Moshe Attias
"Cheikh Mwijo"
1937-2020
Rabbi Meir Eleazar Atiya
Moroccan-Israeli paytan, researcher and teacher
The Jewish Music Research Centre of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem mourns the passing of Rabbi Meir Eleazar Atiya on Shabbat Zakhor, March 16, 2019, after four years of severe illness and pain. No other date could have been more symbolic for his death, as this Shabbat marks the end of the bakkashot season according to the Moroccan tradition, of which Rabbi Atiyah was one of its main representatives of the past generation.
1948-2019
Arba Otiyot
In Lachish
Directed by Isaac Zepel Yeshurun
Film about the town of Lachish and its residents. Towards the end of the film there is a one minute segment that features a traditional Moroccan Henna ceremony.
Complete film on Youtube, courtesy of the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive Virtual Cinema:
Material Type:
Films
Year:
1964
Embroidered Canticles
Directed by Izza Genini
Film about Andalusian Jewish music. Featuring interviews on the subject aling with performances by Rabbi Haim Louk (information on his album that he released with Jewish Music Research Centre can be found here) and Abdelsadek Chekara.
Excerpt from the film:
Material Type:
Films
Year:
1991
Chants Pour un Shabbat
Directed by Izza Genini
Material Type:
Films
Year:
1989
Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle
Editor
A collection of life-cycle songs: birth, circumcision, wedding etc., sung in Ladino. All songs were recorded, transcribed and annotated by Susana Weich-Shahak. The CD accompanies a book of the same title, by the above editor (Yuval Music Series, vol. 1, 1989). 1st edition (1989) was published as a cassette.
Material Type:
Recordings
Year:
2001
Change and Continuity in the Singing of Baqqashot among Moroccan Jews in Israel: Transformations in the Symbolic Meaning of a Traditional Music Custom
Notes sur le vocabulaire musical dans le Sharh biblique marocain
Nuba of Gold and Light - Nuba d'or et de la lumiere
Material Type:
Films
Year:
2007
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.