Our Music

During the smicha ceremony you will hear numerous pieces of music that will catch your ear. (This page is still under construction; stop back for more!) Here are a few words about each:

Carl’s Niggun & Tribute to Rav Sarah

This gentle niggun (wordless melody) written by Erev Rav Carl Woolf was then arranged for five clarinets by Erev Hazan Sharon McCord after noticing the preponderance of clarinetists in our class. Our classmate Sarah Tauber was enthusiastic about the possibility of a clarinet version. It has now transformed into a memorial for her, as Sharon poured into the arrangement our pain at Sarah’s loss and our blessings for peace and unity. Sharon says, “When we pray Shema – our central prayer of connection – we express our Oneness with G-d and our people’s unity in The One. These are the last words we pray before the forgetfulness of sleep, and they are first words we utter as we wake to the gift of another day. Tradition teaches us that these are the last words we speak as we encounter our final breath. In this musical arrangement, we utter these words in unity with HaKadosh Baruch Hu – the Holy One of Blessing – and with our dear colleague, friend and fellow musmach, HaRav Sarah.” Click here to view video.

Eyn Od

This arrangement is an a cappella cover of Peter Avniel Salzman's Ein Od, created by Erev Rav Lex Rofeberg (with some additional harmonies and English background-lyrics). This melody's lyrics come from the Aleinu prayer, and the two central words Ein Od mean "there is none else." This two-word phrase is often cited as a Jewish approach to the idea of panentheism -- that God is in all things, and there is nothing separate from God.

Halelu Adir Adirim

In this recording you hear Hazzan and Erev Rav George (Girji) Mordecai performing an Iraqi setting of this medieval alphabetic piyyut (prayer-poem) with the Hadar Ensemble. The recording is from his album Safra. More background and a full list of musicians participating can be found by clicking here.

Hallel Psalms for Smicha

Working with our kavanah of joy, our Erev Hazzanimot (soon-to-be-cantors) turned to the text of Hallel (psalms of praise featured in our festival services) for inspiration. Psalm 116:16–

אָֽנָּ֣ה יְהוָה֮ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֪י עַ֫בְדֶּ֥ךָ אֲ‍ֽנִי־עַ֭בְדְּךָ בֶּן־אֲמָתֶ֑ךָ פִּ֝תַּ֗חְתָּ לְמוֹסֵרָֽי׃

Adonai, I am Your servant; Your servant, the child of Your maidservant;
You have undone the cords that bound me.

– evoked the idea that our ordination is our opportunity to proclaim ourselves as servants of the Divine. Whatever was holding us back from reaching our full potential has fallen away and we are emerging as spiritual leaders and ritual artists. Hazzanimot unbound!

In Psalm 118:5–

מִֽן־הַ֭מֵּצַ֥ר קָרָ֣אתִי יָּ֑הּ עָנָ֖נִי בַמֶּרְחָ֣ב יָֽהּ׃

In distress I called on Yah;
Yah answered me and brought me relief.

– we call out to the Holy One to help us in our time of need. We find our call is answered and G!d sends us relief.

Sandwiched between these Hallel verses is some torah from recently departed Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l reminding us that strength comes from caring for the weakest in society, a lesson that is painfully needed in our time.

Erev Hazzan Sharon McCord wove these threads together into a beautiful composition that we look forward to sharing with you at our ceremony.

Ashira Ladonai

Erev Rav Irwin Keller wrote this setting of Psalm 104:33 – “I sing to Adonai with the fullness of my life and make music to the Divine with my very existence.” Joining Irwin from Congregation Ner Shalom, Cotati, California, are Annemarie Goslow on vocals, Suzanne Shanbaum on guitar, and Irwin’s sister Lynn Keller on bass. Engineered by Suzanne Shanbaum. Listen to it here.

Suri Goaliye

Another Iraqi setting of a medieval piyyut performed by Hazzan and Erev Rav George (Girji) Mordecai and the Hadar Ensemble. The recording is from his album Safra. More background and a full list of musicians participating can be found by clicking here.