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{{short description|American hazzan and musician}}
{{short description|American hazzan and musician}}
'''Jack A. Kessler''' (born 1944) is an American [[hazzan]], musician, and educator. After working as a cantor for synagogues for 20 years, he organized several musical ensembles including ''Atzilut'', a group of Jewish and Arab musicians, which toured venues around the world including the [[United Nations]].<ref name="Saffren2023">{{cite news |url= https://www.jewishexponent.com/cantor-jack-kessler-honored-for-pursuing-peace-through-song/ |title=Cantor Jack Kessler Honored for Pursuing ‘Peace Through Song’ |first= Jarrad |last=Saffren |date=March 22, 2023 |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] }}</ref> He also adopted the practice of chanting [[Hebrew cantillation|trop]] for [[Haftara|haftarah]] and other biblical texts in both Hebrew and English to make the text more vivid and alive for [[synagogue]] worshippers.<ref name="Summit2016">{{cite book | last=Summit | first=Jeffrey A. | title=Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism |chapter=Music and the Interpretation of Meaning | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=July 1, 2016 | isbn=978-0-19-984408-1 | doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844081.003.0009 | pages=186–212 }}</ref>
'''Jack A. Kessler''' (born 1944) is an American [[hazzan]], musician, and educator. After working as a cantor for synagogues for 20 years, he organized several musical ensembles including ''Atzilut'', a group of Jewish and Arab musicians, which toured venues around the world including the [[United Nations]].<ref name="Saffren2023">{{cite news |url= https://www.jewishexponent.com/cantor-jack-kessler-honored-for-pursuing-peace-through-song/ |title=Cantor Jack Kessler Honored for Pursuing ‘Peace Through Song’ |first= Jarrad |last=Saffren |date=March 22, 2023 |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] }}</ref> He also adopted the practice of chanting [[Hebrew cantillation|trop]] for [[haftara]]h and other biblical texts in both Hebrew and English to make the text more vivid and alive for [[synagogue]] worshippers.<ref name="Summit2016">{{cite book | last=Summit | first=Jeffrey A. | title=Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism |chapter=Music and the Interpretation of Meaning | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=July 1, 2016 | isbn=978-0-19-984408-1 | doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844081.003.0009 | pages=186–212 }}</ref>


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Kessler was born in 1944 and grew up in [[Boston]].<ref name="Saffren2023"/><ref name="Tilman1997">{{cite news |url=
Kessler was born in 1944 and grew up in [[Boston]].<ref name="Saffren2023"/><ref name="Tilman1997">{{cite news |url=
https://www.proquest.com/docview/227259213/ |title=In Record Time: Kessler's Musical ‘Soul’ |last=Tilman |first=David F. |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] |date=May 29, 1997 |id={{ProQuest|227259213}} }}</ref> His parents had immigrated to the United States in 1941 to escape the [[Nazis]].<ref name="Saffren2023"/> His father, Rabbi Martin Kessler, taught him [[Nusach (Jewish music)|nusach]], the melodies associated with prayers at different [[Jewish holidays]].<ref name="Becker2010">{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/751426321/ |title=Klezwoods spins around the world |last=Becker |first=Jules |publisher=[[Jewish Advocate]] |date=September 3, 2010 |page=27 |id={{ProQuest|751426321}} }}</ref> As a teenager in the 1950s, Kessler played [[folk music]] on his guitar, but became interested in pursuing Jewish spiritual singing.<ref name="Saffren2023"/> He earned a master's degree in voice from [[Boston Conservatory]] and studied composition at [[Brandeis University]],<ref name="JR">{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/522527325/ |title=Jewish Renewal events set |publisher=[[The Capital Times]] |date=November 1, 2007 |page=D4 }}</ref> and graduated from the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America#Cantorial_school|Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary]] in 1970. He was influenced by the teachings of cantors [[David Kusevitzky]] and [[Max Wohlberg]], as well as the recordings of [[Leib Glantz]].<ref name="Tilman1997"/>
https://www.proquest.com/docview/227259213/ |title=In Record Time: Kessler's Musical ‘Soul’ |last=Tilman |first=David F. |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] |date=May 29, 1997 |id={{ProQuest|227259213}} }}</ref> His parents had immigrated to the United States in 1941 to escape the [[Nazis]].<ref name="Saffren2023"/> His father, Rabbi Martin Kessler, taught him [[Nusach (Jewish music)|nusach]], the melodies associated with prayers at different [[Jewish holidays]].<ref name="Becker2010">{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/751426321/ |title=Klezwoods spins around the world |last=Becker |first=Jules |publisher=[[Jewish Advocate]] |date=September 3, 2010 |page=27 |id={{ProQuest|751426321}} }}</ref> As a teenager in the 1950s, Kessler played [[folk music]] on his guitar, but became interested in pursuing Jewish spiritual singing.<ref name="Saffren2023"/> He earned a master's degree in voice from [[Boston Conservatory]] and studied composition at [[Brandeis University]],<ref name="JR">{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/522527325/ |title=Jewish Renewal events set |publisher=[[The Capital Times]] |date=November 1, 2007 |page=D4 }}</ref> and graduated from the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America#Cantorial school|Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary]] in 1970. He was influenced by the teachings of cantors [[David Kusevitzky]] and [[Max Wohlberg]], as well as the recordings of [[Leib Glantz]].<ref name="Tilman1997"/>


