A Cantor's Tale
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A Cantor's Tale
''A Cantor's Tale'' is a 2005 documentary by Erik Greenberg Anjou. The film profiles Jacob Mendelson, a Hazzan, practitioner of Jewish liturgical music (a cantor) who has dedicated his life to preserving the form's traditional vocal stylings. Plot Anjou follows Mendelson around Borough Park, Brooklyn, Borough Park, his old neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn. Mendelson, who carries a tuning fork with him at all times, is prone to burst into song. During their journey through Borough Park, Anjou finds that the neighborhood has a fair number of bakers with vocal talents as good as their knishes. Mendelson also recalls when cantors were as popular as baseball players. "They had groupies," he tells Anjou, a strong incentive for a chubby teenager in high school. Mendelson's mother, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was almost obsessed that her son become a cantor. The film reveals an interesting link to celebrity on the part of Mendelson's father: the older Mend ...
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Knish
A knish is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish snack food consisting of a filling covered with dough that is typically baked or sometimes deep fried. Knishes are often purchased from street vendors in urban areas with a large Jewish population, sometimes at a hot dog stand, or from a butcher shop. They are still strongly associated with New York City cuisine, possibly because of the iconic Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery restaurant, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, traditionally a Jewish neighbourhood. Knishes were popularized in North America by Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from the Pale of Settlement (mainly from present-day Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, and eastern Poland). In most traditional versions, the filling is made entirely of mashed potato, kasha (buckwheat groats), or cheese. Other varieties of fillings include beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, black beans, or spinach. Knishes may be round, rectangular, or square. They may be entirely covered in dough or some of ...
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2005 Films
2005 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, notable deaths and film debuts. Evaluation of the year Renowned American film critic and professor Emanuel Levy stated on his website, "Despite films like “Crash,” which deals with racism in contemporary America, and geopolitical exposes like ''Syriana'' and ''Munich'', the 2005 movie year may go down in film history as the year of sexual diversity." He went on to emphasize, "It's hard to recall a year in which sex, sexuality, and gender have featured so prominently in American films, both mainstream Hollywood and independent cinema. I am deliberately using the concepts of sexual diversity and sexual orientation, rather than gay-themed movies, because the rather new phenomenon goes beyond homosexuality or lesbianism. For decades, American culture has been both puritanical and hypocritical as far as sexual matters are con ...
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Cantors Assembly
Cantors Assembly (CA) is the international association of hazzanim (cantors) affiliated with Conservative Judaism. Cantors Assembly was founded in 1947 to develop the profession of the hazzan, to foster the fellowship and welfare of hazzanim, and to establish a conservatory for hazzanim. The latter goal was realized in 1952 with the establishment of the Cantors Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. This Institute later developed into the H. L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Cantors Assembly first allowed women to join in 1990; women have been ordained as hazzanim in Conservative Judaism since 1987. In 2013, Nancy Abramson became the first female president of Cantors Assembly. In 2017, Alisa Pomerantz-Boro became the second female president of Cantors Assembly. Cantors Assembly is the largest body of hazzanim in the world. Cantors Assembly's mission statement says that it serves its members and congregations while ...
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Moshe Koussevitzky
Moshe Koussevitzky ( he, משה קוסביצקי, pl, Mosze Kusewicki; June 9, 1899 in Smarhoń, Russian Empire – August 23, 1966 in New York City) was a cantor and vocalist. A relative of noted conductor Sergei Koussevitzky, he made many recordings in Poland and the United States. Pasternak, Velvel. ''The Jewish music companion'', Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003, , p. 69. Moshe Koussevitzky was a lyric tenor with a spectacular and perhaps unparalleled upper register among cantors. Koussevitzky is regarded as among the greatest cantors of the 20th century. Some would place him first among peers, though that distinction is more often given to Yossele Rosenblatt or Gershon Sirota, both of whom were a generation older than Koussevitzky. Koussevitzky was born in Smarhoń, now located in Belarus, on June 9, 1899; his father, Avigdor, was a music teacher and his mother, Alta, a pianist. He moved to Vilna in 1920, and served there as cantor at the Sawel Synagogue, and, starting in 192 ...
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Congregation Shaar Hashomayim
Congregation Shaar Hashomayim () is an Ashkenazi synagogue in Westmount, Quebec. Incorporated in 1846, it is the oldest traditional Ashkenazi synagogue in Canada and the largest traditional synagogue in Canada. History Former building of Shaar Hashomayim on McGill College Avenue Congregation Shaar Hashomayim was founded by a group of English, German and Polish Jews, who had previously attended the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. The Congregation originally rented space on Saint James Street (now rue Saint-Jacques). The first synagogue was built on Saint Constant Street (now rue de Bullion) in the Mile End in 1859. A new synagogue was built on McGill College Avenue between 1885 and 1886 at a cost of $40,000. In 1920, the Congregation purchased land on Kensington Avenue in Westmount. The cornerstone was laid by president Lyon Cohen in 1921, and the synagogue was dedicated on September 17, 1922. Herman Abramowitz served as rabbi from 1902 to 1947, and Wilfred Shuchat as ...
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Jewish Theological Seminary Of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world. In addition to a number of research and training institutes, JTS operates five schools: *Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (affiliated with Columbia University; offers joint/double bachelor's degree programs with both Columbia and Barnard College) * Gershon Kekst Graduate School * William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education * H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music * The Rabbinical School History Possible antecedents: Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801–1875) was a leading figure in mid-19th Century German Jewry. Known both for his traditionalist views and ...
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Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute Of Religion
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved throughout history as the main liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. Hebrew is the only Canaanite language still spoken today, and serves as the only truly successful example of a dead language that has been revived. It is also one of only two Northwest Semitic languages still in use, with the other being Aramaic. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as '' Lashon Hakodesh'' (, ) since an ...
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Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elite drama, music, and dance schools in the world. History Early years: 1905-1946 In 1905, the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard's predecessor institution, was founded by Frank Damrosch, the godson of Franz Liszt and head of music education for New York City's public schools, on the premise that the United States did not have a premier music school and too many students were going to Europe to study music. In 1919, a wealthy textile merchant named Augustus Juilliard died and left the school in his will the largest single bequest for the advancement of music at that time. In 1968, the school's name was changed from the Juilliard School of Music to The Juilliard School to reflect its broadened mission to educate musicians, directors, ...
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Yaakov Ben Zion Mendelson
Yaakov Ben Zion Mendelsohn ( he, יעקב בן ציון הכהן מענדעלסאן) (October 12–14, 1875 – August 5, 1941)The AJC Year Book gives a birth date of 12 October 1875. Mendelson's autobiography states that he was born on the first day of Sukoth 5736, which corresponds to 14 October 1875 (or late evening of 13 October). was a renowned Russian-born Orthodox Jewish scholar, communal rabbi, Talmudist, Halachist, and rabbinical author (''mechaber seforim)''. Early life Mendelson was born Yaakov Ben Zion Morein in 1875, in Kreitzburg, part of the Vitebsk district of what was then Russia, to his parents Menachem (Yiddish: Mendel) and Beila Rochel Morein. (The town later changed to Latvian hands, and the German name became Latvian ''Krustpils.'' In 1962, it was also united with the town of Jēkabpils, across the Daugava River.from it, and are now known together as Jēkabpils). His rigorous Talmudic education started at age 7, and culminated with ''semicha'' ordination f ...
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