The last 4 weeks were truly a musical journey. Our Salute to Israel Gala Concert at Lefrak Concert Hall was spectacular! The symphony was superb, and Ofir Sobol conducted magnificently! In fact, I had several people who asked me how many rehearsals Ofir had with the orchestra and they were stunned to hear they only had two rehearsals. The musicians were all in sync and played together so beautifully that it seemed they had been rehearsing with Ofir for months. Cantors Rafi Frieder and Shai Abramson brought us beautiful music of all genres. We celebrated our beloved State of Israel with love & devotion. We remembered Dr./Maestro Mordechai Sobol who was a very dear friend of mine and conducted our previous HHBJC Gala Concerts. He was also a dear friend of Cantor Frieder’s of Temple Israel of Great Neck. Mordechai’s exceptional musical brilliance & creativity will live on for generations!
It was very special to have Rabbi Mark Golub, founder of the Jewish Broadcasting Service, join us at the concert. I was so pleased to be able to personally thank him and express sincere appreciation, on behalf of our Jewish community, for bringing us JBS which has become one of the greatest resources of everything Jewish; Jewish News, Jewish Culture, Jewish Prayer, Jewish Music & Film, Lectures, Discussions and so much more.
Thank you again to Joan Waxgiser and her fabulous committee for their tireless work. Thank you also to Nancy Morse & Lou Ann Boscarino for making sure that everything was put together beautifully. You are all truly the best!
Just 2 weeks later, I flew to Israel to perform in aspectacular Cantorial Concert, which took place at Heichal Hatarbut in Tel Aviv, also known as the Charles Bronfman Auditorium (originally named the Mann Auditorium) which is the largest concert Hall in Tel Aviv and home to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. There was a full symphony orchestra and Ofir Sobol conducted brilliantly!
Guess who came to the concert…Rabbi Simckes & Chana Simckes, their son, Dr. Ari and his wife Debbie, who kept telling me after the concert how she wished that her father & mother, Moshe & Judy Lesnick, could have been there…Rabbi Wise’s daughter, Jordie, also came to the concert! And my family from Israel were also there! It was so nice to see everyone.
My first selection that I sang at the concert was the HAVDALAH. The other Cantor’s beautifully performed their pieces and just before the intermission, the 1st part of the Program ended with my ZIM-ALONG MEDLEY that all the Cantors sang together. You may remember the Zim-Along medley from the concert we just had at Lefrak. It was a surprise to me when the MC and Ofir Sobol introduced this number as a tribute to me noting my contributions to Jewish Music & Chazzanut, and for the Participatory Synagogue Music that I have composed over the years which is used/sung worldwide. I was so touched and truly felt the love from the audience and from my fellow Cantors who were performing with me. As you all know, one of my missions has always been to create music for Jewish Prayer and to share my musical melodies with the entire Jewish world. Remember…it is all of you, my beloved congregation, who always hear my music first before I share it with the rest of the Jewish World.
Let us always keep Jewish Music in our hearts & souls!
See you in Shul.
Cantorially always,
Cantor Sol Zim
