This is an archive of exclusively modern resources preprared for use as special readings or recitations in commemoration of days in the Jewish calendar, as well as on civic days on civil calendars. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
Resources filtered by COLLABORATOR: “Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)” (clear filter)A passage from Rav Saadia Gaon’s Sefer haGalui providing a description and justification of the practice of cantillating works outside the TaNaKh (in the Geonic period!) Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
In honor of Juneteenth, the holiday of American liberation, this is a translation of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation into Biblical Hebrew. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
The second inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln in English with a cantillized Hebrew translation suitable for chanting. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
A megillah attesting to the terrible events of World War II from the vantage of North African Jewry in Casablanca. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
Jews have read sacred texts to commemorate miracles of redemption for a long time. Purim has Megilat Esther. Many communities read Megilat Antiochus or Megilat Yehudit for Ḥanukkah. But to many modern Jews, the most miraculous redemption in recent history was the founding of the state of Israel, as we commemorate on Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Like Purim, the story of the founding of Israel was entirely secular on a surface level, with no big showy miracles like a sea splitting or a mountain aflame. Like Ḥanukkah, a Jewish state in the Land of Israel won its independence against mighty forces allied in opposition. But we don’t have a megillah to read for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Or do we? Just as Megillat Esther is said to be a letter written by Mordekhai to raise awareness of the events of Shushan, so too does the Israeli Scroll of Independence, Megilat ha-Atsma’ut, raise awareness of the events of the founding of the State of Israel. In this vein, I decided to create a cantillation system for Megilat ha-Atsma’ut. Ta’amei miqra were chosen attempting to follow Masoretic grammatical rules – since modern Hebrew has a different grammatical structure, the form is somewhat loose. Because of the thematic similarities to Purim, I chose Esther cantillation for the majority of the text. Just as some tragic lines in Esther are read in Eikhah cantillation, some lines regarding the Shoah or bearing grim portents for the wars to follow are to be sung in Eikhah cantillation. And the final phrases of chapters II and III are to be sung in the melody for the end of a book of the Ḥumash, or the Song of the Sea melody. They can be done in a call-and-response form, with the community reading and the reader repeating. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
A declaration in 1993 by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in response to the impending danger of global warming and other ecotastrophes brought about by the callous harm of human industry and land use decisions. Translated from English to Hebrew by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Cantillated English by Ḥazzan Jack Kessler. Cantillated Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
|