==Career==
==Career==
After graduating from cantorial school, Kessler served as a [[hazzan]] at [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] congregations. He served for 12 years at Temple Beth Shalom in [[Framingham, Massachusetts]]<ref name="Becker2010"/> before moving to Temple Beth Sholom in [[Smithtown, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/721484993/ |title=A Compendium of the Thanks, and the Giving |last1=Woodard |first1=Catherine |last2=Long |first2=Irving |date=November 23, 1984 |publisher=[[Newsday]] }}</ref> In 1985, he moved to [[Philadelphia]], where he served as hazzan at Germantown Jewish Centre and later Temple Sholom.<ref name="Tilman1997"/>
After graduating from cantorial school, Kessler served as a [[hazzan]] at [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] congregations. He served for 12 years at Temple Beth Shalom in [[Framingham, Massachusetts]]<ref name="Becker2010"/> before moving to Temple Beth Sholom in [[Smithtown, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/721484993/ |title=A Compendium of the Thanks, and the Giving |last1=Woodard |first1=Catherine |last2=Long |first2=Irving |date=November 23, 1984 |publisher=[[Newsday]] }}</ref> In 1985, he moved to [[Philadelphia]], where he served as hazzan at Germantown Jewish Centre and later Temple Sholom.<ref name="Tilman1997"/>


