Last Sunday more than 300 members of our community
gathered to celebrate Opa! L’Chaim!: Hazzan Mizrahi’s 25 years of service to the
Anshe Emet Synagogue. It was a wonderful
evening filled with joy and song honoring a remarkable legacy. It is my honor to share with you my remarks
from the evening that touch on our Torah reading for this week.
As we celebrate Alberto and a quarter century at Anshe Emet we also celebrate Debbie and Belina and the love and support that make so much possible.
When I was a young Rabbi I read a speech entitled the “Vocation of the Cantor” by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. He wrote: To sing means to sense and to affirm that the spirit is real and that its glory is present. In singing we perceive what is otherwise beyond perceiving. Song, and particularly liturgical song, is not only an act of expression but also a way of bringing down the spirit from heaven to earth.
I was very moved by Heschel’s words but I did not appreciate their meaning until I met Hazzan Mizrahi. I was at an event honoring the Jewish Theological Seminary at the Field Museum. Alberto was the featured performer for that night. As soon as I heard him sing I was mesmerized. I knew that I wanted him to be the Hazzan for Anshe Emet and so I called him. He was shocked that a Rabbi would call him! Well I could never have understood when I made that call what the next 25 years would be like. To stand next to him before the Ark and hear him chant Shmah Koleynu is to appreciate the power of prayer: the fact that I cannot hear out of my left ear aside! To experience Hazzan Mizrahi’s Kol Nidre or Neilah is to know the grandeur of the liturgy as few Jews can on Yom Kippur. That is our privilege at Anshe Emet.
But Alberto always brings the best of himself whether it be a Friday night service or a regular Shabbat service. He is the consummate professional continually working on his craft with voice coaches. I am continually impressed by his willingness to try new musical forms, Anshe Emet live, world music and all the while maintaining the traditional melodies of our worship.
Beyond his remarkable voice, beyond his deep understanding of the liturgy, is the spirit of the man. If you wish to understand Alberto Mizrahi then I suggest that you begin here. His love of other people, of our traditions and of life itself sets him apart. In our portion this week Moses calls upon the people to contribute to the building of the Mishkan: the indwelling place of God. “Take from among you gifts to the Lord: Kol Nediv Lebo, Everyone whose heart so moves him shall bring them."
Ladies and Gentleman: the man that we honor this evening has followed that ancient tradition and brings the gift of his beautiful voice, his knowledge of our liturgy, his responsibility to the memory of parents who survived the hell fire of the Shoah in order to bring a Jewish son into the world, his uncommon Jui d’vivre and mentchlikite has made it possible for Alberto Mizrahi to make an uncommon contribution to the glory of God and the Jewish people. All because Nediv Lebo, because his heart moves him.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel
