"I composed ... a song — which I had never sung till then, with an idea, and words, and rhymes — because my heart was with me and in my mouth.” ( S Y Agnon, 'With My Heart')
Israel never ceases to surprise. I was once in Nahariya, a quiet and refined northern coastal resort near Karmiel, and was intrigued to see a group of young women sharing a nargila (hooka pipe) at a seaside bar. And why not?!
I recalled the incident when I came across the video clip below featuring the Revivo Project, whose members gather to sing Middle Eastern and North African Jewish tunes and Sephardic interpretations of Ashkenazi traditional melodies, while enjoying food, drink and yes - smoking the nargila!
The Revivo Project - הפרויקט של רביבו - is part of a growing ‘spiritualisation’ of secular Israeli culture where pop musicians rework ancient material so creating a Jewish experience that is fixed neither to religious law nor to any religious group.
It is something that American-born Israeli author and journalist, Yossi Klein Halevi views as a response to the “disillusionment with the collapse of the "messianism" of both the left (via the Oslo Accords) and the right (via withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank)”.
Among the traditional melodies that the Revivo gang has explored is the Sabbath eve favourite,Lecha Dodi - לכה דודי), a prayerful poem that is traditionally recited at Friday evening synagogue services. In it, the concept of the Sabbath is anthropomorphised as a ‘queen’ or a ‘bride’ and much of the phrasing is taken from the prophet Isaiah’s vision of Israel’s restoration.
The composer was Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, a 16th century mystic based in Tzfat, a northern Galilee town regarded as one of the four holy cities of Israel. Alkabetz wrote the piece as an acrostic with the first letter of each of the first eight verses spelling his name.
The text of the prayer is reproduced below with an English translation and transliteration along with the Hebrew original.
“Lecha Dodi
1 Let’s go, my beloved, to meet the bride, Lekhah dodi liqrat kallah לכה דודי לקראת כלה
2 and let us welcome the presence of Shabbat. p'nei Shabbat neqabelah פני שבת נקבלה
Verse 1:
3 "Observe" and "recall" in a single utterance, Shamor v'zakhor b'dibur eḥad שמור וזכור בדבור אחד
4 We were made to hear by the unified God, hishmiʿanu El hameyuḥad השמיענו אל המיחד
5 God is one and God’s Name is one, Adonai eḥad ushemo eḥad יי אחד ושמו אחד
6 In fame and splendor and praiseful song. L'Sheim ulitiferet v'lit'hilah לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה
Verse 2:
7 To greet Shabbat let’s go, let’s travel, Liqrat Shabbat lekhu v'nelekhah לקראת שבת לכו ונלכה
8 For she is the wellspring of blessing, ki hi maqor haberakhah כי היא מקור הברכה
9 From the start, from ancient times she was chosen, merosh miqedem nesukhah מראש מקדם נסוכה
10 Last made, but first planned. sof maʿaseh b'maḥashavah teḥilah סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה
Verse 3:
11 Sanctuary of the king, royal city, Miqdash melekh ʿir melukhah מקדש מלך עיר מלוכה
12 Arise! Leave from the midst of the turmoil; Qumi tze'i mitokh ha-hafeikhah קומי צאי מתוך ההפכה
13 Long enough have you sat in the valley of tears Rav lakh shevet b'ʿeimeq habakha רב לך שבת בעמק הבכא
14 And He will take great pity upon you compassionately. v'hu yaḥamol ʿalayikh ḥemlah והוא יחמול עליך חמלה
Verse 4:
15 Shake yourself free, rise from the dust, Hitnaʿari me'afar qumi התנערי מעפר קומי
16 Dress in your garments of splendor, my people, Livshi bigdei tifartekh ʿami לבשי בגדי תפארתך עמי
17 By the hand of Jesse’s son of Bethlehem, ʿAl yad ben Yishai beit ha-laḥmi על יד בן ישי בית הלחמי
18 Redemption draws near to my soul. Qorvah el nafshi g'alah קרבה אל נפשי גאלה
