The Republic: New voices speak in the Jewish prayer book

Reform Jews are working on a new Machzor (prayer book) for the High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:

...The new machzor replaces the widely used “Gates of Repentance,” written in 1978 and to some, stale, stilted, and only marginally relevant to 21st-century life and consciousness.

Count Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg among them. Spiritual leader of Temple Judea in Coral Gables, he replaced Gates of Repentance with a machzor of his own creation in 2004: “Renew Our Days.” When the Central Conference went looking for someone to captain a writer-editor team, Goldberg 48, was the logical choice. A writer of four books, Goldberg, considers himself “an iconoclast (who) wasn’t happy with the status quo. … It turns out that the rabbinate hasn’t put (a machzor) together from scratch since 1894, just revisions.”

But the rabbis acknowledge that a fresh approach to the machzor can be risky — indeed, any liturgical change in a 5,772-year-old religion can’t come about without consternation, if not resistance.

Eddie Ginsburg, a member of Temple Judea’s worship committee, said the editing team had an extremely difficult task melding the ancient and the modern.

For instance, take the traditional notion that a Jew’s fate for the coming year is determined on Rosh Hashanah then sealed on Yom Kippur, when the Book of Life is closed.

“That concept is difficult for me to accept,” said Ginsburg. “I believe in God, but I also believe in free will, that we have choices. How are they going to deal with that in the new prayer book? Or are they even going to touch it? It’s such an embedded tradition.”

The text seeks to connect with worshippers at various stages of life with contemporary language, music and imagery. It follows a spiritual arc that begins with humility, soul searching and doubt, and ends with renewal, hope, and determination to help repair the world.

Each page offers a variety of options on a common theme, so that the worshipper has choices in prayer and meditation.

There are different versions of each prayer in a two-page spread. The right-hand page shows the prayer in Hebrew as well as a transliteration and English translation. The left-hand page offers poems or meditative passages, and commentary that provides additional context about the text or its author.

It’s gender neutral, and replaces the arcane verbiage of some old prayers with progressive, more accessible language...more...

Talmud Bavli Hullin 100a-b - translation by Tzvee

[100a] [The sinew is] another category unto itself [of substance, i.e., not food, and thus] subject to a different rule [cf. b. 96a. II.1 C].

IV.1

A.            And so with a piece of carrion, and so with a piece of unclean fish which were cooked with [other] pieces: When one recognizes their [presence], [they must be removed and the rest are forbidden if there is enough] to impart flavor. And if [one does] not [recognize their presence] they are all forbidden. As to the broth, [it is forbidden only if the carrion or unclean fish] imparts a flavor [M. 7:5 D-G]. But it should be nullified by the majority [of the mixture which is permitted].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 99a-b - translation by Tzvee

R.            [99a] So why not let us derive [the rule in general about taste in mixtures of permitted and prohibited substances] from this instance? The Torah declared regarding the sin-offering, “[Every male among the descendants of Aaron shall eat of it, as their perpetual due throughout your generations, from the Lord's offerings by fire;] anything that touches them shall become holy” (Lev. 6:18). [This implies that what touches it or what absorbs the taste] has the same status as the sacrifice itself. For if [the sacrifice] is invalid, [the mixture that absorbed from it] is invalid. And if [the sacrifice] is valid, [the mixture] is valid [to be eaten in accord with] the strict rules that pertain to it.

S.             And why do you see fit to derive [the rule that the taste of a Holy Thing in a mixture is not nullified] from that source [regarding the sin-offering]? You should derive it [that it is nullified] from that source [regarding the shoulder of the Nazirite's offering].

Joseph Berger in the Times: Mendel Werdyger and the Recordings of Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt

Bravo to Mendel Werdyger who restored the recordings of Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt.

Download a track - Kol Nidrei - for $.99 at Amazon.

The quality is pretty good, judging from the track on Amazon, but not superb. And there is a possibility that some people will not like to hear Kol Nidre accompanied by an organ.

We suggest you also listen to Richard Tucker's Kol Nidre album snippets on Amazon as an alternative before you run to get the Rosenblatt CDs. The whole album is $9.98 and you may find it more to your taste. Who can predict?

Bit by Electronic Bit, a Cantor’s Voice Is Restored
By JOSEPH BERGER

He was called the Jewish Caruso. Indeed, fervent enthusiasts sometimes referred to Caruso as the Italian Yossele Rosenblatt.

