https://youtu.be/F907KRReqpQ# Tehilat Hashem - Introduction to the Zemirot | New YorkUniquely among the communities of Amsterdam, New York and London, Congregation Shearith Israel prefaces its morning services with two well known and particularly apposite *Pesukim* (*Tehilim* 145:21 and 116:18). On *Shabbatot* and* Mo’adim* these verses are sung to specific emblematic melodies which serve as a kind of musical watermark, that identifies and sets the mood for the day in question.On Shabbat, the melody used is borrowed from a composition for the *Piyyut Yigdal Elohim Chai* by Samuel de Sola, Hazzan at Bevis Marks from 1863 until 1866. In the London community this tune is reserved for special festive occasions, among them the eves of *Simchat Torah* and *Shabbat Beresheet*. In New York, by contrast, it serves as the standard setting for Yigdal on Friday nights throughout the year. The result of applying this *Yigdal* setting to the *Tehilat* formula at Shearith Israel is, that on a regular Shabbat, the closing hymn of *Arbit* and the opening strains of *Shachrit* share an identical melody. Whether or not this is by design, its effect is to convey a deeply gratifying sense of liturgical constancy and continuity. Hodesh Tob and Shabbat ShalomPlease like and share.