[HANASHIR:5271] Re: Haftara Kadma

[Ruth Levenstein <RuthEllen...>]

> I have also encountered tutors who don't even realize that
> Kadma exists, singing all of them like Pashta, in both Torah and
> Haftara. The other common mistake is the mercha-tevir combination, where
> the mercha is sung as if it were mercha-tipcha.
> Cantor Judi Rowland

The person who originally taught me trope did both of these things.  I 
learned to do both of these 'correctly' after I decided to teach a trope
class and bought to Chadish materials for myself.  But there were a couple
things in the Chadish materials that I 'simplified' for myself.

I think we have to be very clear that anyone who teaches trope in a Jewish 
setting is perpetuating Jewish tradition and not destroying it no matter how
they teach it or what simplifications they may have adopted or learned 
themselves.  The Trope tunes are not equivalent to the sacred scripture where 
no letter can be changed. The trope tunes are more like a language.  All 
languages change through time.  Simplification is one of the processes 
that takes place in the evolution of a language.  Any one who knows some modern
and biblical Hebrew knows this - or anyone who has studied old English which is 
way more complicated than what we speak today.  

The key to preserving the Jewish tradition of Cantillation is not to have one
single standard which is never to be modified.  The key is to get more people 
to make chanting torah a regular part of their spiritual life.  To do that you
have to let a person develop their own style of chanting including 
simplifications
that they may make in order to 'wrap their brain' around the thing as well as
their own personal quirks.

The person who taught me to chant chanted his rivii as a very deliberate zarka 
- 
something I have never heard from another source independent of him.  I think we
have to be careful of the language we use when talking about these things.  
Let's
not tell people who are chanting on a regular basis and teaching what they know 
to others that they are incorrect.  Let's allow for the natural variation that 
is
part of the art and tradition of Torah Cantillation.

Ruth
-- 
Ruth Levenstein                      øúñàå äùî úá úéìéì úåø
RuthEllen (at) ibm(dot)net
                        - Don't believe everything you think!

http://geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7801/


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