Join 8th Day for the Mayors Family Chanukah Concert, with Aristov Family Circus! Tuesday December 20th, at 6:30 PM. Go to www.ChabadRC.org for more info.
From www.kickstarter.com and colllive.com
“Rainbow in the Night,” a breathtaking music video of epic proportion, produced by Danny Finkelman and composed by Cecelia Margulies, stars Ari Raskin and his sister Leah Raskin of Crown Heights.
By Sandy Eller
Seventy two years have elapsed since the German invasion of Poland and as time progresses, the number of people who can recount the stories of the atrocities that occurred during the darkest period in our history continues to grow smaller and smaller. As the voices of those who survived World War II weaken with age, those who deny the Holocaust are becoming more and more vocal as they spread their malicious lies worldwide.
While Steven Spielberg’s epic film Schindler’s List made the horrors of World War II real for so many, there is an entire generation who know nothing of the inhumanity that occurred nearly three quarters of a century ago.
Raised on sound bites and video clips, today’s youth has no interest in lengthy films or perusing weighty volumes of history. Yet, there is no question that the memories of the six million who died and the stories of those who miraculously survived the most unspeakable period in Jewish history must be kept alive for both this and future generations.
Faced with this daunting challenge, composer, writer and producer Cecelia Margulies has teamed up with producer and director Danny Finkelman and created Rainbow in the Night, a breathtaking music video of epic proportion, featuring magnificent cinematography and poignant vocals that will bring the Holocaust to life in a powerful YouTube video that will transport the viewer back to World War II Poland for just five short minutes.
Filming is already underway for this first ever music video about the holocaust, which will show a glimpse into the past, present and future of a World War II survivor.
Filmed in Krakow, New York and the Majdanek concentration camp, Rainbow in the Night features a cast of thirty actors, a crew of twenty and the inspiring voice of Cantor Yanky Lemmer singing the title track, composed for this historical opus by Margulies.
Featuring glimpses of pre-war Poland, haunting scenes shot inside the extermination camp, the moment of liberation and a glorious finale featuring Judaism’s greatest triumph against the Germans – hundreds of Jewish children proudly continuing the legacy that the Nazis hoped to extinguish – Rainbow in the Night is a stunning production that will capture both the horrors of the war and the unimpeachable resilience that defines the Jewish nation.
Rainbow in the Night, which has already caught the attention of Reuters, is slated for released in both New York and Jerusalem in January.
Co-Producers of this project include the Rabbi Leib Geliebter Memorial Foundation, by Director Dr. Joseph Geliebter, as well as Sigmund Rolat and Lev Rivkin.
With their unerring eye for detail and authenticity, the producers of this epic clip are doing their utmost to ensure that this most important chapter in the annals of Jewish history remain forever etched in the minds and hearts of Jews worldwide.
Hot on the Heels of the Camp Simcha Girls We are Golden Music video The Boys of Camp Simcha Have Released Their own music video Lighting Up The Night
On August 23, 2011 Camp Simcha, an overnight camp for children battling cancer and other hematological illnesses, visited the Statue of Liberty to help light up the world. We created this video to empower others to brighten the world for children battling cancer. Everyone had a blast making this video and we hope you enjoy it as well.
Each summer, 400 seriously ill children are treated to unforgettable, medically supervised overnight camp experiences at Camp Simcha, for children battling cancer and other hematological illnesses, and Camp Simcha Special, for children with debilitating chronic conditions.
At Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special, children and teens trade hospital rooms and doctors’ offices for fun, friendship, and hope for the future. Campers enjoy traditional camp activities in fully handicapped-accessible facilities. Talent shows, concerts, and helicopter, hot-air, and motorcycle rides make every day super-special.
Campers return home reinvigorated, with deep friendships and happy memories to help them travel the rough road ahead.
