Page 29 - Jewish News_January 2020
P. 29

JEWISH INTEREST                                                                          January 2020                                    29A


     The hora and                                                                   S

     Israeli folk dance                                                                   ARASOTA CONCERT


     By Arlene Stolnitz                                                                                    A    SSOCIATION

              ho can resist joining a hora    In the 1950s, the folk singing group
              at a traditional Jewish wed-  The Weavers, and later Pete Seeger, re-                        years of musical greatness!
     Wding?  In my  case,  when I         corded the song and, for the first time,                  75
     hear those first notes, the music speaks   Americans were introduced to a sense
     to my soul. It’s as if I am being called   of what Israel was about: “A land brim-  Experience our 2020
                       to the dance floor   ming with tanned and muscular kib-
                       by some myste-     butznik soldiers singing, dancing the    Great Performers Series
                       rious and enig-    hora and making the desert bloom.” It
                       matic  sound that   was an idealistic view of Israel which      Behzod Abduraimov,
                       draws me in!       ignored  the  malaria-infested  swamps                                piano
                           Typically      and tent settlements that housed Miz-
                       set  to a  kind  of   rahi  Jews.  It  glorified  the  men  and          Jan 15 | Van Wezel
                       klezmer-style      women who “fight and plant and love.”            Orpheus Chamber
                       music,  the cus-       And its upbeat rhythm provided
                       tom of lifting the   the perfect backdrop for the emergence                       Orchestra
        Arlene Stolnitz  newly  married   of Israeli folk dance in the ’40s.                    Jan 29 | Van Wezel
     couple on chairs is exhilarating as well   “Hava Nagila,” no less popular as
     as often scary! At Orthodox weddings,   a hora tune, has a less defined past. It     Chicago Symphony
     men  and  women  dance  separately,   is thought to have originated in Eastern
     whereas in Conservative, Reform and   Europe as a niggun, or mystical musi-                         Orchestra
     Liberal movements there is no separa-  cal Hasidic prayer, in the mid-18  or      Riccardo Muti, conductor                                       Riccardo Muti • CSO Zell Music Director
                                                                         th
     tion.                                19  centuries. Years later it emerged in
                                             th
        The  hora, well known in many     Palestine and was transcribed by famed                Feb 12 | Van Wezel
     Eastern  European  cultures,  each  in   musicologist  Abraham Zvi Idelsohn,                   The Knights*
     different  forms,  and  known  through-  who added  the  Hebrew text  we sing
     out  the  Jewish  Diaspora,  became  the   today.                                           Gil Shaham, violin
     symbol  of the  rebirth  of the  State  of   Hava  nagila,  hava  nagila/  Hava       Feb 25 | Riverview PAC
     Israel and the foundation of Israeli folk   nagila  ve-nismeha/  Hava  neranena,             *Represented by Opus 3 Artists
     dance. Performed in a circle with par-  Hava  neranana/  Hava  neranena  ven-
     ticipants interlocking hands, the dance   ismeha                                          Pacifica Quartet
     is  set  to  Israeli  music  and  was  often   Let  us rejoice,  let  us rejoice  and      Orion Weiss, piano
     performed in kibbutzim, often continu-  be glad, let us sing, let us sing and be
     ing for hours.                       glad.                                             March 12 | Van Wezel
        “Tzena, Tzena”  and  “Hava  Nagi-     “Hava Nagila” has been called “the
     la” are the tunes we hear most often at   Jewish party song that belongs to the   Musicians from Marlboro
     celebrations today. Yet there are many   world.” Recorded by Harry Belafonte,       March 30 | Riverview PAC
     other hora songs made popular by the   Chubby Checker and many others, the
     Israeli Folk Dance Movement. A few   song emphasizes  joy  and  community
     well-known dance songs include  “Si-  with its enticing beat. It’s hard to imag-                  Tickets sold exclusively via SCA box office
     man Tov,” “Chiribim, Chiribom” and   ine a Jewish wedding without it.
     “Yismehu  Hashamayim.”  Other  less-     Personally, I look forward to my         SARASOTA        941.225.6500
                                                                                        CONCERT
     known but equally joyous songs  are   next wedding invitation, and especially    ASSOCIATION
     “Tarras Freilach” and “Naphtaly’s    seeing the bride and groom precarious-                       www.scasarasota.org
     Freilach.”                           ly hoisted up on chairs as part of the
        But  “Tzena,  Tzena”  and  “Hava   dance! Hopefully, it won’t be too long
     Nagila”  are  the  most  familiar  to  us.   for that invite. I can hear the strains of
 Voices of the   “Tzena, Tzena” was written in 1941 by   the hora being played and can’t wait to
                                          get up and dance the hora while I am
     Issachar Miron, a Polish emigrant who
   HOLOCAUST  Jewish Brigade of the British Forces.  Arlene Stolnitz, founder of the Sara-                                      Valentine’s Day
     wrote the song while  serving in the
                                          still able.
                                                                                                                                     Celebrate
        Tzena, tzena, tzena, tzena ha-banot
                                          sota  Jewish  Chorale,  is  a  member of
     u-r’ena ħayalim ba-mosheva/
                                          the Jewish Congregation of Venice. A
                                                                                                                                     with the
        Al na, Al na, Al na, Al na, al na
 Holocaust, Genocide    titħab’ena /Mi-ben ħayil, ish tzava.  retired educator from Rochester, New                             Pops Orchestra
                                          York,  she  has sung in  choral  groups
        Go out, go out, go out girls and
 and Tolerance Education  Inspiring Speakers:  see the soldiers in the moshav (farming   for over  25 years and also sings in
                                          The Venice  Chorale.  Her interest  in
 GEORGE ERDSTEIN  community)              the preservation of Jewish music of all
        Do not, do not,do not hide yourself   kinds has led to this series of articles
 RIFKA GLATZ
     away from a virtuous man (a pun on   on Jewish Folk Music in the Diaspora.
 HELGA MELMED  the word for soldier), an army man.                                                                        Featuring tribute artist
 DAVID MILBERG                                                                                                                  Carla Del Vilaggio

 GINETTE HERSH



 1,912 Sarasota-Manatee
 students learned about
 the Holocaust from

 survivors last year  #NEVERFORGET

                                                                                                                                        Performances are in
 Listening to your heart-wrenching story, I started                                                                                   Bradenton at the Neel
 to tear up. Your story of survival moved me and                                                                                     Performing Arts Center
                                                                                                                                        and Sarasota at the
 I will remember you for the rest of my life.                                                                                          Riverview Performing
                                                                                                                                              Arts Center
                                                                                          “ ...The Next Best                  Saturday, February 8
 –North Port high School StudeNt
                                                                                          Thing to Seeing
 History is not just about events,                                                       Streisand Herself.”                        3:00 pm - Neel PAC
                                                                                                                                Sunday, February 9
 it is about human lives.                                                                     -New York Post                   3:00 pm – Riverview PAC

 Learn what “Never Forget” means, before it is too late.                                                                      Monday, February 10
 Invite a Holocaust survivor to your school, synagogue or library.                                                                  7:30 pm – Neel PAC

 To book a speaker contact Anne Stein
                 PLEASE SUPPORT                                                             ops                  www.thepopsorchestra.org
 Holocaust Speakers Bureau Coordinator • luvhula@gmail.com                                 The                Get your tickets today!

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