Where do I stand on Israel?

I believe in the inalienable right of all Jews to participate in the development of Eretz Yisroel. After centuries of pogroms, discrimination and marginalisation by Christians in the West, survival has often been the highest priority for European Jews. Persecution in Muslim countries was rarely as severe or frequent. Some of the greatest flourishing of Jewish thought was under Muslim rule (eg. Marmonides in Egypt). Yet modern Israel survives and advances despite both large and small skirmishes with its neighbours. 

Many commentators have expressed the view that the continued survival and prosperity of Israel long-term is inextricably linked to a genuine and enduring peace with the Palestinians, co-custodians of the Holy Land today.  With the current instability across the Middle East, Palestine could become the very model of a modern Arab state.

The citizens of the region should make these decisions themselves and it may be unfair and inappropriate for outsiders to take positions on the various options, just as we do not expect to be dictated to by outsiders on policy matters affecting Australians.  One can and should still sympathise with both Sabra and Palestinian families in Eretz Yisroel.  And we should never take our own political freedoms and prosperity for granted in the hope that others can aspire to the same. 

[with apologies to the Druze, Samaritans, Palestinian Jews and Christians for my simplification in my own feelings on these issues]

 

My visit to Crown Heights ... too much Jewish evangelizing to my liking! Hag sameach!

Fri 15th April 2011

I have been to Brooklyn many times but never visited Crown Heights. Hence, being so close and having the time after visiting the Fort Hamilton VA hospital (terrible war injuries, burns, amputations, etc), I disembarked at Atlantic Avenue to change subway trains and found myself besieged by young Jewish children inside the Subway station. They were running around accosting any passing Caucasian with boxes of matzoh on offer. “Are you Jewish?” I was asked while proffered some of the unleaven bread, all boxed up like a pizza. “Thankyou, no. I have my own. Chaag sameach!” And this was happening in the week before Pesach and several miles away from Crown Heights itself where I arrived shortly afterwards (Kingston Avenue) to find another hive of pre-shabbos, pre-Pesach activity mid-afternoon on Friday.



There were people everywhere carrying packages. Huge signs proclaimed Happy Passover, Good Yontif, Hag Sameach, etc. I asked one young man what all the packages were and he said mostly matzoh but some were of old food to be auctioned off for Pesach (one of the more bewildering Yiddish customs). I was accosted by numerous folk just walking down the street. “Do you know what day it is today?” … “Do you know who lived in this house?” … “Are you Jewish?” I now reply: “Well I’m just Jewish from the waist down” (which is perfectly true) ... “and I sing in shule each Shabbos” - it is only if I know them a lot better (or they are taxi drivers) I admit to being a student of comparative religions.

One incessant frum gent with tzitzit and curls bailed me up on the sidewalk and spent ten minutes bantering with me about religion, mitzvot, shule, chazzanut and the rest before eventually handing me a card he obviously kept for interloping goys like me, saying: “These are the seven rules for the ben noach”. In other words, ‘forget the 613’ or ‘get thee to anothery’. What an insult! On the card it stated that the USA was founded on these seven laws: Belief in one G-d; respect and praise for same; respect for human life; respect for family (this is not stated directly in the ten commandments from my reading); respect for others’ property; pursue justice; respect all creatures (this is also drawing a long bow from my admittedly very elementary Torah study). Like many religious endeavours this is a job-lot of motherhood statements mixed with what might be called mother-in-law views (or even mumbo-jumbo). It could be quite offensive to members of mainstream but non-Book religions such as Buddhists, Shintos and Hindus as well as to atheists of all backgrounds. [End of drosha from Reb Byrne!]

