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Saturday, April 18, 2009

The song that never ends

Shavua tov!

Back in this post, I referred to the fact that one hears the new Vehi Sh’Amdah song everywhere one goes.

I should note that I think it’s an extremely beautiful song, and here in TRLEOOB (the real life equivalent of our blog), we’ve become quite fond of it. Nevertheless, I’m amused by this song's widespread popularity.

Lest you think I’m exaggerating, here’s some anecdotal evidence to support my claim:

1. In the month or so leading up to Pesach, MAG attended a number of bar mitzvahs, and each time, Vehi Sh’Amdah was played.

<Brief cultural digression> The custom is that when the song is played, everyone stands in a big circle with their arms around their neighbors’ shoulders and sways in time to the music. </Digression>

2. A week before Pesach, YZG and I went to a wedding, where the band played – you guessed it – Vehi Sh’Amdah.

3. Many of our friends and relatives have indicated that they used this tune (or at least attempted to use this tune…) at the Seder. (Full disclosure: We sang Vehi Sh’Amdah three times at our Seder – once with the new tune, once with the traditional tune that YZG and I both grew up on, and once with the tune that the kids all know from gan.)

4. At the conclusion of our neighborhood’s communal Birkat HaChamah recitation on Erev Pesach, one of the songs played was… Vehi Sh’Amdah.

5. On the first day of yom tov, the Ba’al Tefilah did Kedushah of Musaf to the tune of – drum roll, please - Vehi Sh’Amdah.

6. A few days before Pesach vacation, the Resident Ulpanistit’s school hosted a guest speaker. In the middle of his talk, a school bell rang. The speaker immediately quipped, “What? You’re not like all the other ulpanot in the country who’ve switched their school bells to Vehi Sh’Amdah?!” In response, the Rosh Ulpanah felt that it was necessary to defend the school’s honor by explaining that the school bell actually belongs to a nearby elementary school…

smile_teeth

Please feel free to leave your own examples in the comment section.

6 comments:

  1. "we’ve become quite fond of it"That was true until we we got bored of it, because SOME people sing it all day non stop...

    "MAG attended a number of bar mitzvahs, and each time, Vehi Sh’Amdah was played."Each time? 2 out of 3!

    YAT, if you write a comment in this post, look up to the first comment - it's not yours!!!

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  2. MAG - That was true until we we got bored of it,Speak for yourself...
    :-)

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  3. "Speak for yourself"I am, and that's the problem...

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  4. MAG - Why is that a problem?
    :-)

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  5. I just heard that song in my older kids yeshiva -- its the tune used to announce that class is over.

    (So much better than a bell :-)

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  6. Jameel - Memorably, the bell at one of the Torani schools in our neighborhood used to play "Jingle Bells"...

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