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You are here: Home / Music / As We Enter Yom Kippur, A Musical Introduction

As We Enter Yom Kippur, A Musical Introduction

by Tom Levenson|  September 15, 20216:20 pm| 30 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads, Readership Capture

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Hello to all of us who will be atoning, and hoping that we find mercy, not justice through that process. (Boy, do I need all the kindness I can get, and I suspect I’m not alone.) And a big hiya! to everyone just going about their daily business. We’ll raise a glass to you tomorrow evening (after three stars have come out)

As most (all?) may know, Yom Kippur begins with the Kol Nidre chant: a ritual statement in Aramaic dating back at least to the early Middle Ages, sixth century or a little later. It formally annuls all vows or oaths to God taken in the prior year. Its inclusion at the start of a day dedicated to the atonement for all our misdeeds, whether known to us or not, has a complicated and not fully known origin, and was the subject of some controversy (surprise! Jews argue over stuff!) from very early days.

But it is a powerful ritual: the cantor chants it three times as two members of the congregation hold Torah scrolls on either side of the singer–thus turning the synagogue into a formal court. And it demarcates the day and its thoughts to come from the secular time that congregants are leaving behind for a piece. Here’s the Wikipedia entry if you want a bit more.

It has a melody that is absolutely recognizable to those who’ve spent any Yom Kippurs in Ashkenazi synagogues, and that melody has been turned into a score that can be played with great power. And that’s the reason for this post: here’s Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of it from last night, performed in honor of a recent Harvard undergraduate cellist who also served as the Harvard Hillel student president:

 

 
 

If I have offended anyone here, whether explicitly or by implication, consciously or by accident, I ask your forgiveness.

May everyone who observes have an easy fast.

 

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Reader Interactions

30Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    September 15, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    If I have offended anyone here, whether explicitly or by implication, consciously or by accident, I ask your forgiveness

    Immediately before Yom Kippur seems like the best time to commit a bunch of wrongs.

  2. 2.

    Tom Levenson

    September 15, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    You may not be alone in that theory.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    September 15, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    @Baud: Offenses, like cellphone minutes, carry over to the next billing period.

  4. 4.

    Roger Moore

    September 15, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @Baud: 
    Cheap absolution is a plague. It’s worst among the Christianists who think they’ve been pre-absolved of everything by Jesus, but I’m sure there are others out there who feel more or less the same way.

  5. 5.

    Quiltingfool

    September 15, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    I did not know the meaning of Yom Kippur until I worked for a Jewish attorney in Kansas City. He was a brilliant attorney and I admired him very much. He closed the office on the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We were very busy around Yom Kippur, and I offered to come in and work. He was very much taken aback, and told me that it simply wasn’t right for me to work in his office on that day. He did explain a little about the day, and I remember thinking that it was a day everyone should have.

    He respected other religions. One Friday I came to the office and told him there was an guy dressed as an Easter Bunny in the elevator. He got this horrified look on his face, apologized for not giving me Good Friday off, and sent me home. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had never had that day off, at other jobs or school…seems he had a greater respect for Christian religious days than the Christians I had worked for. He was an exemplary human being.

  6. 6.

    Tom Levenson

    September 15, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    @Roger Moore: Between the saddle and the ground,

    He mercy sought, he mercy found.

  7. 7.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 15, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    An easy fast to all who observe.

    And some advice from a Jewish friend from law school: I find that fasting is much easier if I snack throughout the day.*

    *I take no responsibility for the religious validity of this advice. Caveat lector.

  8. 8.

    Comrade Colette

    September 15, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    @Baud:

    Busbecq tells of the old gentleman in Constantinople who shouts before drinking wine to warn his soul to hide itself or leave his body, lest it become impure by the crime committed.

    I will once again be “attending” services online, and will no doubt once again find that a fast borne alone is much more burdensome than one shared with everyone around me.

    An easy fast to those who observe.

  9. 9.

    Ohio Mom

    September 15, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    @Roger Moore: Theoretically, God can only forgive you for offenses against him/her; you can only be forgiven for offenses against another individual by that specific individual. Thus Tom’s plea for forgiveness from anyone/everyone here.

    I can’t provide you Tom with forgiveness, I haven’t been offended, insulted, upset, etc., by you. I’ll wish you being inscribed in the book of life.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    September 15, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    @Comrade Colette:

    My soul ran away a long time ago.

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    September 15, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    Topically relevant part of the breakthrough (partial) talkie The Jazz Singer.

  12. 12.

    Bill Arnold

    September 15, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    So many sins…
    Off shortly to services.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    September 15, 2021 at 7:13 pm

    Tom, did you see Ma in person or was this taken by somebody you know? Either way, wonderful!

