The Story is Enough

The Rebbe's Orkestra! Abq Jew is happy to announce (OK ... it's been up on the Abq Jew Calendar for weeks ... and there's even a Facebook Event page) that The Rebbe's Orkestra will present

The Story is Enough

A special pre-KlezmerQuerque concert celebrating
Judaic music passed down through the generations 

Saturday January 23 ~ 7:30 pm

The Historic San Miguel Chapel

The Facebook Event page tells us:

The 6-member nationally recognized ensemble, founded in Albuquerque in 1996, will tell the story through ballads, folk songs, romances, chants, coplas, nigunnim, and even a Benny Goodman piece – all in the languages of Hebrew, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Yiddish, and English – plus one song each in Hungarian, Greek, Romany and Arabic. 

The Rebbe's Orkestra's instrumentation includes accordion, violin, Bb and Bass clarinets, bowed psaltery, guitar, bass, mandolin, tenor banjo, Macedonian tamburas, pennywhistle, and percussion instruments such as the daide, riq, tar drum, tupan, cymbal, snare drum, woodblocks and Turkish wooden spoons. Several klezmer instrumental tunes for which the band is famous, will also be incorporated into the program.

And why, Abq Jew hears you ask, is this concert called The Story is Enough? Here is the story:

When the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. 

Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say, "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." Again the miracle would be accomplished. 

Still later, Rabbi Moshe-leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. 

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God, "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." 

And it was sufficient. 

For God made man because he loves stories.

A Few Notes

1. If you just can't wait to see and hear The Rebbe's Orkestra, they are also appearing this Friday at the N4th Theater.

2. Did you miss The Rebbe's Orkestra at N4th? Wow! What a great concert! What a great audience!

So - if you want to hear even more of The Rebbe's Orkestra and even more fine klezmer music, KlezmerQuerque 2016 is coming!

3. If you want to listen to more fine klezmer music but really prefer not to wait until KlezmerQuerque 2016, Di Kavene Kapelye will be performing at the UNM Hillel House. It's a fundraising concert for KlezmerQuerque 2016.

4. If you want to play - or learn to play - klezmer music right here in Albuquerque, you should talk to Beth Cohen (of Congregation Nahalat Shalom and The Rebbe's Orkestra) about joining the Nahalat Shalom Community Klezmer Band.

They'll be performing at the Community Havdalah and Dance Party at the Abq JCC on Saturday night, February 6.

5. Or you can join in at one of the fortnightly Klezmer Jam Sessions held at the UNM Hillel House.

6. If you like stories - and especially Jewish stories - Abq Jew is building a website, Oy! Kreplach!, just for such. Not quite ready for prime time - but feel free to take a look. Click here if you want to know why the website is called Oy! Kreplach!.

7. If you want to hear klezmer right now, or perhaps just before Shabbos - Abq Jew strongly recommends the Shabbos hymn Shalom Aleichem, performed LIVE! by the incomparable duo David Grisman and Andy Statman,

Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!

Good Shabbos, New Mexico!