My in-flight music

I was flying back to Europe from NYC alone the other day. Unexpectedly I didn't have anyone sitting next to me, so as I didn't have to politely chat with anyone, I had time to listen to some of the new CD's I purchased in the States. I had a great shopping experience at Deseret Book (LDS bookstore), at one of the Jewish Bookstores and the Good News  music store in Cali and at the small Catholic shop in NYC. Can you guess where I purchased the CD with the song below? (Answer and more about the song and why I listened to it 4 hours straight on my flight can be found after the cut.)

So... the answer below....

So the above song is from chazzan (cantor) Shimon Craimer's new album "Nashir Beyachad". The above song is sung by two people. Yes. That lovely gospel choir is Shim Craimer and another singer. If you remember my post Oseh Shalom, he was one of the soloists in that video, too. And yes, it was him in both videos in the If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem post, too. But that is besides the point.

I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. It really isn't your typical Jewish song. First of all, it's in English. Shocking, I know. Second of all, it has a distinct gospel sound. Third of all, G-d is called G-d, not HaShem, Elokim or any other Orthodox Jewish replacements. Craimer, of course, is known to have actually said Adonai in song when singing with the Vienna Boy Choir.

I love this song, because so many of us can identify with it. Jews, Christians alike. Actually I put the CD on last night at my brother's house, with a few people there whom I hadn't seen for the last year or so. One of them was very surprised that I was listening to Christian music... :)

Papers! And Paper Dreams (nostalgia rocks my socks or: going off in tangents)

All the paperwork we needed to do in California is now DONE! Wonderful people went the extra mile to make sure that we don't get stranded here indefinitely. With all that done, we are heading out to New Jersey early Wednesday. Thursday we are attending Auntie Jordan's wedding (she is Janice's sister), and I'm super excited about the music of the event. It will be someone whose voice I adore, who will be singing for the party! Yay!

The boys are back to Budapest after camp. They had a great time, but they are now ready to be home. I'll pick them up on Monday, when we fly over to Ireland, and then we meet Kevin and the other three kids in London on next Thursday... and then we will be home with about two weeks left of our summer to enjoy together and start being a family of 10. As nice as the house here is, it's not home, and it's not where we will really start our family life. The boys are really excited about meeting their new siblings, and Noa can't wait to meet her brothers in 3D for the first time! They love talking on Skype! I have no clue how they understand each other, but they do!

I just bought two books I loved reading to the older twins and Craig but are kinda worn. One is Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince", a sad but absolutely lovely story, beautifully written. The other one is Max Lucado's "Just the Way You Are".  I am particularly fond of Oscar Wilde - my only non-musical acting credit was in a community production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" as Jack Worthing. Now that was fun. 

I also had a chance to sing two great roles in high school. One was in Jesus Christ Superstar and my only regret is that I never had the right voice for Judas, which happens to be a great role. I think the role I got to sing was a lot les sinteresting, especially when you are 17 and trying to find out what motivates people.

The other one was in a local stake production of Saturday's Warrior. I got to play two different roles in that, and I still have the sheet music somewhere. This one song embedded below was one that I sang during the first year (I played Tod that year)  and really, I love this song still.I love the part when it lists the things Tod wants to be ("...who's tall and straigh/best of all he's free..."). I love it, because... because I came to the point in my life when I'm not only tall, but best of all, I'm free.

Ana B'Koach

We beg thee with the strength and greatness of thy right arm.
Accept your people's song, elevate and purify us
Please, heroic one, those who pursue your uniqueness-
guard them as the pupil of an eye.
Bless them, purify them, pity them,
may your righteousness always reward them.
Powerful and Holy One, in goodness lead your flock.
Unique and proud one, to your people turn,
who remember your holiness.
Accept our cries, and hear our screams,
oh knower of mysteries.
(Blessed is the name of his noble kingdom
forever and ever.)

Shabbat Shalom!

What am I listening to today? On repeat? Since 9 a.m.? Constantly?





Soon the Shabbat comes in. It will by first Shabbat with Noa, Ezra and Shiri. And... most likely it will be their first Shabbat.

Lecha Dodi is the song we welcome Shabbat the Queen with. This version is by the acapella group Six13. 

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
  let my right hand forget its skill!

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy!

Psalm 137:5-6

Same song, same performer. The first, shorter video is a live performance, the second is a video with photos of Jerusalem. The first performance, you might note, has slightly different pronounciation from the second one: it's the same as how some Jews say Shabbos and others Shabbat.

Both songs are performed by Shimon Craimer. 

We are golden, we are golden! (And it's not only about music)

We are golden...

As most people know, I'm a Mika fan. Okay, Basia, I know what you think about it! (I'm also a Hell's Kitchen addict, but only watch the American version, because of Gordon Ramsay, and my guilty pleasure is Survivor. Now I might also add that I think Fig Newtons are a basic food group and I put ketchup on my pizza. Done with confessions for now.)

