Welcome to the Tish

Have a seat, drink some schnapps, eat way too much food, sing too loudly - you are at the Chazzan's Tish.
It would be rude to walk out the door without having a piece of kugel and some brisket.

The Chazzan (that's me) is going to hold a Tish now and then - to tell you some stuff that is important and some stuff that is completely trivial. He is new to this, so let's all behave better than we did in Sunday School.

At the tish will be some CD reviews, some pictures of food, some musicological ruminations, some talk about the world around us, and when I'm feeling inspired - some music from the chazzan himself.

So let's jump right in....


Yesterday's New York Senate vote against same sex marriage leaves me disgusted, annoyed and hurt - but I have to keep on believing that every day we are one day closer to full equality. I was thinking about one of my favorite Chanukah songs yesterday - I even made the religious school kids learn it - באנו חושך לגרש Banu Choshech L'gareish.

The song, with words by Sarah Levy-Tanai (1911-2005) and music by Emanuel Amiran (Pugatchov) (1909-1993) is a sort of military march for Chanukah.
Here's the words:

בָּאנוּ חֹשֶךְ לְגָרֵשׁ.
בְּיָדֵינוּ אוֹר וָאֵשׁ.
כָּל אֶחָד הוּא אוֹר קָטָן,

וְכֻלָּנוּ - אוֹר אֵיתָן.

סוּרָה חֹשֶךֱ! הָלְאָה שְׁחוֹר!

סוּרָה מִפְּנֵי הָאוֹר!

We have come to expel the darkness.
In our hands are light and fire.
Each one of us is a small light.
All together - a mighty illumination.
Get back darkness! Move away black!
Turn back before the light!

Here's my favorite recording from the 70s:
http://www.zemer.co.il/FlashPlayer/player.asp?version_id=1510

Check out this video for some inspiring toddler dance moves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb-E60FezUw

For one more recording of this - here are two members of the contempo-chassidic group "Groyse Metzie" grooving out to Banu Choshech for a special on Arutz Sheva about Chanukah songs. Skip to 2:05 into the video to get right to the good part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3twYQI-46QE


So - just because I can't contain myself.... a few words about Sarah Levy-Tanai and Emanuel Amiran (Pugatchov)

Sarah Levy-Tanai (1911-2005), one of the most important artists in the history of dance in Israel, was born in Jerusalem to Yemenite parents who immigrated to Israel at the end of the 19^th century. Orphaned at a young age, she was raised in orphanages and trained to be a kindergarten teacher. While working as a teacher she began to compose, writing simple songs for children, many of which were published as an educational guide. After several attempts at an acting career, Levy-Tanai began her first steps into dance as a writer and director of local ceremonies at Kibutsim around Israel. She both composed original melodies for these and choreographed dances performances, eventually creating full length dramatic works like “The Book of Ruth” (1947) and “In the Beginning” (1950). In 1949, Levy-Tanai began to work with a group of young Yemenite dancers, forming the roots of what would become the famous Inbal dance company, for which Levy-Tanai was artistic director for 40 years. Inbal went for its first world tour, as an official representative of the State of Israel, from 1957-1959, and remains the dominant force in the Israeli dance scene. In 1973, Levy-Tanai was awarded the Israel Prize, the highest honor the government of Israel bestows upon its citizens.

Emanuel Amiran (Pugatchov) (1909-1993) was born in Warsaw to family of Zionist educators. The family moved to Moscow where he began his piano and composition studies, and then made aliyah in 1924. After working a number of jobs, Amiran devoted himself to the study of music education and in 1945 he founded the official Music Teachers' Seminary in Tel Aviv. He continued his dedication to musical education, managing the musical programs of the IDF and leading the Ministry of Culture and Education's music program. He composed hundreds of songs for the theater, concert stage, and popular music scene. A great lover of folk music, many of his own compositions have turned into folk songs themselves (El Hama'ayan, Mayim Mayim, B'tzeit Yisrael and more).

I LOVE the message of this song. Our job (on Chanukah and, in fact, all the time) is to dispel the darkness from the world and spread light. Each individual person has our own light to shine - but no one of us has enough to do it alone.

So - this Chanukah - how about we all recommit to bringing our individual lights together and join them with as many people as we can find to make a great illumination. We need it in the New York Senate, we need it in Maine, we need it in California, we need it in Iraq, we need it in Darfur, we need it pretty much everywhere.

Let's come together and banish the darkness.