She Blinded Me With Psalm Sense

On Wednesday, I made my way to another new location for me: the Canadian Music Centre on St. Joseph Street. Like last Friday, a beautiful venue in an unexpected place. But in this case, the towering buildings and condos that now loom over downtown Yonge St. and the surrounding area made the smaller, existing edifices looked almost unreal, as if they were mere plywood fronts on a Hollywood lot. The audience seemed split between a who's who of the local indie scene and Jewish attendees.

Tonight, Daniela Gesundheit (Snowblink) was singing Jewish songs and prayers, usually only performed in religious settings at specific times such as Yom Kippur, in a secular environment. The project, called Alphabet of Wrongdoing (her English name of the song Ashamnu), was meant to bring the audience into contemplation about forgiveness given the current state of the world. It also had additional resonance for Gesundheit as one attempt to integrate her heritage in a modern way. So not only her singing in front of men would be verboten for some, but so would her custom (Horses Atelier) ankle-length coat made from prayer shawls. As she pointed out, women are still being harassed at the Jerusalem Western Wall for wearing tallits.

It was a beautiful performance. As a non-Jew, I have not attended a synagogue and heard this music. Not only is it wonderful in itself, but so was tonight's arrangement. The verses and melodies were traditional, but Gesundheit's vocal effects as well as the synth and piano flourishes, and the percussive embellishments by collaborators Johnny Spence, Phil Melanson, and Alex Lukashevsky were no doubt wholly original. From the positive reactions of some Jewish members during certain passages, a novel presentation of familiar material might have re-kindled strong emotions.

There was also audience participation. We were asked to pick a slip of paper and a blindfold before the show started. Before Kol Nidre, we learned that our fortune was on those slips in the form of short snippets taken from the prayers. Mine was all my bones shall say, "Incomparable". When Al Chet (The Great Confession) was sung, two volunteers served as witnesses in lieu of Torahs. Finally during the 3rd movement entitled Goodness Will Pursue Me which comprised 3 songs in preparation of our eventual death, we can choose to don our blindfold in contemplation. It was a night of compelling and wonderful experience.