They were performed Friday August 28 in the courtyard of a Melburnian Jewish aged care home. The singer is Cantor Michel Laloum; the shofar (ram’s horn) player is Rabbi Kim Ettlinger. As you can see, yours truly is in covid-regulations-mode. Melbourne is still in utmost lock-down but, armed with a permit, I was able to travel there. By the way, since that clip, Bee has kindly given me a haircut!
Just to explain: rosh hashanah begins on the evening of September 18, yom kippur on the evening of September 27. There are several progressive Jewish congregations in Melbourne. Temple Beth Israel is the largest and oldest. They engage me to play the organ and lead the choir for the High Holydays. This year, we are operating with a very small group, for obvious reasons.
Shofar https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkGmIs_UPz97g8Bqml8pC2iNht2TYg?e=mUscQr. Blowing this ancient instrument is a very traditional practice at this time of year.
Kol nidrei and avinu malkeinu https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkGmIs_UPz97g8Bz3cKVJZmqBMY3OQ?e=AJJSvk. Kol nidrei has been made famous in the concert hall – I expect Rosie has played it. The words come at the very beginning of the yom kippur services and they mean ‘all the vows’. Avinu malkeinu was made famous by Barbara Streisand. The words mean ‘our parent, our ruler’ (literally, ‘our father, our king’ – but this is progressive Judaism in action).
Shalom rav https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkGmIs_UPz97g8BwJ5MSBHL3RCynRw?e=vVJFjC. The words mean ‘great peace’, although the word shalom denotes more than absence of aggression; the root of the word carries the idea of ‘wholeness’.
Kevakarat https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkGmIs_UPz97g8Byjd57M85_aCTbmw?e=kiCjnJ. This is from a medieval poem, reminding us that nobody is immortal and nobody invulnerable.
