Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in concert in Sydney. Cantors galore!

Thursday, 20 August 2009 7.30pm - “Symphony for the Soul”

Concert at Central Synagogue featuring Chazzanim Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Shimon Farkas, Dov Farkas and Yehuda Niasoff with baritone Bob Borowsky and popular singer Jimmy Barnes. Sydney International Orchestra - conducted by Mordechai Sobol.


This splendid concert allowed almost 2000 Sydney-siders to re-live a glorious golden age of cantorial and klezmer singing.

After the overture (Engel’s wedding march) we heard the ever popular ‘Oseh shalom bimromav’ by the three cantors. We then heard a brief pre-recorded video introduction with the night’s conductor Dr Mordechai Sobol giving the history of some famous cantors of the 20th century. Yoselle Rosenblatt and Moshe Koussevitsky were featured in two brackets which were cleverly crafted by Ofir, the son of Maestro Sobol, who also conducted one of the items in the second half. V’lirushalayim Ircha and Lefichach were just two of numerous such cantorial ‘pearls’. Chazzan Helfgot’s singing was imperceptibly spliced into (and back out of) historical clips of the great singers as the orchestra continue to play the accompaniment. The blending/mixing of the sounds was ingenious as it was tasteful.

We were reminded that the great opera tenor Enrico Caruso lauded his friend Rosenblatt, saying that attending his Saturday synagogue services in New York was the equivalent of a singing lesson for him.

Bob Borowsky introduced his aria 'Di provenza il mar il suol' in its context in the story of Verdi’s La Traviata. His smooth ‘velvet’ operatic baritone was a nice contrast with the surfeit of tenors on the night. Those wishing to hear a soprano voice will be disappointed in an orthodox shule (unless it were a boy soprano). For others wanting more opera, the final encore was Chazzan Helfgot doing 'Nessun dorma' in the style of Pavarotti (and holding the last notes even longer!). This aria from Puccini’s Turandot was sung for the World Cup in Rome in 1990. These items were the high points for me, being an ‘opera nut’ before becoming a chazzanut nut.

Cantor Helfgot began singing ‘A Yiddishe Momme’ and was then joined for the second verse by Jimmy Barnes to a great applause. He sang with charm and emotion, including several lines in Yiddish.

The second half began with ‘What a wonderful world’, also sung by Jimmy Barnes. He spoke about his own Mogen Dovid which was passed to him from his mother and grandmother and was the only symbol of Judaism remaining in his life until quite recent times.

Two tributes to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach started with his version of 'Lecha dodi, likrat kala'. Including Central Synagogue’s Chazzan Sheini Yehuda Niasoff there were now four superb cantors on stage at the one time! Han’shama Lach was followed by a lively orchestral medley of Jewish themes.

In a speech after the intermission we heard about the musical tradition at Central Synagogue along with details of the tragic fire and new modern synagogue, now 11 years old. Credit and thanks were given to Rabbis Levy Wolff, Mendel Kastel, Chazzanim Shimon Farkas and Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Dr Sobol, Harry Trigaboff, Frank Lowy, Paul Keen, other board members, supporters and the many others involved in this huge undertaking.

Judging by the ovation a marvellous time was had by all and the audience of nearly 2000 indeed got their money’s worth! It was a rare treat to hear one of the world’s best cantors again in Sydney, along with local chazzanut talents and one of the most celebrated experts on Jewish music conducting a symphony orchestra in the country’s largest synagogue.

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..


Additional personal comments by way of 'post-script':

The essential cantorial talent to focus and project the voice was not on show due to the use of amplification. For those of us lucky enough to be in shule the follow Shabbos Ch Helfgot took to the Bimah as Ch Farkas was away for a family celebration. The visiting chazzan was so generous with his singing at Kabbalat Shabbat that he sang beyond the timed lights-out session! Fortunately there was a goy in shule who offered to turn them back on.

Just momentarily, at the highest, loudest and most sustained, the chazzan can sound like a chain saw in action … only then to melt again into mellifluous melody, unlike his two-stroke competitor. I just say this to emphasis the power and projection of chazzan’s highest notes which are indeed phenomenal by any measure. I believe that he sang notes higher than a C natural but I could be mistaken (Pavarotti was famous for his sustained high C’s).

I had a ‘date’ to attend with a cultured continental lady who is a Shoah survivor. However, she had a cataract operation the day before so I took my own family G-dmother, another woman of the world, if a slightly different world. Following my own bent she is a genteel gentile who dabbles Yiddish for part of each week. Like most everyone else, she was highly impressed by the entire evening, from the Australian National Anthem (everyone knew the words!) at the start to the Israeli one to finish the evening.

