Today is Tisha B'Av -- We Sing Eli Tzion on a Day of Mourning for the Holy Temples

Eli Tzion is the last piyut of the Ashkenazi collection of kinot and is customarily sung in a recitative style on Tisha B'Av by the entire community. In this kina, the poet turns to Zion, comparing her to a woman who has suffered both destructive and redemptive pain: the pain of a young woman who is widowed, and the pain of a mother bringing new life into the world.  

Taken as a whole, the poem is a mournful call to Zion to mourn her tragic destruction. Only in the final verses do we come to understand that this kina is also a call to G‑d to hear the cry of the Jewish people. 

In this video, Eli Tzion is sung by Cantor Ari Litvak, Hazzan of the Bet El Community in Mexico since 2003. He was trained mainly in his native Buenos Aires and has been a community musical director since he was 13 years old.

We wish you an easy and meaningful fast.

Welcoming Shabbat with Oseh Shalom by the Comunidad Bet-El of Mexico

The Bet El Community of Mexico is a pluralistic and inclusive congregation in Mexico City. 

It subscribes to the principles of the World Conservative or Masorti Movement, which offers its members a way of living Judaism in tune with the modern world, allowing the family to pray together and offering spaces for the active participation of all its members.

Today we welcome Shabbat with Oseh Shalom Bimromav, sung by Bet El's Hazan Ari Litvak.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: Mexican Mariachi Music in Jerusalem

Mariachi Yerushalaim is a band that provides a live Mexican experience and ambience to its audience.

By using the traditional instruments and dressing in the authentic Mariachi attire, they put on a show that makes the audience feel as if they were actually in Mexico.

Yojanan Peretz, the pioneer of the group, made Aliya in 2018. Inspired by his former Hebrew professor Jacob Shekrel in Valencia, Spain he set out to scout the music scene in Israel. After months of extensive research, his heart was set on the Mexican genre.

In this interview with i24 TV, lead singer Yosef Daniel Villareal and the mariachi band sing and play Avadim Hayinu and Tequila near the walls of Jerusalem.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi by Hazzanim Ari Litvak and Norman Cohen Falah

The lyrics of the Lecha Dodi prayer correspond to a poem composed by the kabbalist Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz who lived in the mid-16th century and whose motivation was to express the sanctity of Shabbat.

This video was recorded in Chapultepec Forest, the main park in Mexico City by hazanim Ari Litvak and Norman Cohen Falah. Norman is the composer of the melody that is interpreted to the Argentine chacarera rhythm.

Cantor Norman Cohen Falah is a versatile and sensitive interpreter of Jewish music and an accomplished songwriter. Whether at services, weddings, or concerts, the sweet quality of his voice, coupled with his enthusiastic performance, brings to life the joy and spirit of the Jewish heritage, appealing to all audiences. 

Ari Litvak has been a hazzan of the Bet El Community in Mexico since 2003. He was trained mainly in his native Buenos Aires and has been a community musical director since he was 13 years old.

Enjoy, and Shabbat Shalom!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam by Cantor Ari Litvak and Comunidad Bet-El of Mexico City

Today we're welcoming Shabbat with a Mexican flavor. Adon Olam is sung by Cantor Ari Litvak of Comunidad Bet-El of Mexico City.

He is joined by Cantor Diego Rubinsztein and Ale Levi in a version of the classic Shabbat song that's new to us. The words in Hebrew and in transliteration appear at the bottom of the video.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Tumbalalaika Around the World: A Yiddish and Ladino Version from Mexico

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we've been posting many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.
 
Here's a new one from Mexico. Sol de Enverano was born in 2011 as a Mexican research project focusing on the music and oral tradition of the Sephardic people and other cultures that inhabit the Mediterranean area, mainly from Greece and Turkey. 

In this interpretation, Sol de Enverano performs Tumbalalaika in Yiddish and Ladino.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Old School Klezmer is Alive and Well with Hava Nagila in Puebla, Mexico

Dressed in the clothing of a Hasidic Jew, Juan "El Maestro" Perez performs in a band called El Colectivo Klezmorino that plays klezmer, a style of Jewish folk music that originated in Eastern Europe.

Perez is not Jewish and neither are the other band members. They play in the streets of Puebla, a city without much Jewish life. It's about 60 miles southeast of Mexico City, which has most of the Jewish population of Mexico.

Klezmer is a unique sound in Puebla, where most street musicians play mariachi guitars and sing romantic Mexican songs. Perez loves the music and says it was easy to learn. He taught himself to play more than 60 klezmer pieces, mostly by watching YouTube videos.

Here's one with the band playing Hava Nagila. Enjoy!