So,I love Mika.When I first heard his song Grace Kelly I wasn't exactly sure what I thought. Happy Ending was more convincing, but it was Any Other World that made me a fan.

Three years have passed since his first album, and the much anticipated second album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much finally came out. The first video that came out for the album was absolutely convincing. As long as I didn't have the sound on. Mika in underwear and yellow (and green) glitter shoes? Heaven on YouTube!





But the song itself... I wasn't to sure about the song itself. Then I heard the accoustic version and I started to think that I loved the song. Because we are golden.

We are golden.  We are creations of G-d. We are golden. We just have to make sure that we live up to our potentials. We are golden, because we carry that divine spark.

The LORD G-d formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

That breath of life is the absolute greatest gift from HaShem for us. That breath of life was a breath of the divine! We got an amazing heritage with that! That is the big difference between us and the other leaving creatures: we have that breath of G-d.

Contrary to popular belief, that is NOT a Jewish thing. Adam wasn't a Jew. All people, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, nationality or religion carry that divine spark. We are golden.

Now it only depends on us what we will do with that spark. We need to realise that we are golden. But that realisation should not be followed by entitlement complexes! We shouldn't fall into the trap of the self-esteem movement that has so deeply ingrained the entitlement to instant gratification in multiple generations now. We can choose to follow that path, or find alternatives to live a life that is less self-centred and egotistical, where self esteem is not confused by I'm-better-than-you attitudes.

5770 so far

The year 5770 has been really nice so far.

My sister-in-law Maya and I teamed up with my step-mom Miryam in making honey glazed chickens with pomegranate sauce for dinner. It meant between 4-6 chickens for each of us. We used small, "grill" chickens and we had 30ish people to feed last night! We quartered the chickens and prepared the sauce and baked them and made mashed potatoes and rice and veggies. My kids helped bake challah and honey cookies.

We gathered at my dad's house and as the women of the family lit the Shabbat candles - that this time didn't only usher the shabbat in, but marked the beginning of 5770 as well - we set out to go to the synagogue and afterwards we devoured the chickens! When everyone was ready to burst, we walked home, put the kids to bed and watched some more Bones, while I was also checking on Michal's Tefillin. I was suprised to see over 100 hits and 300 page views in the first 24 hours, with several browsers being excluded from the stats.

Today was slow and lovely as well. Heading over to my brother's house for shabbat lunch. It wasn't cholent, no. But I found out that my brother already got Aharon Razel and Yerachmiel Ziegler's new album Secret of Shabbos. He lent it to me, even if he is not too crazy about my use of electricity on Shabbat and holy days (and especially when the two are on the same day, like today!), so I listened to it a couple of times and I love it! If you click the link, you can listen to samples. Justin already knows most of the words to the CD, and Matthew is humming along as it is played for the 4th time. I need to give it back to my brother when I see him tomorrow, but I know I'm gonna buy it! I am an Aharon fanboy, but I'm becoming a Yerachmiel fanboy, too! i love his cute American accent! I might not speak Hebrew, but I do hear the accents. The little video on the top of the sidebar is the first music video from their album. Generally I find the album to reflect the joy of Shabbat: the joy that HaShem intended for us on the Shabbat when He commanded us to sanctify and enjoy it.

I hope everyone is having a marvelous new year!

I Wanna Be a Polar Bear, or switching code (the linguistic type)

I wanna be a polar bear, I wanna be a bear that wears a Wonderbra!

My kids came home from school today, and we continued with our dig through the Eurovision stash that my families accumulated throughout the last 35 years or so. You see, both Israel and Ireland are big on the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 70's were an era when whoever won went on to perform the winning song in several languages, as demonstrated with the 1979 winner Hallelujah (that was translated to and recorded in English, French and German). So I wasn't even surprised when Justin found a single of the previously mentioned 1978 winner A-Ba-Ni-Bi (and any and all variations that kinda sorta fit אבאניבי) by Izhar Cohen and Alfabeta in English.

Kevin dug out the record player and put it on, and at that moment the strange thing happened. My boys are all fluent in Hebrew. They speak, understand and read Hebrew, and know the song in Hebrew. They have sung it in Ivrit (modern Hebrew) countless times. But as soon as the song was on in English, the opening line "Abanibi obohebev" - I love in "bet language" - turned into "I wanna be a polar bear". Why? Because in English that made sense! This I have experienced a few times with the twins especially: when they switch code - they switch between English, Hungarian or Hebrew - they switch completely and certain things will be heard in the new language, even if they bear the language in which it is.

Now click play, and enjoy A-ba-ni-bi in English!

