Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
https://youtu.be/NNxplGGWl4o# La’el Asher Shabat Mikol Hama’asim | New YorkThe melody used for Hakol Yodukha and El Adon—two well-known selections in the Shabbat morning service—is shared by both the London and New York Spanish and Portuguese communities. This chant has deep historical roots and close parallels are still heard today in North African traditions. Though the London and New York versi...
https://youtu.be/wk1WrLahjZg?si=6vEiGzG09wP4-E-W# Barekhi Nafshi - Rosh Hodesh Arbit | New York and LondonAcross the Sephardi diaspora it is customary to recite Psalm 104, Barechi Nafshi, before Arbit on the eve of Rosh Chodesh. This practice is traditionally linked to verse 19, "Asah Yare’ach Lemo’adim" (“He made the moon for the appointed times”), which explicitly associates the sighting of the ...
https://youtu.be/wk1WrLahjZg?si=6vEiGzG09wP4-E-W# Barekhi Nafshi - Rosh Hodesh Arbit | New York and LondonAcross the Sephardi diaspora it is customary to recite Psalm 104, Barechi Nafshi, before Arbit on the eve of Rosh Chodesh. This practice is traditionally linked to verse 19, "Asah Yare’ach Lemo’adim" (“He made the moon for the appointed times”), which explicitly associates the sighting of the ...
https://youtu.be/36FIlCMr4B0?si=RwOBNEtR1fPYpvaA# Hallel - Yehalelukha | LondonThere has long been a divergence of opinion among Sephardi Poskim regarding the concluding blessing of Hallel—Melekh Mehulal BaTishbakhot—when the abbreviated version is recited, as is customary on Rosh Chodesh and during the intermediate and final days of Pesach.Maimonides, whose ruling is widely followed among the Edo...
https://youtu.be/36FIlCMr4B0?si=RwOBNEtR1fPYpvaA# Hallel - Yehalelukha | LondonThere has long been a divergence of opinion among Sephardi Poskim regarding the concluding blessing of Hallel—Melekh Mehulal BaTishbakhot—when the abbreviated version is recited, as is customary on Rosh Chodesh and during the intermediate and final days of Pesach.Maimonides, whose ruling is widely followed among the Edo...
https://youtu.be/MF7bGQvAmP4# Hallel - Shalosh Regalim | AmsterdamIt took me a while to realise that a melody in service at Congregation Shearith Israel, New York for the Piyyut En Kelohenu was actually a variant of the Amsterdam Hallel melody presented here. The key difference between the two versions is the tempo: the New York rendition has a somewhat halting quality, while the Amsterdam style f...
https://youtu.be/MF7bGQvAmP4# Hallel - Shalosh Regalim | AmsterdamIt took me a while to realise that a melody in service at Congregation Shearith Israel, New York for the Piyyut En Kelohenu was actually a variant of the Amsterdam Hallel melody presented here. The key difference between the two versions is the tempo: the New York rendition has a somewhat halting quality, while the Amsterdam style f...
https://youtu.be/kL6UeJB4abA?si=6z2n44pgks3vXz9n# Yehe Shemeh - Arbit Shalosh Regalim | LondonThe present recording is of a rendition of Yehe Shemeh sung before Barechu during the Arbit of the Shalosh Regalim. The melody is unique to the London Spanish and Portuguese congregation with no counterparts elsewhere in the western Sephardi diaspora.This composition took on an expanded role in the middle...
https://youtu.be/kL6UeJB4abA?si=6z2n44pgks3vXz9n# Yehe Shemeh - Arbit Shalosh Regalim | LondonThe present recording is of a rendition of Yehe Shemeh sung before Barechu during the Arbit of the Shalosh Regalim. The melody is unique to the London Spanish and Portuguese congregation with no counterparts elsewhere in the western Sephardi diaspora.This composition took on an expanded role in the middle...
https://youtu.be/PLSriumjEmc# Yitgadal - Arbit Shalosh Regalim | London The London Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi community maintains a distinctive collection of settings for the Kaddish recited before Barechu on Shabbatot and Mo'adim. The origins of many of these melodies remain obscure, and a number of them appear to have no known parallels elsewhere in the Western Sephardi diaspora. The presen...
https://youtu.be/PLSriumjEmc# Yitgadal - Arbit Shalosh Regalim | London The London Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi community maintains a distinctive collection of settings for the Kaddish recited before Barechu on Shabbatot and Mo'adim. The origins of many of these melodies remain obscure, and a number of them appear to have no known parallels elsewhere in the Western Sephardi diaspora. The presen...
https://youtu.be/mpDDx4P3tAE# Yitgadal - de Casseres | Amsterdam"One asks and expounds upon the laws of Pesach thirty days before the festival." So states the Talmud in Masechet Pesachim. The idea is simple enough: preparing for the holiday is not something that happens overnight — it requires time, study, and reflection.And if this is true of the laws and customs of Pesach, it should be no less t...