20 Your light is coming, rise up and shine. Ki va oreikh qumi ori כי בא אורך קומי אורי
21 Awaken! Awaken! utter a song, ʿUri ʿuri shir dabeiri עורי עורי שיר דברי
22 The glory of the Lord is revealed upon you. K'vod Adonai ʿalayikh niglah כבוד יי עליך נגלה
Verse 6:
23 Do not be embarrassed! Do not be ashamed! Lo tivoshi v'lo tikalmi לא תבושי ולא תכלמי
24 Why be downcast? Why groan? Mah tishtoḥai umah tehemi מה תשתוחחי ומה תהמי
25 All my afflicted people will find refuge within you bakh yeḥesu ʿaniyei ʿami בך יחסו עניי עמי
26 And the city shall be rebuilt on her hill. v'nivnetah ʿir ʿal tilah ונבנתה עיר על תלה
Verse 7:
27 Your despoilers will become your spoil, V'hayu limshisah shosayikh והיו למשסה שאסיך
28 Far away shall be any who would devour you, V'raḥaqu kol mevalʿayikh ורחקו כל מבלעיך
29 Your God will rejoice concerning you, Yasis ʿalayikh Elohayikh ישיש עליך אלהיך
30 As a groom rejoices over a bride. Kimsos ḥatan ʿal kalah כמשוש חתן על כלה
Verse 8:
31 To your right and your left you will burst forth, Yamin usmol tifrotzi ימין ושמאל תפרוצי
32 And the Lord will you revere V'et Adonai taʿaritzi ואת יי תעריצי
33 By the hand of a child of Perez, ʿAl yad ish ben Partzi על יד איש בן פרצי
34 We will rejoice and sing happily. V'nismeḥah v'nagilah ונשמחה ונגילה
Verse 9:
35 Come in peace, crown of her husband, Boi v'shalom ateret baʿalah בואי בשלום עטרת בעלה
36 Both in happiness and in jubilation Gam b'simḥah uvetzahalah גם בשמחה ובצהלה
37 Amidst the faithful of the treasured nation
38 Come O Bride! Come O Bride! Boi khalah boi khalah ”בואי כלה בואי כלה
------------
As this is my first post here for some months, I’d like to wish Jewish readers ‘Shabbat shalom’ and everyone very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2015.
There’s so much musical talent in the the Galilee, you may think that it positively pours from the mountain tops and into the laps of the musicians below!
We’re all twice blessed!
Now cue folksters Larry and Mindy who delight local audiences with their renditions of famous songs from the sixties and seventies and who have promoted their autumn season – also the start of Israel’s rainy season - with a clip of Jose Feliciano’s original 1969 version of – what else? – Rain!
“Rain
“Listen to the pouring rain Listen to it pour, And with every drop of rain You know I love you more
“Let it rain all night long, Let my love for you go strong, As long as we're together Who cares about the weather?
“Listen to the falling rain, Listen to it fall, And with every drop of rain, I can hear you call, Call my name right out loud, I can here above the clouds And I'm here among the puddles, You and I together huddle.
“Listen to the falling rain, Listen to it fall.
“It's raining, It's pouring, The old man is snoring, Went to bed And bumped his head, He couldn't get up in the morning,
I must have first heard Acker ('really ‘Bernard Stanley’) Bilk’sStranger on the Shorewhen watching the BBC TV children’s series,Stranger on the ShoreandStranger in the Cityduring the early 60s.
No matter how often I hear Acker (Somerset dialect for ‘mate’) play his marvellous piece, it evokes that feeling of drifting and semi-isolation we all experience wherever and whenever we are away from familiar surroundings.
This happened to me during several changes of city and therefore school and friends as a kid and of course as an olah – émigrée to Israel in March 2010.
Bilk wrote his famous work as an instrumental piece and it’s a great setting for his skill as a jazz clarinettist.
I’m not sure if I entirely like the lyrics written by Robert Mellin but as this site’s all about poetry I post them here as part of a tribute to a wonderful musician whose work helped to form the backdrop to my growing up.