===''Atzilut''===
===''Atzilut''===
In 1991, Kessler organized an eight-member band called ''Atzilut'' to play [[Middle Eastern music|Middle Eastern]] and [[Sephardic music|Sephardic styles of Jewish music]], even though he was trained in the [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] tradition.<ref name="Bledsoe1995">{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/775766216/ |title=Musical meeting to foster meeting of minds |first=Wayne |last=Bledsoe |date=April 16, 1995 |publisher=[[Knoxville News Sentinel|The Knoxville News-Sentinel]] |page=Showtime 4 }}</ref> The band's name is drawn from from [[Kabbalah]], which describes four worlds or levels of spiritual energy, [[Atziluth|Atzilut]] being the highest. In 1993, members of ''Atzilut'' were having dinner at a restaurant where Arab musicians in the band ''Firkat Alamal: Band of Hope'' were performing. The two groups started playing together and realized they enjoyed making music with each other.<ref name="Bledsoe1995"/> In 1994, after the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre|Hebron massacre]], members of ''Atzilut'' and ''Firkat Alamal'' performed at a fundraising concert at the [[Painted Bride Art Center]] to raise money for Jewish-Arab reconciliation projects in Israel.<ref name="Salisbury1994">{{cite news |title=Jewish and Arab Bands Showing Unity |last=Salisbury |first=Stephan |publisher=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=March 9, 1994 |page=E.2 |id={{ProQuest|1840572222}} }}</ref> Soon after this concert they combined into one band<ref name=Haas2003>{{cite news |url= https://www.mcall.com/2003/05/25/atzilut-music-as-a-middle-east-peace-mission/ |title=Atzilut: Music as a Middle East peace mission |first=Susan |last=Haas |date=May 25, 2003 |publisher=[[The Morning Call]] |page=D1 |id={{Proquest|393064827}} }}</ref> and continued playing together<ref name="DailyTimes2003">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/282323616/ |title=Atzilut: Jewish and Arab musicians combine their musical talents, offer a concert for peace Wednesday at Salisbury University |date=April 24, 2003 |publisher=[[The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland)|The Daily Times]] |page=4 }}</ref> at venues such as the New York Folk Festival, the [[Copenhagen Opera House]] in [[Denmark]],<ref name="Saffren2023"/> and the [[United Nations]], where they received a standing ovation.<ref name=Haas2003/> Kessler has said that if Arabs and Jews can make music together they can live together in peace,<ref name="Saffren2023"/> noting that band members don't make speeches about coexistence and that the music is the message.<ref name=Bledsoe1995/>
In 1991, Kessler organized an eight-member band called ''Atzilut'' to play [[Middle Eastern music|Middle Eastern]] and [[Sephardic music|Sephardic styles of Jewish music]], even though he was trained in the [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] tradition.<ref name="Bledsoe1995">{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/775766216/ |title=Musical meeting to foster meeting of minds |first=Wayne |last=Bledsoe |date=April 16, 1995 |publisher=[[Knoxville News Sentinel|The Knoxville News-Sentinel]] |page=Showtime 4 }}</ref> The band's name is drawn from [[Kabbalah]], which describes four worlds or levels of spiritual energy, [[Atziluth|Atzilut]] being the highest. In 1993, members of ''Atzilut'' were having dinner at a restaurant where Arab musicians in the band ''Firkat Alamal: Band of Hope'' were performing. The two groups started playing together and realized they enjoyed making music with each other.<ref name="Bledsoe1995"/> In 1994, after the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre|Hebron massacre]], members of ''Atzilut'' and ''Firkat Alamal'' performed at a fundraising concert at the [[Painted Bride Art Center]] to raise money for Jewish-Arab reconciliation projects in Israel.<ref name="Salisbury1994">{{cite news |title=Jewish and Arab Bands Showing Unity |last=Salisbury |first=Stephan |publisher=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=March 9, 1994 |page=E.2 |id={{ProQuest|1840572222}} }}</ref> Soon after this concert they combined into one band<ref name=Haas2003>{{cite news |url= https://www.mcall.com/2003/05/25/atzilut-music-as-a-middle-east-peace-mission/ |title=Atzilut: Music as a Middle East peace mission |first=Susan |last=Haas |date=May 25, 2003 |publisher=[[The Morning Call]] |page=D1 |id={{Proquest|393064827}} }}</ref> and continued playing together<ref name="DailyTimes2003">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/282323616/ |title=Atzilut: Jewish and Arab musicians combine their musical talents, offer a concert for peace Wednesday at Salisbury University |date=April 24, 2003 |publisher=[[The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland)|The Daily Times]] |page=4 }}</ref> at venues such as the New York Folk Festival, the [[Copenhagen Opera House]] in [[Denmark]],<ref name="Saffren2023"/> and the [[United Nations]], where they received a standing ovation.<ref name=Haas2003/> Kessler has said that if Arabs and Jews can make music together they can live together in peace,<ref name="Saffren2023"/> noting that band members don't make speeches about coexistence and that the music is the message.<ref name=Bledsoe1995/>


