Shmuel Barzilai: The Tasks of a Jewish Cantor

December 19, 2022
German original: ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)

Shmuel Barzilai has been the head cantor of the Jewish Community (IKG) Vienna for 30 years. In an interview with religion.ORF.at, he talks about his duties as a prayer leader in the synagogue, his motivation and the importance of the Jewish Children's Choir.

Barzilai moved from Israel to Vienna in 1992 with his wife, the visual artist Dvora Barzilai, and the first three of his four children. As the senior cantor recounts, he liked the city from the very beginning: "I was very enthusiastic. The city is beautiful, the synagogue is great, not only because of the atmosphere and the acoustics." From the beginning, he says, he received a lot of support: "I knew exactly that people were behind me and what I was doing, and that gave me a lot of joy."

Barzilai comes from a well-known Jerusalem cantorial family. So his career choice came as no surprise: "When you grow up in a family like mine, music is already fixed in your mind." Still, as he realized at the School of Cantorial Music in Tel Aviv, there was a lot to learn. Traditionally, a Jewish cantor should not only have a good voice, but also a thorough knowledge of the liturgy. Today, Barzilai's repertoire is very large and includes not only liturgical cantorial music but also Jewish soul music, Hasidic and klezmer music, as well as Israeli songs, operas and classical vocal literature.

Tradition and renewal

As Barzilai tells it, from the very beginning of his work as head cantor, two things were especially important to him. He deliberately wanted to follow the tradition of the first head cantor, Salomon Sulzer, while at the same time appealing to more young people: "I was convinced that the task of the head cantor must be to win over the congregation." To do this, however, it was necessary to respond to people's needs in musical terms as well.

Barzilai decided to choose music where the congregation could sing along and not just passively listen. This can also be heard at the cantor concerts in Seitenstettengasse, which are among the annual fixtures of the IKG. On the occasion of his 30th anniversary in Vienna, the head cantor organized this year's concert together with Shai Abramson, head cantor of the Israel Defense Forces.

Jewish children's choir

One of Barzilai's special concerns from the beginning was the founding of the Jewish Children's Choir: "The Children's Choir brings a lot of joy to families because the whole family has begun to sing these melodies." As a result of the children's choir, he said, the congregation's repertoire has changed as well. But above all, the children themselves have gained, Barzilai says: "They are more confident on stage now. That helps them when they want to become, for example, a rabbi or a professor or whatever in the future."

In principle, the choir is open to all Jewish children between the ages of seven and 14, Barzilai says - including girls: "We rehearse mixed here in my office and perform mixed at concerts." At services in the synagogue, however, only the boys would perform because men and women pray separately in the Vienna City Temple.

Of course, there are girls who would also like to sing in the choir at the synagogue, Barzilai says, but this is not possible because of religious laws and traditions. "But they still like to come to rehearsal, they feel at home here, and if I manage to organize concerts, they come along to that, too," Barzilai says.

Building bridges as a task

Working in the synagogue is very important to Barzilai, and yet he sees it as only part of his job: "When I perform, as an Austrian who comes from Israel and was commissioned by the Austrian government, I try to bring people together as a bridge builder."

His performances on behalf of the Austrian Cultural Forum have taken him from Europe, to the USA, to Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Israel. Due to his commitment as a cantor and singer, Barzilai was awarded the "Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria" in 2017 and the "Golden Decoration of Merit of the State of Vienna" in 2018. As was emphasized in the tributes, for example by the then SPÖ Minister of Culture Thomas Drozda, Barzilai also "stands for the vibrant Jewish culture in Austria, which is part of Austria's cultural identity."

Performances every day for Hanukkah

A particularly intense time is the eight-day Hanukkah festival. Every year, Jews commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago. The eight Hanukkah candles are lit every day.

Barzilai performs every day during Hanukkah. He sings with the children's choir at the Mayor of Vienna on Monday. A cantorial concert will be held in Budapest on Tuesday. On Sunday, Hanukkah candles will be lit in downtown Vienna at the "Stick in the Iron" for the whole city, Barzilai tells us.

"Doing good"

Among the many tasks of a senior cantor, he says, is to foster togetherness in the Jewish community - no small task in Vienna, given the diversity of the Jewish community. Strictly observant Jews are just as much a part of the community as secular lifers.

"I try not to change anyone," says Barzilai: "Everyone with their direction, with their traditions is right. I accept everyone regardless of their faith and tradition." But it is also important to him, he said, that no one tries to change him. In his estimation, togetherness works: "We live very well together and try to do good." He wants to continue that in this way in the future, he said.

Irene Klissenbauer, religion.ORF.at