Feature articles

The attitude of rabbis toward music

There are many testimonies concerning the attitude of rabbis toward music, scattered in the talmudic, midrashic and rabbinic literature.A careful attitude, and sometimes a radical opposition to any musical event, …

Jewish music in France

This article which is written after Hervé Roten's research presents the Jewish musical practices in France …

Chasidism and music

Chasidism, the mystic Jewish movement born in Eastern Europe in the middle of the 18th century, enabled the emergence of a lot of music aimed to transcend the impurities of this world …

Jerusalem of gold, a song by Naomi Shemer

Jerusalem of gold (in Hebrew : ירושלים של זהב – Yerushalayim shel zahav) is the name of a popular Israeli song written by Naomi Shemer in 1967. It was first …

Three Passover songs: Adir hu, Echad mi yodea and Chad gadya

Learn everything about the three songs that end the Passover seder : Adir hu, Echad mi yodea and Chad gadya

Passover

Passover (Pessah) - פֶּסַח - is one of the three pilgrimage festivals of the Jewish calendar (with Shavuot and Sukkot), in which we commemorate the Hebrews who got out of Egypt. …

Emile Jonas (1827-1905), from the Portuguese Synagogue to the Operetta, and from there to the Imperial Guard

Born into a Jewish family in Paris on March 5, 1827, Emile Jonas left his mark on his era, composing works for both synagogue and opera …

The music of the Ethiopian Jews, the Beta Israel

A historic, liturgic and musicologic analysis of the music of the Beta Israel, inspired from the works by Simha Arom, Frank Alvarez-Pereyre, Shoshana Ben-Dor and Olivier Tourny …

The hora

A dance from the pioneers, which is today emblematic of bar-mitsvas, weddings and other Jewish celebrations of the diaspora. Originally, the hora was a slow dance often practiced in Romania, by Jews and non-Jews. At the start of the 20th century, it arrived in Palestine where it was transformed into a collective and joyous circle dance, quickly becoming the emblematic dance of the first kibbutzniks. …

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Piyyut and contemporary Israeli song

Piyyutim (religious poems) have had a significant influence on contemporary Israeli song

Bible poems & Jewish prayer

These two CDs by Semjon Kalinowsky (viola) and Torsten Laux (organ) invite us to discover—or rediscover—the musical works of some…