I walked to the end of the small shopping centre and took some photographs in this para-Stetel. On the corner of Eastern Parkway was a synagogue built into the basement of a 4 storey apartment building. It had racks of Siddurim outside the multiple doors, virtually in the open air. The entrance proper consisted of six glass double doors leading to a narrow foyer before more glass doors into the shule itself. As I could find no kippah box I did not enter (in fact there were hats aplenty and it seems that these folk do not use humble kippot but since I have never worn a hat in shule I felt a little chary about doing so. Inside the low-ceilinged shule I could see the devout a-davening … someone was reciting Kaddish aloud … others were reading Torah … it looked more like an industrial factory than usual impression of a shule. And this hive of religious activity was mid-afternoon, just a few hours before candle lighting time for Shabbos. One hopes these guys (only men, of course) got out of their tefila in time.


The Jewish Children's Museum.

Outside, as I took another photograph I was immediately ‘tackled’ by another of the frum faithful, asking personal details and relating things I did not necessarily want to know. Most important was that the day I had chosen to take a deviation to Crown Heights just happened to be the birthday of the revered Rebbe (of blessed memory). Torah is not big on birthdays. In fact the only one mentioned in the Pentateuch is that of Pharaoh before the dream interpretation story in Bereshis. But the Lubavichers use all opportunities to raise the profile of their movement and their Rebbe of blessed memory (Menachem Mendel Schneerson). They even have a "Mitzvah Tank" which is a huge mobile home which could be seen and heard roaming the streets of Manhattan blaring loud Jewish music, trying to attract the lapsed faithful back into the fold. I wondered if the Catholics should take a leaf out of the Lubavichers' book and inaugurate a moblie confessional and communion van.

My interlocutor had a familiar accent and by chance hailed from Melbourne. He said that his name was Alex back home … but he was now known as Moshe in America. If he were a convert I would be surprised but such speculation is inappropriate anyway, of course. He seemed to be on auto-pilot, telling me that ‘this was the apartment’ where the Rebbe first lived when he moved to America from persecution in Russia in the 1940s. ‘This was the building’ purchased for his wife and his library. It was just like a dozen other adjacent smart brick 3-storeyed buildings. A driveway and garage had been added on the left, semi-tastefully. The building adjacent, on the corner of Kingston Avenue, was the four storeyed building which had been converted (at least its basement) into a shule. Or so I was told by my fellow national with the baseball cap (‘it is plain black so I can wear it in shule’).


I was ready to settle my brain on the train home to assimilate all of the things that had happened already that day. However, this latter day apostle insisted on accompanying my into Manhattan on the number 3 subway. He prattled about the hereafter, divinity, conversion, kosher, Pesach and more. He was not necessarily a good ambassador for Judaism and eventually I had to tell him that I needed to slow down mentally to prepare for dinner that evening with not-so-frum Jews who are good friends in the city. I kept nice, fortunately and while we had exchanged first names there was no card, surname or email contacts mooted I’m pleased to say. He got out of the train at 34th Street, Herald Square. While he was trying, he was certainly enthusiastic. ‘Chaag sameach’ said I as he departed and the train proceeded to the upper west side.

Just off to Seder in 6 hours time (I wrote this piece a few days later and certainly not on Shabbat). My third family seder in the city over the years.



Apologies if any of this offends due to my half-goyish ignorance.
A page from my diary: A Month in New York. Blog: http://andrewbyrneinnewyork.blogspot.com/

Opera: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/



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Shylock, Shakespeare, and the Jews: Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice

“Shylock, Shakespeare, and the Jews: Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice”

Panel discussion Wed 13th April, 7pm Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Barry Edelstein, director, The Public Theater,
Professor James Shapiro of Columbia University,
Rabbi Steven Weil
Moderator: Patrick Healy, New York Times drama critic.

Dear reader,

This was a subject that has fascinated me since I was a teenager even though I am very much a Shakespeare novice. So, denying myself a Rachmaninoff concerto at Carnegie Hall, I attended this panel discussion on Anti-Semitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage at Battery Point.

Rather than spirited debate, all three experts and the moderator seemed to agree on most of the themes raised. More diverse parties might well have had heated discussion using lines drawn from the play. An all-Jewish expert panel left no gentile expert to take the can or “blame”, even play devil’s advocate. The Merchant of Venice was a play for the London middle classes and a case might be made that the more anti-Semitic it was, the more effective it might be to make its audience question its themes, whether from a Christian, Jewish or humanist perspective. But this aspect was left as either self-evident or else too difficult by the panel.