===Other musical ensembles and cantorial training program===
===Other musical ensembles and cantorial training program===
In addition to ''Atzilut'', Kessler has directed the [[Klezmer]] band ''Goldene Medina''<ref name="Tilman1997"/> and the band ''Klingon Klezmer'', which mixes Klezmer with [[jazz]], [[funk]] and contemporary music.<ref>{{cite |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/994877731/ |title=Klezmer funks up the Yiddish in Gorrel Hall |first=Nate |last=Boguszewski |date=October 27, 1999 |publisher=The Indiana-Penn }}</ref><ref name=Zuchowski2013>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/96434710/ |title="Jewish-Arabic" band Atzilut performs for peace |last=Zuchowski |first=Dave |date=September 26, 2013 |publisher=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |page=S-5 }}</ref> He also teaches cantorial students<ref name=Zuchowski2013/> and developed a [[Jewish Renewal#Ordination_training|cantorial training program for ALEPH]], which he began building in 2000. He works with [[Ashkenazi]] cantorial students, helping them understand their heritage while also exposing them to non-Ashkenazi music traditions.<ref name="Saffren2023"/>
In addition to ''Atzilut'', Kessler has directed the [[Klezmer]] band ''Goldene Medina''<ref name="Tilman1997"/> and the band ''Klingon Klezmer'', which mixes Klezmer with [[jazz]], [[funk]] and contemporary music.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/994877731/ |title=Klezmer funks up the Yiddish in Gorrel Hall |first=Nate |last=Boguszewski |date=October 27, 1999 |publisher=The Indiana-Penn }}</ref><ref name=Zuchowski2013>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/96434710/ |title="Jewish-Arabic" band Atzilut performs for peace |last=Zuchowski |first=Dave |date=September 26, 2013 |publisher=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |page=S-5 }}</ref> He also teaches cantorial students<ref name=Zuchowski2013/> and developed a [[Jewish Renewal#Ordination training|cantorial training program for ALEPH]], which he began building in 2000. He works with [[Ashkenazi]] cantorial students, helping them understand their heritage while also exposing them to non-Ashkenazi music traditions.<ref name="Saffren2023"/>


===Non-Hebrew leyning===
===Non-Hebrew leyning===
During the early days of the [[Chavurah|havurah movement]] in the late 1960s, Rabbi [[Zalman Schachter-Shalomi]] and others began chanting prayers in English using the traditional [[Nusach (Jewish music)|nusach]]. This method made the [[liturgy]] feel authentic while making it more accessible to congregants. Some liberal congregations have adopted this approach for [[Torah reading]]s, chanting ([[Torah reading|leyning]]) English translations with traditional [[Hebrew cantillation|trop]]. Kessler experienced this method as stunning, noting the text came alive with passion and power.<ref name="Summit2016"/> He extended the use of the technique to chanting [[Haftara|haftarah]] in Hebrew/English set in haftarah trop as well as [[Megillat Esther]] in Megillah trop.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://kerem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kessler-Final-PDF.pdf |title=English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service |first=Jack |last=Kessler |year=2014 |journal=Kerem |volume=14 |pages=21-29 }}</ref> At a conference in [[Berlin]], he chanted verses in Hebrew while Cantor [[Jalda Rebling]] chanted them in German.<ref name=Silverman2007>{{cite news |title=Conference Grapples With Faith in Germany |last=Silverman |first=Rachel |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] |date=June 21, 2007 |page=11 |id={{Proquest|227268002}} }}</ref>
During the early days of the [[Chavurah|havurah movement]] in the late 1960s, Rabbi [[Zalman Schachter-Shalomi]] and others began chanting prayers in English using the traditional [[Nusach (Jewish music)|nusach]]. This method made the [[liturgy]] feel authentic while making it more accessible to congregants. Some liberal congregations have adopted this approach for [[Torah reading]]s, chanting ([[Torah reading|leyning]]) English translations with traditional [[Hebrew cantillation|trop]]. Kessler experienced this method as stunning, noting the text came alive with passion and power.<ref name="Summit2016"/> He extended the use of the technique to chanting [[haftara]]h in Hebrew/English set in haftarah trop as well as [[Megillat Esther]] in Megillah trop.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://kerem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kessler-Final-PDF.pdf |title=English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service |first=Jack |last=Kessler |year=2014 |journal=Kerem |volume=14 |pages=21–29 }}</ref> At a conference in [[Berlin]], he chanted verses in Hebrew while Cantor [[Jalda Rebling]] chanted them in German.<ref name=Silverman2007>{{cite news |title=Conference Grapples With Faith in Germany |last=Silverman |first=Rachel |publisher=[[The Jewish Exponent]] |date=June 21, 2007 |page=11 |id={{Proquest|227268002}} }}</ref>


==Selected publications==
==Selected publications==
* {{cite journal |url=https://ia600203.us.archive.org/19/items/CantorsAssemblyJournalOfSynagogueMusic_698/v5n1.pdf |title= New Areas In Nusach: A Serial Approach To Hazzanut |journal=Journal of Synagogue Music |first=Jack A. |last=Kessler |volume=V |number=1 |date=October 1973 |pages=3-6 |publisher=[[Cantors Assembly]] }}
* {{cite journal |url=https://ia600203.us.archive.org/19/items/CantorsAssemblyJournalOfSynagogueMusic_698/v5n1.pdf |title= New Areas In Nusach: A Serial Approach To Hazzanut |journal=Journal of Synagogue Music |first=Jack A. |last=Kessler |volume=V |number=1 |date=October 1973 |pages=3–6 |publisher=[[Cantors Assembly]] }}
* {{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/CantorsAssemblyJournalOfSynagogueMusic_698/v21n1/mode/2up |title=A New Nusach for the Shalosh Regalim |journal=Journal of Synagogue Music |first=Jack |last=Kessler |volume=XXI |number=1 |date=July 1991 |pages=60-68 |publisher=[[Cantors Assembly]] }}
* {{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/CantorsAssemblyJournalOfSynagogueMusic_698/v21n1/mode/2up |title=A New Nusach for the Shalosh Regalim |journal=Journal of Synagogue Music |first=Jack |last=Kessler |volume=XXI |number=1 |date=July 1991 |pages=60–68 |publisher=[[Cantors Assembly]] }}
* {{cite journal |url=https://kerem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kessler-Final-PDF.pdf |title=English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service |first=Jack |last=Kessler |year=2014 |journal=Kerem |volume=14 |pages=21-29 }}
* {{cite journal |url=https://kerem.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kessler-Final-PDF.pdf |title=English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service |first=Jack |last=Kessler |year=2014 |journal=Kerem |volume=14 |pages=21–29 }}
* {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheMegillahOfEstherAnOriginalEnglishRenditionSetToTropV.2.0JackKessler2016/mode/2up |title=The Megillah Of Esther: An Original English Rendition Set To Trop |first=Hazzan Jack |last=Kessler |date=2016 |orig-date=1990 |edition=2nd }}
* {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheMegillahOfEstherAnOriginalEnglishRenditionSetToTropV.2.0JackKessler2016/mode/2up |title=The Megillah Of Esther: An Original English Rendition Set To Trop |first=Hazzan Jack |last=Kessler |date=2016 |orig-date=1990 |edition=2nd }}


