Yiddishkeit

Leon Wasser is definitely committed to the Yiddish language and Yiddish culture.

Yiddishkeit

Yiddiskeit literally means Jewishness in Yiddish. What does this mean?

The Jewish People

We all call from somewhere. Right? For the case of the Jews, we started in the land or Ur of Chaldeas in what we now call Mesopotamia. He migrated to the land of Canaan where he founded his home and made a pact with God to

Jewish Religion

While the Jewish people began with Abraham and his progeny, Isaac and Jacob – who was retitled Israel by God after his famous dream of the angels ascending and descending the ladder to heaven

The Hebrew Language

Jewish Music

Music has been a fundamental element of Jewish peoplehood and the Jewish religion from our earliest days. The Torah, or bible is treated as one long song, as it is chanted throughout the year. One of the highlights of the first five books of the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, is the “The Song of Miriam” which she sang immediately following the miraculous crossing of the Great Reed Sea by the Israelites who were just freed from slavery by God.

We have not rediscovered all the music that was sung and played by the earliest Hebrews, but we know that they used many instruments (called Klei Zemer – today rendered Klezmer). The Levites, the members of the biblical of Levy, were given special responsibility for leading the people in prayer and song, a responsibility the

Most famously they used the shofar or rams horn to accompany their voices to lead military campaigns in the conquest of Canaan – beginning with the shofars used by the Hebrews to bring down the walls of the ancient city of Jericho.

Perhaps the greatest poet, songwriter and musician of all time was King David. His book of Psalms still forms the core of the liturgy, or religious prayer books of Judaism and Christianity. aside from writing the lyrics of the Psalms, the musical scores – and them played the music to his community, the people of Israel.

The Yiddish Language