I was on the train home from Dublin today and I realized as I passed a field of sheep, that these are the first I have seen since coming to Ireland. I wondered, how is that possible? I am in Ireland. It is not like I have stayed confined to campus. But there they were, about a hundred sheep dotting the fields and looking pastoral and quintessentially Irish.
Well now that I have gotten that over with, I must tell you why I was in Dublin. I was there for two days to complete some interviews for a field work project I am doing regarding Jewish chant. With borrowed video camera and tripod in hand, I made my way back to Rathgar, Dublin 6 to film two interviews that would provide for me both a context and history of the Irish Jewish community and the chant used in the Dublin synagogues.
While Jews came to Ireland as early as 1032, the first real influx was in 1662. It was Cromwell who invited Jews back into England and Ireland after the expulsion. Those who came to Ireland were apparently traders of luxury items like silk, lace and silver. This group apparently left 50 years later, apparently vanishes as if they had never been here.
The next influx came in the 1800's from Lithuania and those who live in the Jewish community are mostly descents of this group. The heritage particularly informs the synagogue music along with that of the German reform movement of the same period. You see I was a good student and learned a great deal from my interview with a very gracious and generous woman, Melanie Brown, who is among many things a musical scholar, trustee of the Dublin Jewish Museum,a teacher and musician. She was a great source for both the history and the chant of the Jewish liturgy.
I met Melanie on Sunday morning at the museum and was fascinated by the collection of artifacts, portraits and memorabilia collected over the last 25 years from the community. But what really fascinated me was on the second floor. It turns out that this museum is housed in an old Shul(synagogue) and upstairs the structure has been preserved, fully intact, with all its pews, bema,ark that housed the Torah, eternal light hanging over the ark and more. It is as if it has been in constant use since 1939. But in fact it closed as a house of worship many years before.
Last evening I was invited to attend an event at the museum and I was pleased to be included. It turns out it was the kickoff to a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the museum. It was attended by nearly 75 people who piled, including government and other dignitaries. They attendees filled the space to capacity and spent about an hour listening to short speeches about the museum founder. They also provided some historical context to position the premiere of a DVD that was shown and that captures the history of the community in documentary style.
I met many lovely and interesting people and saw the cantor who I interviewed this morning in the orthodox synagogue. Cantor Alvin Shulman is originally from Capetown and was well on his way to becoming an accountant when almost at the end of his studies he decided this was not what he wanted to do. He loved to sing and had been singing in the choir of his synagogue for many years. So off he went to Israel to study to be a cantor. He returned home and after about 10 years of serving as a cantor in Capetown, he was offered a position in Dublin.
He has been there for about 19 years and it is obvious that he loves what he does. In Ireland his role is greatly expanded, more like that of the American rabbi. He has responsibility for teaching,visiting the ill and elderly, and completely conducting the service and more. The rabbi serves as the spiritual leader of the community, but his role seems less active.
We spent about an hour together this morning. Cantor Shulman told me his story on video and then the best part - he sang for me all the chants around the Torah portion of the service and it was glorious. He has a rich, resonant baritone sound and his chant comes from his heart. You can see that he loves to sing, truly loves it.
I am finished with my work in Dublin as far as my field work is concerned, but I am looking forward to returning again so I can spend time with Cantor Shulman and others to learn some of the music that is deep withing my soul and makes my heart sing. Maybe on my next trip I will see more sheep!
Love from the University of Limerick, my Glocca Morra.
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