We were told that William Shakespeare would never receive the ‘righteous gentile of the year’ award (laughter!). However it was agreed by our speakers that Shakespeare should probably not be characterised as any more anti-Semitic than most his era. I once quizzed Australia’s great Shakespearean John Bell in an unguarded moment. He said that he felt that on balance the play was probably not anti-Semitic.

Literary historians cannot agree on just where the Bard came upon his quite detailed knowledge of Jews … not to mention Venice, Verona, Cyprus, etc. It is doubtful that he ever saw a Jewish community unless he ‘slipped across the channel’ to Antwerp, Amsterdam or other cities with visible Jewish communities. We were told that the 13th century expulsion of the Jews from England was not a simple date by which all Jews had to leave. Even before this things were being made more and more difficult for Jews using ruinous taxation, education limitations and living restrictions. Eventually most of the community had either emigrated or converted. Those who made their Jewish faith public would be formally deported as happened, we were told, to a well known civil engineer in the service of Queen Elizabeth I. We were told that despite his position, knowledge and connections he was forcibly exiled. Even prior to the expulsion of the Jews in the 13th century by Edward I, Magna Carta did not apply to them as they were considered direct subjects of the Crown.

Hence the only Jews Shakespeare could have known would have been ‘private’ or ‘at home’ Jews who like covert Catholics under Henry VIII, became pseudo-Christians outwardly to avoid punishment and/or deportation. I have read that Queen Elizabeth’s physician Rodrigo Lopez, an Iberian exile, may have been a model for Shylock. He was executed after accusations of an assassination plot. The very lack of a real Jewish community to observe in England at the time may well have heightened the scope for wild anti-Semitic stories such as the ‘blood libel’.

Shakespeare would have seen Marlowe’s play ‘The Jew of Malta’ written just a few years earlier c1590. Despite being very popular at the time, we were told that Barabas was little more than a cardboard cut-out persona compared to the complex character of Shylock. Readers who know the play or who have seen a summary as I did, may find this an unfair simplification. The experts agreed that Marlowe’s play had a substantial influence on the character of ‘Shylock’.

One panel member said that Shakespeare would certainly have been familiar with the New Testament story of replacing the covenant of circumcision with a comparable but symbolic “bris of the heart” during baptism (St Paul’s letter to the Romans was mentioned). The notion of a bloody cardiac ‘covenant’ for the ‘pound of flesh’ is almost too ‘clever’ to be true. Yet it just may have been the homicidal intention of Shylock on his gentile adversary as the Bard often had layers of meaning in his writings. We learned that in Yiddish, ‘flesh’ can also refer to ‘penis’. By Christian tradition St Paul tried to attract more converts by eliminating the need for circumcision in his ‘new’ religion. Paul was born ‘Saul’ and only changed names, like so many other binominal biblical characters … in his case on the ‘road to Damascus’.

My long time Jewish mentor once told me that Pauline intolerance was disguised as liberalism. She also said that Jesus would have kept kosher and followed Jewish practices. Paul dropped both the kosher dietary laws as well as circumcision in order to ‘market’ his new religion to other Jews as well as gentiles, simultaneously bad-mouthing establishment Jews as an exclusive clique. My friend described St Paul as an ‘extraordinary spin doctor’, like some modern day politicians. Whether Shylock considered teaching the Christians a lesson from these tales is a matter for interesting speculation.

The panel members then dealt with the origins of anti-Semitism using New Testament quotes such as Matthew 23. Some blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus while others blame the Romans (and Herod was only nominally Jewish according to some sources). A contrary deduction to my mind would be for Christians to laud, or at least respect those responsible since it was the death of Jesus which was by tradition supposed to ‘cleanse the sins of the world’.