The concert finished with a native floral presentation and ‘Happy Birthday’ (strangely sung in English) for Mr Borowsky who turned 80 recently. He is one of the stalwarts of the Central choir, still singing year round after a lifetime of opera singing.

Kirby address at Central Synagogue ................ The Dreyfus Affair - Lessons for Today.

Address by Michael Kirby – Sunday 24th May, 7pm.

At Sydney’s Central Synagogue in Bondi, Australia’s recently retired High Court Judge Michael Kirby gave a rousing Sunday evening address on the notorious Dreyfus affair and its relevance to modern Australia. He explained as a background that the French had been defeated in the short but humiliating Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. This led to the formation of the first truly united German state which our speaker called the ‘First Reich’ (although it seems that it was actually the second). Whatever, it now included two previously French provinces, Alsace and Lorraine … where 12 year old Alfred Dreyfus was intent on a career in the French military.

Kirby emphasised the effect of the loss of face and loss of territory on the French psyche. Most of all, perhaps, was the proclamation of the new German state in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palais de Versailles in Paris. This was indeed a total humiliation to the country which, under Napoleon Bonaparte, had once ruled much of Europe and beyond. Our speaker said that one reason put forward for the defeat was that France was infiltrated with spies intent on its destruction (for what it is worth, Wikpedia maintains that it was the more advanced railway network in Germany).

Our speaker gave a clear description of the original alleged crime of passing information to the Germans. The only piece of evidence was a hand-written note torn into pieces and found by a cleaner at the German embassy. As a government ‘plant’ she handed the pieces in to the French authorities. A clumsy attempt at handwriting comparisons (and some other fabricated evidence, apparently) led to the conviction of the promising army officer for spying. Although Dreyfus lived and worked in Paris, he travelled to his native Mulhouse (or Mulhausen in German) each year to visit his elderly father. And he was Jewish (which our speaker failed to mention until well into his talk - although most in this audience will have known that).

After the initial guilty verdict, Alfred Dreyfus suffered a degrading public discharge from the Ecole Militaire in Paris and was sent to the notorious Devil’s Island prison in French Guiana as punishment. His family, especially his brother Mathieu, supported him throughout along with a band of faithful friends. They eventually had the matter re-heard after another note with exactly the same handwriting was found in the embassy. Not only could Dreyfus not have written the note, being in custody, its origin was traced to another mid-ranking officer named Esterhazy. He was charged by the military court with being the REAL spy but ended up simply transferred to Tunisia. The actual intelligence related to details of a ‘new’ recoiling howitzer artillery piece.

Despite the initial key evidence being false and other supporting evidence fabricated or circumstantial, Dreyfus was still not formally exonerated. However, following the famous letter by Emile Zola “J’accuse” in the “L’Aurore” newspaper (not Le Figaro as maintained by an insistent questioner) and subsequent moves in the French parliament a full enquiry was called and the prisoner finally released. Only much later was he actually pardoned and fully a hundred years further a formal apology came from the French President’s office to the Dreyfus family. Parallels were drawn with Australia’s recent and delayed apology to the Aboriginal people when some of the wrongs were atoned for.

Apart from polarising French society in an ugly and unprecedented manner, the case had many consequences, one being the French law of 1906 separating church and state which remains to this day. We were reminded about the essential bias of trials conducted by the military. In British countries there has been a convention that if an alleged crime were committed by a service person within 10 miles of a public court house the accusation would be tried in the civil court rather than a court marshal.

Other parallels were drawn between this case and contemporary issues involving minority groups. Kirby brought up the Communist Party case numerous times to emphasise how important it was that people be allowed to hold any views they like, no matter how bizarre and foreign they may appear to others. Only if they infringe on the liberties of others or cause specific damage should action be taken … and that should be by the police, prosecutors and properly constituted courts offering trial by jury.

He reminded us that the Australian Parliament had outlawed membership of the Communist Party around 1950. However, the law also included people who were known to have communist ‘leanings or beliefs’ whether or not they were formal party members. After the law was rejected as unconstitutional in an appeal to the high court, a subsequent referendum also rejected such a law. We were told that in the USA almost exactly the same thing happened but in that country the court upheld the law, saying (more or less) that the legislature can ban anything it likes, leading to the destructive McCarthyist period about which almost nothing good has been written (like prohibition of alcohol).

The retired judge told us that he has always felt close to Jews as a close relative had married a Jewish lady who died after having two young daughters. The gentile father decided to give the two girls a Jewish upbringing according to their mother’s wish (and tradition).

To emphasise his own understanding of the Nazi period, our speaker referred several times to a book he guaranteed was ‘un-put-down-able’ called “To the Bitter End” by Viktor Klemperer (the brother of Otto the conductor). Viktor was professor of romance languages in Dresden and wrote copious diaries his whole life, some of which became best sellers after his death. He describes in only a few months going from Jews being normal passengers to standing at the back of the tram to being banned outright from transport and having to travel by foot. This creeping anti-Semitism soon led to the death camps.

