♦ Cinematheque icon Lia van Leer, who died two weeks ago, can be credited not only with pioneering the network of cinematheques around the country but also with introducing Shabbat screenings. In fact, the Edery brothers, who are trying to overcome the hurdles that prevent Shabbat screenings at Cinema City, would have done well to consult with her. When the first screenings of classic films took place on Friday nights at Beit Agron, which was the temporary home of the cinematheque until it was permanently established in its present location, there were weekly Friday night protest demonstrations by large groups of haredim led by Meir Porush, who was then a fiery red-bearded activist. Part of the reason for haredi opposition to Shabbat screenings at Beit Agron was that the land on which Beit Agron was built was made available by the Jerusalem Municipality. Cinema City is likewise not built on privately owned land, which is one of the arguments that is brought up to prevent it from showing films on Friday nights and Saturdays, while the cinematheque continues with weekend screenings. ♦ It's sad when a father is prevented by police from joining his son in prayer on the morning before his wedding. That's what happened last week on election day when David Feiglin, the son of former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, ascended the Temple Mount on the morning prior to his wedding. His father would have loved to accompany him but was forbidden to do so in accordance with a decree issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It would have been important at any time for Feiglin to go up to the Temple Mount, but particularly so with regard to his son, who had been severely injured in a traffic accident in 2010 and had hovered between life and death while Feiglin's followers prayed for his recovery. ♦ Of all the hymns in the Jewish liturgy, one of the best known is “Adon Olam,” which is sung in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi congregations at the conclusion of Saturday morning prayers. Due to its metrical rhythm, the poem ascribed most frequently to Solomon Ibn Gabirol, who lived in the 11th century, is easily set to music, and many composers have added to the repertoire of melodies to which it is sung. Last Friday morning, six choirs gathered at the Moreshet Yisrael Synagogue to sing versions of “Adon Olam.” The synagogue was filled to capacity with singers and audience, and it was quite fascinating to hear the different styles of music and the mood-changing in relation to how different composers and arrangers had interpreted the lyrics. Credit for the event goes to Anat Rubinstein, the conductor of the Meitar Choir of the Moreshet Yisrael Synagogue, who conceived the idea and put her whole heart and soul into the project, with a little of help from Salome Rebello, the Mumbai-born conductor of the choir of the External Studies Institute of the Jerusalem Academy of Music, as well as of the Hallel community choir of Hebrew Union College. Rebello put all the choir members through their paces for nearly half an hour before the concert started. First she gave them looseningup physical exercises, followed by voice exercises, and finally got them to sing a Gregorian chant before the concert actually started. She led the chant with her own melodious voice. In Israel, the best-known melody for Adon Olam is arguably the one composed by Uzi Hitman because it is played so frequently on radio and is often featured on TV as well. Strangely enough, that particular melody was omitted from the concert. Some of the melodies were familiar, some were not, especially the Indian melodies introduced by Rebello, based on the songs she sang in synagogue as a child. The choir that received the loudest and most sustained applause was the award-winning Hemiola Women's Choir, which operates under the auspices of the Levinsky College of Education in Tel Aviv. Another recipient of enthusiastic applause was soloist Svetlana Kundish, who sang a 17th-century Italian Baroque tune. In addition to the four choirs mentioned above, the two other choirs were the Ramot Zion Choir from French Hill and the Ma'aleh Adumim Chamber Choir. Some of the voices were absolutely outstanding, pointing to the degree of almost untapped talent in Israel. It would also appear that either there are more good female singers than males or that women are more interested than men in joining choirs. Males were greatly outnumbered among the choristers.
MK Moshe Feiglin near the Western Wall after ascending the Temple Mount.