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 new moon with the fixing of the dates of festivals and holy days.Notably, in the Spanish and Portuguese rite, this psalm is omitted when Rosh Chodesh coincides with Shabbat, diverging from other Sephardi traditions. This liturgical choice may reflect a sensitivity to verse 23, "Yetzeh Adam Lefa’olo" (“Man goes out to his labor”), whose reference to weekday labour is perceived as thematically discordant with the Shabbat ethos of cessation from work.The setting here, is based on an ancient psalmodic mode and reflects stylistic elements from both the London and New York traditions. These variants differ in two principal respects. First, the New York version includes, for emphasis, two caesuras absent in the London tradition, following the previously cited verses 19 and 23. And secondly, in the London style the Etnachta - which marks the end of the first segment in a verse - is sung a fourth below the tonic, whereas in the New York tradition, it is rendered on the tonic itself. In this recording I have attempted to multitrack both approaches to harmonic effect.Please like and share.חודש טוב