4 members get acknowledgement and certificate for their faith

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Cantillation (from the Latin cantare, meaning “to sing”) is the practice of chanting from the biblical books in the Jewish canon. It is often referred to by the Yiddish word leyn . The practice goes back to the time of Ezra, when the Jewish people returned from their Babylonian exile following the destruction of the first Temple (about 510 B.C.E.).

Realizing that the people had stopped observing the laws of the Torah , Ezra took it upon himself to read portions of the Law every time he could assemble an audience. Sabbaths and festivals provided obvious opportunities; so, too, did market days, when large groups would gather to buy, sell, and catch up on local news. Market days were Mondays and Thursdays, and so, to this day, the Torah is read publicly at least three times each week.

Of course, Ezra did not have the benefit of modern acoustics, microphones, or even the undivided attention of his congregation. Ezra stood in the marketplace surrounded by squawking chickens, braying animals, and unruly children, and competed with the sounds of life. Exaggerating the highs, lows, and cadences of normal speech, Ezra projected the holy texts in a style caught somewhere between speaking and full-blown singing.

Formalizing the Practice

Ezra did not read the Torah in the manner common today. In fact, it is assumed that he differentiated only the beginnings, middles, and ends of verses. The notion of chanting the Bible was an evolving one that gradually became accepted and musically more elaborate. By the second century, Rabbi Akiva (ca. 50-135 C.E.) demanded that the Torah be studied–by means of chant–on a daily basis (B. Sanhedrin 99a).

Rav (third century) is quoted in several Talmudic discussions as understanding Nehemiah 8:8 (in which Ezra’s public reading is described) as referring to punctuation by means of melodic cadences. Johanan (d. 279 C.E.) of the Tiberias Academy is credited with fixing the notion that it is not only customary, but required, that the reader use the proper musical chant. He states categorically, “Whosoever reads [the Torah] without melody and studies [Mishnah] without song, to him may be applied the verse (Ezekiel 20:25): ‘Moreover I gave them laws that were not good, and rules by which they could not live”‘ (B. Megillah 32a).

We must note that the biblical texts available to Ezra, to the Rabbis of the Talmud, and even through the sixth century, were like the Torah scrolls in use today: devoid of any vowels, punctuation, and grammatical indicators. Ezra and those who followed him depended upon an oral tradition for their understanding of the proper pronunciation and accentuation of the sacred texts. As chanting became more widely practiced, a system of hand signals common in the ancient Near East began to be employed. This system, called “chironomy,” required an assistant to the reader to use gestures of the hand and fingers to visually illustrate the proper musical rendition of the text.

The Masoretes

Much later, in the second half of the first millennium, a group of largely anonymous Masoretes (“conservators of the tradition”) redacted the oral tradition inherited from Moses. These scholars notated the missing vowels, punctuation, and grammatical organization into the text using a set of 28 symbols called “neumes” (te’amim). Later the neumes were also used to provide musical direction to the reader. Simple (and sometimes more complex) melodic patterns were attached to each symbol to provide for a fully detailed rendition of the biblical text.

As the system became more elaborate, chironomy became of increasing importance, since readers were now compelled to provide more sophisticated musical renditions based upon varying combinations of these neumes. Moreover, while the neumes appeared in various versions of the Bible acceptable for study purposes, it remained customary to chantpublicly from a non-punctuated scroll. Chironomy remained commonplace in the time of the Masoretes and through the 11th century and has enjoyed some renewed interest in our time.

Excerpted with permission from Discovering Jewish Music (Jewish Publication Society).

As part of the celebration, the Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and carried or danced around the synagogue seven times. During the Torah service, the concluding section of the fifth book of the Torah, D’varim (Deuteronomy), is read, and immediately following, the opening section of Genesis, or B’reishit, is read. This practice represents the cyclical nature of the relationship between the Jewish people and the reading of the Torah.

WHAT ARE SH’MINI ATZERET AND SIMCHAT TORAH?

הנפש

MISHKAN HANEFESH

Machzor for the Days of Awe

https://images.shulcloud.com/1440/uploads/pdfs/MishkanHaNefesh-RH.pdf

1     Arvit . Evening Service ַעְר ִבית 1
103 Shacharit . Morning Service ַשׁ ֲחִרית 103

 236 Torah and Haftarah Readings
303 Minchah . Afternoon Service ִמ ְנ ָחה 303

329 Alternative Torah and Haftarah Readings

 343 Sources and Permissions

Bet Chaverim member Wendy attended this Saturday morning service from Portugal where it was 8 hours ahead of our time….   10:30 am here was 6:30 am there.

Ki Tavo

WHAT IS A MEZUZAH?

The Hebrew word mezuzah means “doorpost.” According to tradition, the mezuzah is to be affixed to the doorpost at the entrance to a Jewish home as well as at the entrance to each of the interior rooms except for bathrooms. The mezuzah itself consists of a small scroll of parchment (k’laf ) on which are written two biblical passages.  The first is Deuteronomy 6:4–9:

Hear, O Israel! The Eternal is our God, the Eternal alone.  You shall love the Eternal your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.  Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day.  Impress them upon your children.  Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.  Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The second passage is Deuteronomy 11:13–21:

If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Eternal your God and serving [God] with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late.  You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil—I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill.  Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them.  For the Eternal’s anger will flare up against you, shutting up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that the Eternal is assigning to you.  Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates—to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that the Eternal swore to your fathers to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.

The scroll is inserted into a wooden, plastic, or metal casing that is often quite beautiful and artistic in design. A mezuzah may be purchased at any store that handles Jewish religious articles.

Jews in Music

“Jews in Music” honors outstanding achievements by Jewish musicians, including Leonard Cohen, Itzhak Perlman, Carole King, Vladimir Vysotsky, Idan Raichel, Martha Argerich, Paul Simon, Evgeny Kissin, Billy Joel, Adam Levine, Drake, and more.

Jews in Music: Genssis Prize

Hannah Senesh’s Hanukkah

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-parachutists-from-palestine

The Germans captured 12 and executed 7 of the 37 parachutists sent into occupied Europe. Three of those executed were captured in Slovakia. Two were captured in Hungary and one in northern Italy. After 7 missions the parachutist who entered France was captured and killed.

Failed to get this to plat at meeing

Bet Chaverim Annual Meeting

Revised AGENDA

Music by the Bet Chaverim Choir

Welcome – Dave Kaplan, President

Opening Prayer and Thoughts – Rabbi Jim Mirel

Minutes – Jennifer Conboy Secretary

• Approve June 25, 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes

Financial Report – Brian Sandler, Treasurer

• 2023-24 Financial Report
• 2024-25 Budget Adoption

Year(s) in Review – Dave Kaplan, President

Security Committee Update

Election of Board Members – Dave Kaplan, President

• Geoff Groshong, President (2 years)
• Josh Penzell, Vice-President (2 years)
• Open, Treasurer (2 years)
• Jennifer Conboy, Secretary (2 years)
• Debra Alderman, Member at Large (2 years)

Board Members Continuing to Serve

• June Kallman, Member at Large
• Sandra Elman, Member at Large
• Shisheen Nikky Harper, Member at Large
• Dave Kaplan, Past President

Thoughts from our New President

• Some thoughts from our new President

Adjourn