    Now then, PG&E would like you to atone for any thoughts you may have harbored that it was they who are responsible for the Dixie Fire and burning down your family’s property. Guess that could fall under any of the three categories.

  14. 14.

    Steve in the ATL

    September 15, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    @Quiltingfool:

     

    He was an exemplary human being.

    But also an attorney? Much confusion.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    September 15, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Theoretically, God can only forgive you for offenses against him/her; you can only be forgiven for offenses against another individual by that specific individual.

    I don’t think the kind of people who think they’ve guaranteed to be forgiven for everything make that kind of distinction, or if they do they aren’t too worried about the people they’ve offended because those people’s offense isn’t going to keep them out of heaven.

  16. 16.

    Steve in the ATL

    September 15, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    The Indian family behind me is preparing for some sort of event.  I assume it’s not yom kippur.  Which other calendars do we track here?

  17. 17.

    Lyrebird

    September 15, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    @Ohio Mom: ​
     

    Nicely put.

    Tom L, thank you so much for this. We could have gotten guest tickets from the family that doesn’t think kids need masks, and I chose to stay home one more year.

    LOVE Yo Yo Ma, too.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    September 15, 2021 at 7:45 pm

    Well, that shot me back to childhood High Holy Days. Especially that last, long, low note.

  19. 19.

    Barry

    September 15, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    Thank you, Tom!

  20. 20.

    prostratedragon

    September 15, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    Was looking for a radio program I heard recently, “Musical Memories of the High Holidays with Itzhak Perlman,” and found an entire page from PRX of programs of special music and philosophical discussion on the High Holy Days.

    An easy fast to all observants

  21. 21.

    PST

    September 15, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    I’m not a citizen of the Jewish community—not even a naturalized one. I’m more of a green card holder. On a couple of occasions, I’ve said to my wife and mother-in-law as they headed off to the Kol Nidre service, “Shall I join you?” They looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Why would you want to do that?” But this year, Mom has decided, at age 97, that from now on the Temple can come to her, so it’s the first time for me, thanks to streaming. G’mar chatima tova.

  22. 22.

    Quiltingfool

    September 15, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: I know, right?  But he really was a good, decent man.  I was his secretary, and I got the job partly because I knew shorthand and partly because I showed some interest in anti-trust litigation (his specialty).  He did not use a recorder – I wrote everything in shorthand – correspondence, legal briefs, etc.  I didn’t know diddly about “the law,” but as I typed the briefs, well, he convinced me (had I been the judge!).  I also kept the books; on my first day he handed me a big blue ledger for billing and expenses and informed me that there would be no cheating on taxes.  At the end of the day on December 31, I knew where every dime was spent and every dime that came in the office.

    I had learned about the Holocaust in school, but I never knew anyone who had been in the camps (didn’t know any Jewish people growing up).    We had a really nice client (owned a jewelry business) who was in our office one day working with my boss.  He came out of the office to hand me some documents; his sleeves were rolled up, and as he gave me the documents I saw the numbers on the inside of his arm.  I felt such sadness at what he had endured and loss he experienced,  but was glad he was with us.

  23. 23.

    Nelle

    September 15, 2021 at 9:06 pm

    Thank you for this, Tom.

  24. 24.

    Lyrebird

    September 15, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    @prostratedragon: THANKS for that link, awesome!!

  25. 25.

    Persistent Illusion

    September 15, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Lovely thought and wish.

  26. 26.

    Persistent Illusion

    September 15, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I grew up in a neighborhood in Omaha, where I was one of 2 gentile children.  Nearly all my classmates had parents with numbers on their arms.  I never learned what caused a group of mostly Polish survivors to choose Omaha.

  27. 27.

    Alison Rose

    September 15, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    I’m not medically able to fast, but I observe the day in other ways. I’m also glad that most of the goyim have finally seem to catch on that you do not wish someone a “Happy Yom Kippur.” Instead, they can send us this.

  28. 28.

    Another Scott

    September 16, 2021 at 12:13 am

    @Alison Rose:  [ snort! ]

    This has been a great thread. Thanks Tom and everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  29. 29.

    Richard

    September 16, 2021 at 12:26 am

    Thank you. I do not observe this fast. I have respect. It would be false for me to observe Yom Kippur. Thank you for sharing this day with us.
    I am a Gentile and i choose to not participate in any of the Judaism, Christianity or Islam religions.
    I respect your beliefs.

  30. 30.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    September 16, 2021 at 2:44 am

    Thank you Tom.  I love the cello and Yo-Yo Ma, and thank you for the music which was new to me.  I have a very good Jewish friend, but her family was not observant while we were growing up, so I never learned anything then about the Day of Atonement.

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