Desert, Israel       Photo by Jill Greenstein

Traditions of Biblical Cantillation, Vol 2 is a CD of selections from the Bible (Tanakh in Hebrew) chanted, in Hebrew, by Helen Chuckrow. It contains the following:

Ashkenazi: Children Learning Torah, Numbers 22:6-8		Gibraltar: Song of Songs 4
Yemenite: Esther 2		Moroccan: Ecclesiastes 12
Syrian: Exodus 13:1-16		Italian: Isaiah 40:1-26
Iraq (Bavli): Exodus 14:9-14		Indian: Isaiah 40:1-26
Spanish/Portuguese: Lamentations 2		Egyptian: Ruth 2
Sephardic Turkish: Song of Songs 3

The CD is $25, which includes tax and postage. To obtain the CD, send a check or money order, payable to Mafseek Publications, to:

The Jewish custom of using chanting to read from the Bible has endured throughout the Jewish communities of the world. The melodies used, however, have taken on the flavor of the adopted country or city. Eleven traditions of cantillation are presented here, ranging from Italian to Egyptian, from Spanish/Portuguese to Yemenite, and including the chant used to teach and learn the Bible brought to Israel by the Jews of Eastern Europe.

• Ashkenazi: Children Learning Torah Numbers 22:6-8. In the summer of 1998 while walking down a street in Israel, in the city of Safed, I heard the sounds of children learning coming from a nearby window. I recorded it and present it here. The teacher chants each word or phrase, first in Hebrew then in a type of Yiddish used by Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jews for learning Torah called Khumesh-Taytsh The children repeat after the teacher.

• Yemenite: Esther 2. The Yemenite, or Teimani, tradion has two modes of cantillation, Baladi and Shami. The one used here is the Shami, from the city of Sana`a. Yemenite prounciation of Hebrew differs markedly from Israeli pronunciation.

• Syrian: Exodus 13:1-16. Among the Syrian Jews, there is little difference between the traditions of the two main centers of Jewry, Damascus and Aleppo. The tradition of this selection is the Aleppo. The Syrian tradition for both cantillation and prayer employs different melodic patterns, called Makam, appropriate to the occasion. The Makam used here is Makam Siga, which in the Syrian tradition is always used when reading from the Torah.

• Iraqi (Bavli): Exodus 14:9-14. The Jews went to Iraq when it was Babylonia, in 586 B.C.E., following the destruction of the first Temple. Thus, this tradition is referred to as Bavli, the Hebrew word for "Babylonian".

• Spanish/Portuguese: Lamentations 2. Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York, was founded in 1654. Since then, the members of this congregation have preserved their melodies of cantillation. This selection uses their melody for chanting the Book of Lamentations.

• Sephardic Turkish: Song of Songs 3. This selection is chanted according to the custom of Sephardic Jews of the former Ottoman Empire, the Balkans, and Eretz Yisrael.

• Gibraltar: Song of Songs 4. Jews have lived in Gibraltar since at least the fourteenth century. In 1729, England and the Sultan of Morocco made an agreement permitting Jews to settle in Gibraltar. As a result, the Gibraltar tradition is derived from the Spanish Moroccan tradition. The cantillation used here is taken from A. Z. Idelsohn's musical notation, compiled at the beginning of the twentieth century and included in his Thesaurus of Oriental Melodies, vol. 5.

• Moroccan: Ecclesiastes 12. Moroccan traditions consist of the Spanish (in the north) and French (in the south). This selection uses the Spanish tradition of Tangier.

• Italian: Isaiah 40:1-26. This reading from Isaiah is chanted in synagogue on Shabbat Nachamu. Nachamu means "comfort" in Hebrew and is the first word of chapter 40 of Isaiah. This passage is read on the Shabbat immediately following Tisha B'Av and is the first of seven readings of consolation from Isaiah, one for each of the seven Shabbats preceding Rosh Hashanah. The cantillation of this selection is the one used in the Italian Synagogue in Jerusalem. The same passage from Isaiah is repeated in the next selection using the Calcutta tradition.

• Indian: Isaiah 40:1-26. There are three traditions of the Jews of India: Bombay, Cochin, and Calcutta. Many of the Jews of Calcutta came from Baghdad toward the end of the eighteenth century; therefore, the Calcutta tradition, which is used here, is derived from the Baghdad tradition. The same passage from Isaiah is chanted in the previous selection to the Italian tradition.

• Egyptian: Ruth 2. This selection uses the Egyptian tradition as chanted in Cairo.

Production engineer: Scott Cohen

I would like to acknowledge the help and information provided by Nathanael Dror (Putnam), Rabbi Velvel Butman, Cantor Rabbi Ira Rohde, Cantor Max Esudri, Rabbi Moshe Dwek, The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, "Renanot" The Institute for Jewish Music, and Rahel Musleah.

I am especially grateful to Dr. Isaac Jerusalmi and Mr. Isaac Gabbai for most generously sharing their knowledge with me.

Many thanks are also due to Rabbi Steven Kane and Cantor Jeffrey Shiovitz of Congregation Sons of Israel, in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., for their continuing support for this project. And as always, to Raphaela, who first gave me the idea for this project and was always encouraging.