Mention was made of the ‘outsider’, stranger or underdog being used in Shakespeare’s plays, usually as minor characters. However, top billing went to the moor in Otello and to Shylock who parallel each other to some extent. Each man was needed to perform difficult tasks at the time by established society, despite their outsider status. We were given a brief quote from Otello as he is dying, likening himself to a dog.

The panel members were discussing the context of anti-Semitism in past eras, pointing out that it was ubiquitous and just ‘normal’ until very recent times in most western countries. To demonstrate this point, Rabbi Weil read out a brief quote and asked the panel and audience to guess its author. “The Jews, I find, are very, very selfish. When they have power, physical, financial or political neither Hitler nor Stalin has anything on them for cruelty or mistreatment”. With a silent and startled audience we were informed that it was written by Harry Truman when he was President. This also caused some consternation amongst the audience. The quote was from a private diary found years after the President’s death and published in the Washington Post in 2003. A Google search shows that Rabbi actually read out an edited version. The full version, while also outrageous (see below*) has some more caveats and details so readers may judge for themselves if it is any less offensive than the above excerpt. Importantly, while it refers to Jews, it generalises to other minority groups, or ‘under-dogs’ who may have become ‘masters’ themselves and subsequently forgotten their past. While it would be less than acceptable today, it was a shame Rabbi did not analyse the President’s meaning in relation to post war events, rather than using his words as a 'shock-horror' tactic to underline a point, and one well known to everyone in the room I suspect.

Indeed, we were also reminded that it was some of Truman’s actions, against the advice of his State Department, that probably allowed the State of Israel to come into being. [A cynic might say that the Anti-Semite in him might have hoped that the creation of Israel would cause all the Jews to migrate there and solve the perceived “Jewish problem”.] On a more positive note, Truman had a life-long Jewish friend and business partner for whom he apparently had the greatest devotion and affection. The rather shocking quotation was used by the Rabbi to show that ‘as a society we have moved along’ from the days when just about everybody was openly anti-Semitic.

In a number of other instances in his other plays Shakespeare uses the term ‘Jew’ as a derogatory generic in what might be throw-away lines by the characters involved: ‘You think me a Jew?’ Just as the President’s anti-Semitic quote was dismissed without analysis as an ugly historical exhibit, I was disappointed that the panel also overlooked Shakespeare’s own written words. I had hoped for some examples from the play of anti-Semitism and some balancing sentiments … but it was not to be. There is other racism in the play although nothing to rival the anti-Semitism (eg. Portia on Morocco and other suitors). I was also disappointed that we did not get some wisdom on how it was that of the hundreds of human situations one could write about, this time Shakespeare chose aspects of Jewish life in Venice, then a place of the most ‘international’ status, perhaps like New York or Shanghai today.

Our speakers touched on dozens of different productions of ‘Merchant’. Apart from all the varied adaptations in English they included a version in Yiddish in New York, in Hebrew in Israel and in Italian in Italy. Of great interest was the use of Shakespeare by the Nazi regime in the 1930 in German. There were many productions of Merchant in both Germany and Austria in the 1930s and during the war. Mostly these were substantially edited to keep consistent with the prevailing pure Aryan dogma. The (inter)marriage of Jessica and Lorenzo was often omitted … and on occasions Jessica was cast as an adopted Aryan child. The Germans apparently even called him “our” Shakespeare (Aryan, Christian, etc), a principle which, taken to its extreme, could have shortened the war considerably. We were told about a widely screened propaganda film version of the play, also carefully edited, made under the watchful eyes of Josef Goebbels. One speaker expressed some views about the educational and historical value of such films - ‘however shocking they may be by their nature’. Some of the worst examples have apparently been lost to posterity.

Another odd description from one of our panellists who happened to see a production in Italy in Italian when the play simply stopped after a commotion-filled courtroom scene. One of the characters, a well-known Italian comedy actor, came down to the front of the stage and made some hilarious comments about the ‘comedy’ that was to ensue.