Kirby spoke specifically about discrimination against Jews, homosexuals, Aboriginals and other minority groups. There were wide-ranging examples from around the world of people who were denied justice, at least initially. Cases from Hong Kong, Malaysia, California, England and Australia were mentioned, sometimes by name (since all such trials are on the public record). Kirby clearly is in touch with jurists on several continents.

A woman in Malaysia was denied the right to change religions in order to marry her betrothed. Another was denied a divorce on spurious grounds. Gays in California who had been given the right to marry under State law found their licences annulled by a federal plebiscite which took precedence. We were given a break-down of the voting patterns in this latter vote which overturned the legislation allowing gay marriage. Black voters had been strongly in support of striking down the marriage provisions while Jewish voters were 80% against changing the gay marriage legislation. Rather than the colour of those rejecting gay marriage, some social researchers found that the black voters were more likely to be church-goers and thus it was not their genes, colour or background but their priests and pastors who had the major influence over the vote - which gained nothing for anyone.

Possibly to allay any disquiet in this Orthodox venue, Kirby made the point that these were proposed civil marriages and there was no suggestion that churches, mosques or synagogues would be forced to be involved in anything contrary to their beliefs. For himself, despite having a male partner of 40 years, along with his partner they felt no particular interest in marriage while not wishing to prevent others from being involved if they so wished.

On this Sunday night forum the Q & A session was almost as interesting as the talk itself. In fact rather than using a moderator or chairperson, the retired judge said that he was looking for a new job after being retrenched from the High Court and was seriously interested in a career as a television compare/host. A question came about free speech and the lack of a of bill of rights in Australia. He addressed the American situation and referred to the US Consul General who was present at the gathering. As he said, British societies had generally relied on Parliament to act when there were issues of disadvantage or discrimination - and by and large he said that this usually worked. He emphasised that we may be free to speak but we also have to be responsible and incitement to hatred or defamation could be prosecuted when they occurred. He also appreciated the current debate over the issue of a Bill of Rights, saying that there were merits in some of the arguments for such a move.

One of the first questioners began by saying: “Mr Kirby: you will live with honour and you will die with honour” (perhaps a coincidence, but this is in fact parallels what Madama Butterfly says before committing suicide!). Thence began a long diatribe which became somewhat confusing, disgruntled and personal. The public kvetchnik produced a ream of printed material for the attention of the guest speaker. The latter dealt with the situation remarkably well by saying that he would be pleased to discuss these matters after the proceedings as they may be of limited interest to the general public. And when the man tried to ask another question later on, Kirby reminded him “but we have a date, remember!?”

Our speaker was lauded and applauded by the audience on numerous occasions during his talk. However, in answer to one of the last questions on modern forms of anti-Semitism, he stated that until there was a genuine peace in the Middle East there would be continued ammunition for those hostile to Jews (or words to that effect). This relatively benign and logical comment brought distinct scoffs and groans of indignation from many in the audience. Kirby continued by mentioning ‘the settlements issue’, without going into detail. This seemed to annoy some people who may have felt this was not the place to raise such sensitive if important issues. Like Maria Callas’s last concerts, there was more clapping at the start than at the finish and our speaker had clearly ‘lost’ some of his audience by his candour.

The retired judge acknowledged and thanked numerous other dignitaries including Hon Peter Garrett, Minister from the Environment, Hon Gladys Berejiklian, MP for Willoughby, Chief Prosecutor Tedeschi, embassy, business, charity, kehillah, education and health care workers and officials present.

The evening had been organised by the B’nai B’rith as part of its community outreach program, hosted by Rabbi Levi Wolff and Central Synagogue president Paul Keen representing the Board of Management. Our master of ceremonies Mr Len Mahemoff had commenced proceedings by acknowledging the traditional owners of the Eora nation. He also sang, in succession the Australian and Israeli national anthems which finished the evening on a musical and dual-patriotic note. I noted that just about everybody knew all the words to both anthems, quite a feat when a majority of the audience were probably born overseas (many in South Africa, Russia and America).

Comments by Andrew Byrne .. Day job: Redfern dependency physician.


Email - ajbyrne@ozemail.com.au

Clinic web page: http://www.redfernclinic.com/c/

Andrew Byrne seeks a Jewish musical tradition in New York: April 2009

Shearith Israel Synagogue Central Park West and 70th Street.

On returning to Central synagogue last week, Rabbi Wolff said that he had not liked to comment on my absence – which is perfect etiquette. I usually spend a month in New York at this time of year since ‘discovering’ the Big Apple almost 20 years ago. My grandfather visited in 1922 and wrote effusively about his impressions (see blog). Despite not being Jewish I have been extended a welcome in Australia's pre-eminent synagogue as vocal enthusiast where I attend on Fridays as a rule and on other services as an exception.

