A special Shabbat of cantorship was enjoyed by the visitors of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. Despite the atmosphere of anxiety and tension that prevails these days, and some would say because of it, the worshippers ascended to the heights and experienced a particularly moving and strengthening spiritual experience.
On the special Shabbat, the synagogue hosted the world-renowned cantor Yaakov Motzen and the 'Voices of Israel' choir, conducted and musically directed by Yaakov (Yankela) Rotner, which included about sixty singers from three different municipal choirs - Netanya, Kfar Saba and Modi'in.
On Saturday evening, before the Sabbath even began, the cantor and choir arrived at the synagogue for a dress rehearsal. At the same time, the first worshippers began to stream in to grab a good seat.
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About half an hour before the start of the prayer, crowds of people from all walks of life and denominations could already be seen on the main road to the synagogue and in the surrounding streets, on their way to participate in this unique experience, while even earlier, hotels in the area were fully booked with guests arriving from all over the country.
As the prayer service began, the synagogue hall was filled to capacity, despite the absence of many of the regular worshippers, either because they had been drafted into reserve service or because of the great stress and concern for their sons who were somewhere on the battlefield and preferred to pray close to home.
And as if those present needed another reminder of the difficult security situation prevailing in the country, special instructions were given before the prayer on how to act in an emergency if an alarm sounds.
During the Shabbat reception, the cantor and choir sang many and varied compositions, including "Shemaa and Tishmaach Zion," "Ma Gedalu," and "Moshe and Aharon" by Carlebach, to which the entire audience joined.
Unlike the established custom in the synagogue, according to which the prayer is in the Ashkenazi version only, those present refused to give up Pintzik's famous work "Reza Dashbet", and added the passage to the prayer in an unusual way, with the cantor and choir performing it in an astonishing manner, to the delight of the large audience.
Between Shabbat and evening prayers, two chapters of Psalms were recited to mark the occasion, and those who wished the IDF soldiers in battle that they would return home safely, immediately following which they began evening prayers, in which the cantor and choir performed several works - "Ha'Me'ir Ben'i," "Shish'inu," and more.
Whoever greeted the IDF soldiers
The morning prayer was opened by Cantor Yaakov Motzen with "Shochen Ad" and the choir joined him in various prayer sections, performing more and less well-known pieces. It is impossible not to mention the section "Ahaba Rabah", when the cantor poured his heart out in a particularly moving performance with spectacular improvisation.
There was great excitement in the synagogue when the cantor Yaakov Motzen, the chief military cantor Shai Abramson, joined the performance of the 'Prayer for the Peace of the State'. After that, they opened the Holy Ark and recited two chapters of Tehillim, with the highlight being the prayer 'He who has blessed the soldiers of the IDF,' which was said with great supplication and an outpouring of a special melody by the cantors and choir.
Speaking to Cantors10, synagogue sheriff Yossi Kozlik excitedly recounted that he saw many people shed tears upon hearing this moving performance. He also noted that the synagogue's custom is to add to the standard text and include in this prayer "police officers from the Israel Police and Border Guard, and members of the security and intelligence branches.".
Following the prayer, the cantor sang his famous composition 'Yizcherem', with the audience joining him in the chorus 'We have sung the nations with Him... and He will avenge His enemies' - words that are most appropriate for this period. At the introduction of the book into the sanctuary, the cantor and the choir performed the composition 'Be'evor David', and in the Musaf prayer they performed additional compositions, Be'Kedushah, Reza, 'Hashir She'Levi'im' and 'Adon Olam'.
According to many of the worshippers, this Shabbat can be called a historic event, both in terms of the quality of the cantor and choir and in terms of the uplifting atmosphere that the many worshippers experienced and the hope of everyone that their prayers would be answered and the soldiers would succeed in their mission and return safely to their homes.
