We had a wonderful
Rosh Hashana. It has been quite a few years since we last spent this holiday in
Riverdale, and the synagogue services were every bit as inspiring as I
remembered them. The music is a big part of this. Elie Kranzler, the fellow who
leads the highlight prayer service, called Mussaf, is a psychiatrist who
really could leave his day job and be a cantor (Chazzan), although
likely not quite as lucratively. Besides having a magnificent and soulful
voice, he has over the years compiled a collection of melodies he uses that are
not heard elsewhere, and he often adds to the list. The result is a very long
service but one that feels as if it goes by very quickly.
This year, a new addition
was the use of the melody from the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah.” He used it
in a passage that talks about praising God with the blast of the shofar, the
lyre and harp, drum and dance, organ and flute, clanging of cymbals, and
resonant trumpets. [It just took me about 15 minutes to find that spot to
refresh my memory on the details.] The most wonderful thing about Hebrew
Institute of Riverdale is that everyone just joins in, even if they’ve never
heard it before. If you are there, it is because you “get” what he is doing. It
was wonderful.
A friend who was
sitting next to me said “now I know what you will write on your blog tomorrow!”
So I hope I have not disappointed her!
But as enjoyable as Rosh Hashana was, this afternoon was really special. Our mail has been piling up and I had in mind to take care of that this afternoon. I added today’s arrivals to the pile, one of which was a large envelope from the Striar Hebrew Academy of Sharon, where our daughters teach and our grandchildren attend school. We opened the envelope and took out a brochure, and there on the cover, standing next to Rabbi Yehudah Potok, the school principal, is our very own Maya! There is just nothing I can write that can tell as much as that picture does.
Enjoy this nice weather we’re having!
Love,
Rebecca
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