https://youtu.be/mpDDx4P3tAE# Yitgadal - de Casseres | Amsterdam"One asks and expounds upon the laws of Pesach thirty days before the festival." So states the Talmud in Masechet Pesachim. The idea is simple enough: preparing for the holiday is not something that happens overnight — it requires time, study, and reflection.And if this is true of the laws and customs of Pesach, it should be no less t...
https://youtu.be/8-fLevfG0d0?si=cxOCYKrDmBygQbU6# Pesach a la ManoThe origins of this relatively modern piyyut in Espanyol may be traced back to the work of Hazzan Yosef Shalom Gallego. Born in Salonika in the late 16th century, Gallego became the first Hazzan of Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jewish community in around 1614. In 1628, he published ‘Imrei No’am’, a compendium of piyyutim that helped sprea...
https://youtu.be/8-fLevfG0d0?si=cxOCYKrDmBygQbU6# Pesach a la ManoThe origins of this relatively modern piyyut in Espanyol may be traced back to the work of Hazzan Yosef Shalom Gallego. Born in Salonika in the late 16th century, Gallego became the first Hazzan of Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jewish community in around 1614. In 1628, he published ‘Imrei No’am’, a compendium of piyyutim that helped spre...
https://youtu.be/BpzemzxXqd4?si=-0B0aPBmF27HjICm# Mi Khamokha - Shabbat ZakhorA word of caution for Sephardim planning to invite Ashkenazi guests to lunch on Shabbat Zachor: be sure to inform them that the service at your local Esnoga is likely to overrun by approximately 25 minutes. This delay is due to the inclusion of Yehuda Halevi’s monumental Piyyut 'Mi Kamokha', traditionally recited on this...
https://youtu.be/ATZ4abRbxsQ?si=N0oDc_W5jn607SLY# Snogeiros,# Don’t forget.# Starting on Rosh Hodesh Adar…# Hodesh Tob!
https://youtu.be/ATZ4abRbxsQ?si=N0oDc_W5jn607SLY# Snogeiros,# Don’t forget.# Starting on Rosh Hodesh Adar…# Hodesh Tob!
https://youtu.be/713bnauVr_Q?si=pUc1NQazm8Pr9Qze# Nakdishakh - Mincha | AmsterdamThis chant for the Kedusha is known throughout the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora, although among these interconnected congregations, there are distinct local tonal variations and differences in tempo. Additionally, traditions surrounding its performance diverge: in some instances, the chant is reserved for the Hazza...
https://youtu.be/713bnauVr_Q?si=pUc1NQazm8Pr9Qze# Nakdishakh - Mincha | AmsterdamThis chant for the Kedusha is known throughout the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora, although among these interconnected congregations, there are distinct local tonal variations and differences in tempo. Additionally, traditions surrounding its performance diverge: in some instances, the chant is reserved for the Hazza...
https://youtu.be/DhjUEY5MBAU# Deror Yikra | AmsterdamThe Piyyut "Deror Yikra," was composed by the Paytan Dunash Ibn Labrat in 960 CE in Cordova. Contemporary versions of the Piyyut commonly include six strophes. The original composition, however, likely consisted of only the first three strophes. Strophes four and five are very probably penned by a different author while the sixth strophe is borr...
https://youtu.be/DhjUEY5MBAU# Deror Yikra | AmsterdamThe Piyyut "Deror Yikra," was composed by the Paytan Dunash Ibn Labrat in 960 CE in Cordova. Contemporary versions of the Piyyut commonly include six strophes. The original composition, however, likely consisted of only the first three strophes. Strophes four and five are very probably penned by a different author while the sixth strophe is borr...
https://youtu.be/74lj4hcOVU0# Hanukkah - Ma’oz Tsur - (B. Marcello) | VeronaSnogeiros, take enormous pride in differentiating themselves by their non-acceptance of customs commonly observed by other traditions. Indeed, the Spanish and Portuguese rite is often defined by what it has chosen not to adopt from broader Jewish practices.Such is the case with the singing of Ma’oz Tsur. Or at least it was...
https://youtu.be/74lj4hcOVU0# Hanukkah - Ma’oz Tsur - (B. Marcello) | VeronaSnogeiros, take enormous pride in differentiating themselves by their non-acceptance of customs commonly observed by other traditions. Indeed, the Spanish and Portuguese rite is often defined by what it has chosen not to adopt from broader Jewish practices.Such is the case with the singing of Ma’oz Tsur. Or at least it was...
https://youtu.be/GZahZiQR4Ak# Hanukkah - Mizmor Shir Hanukat Habayit Ledavid | London and New YorkImmediately after reciting Hanerot Hallalu, Psalm 30 is chanted using the ancient psalmodic mode presented here. According to some opinions, but not all, the connection between this psalm and the festival of Hanukkah stems from its superscription or title, which in their view refers to the dedication ...