Akum Le'Shorer - A 16th Century Rosh Hashanah Poem Gets an Update by Young Modern Israeli Singers

 

With Rosh Hashanah beginning Wednesday evening, we bring you a beautiful piyut (poem) for the holiday written in the 16th century and sung by Shirat Machar (Tomorrow's Song), a group of eleven talented young singers from Israel, all with extensive experience as youth leaders in the Masorti movement.

Masorti, meaning traditional, is the Hebrew name for the movement of Conservative Judaism in Israel. The Masorti Movement, founded in 1979, is the umbrella organization of Masorti kehillot (congregations), which foster the practice of traditional Judaism among Israeli men and women while embracing modernity. In promoting the combined values of Conservative Judaism, religious tolerance and Zionism, the Movement strives to nurture a healthy, pluralistic, spiritual and ethical foundation for Israeli society.

Today's music video, Akum Le'Shorer (I Will Arise to Write Poetry) is a piyut written by Rabbi Avraham Bar Yaakov Ben Tuah, born in 16th century Algeria. A modest man, a brilliant scholar, and an esteemed lawmaker, he wrote the piyut as a special plea to be sung before the High Holiday prayers. The prayer leader, just moments before arising to sing prayers on behalf of his congregation, implored the God of justice and mercy to hear and answer his prayers. This piyut turns both to the image of the One who sits in heaven as well as the image of the One who creates on the earth, and to all artisans who arise daily to do their work and rise up in song.

The video shows typical scenes of everyday life in modern Israel, and ends with the singers tossing chunks of bread into a river, in the traditional Tashlich ceremony for Rosh Hashanah.

Enjoy! 

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.) 



(A tip of the kippah to Shelly Allon for bringing this video to our attention.)