Today, in London 5th of Sept 2018, the city is giving place to PR everywhere for the Anti Semitic Labour endeavour, naturally the Major is approving it as so many others in the party, ( there are actually more than 11 majors in the Uk that are muslims, and have strong opinions on Israel) and…
Category: Cantorial
Cantors Convention between Palms with Psalms
This 71st Convention of the Cantors Assembly where I am sharing with more than 190 of my American colleagues of the organisation that groups the Conservative/ Masorti Cantors which between others is here to support all our efforts in the benefit of our profession. A strong and respected organisation that shows what we can and…
The Art of being Jewish
A very energetic member of Belsize Square Synagogue whom I sat with last Sunday during the shul’s annual Channukah Market, told me he came up with the trademark Belsize Square should promote itself and stands for “The Art of being Jewish”. A market with members making coffee, while not in court as Queen Counsellors, or…
Remembrance weekend
While in the UK the fallen in the wars are remembered, we had a remembrance weekend starting with our usual Friday Kristallnacht service and on Sunday a Music at Belsize concert “Romantic Vienna and the Jews” featuring the Wallace ensemble under Ben Wolf and the Chair of the committee Phil Keller conducting Mahler and…
L’Dor vaDor
Last weekend two Synagogues that are the guardians of their unique musical legacy, the Pestallotzistrasse from Berlin and Belsize Square from London, showed their very best. These synagogues are the embodiment of the great tradition of the Liberale German Jewry and its renowned liturgy, together with to my knowledge, two others, one in NY and…
Cantor’s meet in Prague
Jewish Prague, once the centre and light for all Europe with famous ruling chief rabbi’s as the Maharal an Tosfot Yom Tov Heller. Now lives from showing its Synagogues as museums. We gathered four days with the European Cantors Association and had master classes with Cantor Naftali Herstik with my son Yohel, lectures with Cantor…
Selichot Choral service
Tonight in almost all Synagogues over the world we prepare for the coming days of awe. A service which reminds principally of the services of the High Holydays. In Belsize a very musical one. Rehearsing already with my Choirmaster and the Synagogue’s Musical Director Dr. Benjamin Wolf and organist Maestro Mike Cayton, both very instrumental…
The New Synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse- A unique testimony to and symbol of German Judaism
The actual sanctuary as before it’s destruction in WWII and the place where we stood on during the celebration and memorial services , this how it looked like in all its splendor. What is left of it, is the courtyard we stood during the commemoration as pictured in my previous post and in this…
Louis Lewandowski Part I.
Louis Lewandowski (1821 – 1894) transformed Jewish worship into a musical experience. That is what we experienced today Sunday 11th of September, in the actual place the sanctuary stood, other big edifices have been destroyed this day, but nobody mentioned it on our commemoration, I later was reminded on a special report on One World…
Liverpool a city that shines
We were invited to perform at a wedding in Liverpool, doing the singing at the marvelous Synagogue in Princess Road, there I was chanting a duo with my son Yohel, standing next to Rabbi Emeritus Rodney Mariner and participating together with two orthodox Rabbis one from Manchester and one from Liverpool. The couple, from both…
The white robe
You might wonder in a blog that focuses on attitudes and behaviour against Israel and Judaism, why I am not writing on the U.K. Labour party’s anti-Semitism scandal instead of the use of the white robe, but you will, at the end understand, besides, you can read all of UK politics in the media, or…
From Vienna to Straßburg
Two wonderful musical offerings this week, beginning with Matthias Bartolomey and Klemens Bitmann on Monday at the Austrian Embassy in London, celebrating 150 years Austrian Embassy at Belgrave Square a concert with a personal invitation from the Ambassador together with many personalities from all the spectrum of diplomacy in the UK and focused on their new…
