Havdalah

Havdalah

I’ve written in a previous article about Reuben Caplin (Ruby), my voice teacher and choral conductor at the reform temple that I sang at many years ago; well here’s another Ruby story.

I had been singing at the temple for a short time, and was starting to find my niche as the tenor cantorial soloist. I came for my voice lesson as usual on Tuesday morning, and halfway through the lesson Ruby stops me, and asks me a question.

“Phil, you know that I’m also in charge as the conductor of the Jewish Singing Society, locally; a great bunch of singers! Most of them are much older than you. There’s a piece of music that I’ve always wanted to do at a concert, but I didn’t have the tenor to sing the main part. I thought you’d be great! It’s simply called Havdalah by a tremendous Jewish composer by the name of Zavel Zilbert, it’s tremendous!”

“Ruby”, I said, “no disrespect intended, but are you crazy?! I’ve heard about the Jewish Singing Society, and they’re great! I’m just a kid!”

“You may be a kid Phil, but you can sing. I’ll teach it to you, and when we’re ready, we’ll rehearse it with the Singing Society.”

Weeks went by and Ruby drilled me with Havdalah. After three weeks, I rehearsed it with the Singing Society. They loved it, and in two weeks I sang it at a concert. The audience loved it and gave the Singing Society and me a standing ovation. Afterwards Ruby said to me, “not bad for a Kid.”

Related Articles

More From Prose

T'shuvah

T'shuvah is the Hebrew word, for lack of a better term, meaning return. The Jewish writer Erich…
T'shuvah

Bagel Chats

As I was growing up in my Jewish world there were numerous bagel chats with my friends.
Bagel Chats

Surges of Hope

As I write this, not only do I write it for you, but for me as well. This has been a…
Surges of Hope

Quiet Desperation

The writer and great thinker Thoreau wrote “most people lead lives of quiet desperation and go…
Quiet Desperation

Belev Echad

Belev Echad (“One Heart” in Hebrew) is an organization that brings wounded Israeli Defense…
Belev Echad

A Fishy Tale

I received a fish tank in my teens. I’m not sure if it was for my birthday or some other…
A Fishy Tale

Clifford Goldstein

Clifford Goldstein will tell you that his family tree is full of typewriters, pens, and books.…
Clifford Goldstein

Sick Logic and Biblical Wisdom

I was in a training class for a new job. One day the teacher mentioned that we had been exposed…
Sick Logic and Biblical Wisdom

Follow the Recipe

 don’t know why, but as risk free as I like to be in life, when it comes to following recipes…
Follow the Recipe

Rabbi Joe Kagan

Rabbi Joe Kagan had a beautiful tenor voice. At age 13 he sang at Carnegie Hall. He was very…
Rabbi Joe Kagan

Dorchester

On February 3, 1943 a torpedo struck the S.S. Dorchester. Chaos reigned on board as the boat…
Dorchester

Sophie Stillman

Most American college graduates choose to start families, launch careers, and settle down into…
Sophie Stillman

Bolster Your Memory

ne special evening many years ago a small group of family members began sharing memorized…
Bolster Your Memory

Bad Egg

When I was little I really loved living things in general and liked to keep them as pets. I had…
Bad Egg

Judy Field Carr - Miss Judy

For thirty years, the Jews of Syria knew that in the free world was a mysterious woman, "Miss…
Judy Field Carr - Miss Judy

Great Bad Timing

I was rushing to go to work since I started driving later than I would have liked, but I knew I…
Great Bad Timing

Angry with the GPS

I was not having a good day. I didn’t feel very well, and I woke up around 4:00 in the morning…
Angry with the GPS

Publish the Menu module to "offcanvas" position. Here you can publish other modules as well.
Learn More.