As the summer approaches, I am thrilled to share with you an update regarding Cantor Benjamin Z. Maissner and Holy Blossom Temple Music Archive and Library.
Over the past six years, a dedicated team of volunteers has been working diligently to categorize, scan, and organize an immense amount of material, some dating back well before Cantor Maissner’s tenure. The committee overseeing this effort has been led by Jill Kamin and Gillian Rosenberg, whom I want to publicly acknowledge and thank for the tremendous number of hours they have devoted to this initiative.
A major milestone has just been reached: we recently received a letter from Dr. Amalia Kedem, Music Curator at the National Library of Israel (NLI), officially accepting the Cantor Benjamin Z. Maissner and Holy Blossom Temple Music Archive and Library. This extensive archive includes digital music copies, commissioned works, posters, manuscripts, and much more. As Dr. Kedem expressed in her letter:
“The close cooperation of Holy Blossom Temple and NLI was instrumental in creating a shared understanding of the importance of the collection itself as well as of its significance for the preservation of Jewish liturgical tradition at large.”
This vast collection will soon be accessible not only to those who visit the National Library in person but also to ethnomusicologists and Jewish music enthusiasts worldwide via digital access. Once the files are fully integrated and made available, we will continue to share updates as our collaboration with the NLI progresses.
Meanwhile, the Holy Blossom Archives Committee has retained select materials to remain in-house. These will be curated for access by our congregation and the broader community. Any additional materials will be shared with institutions such as the Abraham Geiger College in Germany or other deserving recipients. We expect this portion of the work to be completed by the end of the summer.
As we transition to the next phase of this project, I am very excited to share with you the latest addition to the archive collection…
In 2020, there were 8 Cantors and Cantorial Soloists who gifted Cantor Maissner with a commissioned piece of music in honour of his 41 years of service to Holy Blossom Temple and to the Cantorate and Jewish Music at large. We commissioned Cantor Jonathan Comisar, who is a wonderful cantor, composer and teacher at the DFSSM at HUC. The piece was intended to be performed at the retirement celebration of Cantor Maissner, and of course, Covid put a harsh stop to an in-person celebration, and at the tim,e there was not enough time or resources to make a recording happen in real time. The recording of this masterful piece finally became a reality this past month.
I would like to share with you a link to an audio recording of the piece as well as a short excerpt about the piece from the composer, Jonathan Comisar himself. The piece is entitled “L’Dor Vador”-from Generation to Generation
“When I first spoke to Cantor David Rosen over five years ago about commissioning a choral work in honour of Beny, we decided on L’dor Vador: from the Kedusha section of the Amidah. (“To all generations, we will declare Your greatness; we will sanctify Your greatness with triumphant praises. Your praise, our God, shall never depart from our mouths forever and ever– because You are God and a Kind, great and holy. Blessed are You, Adonai, the holy God.
This text’s inherent message of transmitting Torah to the next generations would be a fitting tribute to Beny–especially as a gift from 8 Cantors whom Beny mentored and supported and kvelled over. So the core text is L’DOR VADOR, but I wanted to include quotations from other sacred texts to reflect the diversity of Beny’s professional career and role as Cantor, Choir Director, Teacher of Torah, and Jewish leader in the world. To reflect these different roles, I included the texts:
THE MUSICAL TEXTURE:
I intended to bring together the 8 voices of the singers who commissioned the piece: Three women and 5 men (Two sopranos, one alto, three tenors, a baritone, and a bass). Because Beny has been a proponent and lover of choral music, I also endeavoured to create a piece that would have melodic accessibility together with compositional sophistication.’
Two other highlights to the piece are that Eric Abramovitz, principal clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, plays the clarinet part for this recording, and the second is the ending or chatimah.
He adds: “The chatimah — the final seal of the prayer — quotes from ‘O Canada’– the nation’s National Anthem. Since Beny has had a huge impact on the Jewish community of Toronto and, by extension, the larger Canadian Jewish community, it is the final jewel in the crown of Beny’s legacy expressed in the work.”
I am also pleased to share with you that Cantorial soloist Lindi River and I personally visited with Beny a few weeks ago to present him with the recording. He was very touched by it, and it brought
him great joy and an uplift as he continues to endure aggressive treatments for his battle with cancer.
I hope you enjoy the recording, and may we continue to make and create beautiful music at Holy Blossom for many generations to come.
B’shira
Cantor David Rosen
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From Cantor David Rosen & Rabbi Eliza McCarroll
For those of you who took part in the UJA’s walk with Israel this past Sunday, perhaps you too felt a sense of solidarity that was both empowering and embracing. The sight of 50,000 people walking to show their support not only for Israel but for our local and global Jewish community just felt so right…something that all of us need during a time when we have been feeling quite isolated. It was also so wonderful to see many non-Jewish participants who came to show their solidarity and support.
Despite the dark cloud that hovers over our people and the State of Israel, we also know that music can play an integral part in making us feel whole at times when we feel broken. As the Chassidic teaching, found in our Siddur Pirchei Kodesh, goes: “Say your prayer in the melody that is most pleasant and sweet for you … because the melody will draw your heart after the words spoken from your mouth”. This speaks to the power of music to say and make us feel things that words alone sometimes cannot accomplish. It can also bring faiths and different beliefs together through song and harmony, something that every one of us can feel good about.
Over the next 5 days, Holy Blossom will welcome Cantor Pavel Roytman from Chicago along with his “Kol Zimrah, Community Choir of Chicago.” Cantor Roytman will join us for Friday night and Saturday morning services and his choir will be here next Tuesday, June 18th as we present, “Journey of Sacred Sound,” a concert celebrating the diversity and depth of sacred music from four different faith communities. The concert will feature a 120-voice combined choir (including our own Temple Singers) and will take place at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church at 7:30 pm. No registration or tickets are required and there is a suggested $20 donation that one can make at the door.
We are very grateful to Elaine Choi, Music Director of Timothy Eaton and Reverend Jason Byassee, who along with their community, have continued to open their doors in support of the Jewish community and Israel since October 7th and have graciously offered to host this concert. The concert will feature new compositions as well as familiar works, including excerpts from the incredible Ernest Bloch, “Avodat Hakodesh” – “Sacred Service’.
As another Chassidic saying teaches: “there are castles in the upper spheres which only open to song”. There is no doubt that the glorious voices of these wonderful singers will open the heavens to the incredible sound of these faith communities coming together in song and solidarity.
Please click here for concert details: https://holyblossom.org/journey-of-sacred-sound/
In addition to the evening concert at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, the “Kol Zimrah, Community Choir of Chicago” will be performing at Holy Blossom Temple earlier that day, June 18th, at 11 am, for a special Dorot program and lunch in the Mishkan. It will be a fun “practice run” for our choirs and a meaningful collaboration event for our Wisdom Generation. If you would like to join us for this event, please click the link below to register.
https://holyblossom.org/event/dorot-presents-kol-zimra-jewish-community-choir/
In addition to the evening concert on June 18th at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, the “Kol Zimrah, Community Choir of Chicago, will also be performing at Holy Blossom Temple earlier in the day at 11:00 am for a special Dorot program and Lunch in the Mishkan. If you would like to join us for this event, please click the link below to register.
https://holyblossom.org/event/dorot-presents-kol-zimra-jewish-community-choir/
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Founded in 1856, Holy Blossom Temple is Toronto’s first synagogue with a rich history of tradition and modernity in our religious and spiritual expression.