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Adon Olam Around the World: A Funicular Version in Mexico

 

Ramat Shalom is a modern Orthodox congregation in Naucalpan, a suburb of Mexico City. To celebrate its 25th anniversary this month, the congregation had a concert featuring Mexican operatic tenor Fernando de la Mora, who sang traditional Jewish songs in Hebrew and Yiddish, as well as liturgical chants.

Since we started Jewish Humor Central, we've posted 17 versions of Adon Olam, which is usually sung at the conclusion of the Shabbat morning service. But until now none has been sung to the melody of the Neapolitan song Funiculi, Funicula. It was written in 1880 to commemorate the opening of the first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius.

When we saw that this Adon Olam was on the concert program, we just had to share it with you, and what better day to share it than erev Shabbat.

So enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Mexican Cantor Moshe Mendelson Sings Rumenia Rumenia (with a Mariachi Twist)

Every time we post a song by Mexican Cantor Moshe Mendelson (twice so far) we get an enthusiastic response and requests for more of his singing. So when we found Mendelson singing his version of the classic Yiddish song Rumenia, Rumenia, we knew we had to post it here.

The song was composed and originally sung by Aaron Lebedeff in 1925. It's a song of nostalgic praise for old Romania, with its special foods and the good life there before the war. There are references to mamalige (a cornmeal mush or cornbread), Karnatsel (a garlicky sausage or meat patty) Kashtaval or Kashkaval (cheese made from sheep’s milk) and other delicacies. 

Since this was recorded in Mexico City, where Mendelson has been a cantor for the Ashkenazi Kehila in for 43 years, he is accompanied by a Mariachi band in full costume.

Enjoy!

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Mexican Cantor Moshe Mendelson Sings a Song About Gefilte Fish

We have featured Cantor Moshe Mendelson from Mexico City singing Ein Keilokeinu with a full mariachi band. It was one of the most liked posts ever on Jewish Humor Central.

Because you liked it so much, we're posting another song by Cantor Mendelson. It's in Yiddish, but you don't have to speak the language to understand that he's singing the praises of gefilte fish.

Enjoy!

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Hava Nagila Around the World: A Mexican Mariachi Version in Apatzingan

 

Apatzingán, located in the hot Tierra Caliente valley, in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Michoacán, has received media attention because of the strong presence of notorious, powerful and wealthy drug trafficking cartels. 

But it's also the home of some beautiful music, as played by the Apatzingan Real Mariachi Band.

In this video, they perform a Mexican version of Hava Nagila that we're adding to our collection of more than 50 versions.

Enjoy!

^{(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  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.)} 

   

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Mexico Chazzan Moshe Mendelson Sings Ein Keilokeinu With a Full Mariachi Band

Cantor Moshe Mendelson has been the Chazzan of the Ashkenazi Kehila in Mexico City for 43 years.

In this video he teams up with a full Mariachi band to sing Ein Keilokeinu.

Shabbat shalom.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  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.)  

Tumbalalaika Around the World - In a Mexican Cafe

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. 

That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing this series that we started in 2012 that will bring you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.  We'll post other versions from time to time.

 This version was recorded by the instrumental group Trio Nu in the Idish Cafe in Mexico. Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  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.) 

 

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Mystery in Mexico

The state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico, shares a border, the Rio Grande, with Texas. It has been reported over the years that Anusim, secret Jews who escaped from the Spanish Inquisition, traveled to Mexico and settled there.

Earlier this month, a university in Coahuila staged an arts festival that included 15 minutes of Hebrew music and dance. The video, which is posted below, left us somewhat confused. We enjoy digging up back stories for most of our blog posts, but for this one, the back story eludes us. So we're calling on you, our readers, to help solve the mystery. The first reader to send us a plausible back story that checks out will receive a copy of our new e-book, Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places.

So what's the mystery? The dances are Israeli, but the dancers appear to be Mexican. The boys wear kippot and a few wear tzitzit, but their shirts look very much like those worn by Messianic Christian groups in Central and South America who have an affinity for Israeli dancing. Some of the T-shirts feature the Hebrew word tekuma in large type. The word can be translated as reistance, revival, rebirth, or resurrection. A man wrapped in a tallit blows a Yemenite shofar at seemingly random places in the midst of the dancing and singing. And about 5 minutes into the set, they start to dance an Italian tarantella.

We'd like to put all of this together and tell a complete back story for this video. Can you help? We appeal especially to our readers in Texas who are geographically close to Coahuila and may have a better understanding of what's going on. But the contest is open to all. So let's hear from you. Just put your explanation in the comments section below for all to see.

Meanwhile, enjoy the festive singing and dancing!

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