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Kessler lives with his wife [[Marcia Prager|Rabbi Marcia Prager]] in Philadelphia. Both are leaders in the [[Jewish Renewal]] movement<ref name="JR"/><ref name="JTA">{{cite news |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/the-jewish-renewal-movement-in-berlin-hosted-an |title=News Brief |date=May 15, 2007 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] }}</ref> and members of Congregation P'nai Or where Prager is the rabbi.<ref name=Silverman2007/> They have traveled together leading services and workshops at synagogues and conferences.<ref name="JR"/><ref name="JTA"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/834790614/ |title=Registration begins for Shabbat retreat |date=December 9, 2000 |publisher=[[Daily Hampshire Gazette]] |page=D6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/630666566/ |title=Religion Roundup: A Mystical Shabbat |date=March 19, 2003 |publisher=[[The Charlotte Observer]] |page=10M }}</ref>
Kessler lives with his wife [[Marcia Prager|Rabbi Marcia Prager]] in Philadelphia. Both are leaders in the [[Jewish Renewal]] movement<ref name="JR"/><ref name="JTA">{{cite news |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/the-jewish-renewal-movement-in-berlin-hosted-an |title=News Brief |date=May 15, 2007 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] }}</ref> and members of Congregation P'nai Or where Prager is the rabbi.<ref name=Silverman2007/> They have traveled together leading services and workshops at synagogues and conferences.<ref name="JR"/><ref name="JTA"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/834790614/ |title=Registration begins for Shabbat retreat |date=December 9, 2000 |publisher=[[Daily Hampshire Gazette]] |page=D6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/630666566/ |title=Religion Roundup: A Mystical Shabbat |date=March 19, 2003 |publisher=[[The Charlotte Observer]] |page=10M }}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 16:13, 9 August 2024

Jack A. Kessler (born 1944) is an American hazzan, musician, and educator. After working as a cantor for synagogues for 20 years, he organized several musical ensembles including Atzilut, a group of Jewish and Arab musicians, which toured venues around the world including the United Nations.[1] He also adopted the practice of chanting trop for haftarah and other biblical texts in both Hebrew and English to make the text more vivid and alive for synagogue worshippers.[2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Kessler was born in 1944 and grew up in Boston.[1][3] His parents had immigrated to the United States in 1941 to escape the Nazis.[1] His father, Rabbi Martin Kessler, taught him nusach, the melodies associated with prayers at different Jewish holidays.[4] As a teenager in the 1950s, Kessler played folk music on his guitar, but became interested in pursuing Jewish spiritual singing.[1] He earned a master's degree in voice from Boston Conservatory and studied composition at Brandeis University,[5] and graduated from the Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1970. He was influenced by the teachings of cantors David Kusevitzky and Max Wohlberg, as well as the recordings of Leib Glantz.[3]

Career

[edit]

After graduating from cantorial school, Kessler served as a hazzan at Conservative congregations. He served for 12 years at Temple Beth Shalom in Framingham, Massachusetts[4] before moving to Temple Beth Sholom in Smithtown, New York.[6] In 1985, he moved to Philadelphia, where he served as hazzan at Germantown Jewish Centre and later Temple Sholom.[3]

Atzilut

[edit]

In 1991, Kessler organized an eight-member band called Atzilut to play Middle Eastern and Sephardic styles of Jewish music, even though he was trained in the Ashkenazic tradition.[7] The band's name is drawn from Kabbalah, which describes four worlds or levels of spiritual energy, Atzilut being the highest. In 1993, members of Atzilut were having dinner at a restaurant where Arab musicians in the band Firkat Alamal: Band of Hope were performing. The two groups started playing together and realized they enjoyed making music with each other.[7] In 1994, after the Hebron massacre, members of Atzilut and Firkat Alamal performed at a fundraising concert at the Painted Bride Art Center to raise money for Jewish-Arab reconciliation projects in Israel.[8] Soon after this concert they combined into one band[9] and continued playing together[10] at venues such as the New York Folk Festival, the Copenhagen Opera House in Denmark,[1] and the United Nations, where they received a standing ovation.[9] Kessler has said that if Arabs and Jews can make music together they can live together in peace,[1] noting that band members don't make speeches about coexistence and that the music is the message.[7]

Other musical ensembles and cantorial training program

[edit]

In addition to Atzilut, Kessler has directed the Klezmer band Goldene Medina[3] and the band Klingon Klezmer, which mixes Klezmer with jazz, funk and contemporary music.[11][12] He also teaches cantorial students[12] and developed a cantorial training program for ALEPH, which he began building in 2000. He works with Ashkenazi cantorial students, helping them understand their heritage while also exposing them to non-Ashkenazi music traditions.[1]

Non-Hebrew leyning

[edit]

