When I think of Shabbat, I think of all of the wonderful music that accompanies this once a week holiday. From the blessings over the candles, wine and challah, to the melodies we sing at the Shabbat table- z’mirot, to the special Shabbat melodies we use in the synagogue for Shabbat services each week. Shabbat is a very musical day.

Shabbat is a great day for so many reasons. It’s the only day mentioned in the Ten Commandments “Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy” It’s a day when you can forget your troubles and be at peace....sort of a taste of the “world to come”. It’s a major “time out” for all of G-d’s creatures.

Growing up back in Philadelphia, I can remember my grandmother – we called her “Bubba” baking challah and making chicken soup on Fridays. My mother always got her hair done before Shabbat. I use to walk to synagogue on Saturday mornings, so I could sing in the Youth Corale – our synagogue youth choir. I loved going to Kinnusim – Shabbat week-ends as a USYer, where all of us teens got to experience Shabbat together…singing and dancing non-stop for an entire weekend. Shabbat at the Kotel, the Western Wall in Jerusalem at age 16 changed my life. I journeyed there which USY Israel Pilgrimage.  Shabbat in Safed with Laura at the Synagogue of Abuhav twenty-two years ago was also a memorable Shabbat experience.

These memories of the tastes, the smells, the sounds and the feelings of Shabbat cannot be forgotten. They have a special place in my soul and I constantly draw on these memories, even today and it instantly brings a smile to my face and to my heart.

I hope all of you can find a way to celebrate Shabbat at home and with us at Temple Beth Ami. So…take a break. You can use it!

B’Shalom,
Cantor Kenny Ellis

 

 

I hope everyone had a magnificent summer. It’s now time to get ready for the High Holy Days . . . a time of reflection and introspection. The Yamim Noraim are to be used as a time when we search our souls to see if we can make ourselves better people. We start by asking forgiveness from those we might have wronged during the past year. Then, on Yom Kippur, we ask G-d to forgive us in the prayer V’al Kulam. It’s written in the plural, “For the sin that we have sinned . . . .”  It’s also a time when we can change our ways – being good to each other and looking for the good in others.

The music of the High Holy Days is especially uplifting and spiritual. We don’t sing the prayers on the   Yamim Noraim quite the same as we do at any other time of the year.

Rabbi Blazer and I, along with our wonderful choir under the direction of Eileen Weiser, are working hard to make this year’s services a most musically spiritual experience. Beautiful harmony will be filling our “Grand Ballroom Sanctuary” at the Hyatt Valencia. I hope all of you will join us, sing along with us, and pray together with us.

Laura, Adam, Aaron and I wish you all a Shana Tova U’metuka - a Happy, Healthy and Sweet New Year!

B’Shalom,

Cantor Kenny Ellis

For many years every August I attended a conference which was located on a different university campus each year called “CAJE - The Conference for the Advancement of Jewish Education.” The conference drew close to 2,000 Jewish educators, principals, rabbis, cantors and lay people annually from all over the globe who come to discuss ways to teach Judaism, Hebrew and Israel.  We studied together, prayed together, ate together, sang together, and shared our ideas. My role for 15 years at these conferences was being the M.C. at opening or closing ceremonies, performing at comedy night, and lecturing about Jewish music during the day.

Unfortunately, CAJE went bankrupt in 2009. However, the NewCAJE started a few years ago and this year it will be at UCLA and Sinai Temple in Westwood. NewCAJE draws about 500 attendees. I will be the M.C. and will be doing my Listen, Laugh & Learn class there as well (similar to the class I teach every month at the AJU). It should be very exciting. I will let you know how it goes at services.

Speaking of the High Holidays, choir rehearsals begin this month. Eileen Weiser has been working hard on some exciting arrangements for the services. I can’t wait to share them with all of you at the Valencia Hyatt.  The first rehearsal will be after the Open House on Sunday, August 17th at 1:30 p.m. at TBA. By the way, there’s always room for more if you’re interested in joining us!

B’Shalom

Cantor Kenny Ellis

On Friday night, May 9th, I will be singing songs to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. These songs are dedicated to Israel’s 66 years and brings back many memories for me, personally.

