Most Octobers are filled with Jewish holidays. But, this year, because everything came so early, we 

don’t have one to speak about. However, for me and my family, this is one October we will never 

forget.

Our son Aaron turns 13 on October 4th

Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, closer to where we live. It’s so hard to believe that our Millennium baby 

or Y2K kid is already 13. This all happening in the year that my father turned 90 and I turned 60. So 

many simchas in one year, you could platz!

I am so excited that his Torah portion is “Lech L’cha” and I get to sing “L’chi Lach to him at the Bar 

Mitzvah. I have sung it for so many years for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and even at CAJE – the Conference 

for the Advancement of Jewish Education with Debbie Friedman of Blessed Memory, who wrote it. 

But, this is going to be really special for me and I hope for Aaron, too. 

Laura and I are also honored to have Rabbi Mark doing the “Priestly Blessing” over Aaron on this 

special day in our lives. Thank you, Rabbi. It means so much to us to have you representing our TBA 

family.

B’shalom,

Cantor Kenny Ellis

I hope everyone had a magnificent summer. But now it’s
time to get back to school and back to shul! Believe it or not, it’s now time
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
adult choir, under the direction of Eileen Weiser, have worked very hard to make
this year’s services a most musically spiritual experience for everyone at our
“Grand Ballroom Sanctuary” at the Hyatt Regency Valencia.

 
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


 

Radio Hanukkah is an extensive collection of Hanukkah music, including contemporary, traditional and children’s Hanukkah selections.

You can hear selections from Cantor Kenny's "Hanukkah Swings!" on it.

Radio Hanukkah can be heard on SiriusXM Satellite Channel 69 and SiriusXM Internet Radio Channel 761 beginning December 8 - 17

Don't forget that my own CD, Hanukkah Swings, is available at Amazon.com and the Temple Beth Ami Judaica Shop!







Watch my Swigin' Dreidel video:

For the last few years at Temple Beth Ami, I have asked during Friday night services if there are any requests for special songs and even though I get many requests for Yiddish songs, Ladino songs and even Hebrew songs, the one that I've gotten the most requests for is Chiribim Chiribom. 

When I try to analyze why this song over many others, I can only guess that it's because the chorus is a "nigun" - a song without words. Nigunim are not only easy to sing, they are also fun. The "bim, bom’s" "dai, dai, dai's" need very little effort to repeat and whoever sings these is participating in the singing of a "Jewish" song or prayer. Not to mention the fact that anyone can sing them even if you don't speak Hebrew or Yiddish.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines a nigun as: "a wordless song sung by Hasidic Jews as a means of elevating the soul . . ." I simply call it "Jewish Soul Music." I hope to introduce some new nigunim at future Friday night services for you to enjoy.
 
In the meantime…when I say "bim", you say "bom!"

Since CAJE, The Conference for Alternatives in Jewish Education, the convention that I attended since 1991 went "belly up" in 2009, several cities put together "mini-CAJE's". CAJE was an annual conference of about two thousand Jewish Educators from all around the world. The mini-CAJE's are around fifty to a hundred educators.

This year, I was asked to be part of something new called, "NewCAJE". There were two hundred to four hundred Jewish Educators from all around the United States and Canada in attendance at Montclair University in Montclair, New Jersey. They asked me to be the MC for the opening evening program and bring my special class that I teach at the AJU – The American Jewish University, called "Listen, Laugh and Learn" which I taught to an SRO classroom.

They were very excited to have me on board again, since I have been deemed a "CAJE-Legend" during the last few years of CAJE. I was very excited to be part of this new endeavor.

The High Holy Days were fantastic. Rabbi Blazer and I, along with our adult choir, under the direction of Eileen Weiser, worked very hard to make this year's services a most musically spiritual experience for everyone. Beautiful harmonies filled our "Hyatt Sanctuary" at the Hyatt Regency Valencia Town Center.

The music of the High Holy Days is especially uplifting and spiritual. We don't sing the prayers quite like we do on the Yamim Noraim at any other time of the year. We hope you enjoyed the experience of this very special time of the year.

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