There were various American versions of the play from the 1960s up to one recent production in Central Park followed up at The Public Theater with Al Pacino. The famous Hollywood actor reputedly said: “My parents are from Sicily, therefore I am a Jew” (more laughter). Daniel Sullivan also directed one classic production which was mentioned. Barry Edelstein make a note of the fact that Mr Sullivan is not Jewish which ‘must have enabled him to read the lines from an unbiased perspective although as a humanist he must also have cringed like any Jew at every negative sentiment in the play’.

It was “let slip” that one such production may be reprised in Los Angeles later this year This information may be been an intentional commercial ‘Wiki-Shy-leak’! Moderator Mr Healy said that his education was Jesuit but he wondered about how a Jew felt about the play and its author on first hearing the words from its characters. While ‘startled’ and ‘upset’ initially were some emotions given, it was not said that probably the main view of Jews would be that Shakespeare was just like everybody else. It was vexing to have the panel agreeing on just about everything with few if any point of discord, despite the huge gaps in our knowledge about the era, playwright and his chosen subject.

We were told that apart from a handsome portrayal of Shylock, the unique addition for Pacino was when holding the knife to extract the ‘pound of flesh’ from Antonio’s chest he apparently displayed absolute terror (rather than anger). The reason, we were told, was that in that the stabbing Antonio would likely have then led to the death of Shylock himself as well. If his own actions caused his own death, and since suicide is contrary to Jewish law, this would also condemn him forever, along with his quarry. It seems that for most people the turning point in the play is the near-murder of Antonio (the Merchant) when the play returns to being an involving comedy.

Almost as interesting as the panel discussion was my solitary walk northwards after the talk, passing Thames Street and Liberty Street towards the World Trade Center site. The coastal blocks from Battery Park contain dozens of new buildings on reclaimed land near the mighty Hudson River. By mid-evening the tallest were shrouded in cloud which made the tranquil early Spring night eerie indeed. Across the water the New Jersey coastline could clearly be seen including a huge bright red fluorescent clock face showing the current time. At Ground Zero, despite two new buildings are going up rapidly in opposite corners, there remains an enormous chasm amidst the dense surrounding development. The so-called (but now to be re-named) “Freedom Tower” has reached 62 floors, about half its final height. Another building on the south-east side looks to be up to about twenty floors. I understand that there are some monumental areas with pools of water as well as some open space and visitors’ center with a dedication to those who lost their lives as a result of the attacks. Another unique day for a traveller in the Big Apple.

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

* Full quote from Harry Truman’s private diaries: "The Jews, I find, are very, very selfish. They care not how many Estonians, Latvians, Finns, Poles, Yugoslavs or Greeks get murdered or mistreated as D[isplaced] P[ersons] as long as the Jews get special treatment. Yet when they have power, physical, financial or political neither Hitler nor Stalin has anything on them for cruelty or mistreatment to the under dog. Put an underdog on top and it makes no difference whether his name is Russian, Jewish, Negro, Management, Labor, Mormon, Baptist he goes haywire. I've found very, very few who remember their past condition when prosperity comes."

Central Synagogue concert at Bondi Junction.

‘Symphony for the Soul’ - Central Synagogue. Wed 20th October 2010

Once again this year we were privileged to have a full symphony orchestra with four cantors at Central Synagogue in Bondi, NSW, Australia for an evening of (mostly) Jewish music. The star of the night was the extraordinary Yitzchak Meir Helfgot from Park East Synagogue on East 67th Street in Manhattan. No less renowned is chief house cantor Shimon Farkas with son Dov Farkas and chazzan sheini Yehuda Niasoff making a quartet of rare quality.

For the first time on the concert stage was the recently formed Central Synagogue boys choir of seven members. Through the marvels of audio and video technology we were also joined by the great Moshe Koussevitsky who had one of the most extraordinary voices of all time, although he died in the 1960s. His voice recordings and video clips of his singing were cleverly joined and then spliced almost imperceptibly with Chazzan Helfgot’s singing in some of the most challenging pieces in chazzanut. We also heard a reconstructed recording of the great Ch. Rosenblatt with images from the early days of the 20th century.