It appears that I was away at the same time as Chazzan Shimon Farkas, a happy coincidence as his contribution to the Central services is unique and monumental. The shule is fortunate to have Rabbi Yehuda Niasoff whose vocal, musical and other talents are also remarkable. Including the large and professional male choir, there is no team like this in Manhattan, at least not that I could find even on close enquiry over several years.

Central Synagogue is an immensely beautiful modern building and its congregation and community spirit, especially the children, make it an appealing place to return to. The acoustics are near perfect in this hall of 2000 seats. For these reasons I believe all Sydney-siders, Jewish or otherwise, should consider attending a service here. It should also be on the list of things for tourists to Sydney to do if they have any interest in Judaica.

I was told that few Manhattan shules have choirs any more, at least for regular shabbos services. Some say that a choir makes the congregation less likely to sing themselves – and I found some evidence of that on this visit although it is clearly not the case at Central.

I attended three shules during my month in Manhattan. Shearith Israel twice – and the Sephardis are a world apart – if a recognisable one. Their rabbis wear headgear rather like Greek Orthodox priests: tall black cylindrical affairs with flat tops. The three clergy read and chanted from a centrally placed, raised bimah facing the ark. There is no drosha in Kabbalat Shabbat which I think is the old tradition anyway. Their chazzan (who I believe is also the mohel) and choir sang from the upstairs gallery of their enormous and beautiful shule building on 70th and Central Park West (just a block from my apartment). The tunes from the unseen singers were nearly all different in their tradition yet the chazzanut was glorious and uplifting on both occasions.

Park East Synagogue Shabbos morning service was a high point vocally with previous Central maestro Russell Ger conducting Yitzak Meir Helfgot and a professional choir of 6 men. I had to pinch myself to realise that I was there, hearing such a great cantor (not perfect, though, as he sometimes seems to push a little beyond even his own capabilities), a professional choir and an Aussie conductor. As the maestro and chazzan switched places towards the end, Russell sang the penultimate song himself as a solo, much to the delight of the congregation. I saw people craning their necks to see who was now singing, so different was Russell’s mellifluous strong baritone from the chazzan’s high, dry tenor. Unfortunately, their ‘bimah’ is adjacent to the ark so some vocalism is wasted to the front wall, curtains, etc. The choir sat in an arc on ‘stage right’, allowing their voices to project into the hall right up to the final Adon olam. This is a marathon 3 hour session for all the participants – equal to most any grand opera or musical.

'

An address was given in the middle of the morning service by an Israeli army general Gershon Hacohen. He spoke in good English about the vexed issue of accusations of excess collateral damage in the recent Gaza incursions. By chance I was sitting right next to an IDF veteran who was also visiting New York. His copious eyebrows and facial expressions revealed his discomfort at some of what the general had to say. We spoke about seeing things from different perspectives, American and Israeli. Unlike some newspapers in the west, the Israeli press is very frank its criticism of some aspects of war, even when the most serious efforts are obviously taken to prevent excess collateral damage. I read that there are present investigations into the excesses of some individual soldiers … but I was surprised to hear these things discussed in a house of worship.

The Carlebach Congregation is a tiny but very famous shule on 79th St near Riverside Drive. It was well attended on a Friday night with enthusiastic singing, clapping and panel bashing with a cantor who had written his own new melody for some part of the service. By chance I sat next to a man who remembered me from the opera as he worked in the box office at Lincoln Center! He was intrigued about my goyish attendance, Australia, Bondi, opera, etc and ask lots of questions – when I really just wanted to concentrate on the service. Does that sound like a kvetch? At least he was pleasant and forthcoming. In Lecha dodi at least half the men danced in a chain around the bimah – such as it was – a tiny platform at the front. The shul building is like two narrow tram-cars with a metal fence dividing men from women. I met the current Carlebach chazzan named Yehuda who said “so what” when I confessed to cross-denomination straying.
Like Central, the Carlebach now has transliterated Artscroll siddurim available while both Shearith Israel and Park East are considering them according to their helpful staff. Each is an orthodox kehillah.

Next time in New York I may try the large temple Emanu-El on 5th Avenue near Central Park South. As for Sydney shule descriptions, I keep a diary, but this is far too verbose, subjective and detailed to be of interest for normal readers. I sometimes send snippets to friends and congregants both to check my own ‘recall’ as well as spread the word about these extraordinary vestigal institutions. I always ask that these notes not be forwarded since people’s privacy needs to be respected – even if attending a house of worship is essentially a public thing to do.

Photos and more details on request.

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..