“Stranger on the Shore
“Here I stand, watching the tide go out So all alone and blue Just dreaming dreams of you
“I watched your ship As it sailed out to sea Taking all my dreams And taking all of me
“The sighing of the waves The wailing of the wind The tears in my eyes burn Pleading, "My love, return"
“Why, oh, why must I go on like this? Shall I just be a lonely Stranger on the Shore?
“The sighing of the waves The wailing of the wind The tears in my eyes burn Pleading, "My love, return" Why, oh, why must I go on like this? Shall I just be a lonely Stranger on the shore?”
Despite the best efforts of a local MP and assorted fathers of terrorism, the Yorkshire city of Bradford has not become an Israel -free zone. Indeed, defying the best hopes of the hatemongers, members of the local tiny Jewish community get on famously with many of their Muslim neighbours.
What’s more, thanks to the work oftwo Muslim women, the recent Bradford Literature Festival featured a performance by Israeli-bornAtar Hadari.
And with what seems perfect symmetry, ‘Sacred Poetry’ was stagedat the Bradford Reform Synagogue which last year was saved from closure with financial help from local Muslims.
Explained Syima Aslam, festival co-director: “The purpose of this event is to bring people of different faiths together and highlight the common spirituality and humanity that unites us, whatever our other differences may be … If in Britain we start making distinctions about people who live here based on where they were born, where does that lead us to as a country?”
Hadari was raised in England, trained as an actor and is a prize-winning writer and translator who has served as Young Writer in Residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
While Jewish readers will note that Hadari’s Bradford performance took place just after the start of the Jewish New Year, I’ve been fascinated by his essay in Mosaic Magazinein which he compares the mid-summer harvest biblical story of Ruth to a novel by the Victorian writer,Thomas Hardy. As this is a post packed with revelations, it is fitting that I end with two more ….
“Woman of Secrets
“My mother was a woman of secrets.
When I came out to her, it was on Oxford Street
Because I figured, it was a public place,
She’s not going to hit me. I was wrong about that.
She hit me – wham – and crossed the road.
There weren’t taxis braking, there weren’t horns, not a sound
Suddenly she was across the street
And staring daggers at me, right up to the Strand.
She never told me things. Like this place
She used to take me to –
It was a cabbage and sauerkraut joint
But in the back there was a smoky room
Where all these old people would sit
And eat their black forest gateaux
And tell me stories about Maidanek
And how they got all those tattoos.
I used to go there year after year
Stuffing myself with profiteroles
Then one day I must have said something,
This old woman called me a “self-hater”
I opened my mouth to say, “Excuse me?”
– my mother took my arm
And dragged me all the way to air,
Next day she met me at a coffee bar
And said, “Two things. I smoke, and we’re Jewish.”
The first I knew. I can’t believe my father didn’t.
The second – I looked at her.
“What’s all this about going to church?” I said,
“Why was I baptised?” She didn’t say another word.
The death this week of Dannie Abse made me reflect not only on the silencing of an engaging poetic voice but how spending a childhood in a domestic intellectual hothouse must help to spark and then nurture a natural talent.
Even as the three Nottingham-bred Attenborough brothers went on to top their respective professions, so their exact contemporaries, the Welsh-Jewish Abse lads, Leo, Wilfred and Dannie shone variously in politics, psychiatry and a combination of medicine and writing.
I have not discovered anything about their sister, Huldah save that she lived in France until her late 90s but interestingly, the siblings’ maternal grandfather, Tobias Shepherd (né Rosinsky) is buried in Haifa.
“If somebody is talking about Israel, I certainly feel more Jewish at that moment. There are certain occasions, of course there are, when someone is being antisemitic – then I feel yes I am a Jew. And I have said before, I think quoting somebody else, ‘I’m a Jew as long as there’s one antisemite alive”.
He added later that as fellow Welsh poet Dylan Thomas had already become famous when he was writing his early autobiographical novel,Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve, he emphasised his Jewish background and politics, to contrast as much as possible with Thomas’s own autobiography, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.
I conclude here with the opening two verses of Abse’sWhite Balloon:
