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Chanukah celebrations are joyous occasions, with lots of holiday gifts, decorations and parties.
The eight-day festival of Chanukah retells a story that teaches about hope, the importance of maintaining Jewish traditions, and the symbolic power of light.
“The Jazz Singer,” released in 1927, was the first commercially successful “talking motion picture.” One of the most iconic moments in movie history occurs in this film when Al Jolson on stage, turns to his enthusiastic audience and says, “Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” This promise of even more exciting entertainment to come is fulfilled as he sings “Toot-toot-tootsie” using moves that could have made Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson jealous. The effect is electrifying.
Known as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer” during his lifetime, Al Jolson’s life story (on which the movie was based) tells of a young Jewish boy who is driven to become a Pop singer despite the fact that his Orthodox father wants him to be a Cantor.
During the High Holy Days Jews around the world congregate to experience a sense of spiritual community. It is a time of family gatherings and happy times juxtaposed with introspection and solemn prayer.
In choosing the music for this year’s JSA High Holy Days Music Mix we wanted to highlight the voices of cantors who have devoted themselves to perfecting their art. The High Holy Days has inspired some of the most beautiful and compelling Jewish sacred music ever recorded. On this album we feature such legendary cantors as Leib Glantz, Leibele Waldman, Gershon Sirota and Moishe Oysher. We also highlight the interpretations of some of today’s finest cantors.
Now you can revisit the glory days of the Lower East Side and hear the songs as they were actually sung.
The recordings in this special JSA collection were produced on 78 rpm recordings between 1901 and 1922, at the height of Yiddish Theater’s popularity.
Hear it. The first five seconds. A keyboard…drums…it sounds like rock. These are the familiar sounds of a song that is going to tell a story. It sounds like the introduction to the Bon Jovi song, “Livin on a Prayer.” Then Rocky Zweig begins to sing.
His story is about a boy named Boris. Boris is upset because he is persecuted for being Jewish. The story ends with Boris dying. In “Livin on a Prayer,” the pseudo couple, Tommy and Gina, live on little money and try to make their relationship work.