E
Original song ‘Tonight Tonight’ by Hot Chelle Rae – No copyright infringement intended
Lighting Up The Night lyrics by Binyamin Zwickler
Video shot and edited by Gi Orman of BIG Productions http://bigprod.net & Akiva Bomzer
Music recorded & mixed by Mikey Holder, Al Schneider, Benji Weintraub, & Zevi Kaufman
Choreography by Scott Moerdler & Moshe Daphna
Logistics by Shaindy Lowenthal, Ephraim Shapiro, & Zalmi Finn
Special thanks to Shaindy Lowenthal, Ari Dembitzer, Epraim Shapiro, Avromi Foxman, Moshe Deutsch, Nachman Calko, Eli Lipschitz, Yossi Stern, & Yechezkel Wagner
Lighting Up The Night Lyrics
Its been a really crazy past two weeks
I made a couple friends, and I got a little taller
My Hands hurting, signing pictures of me
But I was born to do it, and the lines not getting smaller
La la la, you know it, la la la, let me hear you, la la la sababa, la la la
Were gonna light up the night, tonight
Theres a party up in Simcha cuz were fighting with love
Theres light tonight, better change your plans gonna have a good time
Our arms will never tire, well raise our torches higher
Its alright alright well shine tonight
You can catch us hanging by the pool
You know there won’t be lunch, not without the music blasting
And they said we shouldn’t break the rules
But tonight has gotta be epic
La la la, we all say, la la la, sweet, la la la come on now, la la la
Were gonna light up the night, tonight
Theres a party up in Simcha cuz were fighting with love
Theres light tonight, better change your plans gonna have a good time
Our arms will never tire, well raise our torches higher
Its alright, alright well shine tonight
Whoah, oh oh oh, whoah, oh oh oh
X2 Just don’t stop lets keep the beat pumpin’
Keep the beat up, lets drop the beat down
Its our party dance if you want to
Feet on the ground and hands in the cloud
Theres people dancing when the boys are around
They call it chillin when we turn up the sound
Kulanu smeichim v’nehenim poh
Ya Simcha lets go
Whoah, all together now, oh oh oh, kulanu b’yachad
Whoah, satlanim, oh oh oh, lets go camp simcha
Were gonna light up the night, tonight
Theres a party up in Simcha cuz were fighting with love
Theres light tonight, better change your plans gonna have a good time
Our arms will never tire, well raise our torches higher
Its alright alright well shine tonight
Whoah, l’heragah, oh oh oh, party, whoah, splendid, oh, oh, oh
Just don’t stop lets keep the beat pumpin
Keep the beat up, lets drop the beat down
Its our party dance if you want to
Feet on the ground and hands in the cloud
Just don’t stop lets keep the beat pumpin
Keep the beat up, lets drop the beat down
Its our party dance if you want to
Feet on the ground and hands in the cloud
Saul Kaye is a fine blues musician (see my 2010 post) who’s exploring the intersections of Jewish and African lyrical and musical traditions. As he puts it…
“Jews have been enslaved in many countries over the centuries including Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Rome, Greece, Germany, and Malta. So, like the African Slave experience proved to be a catalyst for blues, so the path of Jewish history fostered its own form of soulful tears, from Jews crying out in Egyptian slavery ( Exodus) to the prophet Jeremiah weeping over the destruction of the Temple in Eicha ( Lamentations ) , Jews know the pain of spiritual crisis and call to Hashem with their own form of blues. You can hear it in the synagogue when the Torah and the books of Prophets are read, chanted in tropes passed down through time, recounting forbearers’ sorrows on days of tragedy like Tisha B’Av, or remembering celebrations of freedom on Passover, when Jews recall the Israelite’s “Song at the Sea,” as the waters of freedom parted.”
Kaye is experimenting with a new online approach to giving concerts between his live shows. Every night this month (August, 2011) except for Saturday night, he’s giving an intimate live show via StageIt.com. The shows are at 9pm US Eastern / 6pm US Pacific time. I just found out last week and haven’t caught one yet, but will try to catch tonight’s show. I’m not exactly clear how StageIt works, but I get the impression that Kaye’s shows are a ‘pay what you feel appropriate’ sort of thing.