The vocal program began with all four cantors doing Eshet chayil with great aplomb. Maestro Sobol had pre-recorded some introductory lectures on cantorial singing with some anecdotes and superlatives concerning 20th century schools in Europe and America, old recordings, Caruso and New York. Yehuda Niasoff sang Zol shoyn kumen to a handsome ovation while the first half finished with a Carlebach compilation from all chazzanim.

The second half was introduced by shule president Paul Keen, including an infomercial for the synagogue and appropriate acknowledgements. We heard no less than three pieces by the highly successful pop singer, dancer, performer and song-writer Ilan Kidron, voice behind the “Potbelleez” group. With a colleague on double bass he sang with almost swallowed microphone a modern song about the language of love. This was followed by ‘Je ne regrette rien’ by Dumont (in excellent French). After another cantorial pearl from Ch Helfgot (Achai giborei hathila), Mr Kidron sang his own Hebrew piece which was also well received.

Following the beautiful and demanding Habet mishamayim there was rapturous applause for Ch Helfgott who scratched his head and returned directly to the microphone as the orchestra proclaimed the introduction to 'Nessun dorma' which he sang with vast Pavrottian effusion. It was just a shame that the boys choir could not join in the ‘none shall sleep’ choral sections, but we can’t have everything.

The much anticipated (at least by me!) 'Granada' was wiped from the official program for some reason. This was most disappointing, partly because it is a wonderful rousing piece which Shimon Farkas would have sung beautifully. But in addition, the Spanish city of Granada represents one of the ancient seats of Jewish learning from the time of RAMBAM until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. ‘Granada’ was replaced by a full-choir version of ‘Adon olam’ which really got the crowds clapping and singing along. I think they suddenly thought it was lunch time Saturday instead of a midweek evening. Even the elderly Russian lady sitting beside me knew the words (at least the rondo ending in 'sh’mo nikra').

This event, which after three years, seems like an annual fixture, is a colossal undertaking for a shule with no school, no yeshiva, no conservatory, no hospital or nursing home. However the kehillah is one of the best endowed in the country as well as possessing one of the largest and most comfortable synagogues in the world. The concert was well attended with only a sprinkling of empty seats I noted at the very rear sections. The full 2000 seats could not be used as much of the lower level was taken up with the stage, sound equipment, special effects lighting, smoke machines and stairways, etc.

We were told that any profits from the concert would go into added security for the community. The notion of ‘fortress Israel’ was also emphasised as the video accompaniment to one of the second half arias was the IDF in every conceivable field of active combat. These included blowing up targets, paratroopers en masse, missile launching and armed personnel carriers going through snow and desert sands. It was as far from the psalms of King David as one could imagine. A community member I questioned afterwards said that he thought it was ‘a bit out of place’. However, the very fact that it happened is a demonstration of the unity Jews have towards the State of Israel, despite the obvious and continuing problems of settlements, Gaza ghetto, occupation, etcetera.

As well as a cultural high-point, these concerts are a ‘thank-you’ for kehillah donors, some of whom were singled out for their generosity. This week marked the 80th birthday of Frank Lowy who was sitting with his party in the front row upstairs. Others who were specifically thanked included Harry Triguboff and his wife along with numerous sponsors of the night, personal and corporate.

If I had any comment on the content as a gentile outsider it would be that there could have been a Broadway piece, another operatic pearl as well as perhaps a comedy number. We were serenaded with “Mamele” and “My zaide” but no Hollywood song. The excellent and responsive symphony orchestra had no great classic piece to show off their art. I would have chosen a Rossini overture, perhaps the Turk in Italy … or Leonard Bernstein’s miraculous Candide overture would have been equally acceptable.

The audience might also have appreciated a break from the three high-voiced tenors, perhaps by a baritone or bass.

Comments by Andrew Byrne .. (mystery goy in shule).

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.

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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 ..