https://youtu.be/FcP8zVuVJ3Y# Elohim Tseba’ot | LondonOne notable characteristic of the Spanish and Portuguese tradition is that every effort is made to avoid any sort of musical lacuna. Even something as prosaic as removing the Sepher from the reading desk at the conclusion of the Parasha on Shabbatot and Mo'adim has a unique musical underpinning. Moreover, the textual formula for which it provides the setting has no counterpart that I am aware of elsewhere in the Sephardi world.The formula chanted at this juncture comprises two scriptural components drawn respectively from Psalm 80 and Deuteronomy 33.Its Spanish and Portuguese singularity notwithstanding, there are curious micro-divergencies in its application between the London, New York and Amsterdam communities. In London, on a regular Shabbat, both verses of the formula are chanted at the end of the Parasha, at the conclusion of the Maftir. On occasions when more than one Sepher is read, the formula is chanted twice: after the Mashlim and following the Maftir. In New York, when the reading is from one Sepher alone, only the verse ‘En Kael Yeshurun’ (Deut. 33) is chanted at its conclusion. On days when there are two or three Sepharim, The verse ’Elohim Tseba’ot’ (Ps. 80) is chanted following the Mashlim, and ‘En Ka'el Yeshurun’ after the Maftir.In Amsterdam the practice is to read the entire formula, as in London. The placement, however, is different. It is not said on days when there is only one Sepher, and when there are two or three Sepharim, it is chanted between the readings of each of the Sepharim. The London version, presented here, is something of a musicological one of a kind; a non-metric recitative, displaying no discernible melodic affinity to anything else in the repertoire. The background shot is an early photo of the Lauderdale Road Synagogue with the original Hechal.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.H/T Daniel Baruch Zachary Edinger Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira