https://youtu.be/PPZLFybJ0SU# Shira Hadasha | New York*Semichat Geula Litfila* is an halachic principle which mandates that there be no break between the *Beracha, Ga’al Yisrael* and the beginning of the *Amidah*. While there is some disagreement among *Chaza”l* as to whether this stricture applies to *Arbit*, all are in agreement that it is a requirement for *Shachrit*.In many traditions, this linkage is actually reflected in the mode of the *Hazzan’s* articulation. And here we have two contrary approaches. Among Ashkenazi communities, the closing words of *Beracha, Ga’al Yisrael*, are read in an undertone to match the silent rendition of the *Amidah* which follows. By contrast, in many Sephardi congregations, the *Beracha, Ga’al Yisrael *and the first word of the *Amidah’s* introductory *pasuk* are both rendered in full voice, with not even the suggestion of a pause between them.Proud as ever to proclaim its non-conformity, the Spanish and Portuguese follow neither of these practices. Once again the proclamation - and this is perhaps best expressed in Dutch - *ja, maar dat doen we niet*. (Yes, but we don’t do that) comes to play a critical role in reinforcing its special sense of identity.All of this is by way of an introduction to the current offering. In the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York on *Shabbatot* and *Mo’adim*, the closing lines of *Ga’al Yisrael* - beginning with the words *Shira Hadasha* - are sung to an unusual melody, not known in either Amsterdam or London. Its origins are obscure, although the writer of the liner notes in the Milken archive CD, Jewish Voices in the New World suggests that they may well be18th century or even earlier. He rests his case on the fact that the 1857 anthology of Ancient Sephardi Melodies published in London by de Sola and Aguilar includes a piece that contains ‘similar phrases’, and which is there described as “a melody composed in Spain and subsequently introduced by the Israelites into the various countries in which they took refuge from the persecution in the Iberian peninsula.”Impressive, but alas problematic. It turns out that the piece referenced is a *Kinah* for *Tisha Be’Ab*, an altogether unlikely paradigm for a melody to be sung on Shabbat and Festivals. The ‘similar phrases’ he alludes to amount to little more than one bar (one measure, for my American readers), and the notes in question are a relatively common musical figure. Indeed, one of the best-known examples of this tonal progression occurs in the 1931 classic 'As Time Goes By', the much-loved musical centrepiece of the movie *Casablanca*.So here’s an idea. Maybe, just maybe, in view of Casablanca's geographical setting, might it not be a possibility that this New York melody for *Shira Hadasha* actually originated in North Africa?…Just saying.Please like and share.