Improvisation!

When I was an acting student, I remember hating improv class. It seemed so messy! So undisciplined! But when I really watched what my more talented classmates were doing I realized that the ability to improvise in a believable fashion was the result of being totally secure in the situation. Only when you have all kinds of information at your command can you be free to let go of some of the 'rules' and fly.

The same thing is true about hazzanute - the art of the cantor. It's made up of many rules; the correct nusakh  for each time of day, for each kind of service, the motifs that make a piece of liturgy recognizeable, the melodies that congregants already know, woven with new melodies to keep the davenning fresh. These are the tools of the trade for a cantor. But then one has to go further. It's not enough to keep repeating and repeating. You have to improvise a little. You have to step outside your comfort zone to keep the music of prayer alive.

There is a saying that is attributed to Cantor Max Wohlberg, of blessed memory. He said,  "Nusakh is like underwear; you have to change it occasionally!" Even if he didn't say it, it's a great thought. We like the comfort of the melodies of our youth, but that doesn't mean we can't add new melodies. And for hazzanim it also means we might like the first 'licks' we learned in cantorial school, but we can only soar as prayer leaders when we feel free to bend them and improvise. Davenning is like life: it doesn't go in straight lines!

Debbie

It's impossible to say how much certain people affect you. Debbie Friedman died today, and I am trying to think when I first became aware of her. I think it was in 1993, when I was working at Carnegie Hall and one of my co-workers said I would probably enjoy the concert that night. He said it was "Debbie somebody," and that she always sold out the Hall. I stuck around for the first half of the concert before I had to get to the other concert that I was monitoring. Joyous it was. I was aware that every single person in that hall knew Debbie and loved Debbie. On some songs you could hardly hear her, because everyone wanted to sing along! That concert was a precursor to the famous 2-disk recording, "Debbie Friedman: Live at Carnegie Hall." (1997)

Years later, when I was very involved at B'nai Jeshurun in New York, someone came up to me after I chanted a haftarah and said it was beautiful, and I said thanks. A friend asked, "What did Debbie say to you?" And I asked "Debbie who?" That's how clueless I was.

In years to come I would learn from Debbie, sing with Debbie, schmooze with Debbie, and even introduce her at a concert in New Jersey. I sang with a choir that accompanied Debbie just last year. I was delighted to see her again, and she was absolutely wonderful, pouring her whole self into every song. It's impossible to say how much Debbie has meant to millions of Jews - some who don't even know her name. The memory will last for as long as kids learn their aleph-bet. Zichronah le-shirah v-liv'rachah. May her memory be for a song and a blessing.

What's new in "Nusakh"?

There's a word that gets knocked around a lot. Nusakh. It can mean so many things that it has lost all meaning. For example, it can mean the liturgy of a particular part of the world, like Nusakh Romani, or Nusakh Israeli. That includes any regional or country-specific text. If you think about the dreidle you'll see that in Israel the dreidle has a peh instead of a shin, because in Israel the sentence is "Nes gadol haya poh" -- a great miracle happened here. And other changes between countries or regions just grew up over many centuries.

Nusakh can also refer to denominational differences: Reform nusakh refers to God as "m'khayei ha-kol" -- the One who gives life to everything -- as opposed to "m'khayei mei-tim" -- who gives life to the dead. So here the nusakh reflects a theological difference. Orthodox nusakh - whether Ashkenazi or Sephardi - doesn't include the matriarchs. Yet.

In the case of the music of a service, the word nusakh means something entirely different. So between now and next week (or so) pay attention to the music of the services that you attend, and I'll add the musical bit next blog!