I was involved in USY in my teens first, as a member, then as a vice-president of my chapter which followed a year as president. I then went on to be on the regional board of Philadelphia Region USY and went to Israel in 1969 with USY Israel Pilgrimage -- a trip which changed my life.

I got to go on this trip with kids from all over the US and Canada and we lived together, prayed together, and ate together and toured Israel together for seven weeks. Our home base was in Jerusalem at a small hotel on the corner of Hanivi’im and Strauss Streets called the “San Remo.” I am still in touch with almost all of those who went on that trip that summer. We even had three reunions where we brought pictures and memorabilia from the trip.

I still have the carry-on bag that El Al Airlines gave us as a gift. It’s still filled with napkins from restaurants, ticket stubs from the cable car at Rosh Hanikra, and from the Israeli version of “My Fair Lady” that we saw in Tel Aviv. There are soaps and brochures from different tourist attractions and places from the Bible we visited. I even have a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes box in Hebrew! I also saved a plastic bag that held peaches with “Sde Boker” printed on it. That’s the Kibbutz in the Negev that David Ben Gurion established and lived in until his death in 1973.

Since that trip, I’ve been back to Israel nine times and each time I get off the plane, I feel as if I am home. It’s an incredible feeling. I’ve been to other countries and I have to say that when you visit a foreign country you taste different things, you smell different smells, you hear different sounds and you see different sights. In Israel you do all of that plus, you feel something so wonderful, you can’t describe it in words.

If you’ve been there, only you know what I mean. If you haven’t been there yet, keep it on your list of to do’s. I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed.

Happy 66th Birthday to you, Israel. We love you!!

B’shalom,

Cantor Kenny Ellis

This year is a leap year in the Jewish calendar and so we have not just one day added, but an entire month - Adar I and Adar II!  Adar I starts on February 1st and ends on March 2nd, so all the fun Jewish holiday stuff happens next month at Purim!

In the meantime, we will spice it up for February with a little fun Musical Shabbat on Friday, February 21st.   The Hassidic Song festival began in Israel in 1969 and basically took the prayers we do and had modern composers write new melodies to these prayers. Some examples are – “Oseh Shalom”and “V’haer Eineinu” from 1969, “Yedid Nefesh” from 1970 and “Adan Olam” from 1976.  Come and sing along with the ones you know and learn some new melodies.

Hope to see you there.

B’shalom,

Cantor Kenny

How unusual to say this but, Hanukkah was here and gone. I can’t remember when it was this early

and from what I hear, it’s going to be awhile before it happens again. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgivukkah! Thanks to all of you who got “Hanukkah Swings!” and for all the wonderful feedback!

FYI -next year, Hanukkah will be from December 16th through the 24th and the next “weirdest” Hanukkah will be in 2016, when it begins on December 24th and the last candle will be lit on New Year’s Eve! Hanukkah is always a fun time for all of us. Whether if it is early or late, it’s always great!!

So, have a great December. We’re planning some fun Shabbat themes for the New Year, beginning with “New Member Shabbat on January 10th featuring the Ellis Island Family Klezmer Band.

In the meantime, the Ellis family wishes all of you a Happy, Healthy 2014!

B’shalom,

Cantor Kenny Ellis

This year we are experiencing the convergence of two great holidays at the same time. Hanukkah begins on the night before Thanksgiving which means that we will be lighting the second candle of Hanukkah as we sit down for our annual turkey dinner. This brings many interesting and weird pictures to my mind – Pilgrims spinning the dreidel, Native Americans eating latkes – it’s all so 2013. Enjoy your turkey and latkes…this won’t be happening again – mark your calendars – for another 79,000 years!!!!

Every year, on the evening before Thanksgiving, I participate in the Conejo Valley Interfaith Association’s Community Thanksgiving Service. However, this year I was thrilled when they asked me to light the first candle on the Menorah at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Community Church in Thousand Oaks for the entire community to experience. They even made the theme for this year “Light” in honor of the two holidays coming together.

 

In the meantime, my “Hanukkah Swings!” cd which was rated #1 at Amazon last Hanukkah was recently picked up by HSN – Home Shopping Network – very exciting!

So, Laura, Adam, Aaron and I wish you and your family a very

Happy  tHANksgivUKKAH !!

B’shalom,

Cantor Kenny Ellis