Notes from Cantor Avima

     Yom Kippur has a rich liturgy and likewise a treasure trove of traditional melodies. I have recorded a few of the most popular melodies and made them available in the "High Holiday Melodies" section of the "Worship" tab on our website. Here is a link to lead you to the recordings: Adath Shalom High Holiday Melodies. You will also find there a link to open a PDF with transliterations as well as page numbers in the machzor we use at Adath Shalom.  In a normal day we have 3 prayer services: starting with "ma'ariv" (evening service), "shacharit" (morning service) and "minchah" (afternoon service). On Yom Kippur we actually have a few extra services beginning with Kol Nidre which precedes  maariv, the evening service. The next day we begin with "shacharit", but as on shabbat and all festivals there is also a complex "musaf" service after we read the Torah.  In the afternoon we have the "minchah" service and that is followed by a special service which is called "Ne'Ilah" - the "locking of the gates". So, some of the main prayers of Yom Kippur are repeated several times. This means you have in some cases as many as four opportunities to sing the same prayers, particularly the section of liturgy where we collectively confess  list our sins and ask God for forgiveness. 

     The prayer "Sh'ma Koleinu" asks God to hear our voices, to have compassion upon us. There is a very simple refrain that I learned  decades ago when I served as Cantor of The Lake Hiawatha Jewish Center. You can hear it in the recordings referenced above. However, I just found a very pretty melody on youtube written by Label Sharfman and Abie Rotenberg and sung by Amy Robinson: Sh'ma Koleinu Label Sharfman and Abie Rotenberg

     Another favorite of mine is "Ki Anu Amehcha"-" We are Your People".  There is nothing like a sanctuary filled with congregants singing this poem which describes the relationship between God and the Jewish people: We are your people and You are are God, We are Your children and You are our Father,  We are Your servants and You are our master, We are Your congregatin and You are our portion, We are Your inheritance and You are destiny...  You can sing along with my recording on the website (remember the attached PDF) or enjoy the same melody as performed by congregants of Anshei Chesed in NYC: Ki Anu Amehcha - Anshei Chesed. 

     We open the final service of Yom Kippur, the Neilah service with a beautiful poem "El Norah Alilah". The most popular  melody, a Sephardic melody has many, many variations. You can check out my recording on the website. Here is a slightly different variation: El Norah Alilah - Shirat Hadorot. And, here is something totally different, but equally inspiring and accessible: El Norah Alilah - Eliana Light
 

    I hope you have enjoyed this series of articles offering you High Holiday melodies, I know I have enjoyed researching and writing the articles. I have learned a few new melodies to add to my repertoire and hopefully a few of you have gained inspiration as well as exposure to melodies or just a refresher to lend you the confidence to SING OUT in the sanctuary! 

     Let's sing into 5786!!