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

Cyril Miller

Cyril Miller has seen God answer many prayers in his life. When Cyril was about 14 years old,…
Cyril Miller

Conquering the Monster of Fear

Years ago the picture on the front of a church bulletin depicted a lovely bird perched on the…
Conquering the Monster of Fear
The Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever

It was Sabbath and I was going to go on a walk with my mom after eating a wonderful lunch, but…
The Golden Retriever

The Kinsmen Cowboys

As I was growing up I’d always heard about the Lower East Side of New York City. I grew up in…
The Kinsmen Cowboys

Corrie Ten Boom

The Nazis arrested Corrie and the rest of the ten Boom family in Febuary 1944. Ten days after…
Corrie Ten Boom

Snails and Spinach

When Dona was a young girl she was supposed to cook some spinach for her father because he had…
Snails and Spinach

Joshua Sink

From as early as Joshua Sink could remember he had a passion for flying. While children…
Joshua Sink

God’s Care

Most of the time I prefer to write humorous, light hearted things. This time I want to write…
God’s Care

A Zionist Muslim

It's rare to find a Zionist Muslim, rarer yet to see one speak publicly about his support of…
A Zionist Muslim
Dummies

Dummies

As I look at my bookshelf . . . for the new generation, a bookshelf, usually made out of wood,…
Dummies

My Effort

There are some things that we do that don't make as much sense as we think they do. One of…
My Effort

Bolster Your Memory

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

East 105th Street

I grew up on East 105th Street, in Cleveland, Ohio. I went to Gracemont Elementary school. My…
East 105th Street

The Bar Mitzvah Boys

Bobby and I were friends for as long as I can remember. We not only had a bond of close…
The Bar Mitzvah Boys

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


donation