Mr. Rosenblatt, who died in 1933, was regarded as the greatest cantor of his time. But his was a time when music was recorded on heavy shellac or celluloid 78 r.p.m. records. The quality of those recordings was never that faithful in the first place and wore away over the years.

Enter Mendel Werdyger, a lush-bearded 52-year-old Hasidic Jew who runs a record shop on 13th Avenue in Borough Park, Brooklyn. With no college degree and no professional training in sound engineering, Mr. Werdyger has used advanced audio restoration programs on the ordinary computer in his ragtag office to patiently clean away the crackles, hisses and other distortions on those creaky old 78s.

A sparkling review by Larry Yudelson of God's Favorite Prayers

Two excellent review essays by Larry Yudelson of God's Favorite Prayers by Tzvee Zahavy were published 9-30-2011 in the Jewish Standard.



It is gratifying to see our ideas presented with such care, precision and clarity.

Here are the links to the two review essays of the book and to the sidebar for the book.

"A multiplicity of voices"

• Local author’s new book explores the inner workings of Jewish prayer
• The six archetypes you meet in the prayer book
• A guide to understanding Yom Kippur eve prayers

You can buy the book here.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 98a-b - translation by Tzvee

B.            He said to him, “In that case [of the mixture] what are we dealing with? [98a] With an egg containing an embryo. But the egg of an unclean bird [that does not contain an embryo] does not [give forth flavor into a mixture in accord with the saying].”

C.            They raised an objection: [As regards] clean eggs that one boiled with unclean eggs — if [the unclean eggs] are of sufficient quantity to impart flavor [to the clean eggs, those eggs are] prohibited [T. Ter. 9:5 D-E]. Here too it means an egg containing a fledgling. But why does it call it “unclean”? When it has a fledgling in it, they call it “unclean.”

Talmud Bavli Hullin 97a-b - translation by Tzvee

C.            [97a] [This is not a valid objection.] Fat is different because it permeates [all the meat]. But is it prohibited [to roast a kid with its] fat? For lo, said Rabbah bar bar Hannah, “An incident occurred in the presence of R. Yohanan in the synagogue at Ma`on. There was a kid that was roasted with its own fat. And they went and asked R. Yohanan [concerning its status as to the law]. And he said, `One may peel trim off meat and eat it until he reaches its fat.'”

D.            This one [was an exceptional case because] it was lean [and therefore did not permeate the meat. Therefore no proof can be adduced from this incident.]

Talmud Bavli Hullin 96a-b - translation by Tzvee

E.            Said Raba, “At first I thought that [with regard to the legal status of an object] a sign is preferable to recognition. Because we return a lost object [to its owner] based on [his knowledge of] a sign. [96a] But we do not return it to him if he just recognizes it [without producing a sign]. Now that I have heard these traditions [i.e., B-D] I reason that recognition is preferable [to a sign]. For if you did not maintain this position how would a blind person be permitted to [have relations with] his wife? And how would any person be permitted to [have relations with] his wife at night? It is only by virtue of the recognition of her voice. Here too, recognition [has validity for a legal claim].”

Talmud Bavli Hullin 95a-b - translation by Tzvee

II.2

A.            A certain butcher said to his fellow [with whom he was feuding], [95a] “If you had appeased me I would have provided you with meat from the fatted ox I processed yesterday.” He said to him, “I ate from its choicest cut.” He said to him, “Where did you get it?” He said to him, “So-and-so the idolater bought it and provided it to me.” He said to him, “I processed two and that one was terefah.”

B.            Said Rabbi, “On account of this one idiot who acted improperly should we prohibit all of the stalls [of the gentiles from selling meat]?”

Talmud Bavli Hullin 94a-b - translation by Tzvee

B.            Rather, [maintain that we deal with] a place where they publicize it [that an animal was found to be terefah]. [If so] even a whole one they should not send to him [i.e., a gentile]. For he may cut it up and sell it [to a Jew].

C.            If you prefer [we can explain the case] in a place where they do publicize it. And if you prefer [we can explain the case] in a place where they do not announce.

D.            If you prefer [we can explain the case] in a place where they do publicize it — cuts [of meat] made by a gentile are easy to recognize [so you could send a whole thigh to a gentile who will cut it up to sell it].