Shana Tova, my friends across the globe. Shana Metukah – a sweet year. And G’mar Chatimah Tova – may you be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year. And Tzom Kal – Have an easy fast.
All ways to indicate that on this coming Tuesday evening, Jews everywhere will be gathering in unprecedented numbers to listen to, to resonate with, the sounds of KOL NIDRE, and thus begin the observance of that annual SHABBAT SHABBATON, that Sabbath of Sabbaths, known as Yom Kippur.
There have been many studies that have explored the musical settings of Kol Nidre. We are told that, “it belongs to the mi-sinai tune tradition – a group of fixed seasonal leitmotifs and melodies whose origin dates to the medieval Rhineland communities, and which constitutes a bedrock layer of Minhag Ashkenaz, or Ashkenazi custom. It combines syllabic chanting with melismatic passages.”