I’m excited to catch one of the shows. This is a great opportunity for folks not in one of the big metro areas to catch a really talented performer. Check it out.
To give you a taste, here’s Kaye playing the Desert Blues.
Update: I caught the Saul Kaye show on StageIt last night and thought I’d report on both Kaye’s performance and on StageIt. Kaye gave a casual 30 minute, from his living-room, performance, that included songs from his new albums, a few covers, some ‘day in the life’ stories and some chat with the audience. For a new fan (e.g. me) it was a great opportunity to get to know Kaye a bit and see that he really has the vocal and guitar chops you hear on the album. Now I really want to see him live.
The StageIt experience was reasonably good. Sign-in was easy (it took my Facebook account info). I was able to buy worth of ‘notes’ to use as my ticket to the show and then another worth to leave as a tip. The division of ticket and tip is smart. It gave me two different opportunity to decide how much I valued the performance, both before the show started and during the show. Sound quality was surprisingly good, though I suffered with some occasional screen buffering (which was probably a problem at my end).
One interesting thing is that Kaye was playing to a rather small audience, but has been doing so all month. He didn’t get rich on last nights show, but brought in a few bucks and made at least one new fan (me!).
All in all the StageIt experience was a good one and I’ll be interested in seeing if other bands start using it as a way to stay connected with their fans between tours and to build audiences in places they haven’t played yet.
I just got back from a fun night at my synagogue which included a talk on Mussar by one of the congregants and a talk (and concert and singalong) on Jewish lullabies by our Cantor Annie Rose. Mostly I enjoyed the lullabye part. Go figure. (The Mussar talk seemed to be well received by everyone but me. I found the speaker to approach it from a fuzzy faux-spiritualized self-help perspective that was sadly disconnected from any Jewish meaning. I’m just cranky I guess) The lullabies were great, though.
I know a bit about Yiddish and Ladino lullabies but Cantor Rose brought up a number of points that I didn’t know including….
1. Lullabies typically express the yearnings of the mother, sometimes for the return of an absent father, sometimes for the future of the child, sometimes for love or peace
2. Lullabies typically tell a story, even if it’s just the story of the day’s activities and dilemmas
3. Yiddish and Ladino lullabies have a strong sense of Jewish culture and community, with common references to rabbis, prayers, and Torah study, Jewish superstitions (white goats are lucky), and Jewish experiences (the father conscripted into the army, merchant trades)
4. Did I say that white goats are lucky? Yep. Having one under your bed is a good thing. Really.
My favorite of the night was Unter Dem Kinds Vigele (Beneath the Baby’s Cradle). The lyrics, which include a white goat, are:
| 1. Unter dem kinds vigele | Beneath the baby’s cradle |
| Shteyt a vayse tsigele. | Stands a white kid. |
| Di tsigele iz geforn handlen | The kid has gone away to trade |
| Rozhinkes mit mandlen; | In raisins and almonds. |
|
Rozhinkes mit mandlen iz zeyer zis, |
Raisins and almonds are very sweet, |
| Mayn kind vet zayn gezunt un frish. | My child will be healthy and alert. |
| Gezunt iz di beste skhoyre, | Health is the best of goods, |
| Mayn kind vet lernen toyre, | My child will study Torah; |
| Toyre vet er lernen, | Torah is what he’ll study, |
| Sforim vet er shraybn, | He will write holy books. |
| A guter un a frumer | A good and a pious person |
| Vet er im yirtse hashem blaybn. | will he stay, God willing. |
Unfortunately, I can’t find a good version online to share. So here’s Hannah Roth singing the lovely Yiddish lullabye “Shlof Mayn Kind (Rest my kid),” Lyrics by Shalom Aleichem.