Hallelujah

"Hallelujah la'olam
Hallelujah, yashiru kulam"

I have been humming the song Hallelujah by Gali Atari and Milk & Honey in three different languages the last two days. No, it is not the one Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley/Rufus Wainwright (who, in my opinion, butchered the greatest sex/break up/ love song ever) sang. It is a cute, cheesy, 70's tune, that managed to win the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest. That was the year when Dschinghis Khan were performing the song Dschinghis Khan (hoo!-hah!), one song that not even the 70 were a good enough excuse for... Yeah, I love it!

Anyway, it was 1979 and the song was a hit. The Eurovision that year was in Jerusalem, after A-Ba-Ni-Bi by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta won the year before. (Look at all those Jewfros! Putting the Jackson 5 to shame!) It was Gali Atari and Milk and Honey winning with a song that has been the most religious song to date to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

You see, the English version doesn't do the words justice. They watered it down to a catchy, but super cheesy chirpy birdy bells are ringing the sun is shining we are decade late with this lyrics song. Seriously, the English is even cheesier than the the original. And kinda missing the grammatical power of the Hallelujah, which in Hebrew literally and simply means: Praise G-d. But I was lucky to find a version with both the original's close translation subtitled. Alas, the sound quality is not the best, but let's not forget, it's from 1979.

1979: my parents were big fans of Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, and that carried on for three years, so when my brother and I were born Dan's middle name almost became Reuven. Reuven Gvirtz is the first guy to start singing with Gali Atari. Dan's only luck was that my dad was more sensible. Slightly more. Well, not much more. And my dad was a Shlomo Artzi fan.

My sons and I have been singing the song over and over again. I totally blame Craig, who dug out my Eurovision collection from one of the yet unopened boxes. (What, we have been here only 15 months, what do you mean we should have unpacked????)

"Halev male bahamon toda
Veholem gam hu: eize olam nifla!"

All links in this entry lead to YouTube. Click at your own risk. I should have done laundry.

Must See, must Feel, Must Think, Must Act

The last Shabbat without the boys

This is my sons' last Shabbat in America. During their time there they have had a chance to visit many places in California (yes, Disneyland included), Lake Tahoe and Carson City, Nevada. In addition to visiting their mom's family, they spent time with Craig's aunt, uncle and cousins as well as my sister and her family. They experienced a Jewish day school, went to 4 different synagoges, including a Chabad Lubavitch one and celebrated Independence Day and observed Tisha B'Av there.

They are leaving California tomorrow afternoon and will arrive home on Monday, just in time for 12 days of cousin camp. But now, once again, they are celebrating the Shabbat with their family there. They bond with them over the flickering flames of the Shabbat candle, the challah and kiddush cup. And when the memories of the Disney rides will fade, they will remember their times around the Shabbat table with Grampa.

Shabbat Shalom, boys!

Guardian of Israel in action

This version of Shomer Yisrael performed by the very talented Aharon Razel has followed me around since I first heard it in the summer of 2005, while the protests and the fight for Gush Katif was going on during, what my then circle of Jewish friends called Israel's Orange Days.

This song was playing while I watched the news reports of the evacuation of Gush Katif residents, knowing that my brothers and sisters are on both sides: some IDF soldiers that are enforcing the evacuation, some Gush Katif settlers being evacuated. A summer later this song was playing as I watched the first news report of the Second Lebanon War, just an hour after receiving a text from my kid brother that he is not coming home for the weekend.

I was listening to this song when my dad messaged me a few days ago about my four foster siblings. Vitalik, Alla, Yuval and Arik have been living with my dad and step-mom since their parents and eldest sister passed away while visiting their native Ukraine/Russia last summer. Vitya is now 12 years old, and he is very excited about his bar mitzvah next year, however, while their dad was definitely Jewish, their mother's Jewishness, as defined by Halacha, and as per the chief rabbinate, was debateable. Her extended family, who all moved to Israel in the 90's and since, as many not-so-Jewish former Soviet Union olim, moved on to the USA and Canada, are born again Christians and classic Baptists, and were not too enthusiastic about a proper conversion for the kids. However, now two things are for sure: the kids can stay with my parents, as outlined in the will of their father, and as legal guardians they can go t hrough with the kids' conversion if needed, or, can access records to determine if they are halachially Jewish. It seems the only relative of the kids, who actually cared to visit them since the parents' deaths, an aunt from Tustin, CA is okay with it as well. Wether the kids can be legally adopted by my parents is still an issue--my dad is over 60--but it seems that Vitya will get his bar mitzvah celebration!

I'm not a Christian

...but I really love this song. I knew Rich Mullins in person. We lived in Kansas for two short periods of time, the adoptive family no longer really Catholic and definitely not LDS yet the forst time (and inactive LDS the second time), so I got to hang out with various friends, and so I ended up meeting Rich Mullins multiple times.

His honest and deep faith always impressed me, and I have to admit that I do find great comfort in his songs. My absolute favorites are Elijah, Sometimes by Step and the whole A Liturgy, a Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band.

But the absolute fave? This one:

Oseh Shalom