[HANASHIR:9906] Closing Anthems

[Cantor Brad Hyman <cantorb...>]

Hey everyone:
    
    Guess what I sang tonight?
    Our congregation puts away all of the siddurim and chumashim for the
week of the High Holy Days. This is a source of frustration, especially when
I want them to follow along during the Torah reading. Tonight, we passed out
the slim, gray Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and I was busily thumbing through
the thing for inspiration for an anthem.
    As most of you know from working with this prayer book, the musical
selections are very limited. I came to the back and found my song, screaming
at me. I re-read the lyrics to make sure I wasn't just grasping, but sure
enough... The darn thing fits. Ma'oz Tzur is not just for Channukah (the
holiday) anymore. Rather, channukah (the act) can be a very powerful lesson.
"Rededication" to a cause, a country, our faith can be amazingly rewarding,
and most certainly comforting. The "traditional" German battle anthem that
we all sing works quite well during these troubled times, and as The Ari
knew so many centuries ago... It's not the melody, but rather what you do
with it that is effective. I find myself singing Ma'oz Tzur a lot like Marc
Cohen on that Peter Himmelman "Festival of Lights" CD from a few years back.
Put a spin in the old standard, and a little iyun (drash) before singing it,
and you may have yourselves a very powerful tool.
    The miracle of Channukah was not limited to the oil myth. We must also
teach our children that the real miracle is in our survival in spite of
great forces that would swallow us whole. This message is the one I'm
clinging to tonight and every night since the 11th.

God Bless you all,

Cantor Brad Hyman
Temple Sinai of Glendale

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