant experience.
Today will be dedicated almost exclusively to practicing the Hazzanut pieces that I have been given. I have a class on Wednesday evening at which I will perform the Friday night service in its entirety. This will allow us to “fine-tune” any areas that need it. I will also be given new pieces for the Saturday morning service. My next class after Wednesday will be in October, after the holidays. I will be doing a significant amount of practice to learn those new pieces before that next class.
I have just over 1 week of Ulpan left for this session and, as I mentioned previously, will be skipping a session. This will allow me to focus exclusively on my primary reason for being here --- Hazzanut. It will also afford me the opportunity to practice the Hebrew that I have learned and to learn more without the pressure of trying to keep up in class during this period.
Once the main parts of the service were reached, it was a very simple matter to follow along as the primary prayers are always said in the same order. During the Torah service I was honored with Hagba (lifting the Torah after it has been read and holding it while it is prepared to be returned to the ark in which it is kept).
Apparently this Temple does not have a Rabbi, but has a female director that performs Hazzanut. Unfortunately she was not there this weekend, so I will have to go back another time to hear her.
The people there were extremely friendly, insisting that I stay for a while to partake of food and conversation. They were all interested in “the new person in the neighborhood” (it is about a 15-minute walk from the apartment), and were all inviting me to come back. Some asked if I could lead part of the service for them some time as they love to hear new melodies. I stayed there chatting with people for about 40 minutes after the service. All-in-all it was a very pleasant experience.
Today will be dedicated almost exclusively to practicing the Hazzanut pieces that I have been given. I have a class on Wednesday evening at which I will perform the Friday night service in its entirety. This will allow us to “fine-tune” any areas that need it. I will also be given new pieces for the Saturday morning service. My next class after Wednesday will be in October, after the holidays. I will be doing a significant amount of practice to learn those new pieces before that next class.
I have just over 1 week of Ulpan left for this session and, as I mentioned previously, will be skipping a session. This will allow me to focus exclusively on my primary reason for being here --- Hazzanut. It will also afford me the opportunity to practice the Hebrew that I have learned and to learn more without the pressure of trying to keep up in class during this period.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)