https://youtu.be/7zw1LLzmEGg# Kohanekha | Amsterdam As the Hechal is opened on Shabbat morning, most Sephardi communities chant the formula that begins ‘Ata Horeta Lada'at’ (Deut. 4:35), which consists of seven scriptural verses, matching the number of divisions in the weekly portion. On festivals, when the reading is divided into five parts, the number of verses is reduced accordingly, beginning with ‘Yehi Hashem Elohenu Imanu’ (Kings 1:8). In the Spanish and Portuguese tradition only the last two verses of the compilation are chanted (Ps.132:9 -10), on both Shabbat and Festivals.The present recording is based on an Amsterdam composition by de la Fuente, sung on festivals. It is not known in either the New York or London communities. This, despite the fact that in the 1950s, the Hazzan of Bevis Marks, the Dutch-born Joseph Gomes de Mesquita, attempted to introduce the melody into the London repertoire. Sadly, the reaction of the community’s conservative musical gate keepers was less than enthusiastic. As a general rule, the last hundred years or so has not been a period given to cantorial creativity or innovation in much of the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. Similar instances of this discouraging institutional rigidity were experienced by many of the masterly Hazzanim of the last generation, including Abraham Lopes Cardozo (z'l), Eliezer Abinun (z'l) and Abraham Beniso (z'l). For them, unlike their predecessors of earlier centuries, the canon of cantorial music was closed.Please like and share, and if you haven’t already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where there are over 170 selections available for free downloading.