During the early days of the havurah movement in the late 1960s, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and others began chanting prayers in English using the traditional nusach. This method made the liturgy feel authentic while making it more accessible to congregants. Some liberal congregations have adopted this approach for Torah readings, chanting (leyning) English translations with traditional trop. Kessler experienced this method as stunning, noting the text came alive with passion and power.[2] He extended the use of the technique to chanting haftarah in Hebrew/English set in haftarah trop as well as Megillat Esther in Megillah trop.[13] At a conference in Berlin, he chanted verses in Hebrew while Cantor Jalda Rebling chanted them in German.[14]

Selected publications

[edit]
  • Kessler, Jack A. (October 1973). "New Areas In Nusach: A Serial Approach To Hazzanut" (PDF). Journal of Synagogue Music. V (1). Cantors Assembly: 3–6.
  • Kessler, Jack (July 1991). "A New Nusach for the Shalosh Regalim". Journal of Synagogue Music. XXI (1). Cantors Assembly: 60–68.
  • Kessler, Jack (2014). "English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service" (PDF). Kerem. 14: 21–29.
  • Kessler, Hazzan Jack (2016) [1990]. "The Megillah Of Esther: An Original English Rendition Set To Trop" (2nd ed.).

Personal life

[edit]

Kessler lives with his wife Rabbi Marcia Prager in Philadelphia. Both are leaders in the Jewish Renewal movement[5][15] and members of Congregation P'nai Or where Prager is the rabbi.[14] They have traveled together leading services and workshops at synagogues and conferences.[5][15][16][17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Saffren, Jarrad (March 22, 2023). "Cantor Jack Kessler Honored for Pursuing 'Peace Through Song'". The Jewish Exponent.
  2. ^ a b Summit, Jeffrey A. (July 1, 2016). "Music and the Interpretation of Meaning". Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism. Oxford University Press. pp. 186–212. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844081.003.0009. ISBN 978-0-19-984408-1.
  3. ^ a b c d Tilman, David F. (May 29, 1997). "In Record Time: Kessler's Musical 'Soul'". The Jewish Exponent. ProQuest 227259213.
  4. ^ a b Becker, Jules (September 3, 2010). "Klezwoods spins around the world". Jewish Advocate. p. 27. ProQuest 751426321.
  5. ^ a b c "Jewish Renewal events set". The Capital Times. November 1, 2007. p. D4.
  6. ^ Woodard, Catherine; Long, Irving (November 23, 1984). "A Compendium of the Thanks, and the Giving". Newsday.
  7. ^ a b c Bledsoe, Wayne (April 16, 1995). "Musical meeting to foster meeting of minds". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. Showtime 4.
  8. ^ Salisbury, Stephan (March 9, 1994). "Jewish and Arab Bands Showing Unity". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E.2. ProQuest 1840572222.
  9. ^ a b Haas, Susan (May 25, 2003). "Atzilut: Music as a Middle East peace mission". The Morning Call. p. D1. ProQuest 393064827.
  10. ^ "Atzilut: Jewish and Arab musicians combine their musical talents, offer a concert for peace Wednesday at Salisbury University". The Daily Times. April 24, 2003. p. 4.
  11. ^ Boguszewski, Nate (October 27, 1999), Klezmer funks up the Yiddish in Gorrel Hall, The Indiana-Penn
  12. ^ a b Zuchowski, Dave (September 26, 2013). ""Jewish-Arabic" band Atzilut performs for peace". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. S-5.
  13. ^ Kessler, Jack (2014). "English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service" (PDF). Kerem. 14: 21–29.
  14. ^ a b Silverman, Rachel (June 21, 2007). "Conference Grapples With Faith in Germany". The Jewish Exponent. p. 11. ProQuest 227268002.
  15. ^ a b "News Brief". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. May 15, 2007.
  16. ^ "Registration begins for Shabbat retreat". Daily Hampshire Gazette. December 9, 2000. p. D6.
  17. ^ "Religion Roundup: A Mystical Shabbat". The Charlotte Observer. March 19, 2003. p. 10M.
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