Comments (0)Beyond `Frosting’
New CD offers traditional cantorial experience.
November 28, 2008Alan H. Feiler
Managing Editor
In Chazzan Emanuel C. Perlman’s office in an unobtrusive, second-floor corridor of Stevenson’s Chizuk Amuno Congregation, there is a striking gold clock sitting on the cantor’s desk that faces visitors and guests. But the time on the clock, one cannot help but notice, has stopped cold in its tracks.
In some respects, that clock symbolizes Chazzan Perlman’s approach to his profession, calling and faith—timeless, unwavering, with a sense of the ethereal and the eternal.
A friendly, outspoken man, the 55-year-old cantor is a strong proponent of maintaining tradition in the synagogue, while eschewing what he views as the “folk singer” mentality and movement that has become increasingly popular in contemporary Jewish congregational circles.
With Chizuk Amuno choir director T. Herbert Dimmock and music committee co-chair Jeremy Swerling, Chazzan Perlman recently issued the CD “Face To Face.” Financed by Chizuk Amuno in honor of the cantor’s 10th anniversary there last year, the 58-minute CD features a variety of Jewish liturgical musical styles, from traditional to contemporary, by Chazzan Perlman and members of the American Vocal Ensemble. Tracks include “Mi Sheberach,” “Shema Koleinu,” “Avinu Malkeinu” and “Oseh Shalom.”
Chazzan Perlman received a bachelor’s degree in music and voice from Rhode Island College and a master’s degree in psychiatric social work from Yeshiva University. He also attended the Cantors Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Chazzan Perlman’s first CD, “Spiritual Ambrosia,” came out in 1998 on Arabesque Recordings.
With his brothers (all of whom are cantors) and his father, Cantor Ivan E. Perlman, Chazzan Perlman is a member of The Cantors Perlman 5 singing group. He and his wife, Janice, have three sons and “a daughter-in-law.”
Baltimore Jewish Times: What was the genesis of “Face To Face”?
Chazzan Perlman: We made the CD because the concept of tradition is losing its luster. If things are handed down from generation to generation, they have to maintain their dignity and authentic quality. Herb Dimmock, Jeremy Swerling and I decided to pool our energies together.
I’m only the seventh chazzan at Chizuk Amuno since 1871, and I know I won’t be the last. The tradition here will be maintained by the congregation and the rabbi, to establish a balance between tradition and the contemporary.
What makes a great chazzan?
If you hear it, you know it, but you can’t explain it to people. It’s the spirit of God. It’s not a job, but a calling. You don’t go seeking it, it’s handed to us. It’s in your genetic makeup.
I’ve never lived in a community of such great chazzanim [as Baltimore]. We have great cantors here with wonderful, trained voices.
But isn’t cantorial music falling out of favor among contemporary Jews?
The problem is you need experienced soldiers in the field. Synagogues have hired inexperienced people to be their cantors. A lot of my colleagues are losing their jobs. But I believe there will be a resurgence of the chazzanut. I’m encouraged because in every country Jews have assimilated in, they’re survived and melded the Yiddish tam [flavor] to where they’ve lived.
So is the chazzan tradition dying?
People are being manufactured today to be cantors. But I wasn’t manufactured. The chazzan’s role is to maintain kavanah [spiritual intention]. That’s the one thing we must maintain. It’s not just about new melodies.
I find that a lot of people are afraid of growing up. There’s a cultural arrested development. A lot of people refuse to go beyond the [Jewish summer] camp mode. People are becoming so self-absorbed in their pleasures that there’s an almost hedonistic attitude. It’s time for Jews to grow up. They need to act like adults, musically, religiously and spiritually.
The chazzan must be the safeguard of the traditional sacred music. When you stand up there, you are a messenger of God. We know the tradition. I don’t see that with the guitar players. It’s a rock concert. Many of them are just doing it for themselves. They play and wait for the accolades. They’re singing songs and melodies, not davening or having a conversation with HaShem.
I love being a chazzan because no one applauds. I’m not an emcee. Entertainment doesn’t sell in a sanctuary. Everyone thinks they can be a cantor today. But just because you can sing doesn’t make you a cantor. We need to keep the tradition.
What’s wrong with bringing new musical forms into the synagogue?
The heavy lifting that’s required to deal with the existential crisis of everyday life cannot be done with a musical tricycle. What is required are engines that can lift that great payload to the heavenly spheres, and that can be done only with musical traditions that have been created, nurtured and sustained over thousands of years.
Are you opposed to popular music?
I was in a rock band in college. I write rock music. I wrote a rock Havdalah service that’s been used around the country. I recently played a jazz club in [New York’s] SoHo.
There’s a proper place for everything. I resent that people think music can be in a synagogue just like it is in a nightclub.
But don’t some people consider cantorial music their “grandparents’ music”?
This generation is not gaining enough benefit from its grandparents’ generation. We don’t listen to older people enough, even though people are living longer today.
Look, my parents lit Shabbos candles and kept kosher. That was their thing. But I still do it. We seem to keep traditions that have relevance to us. How do we make cantorial music relevant again?
There seems to be a misperception that all cantors sing is classical music. I wish people would give us a chance. Some of them haven’t been to services in years. They haven’t been exposed to the changes taking place. We’re doing a lot of contemporary things with our music.
The problem is, people want the frosting and not the cake. They want “Judaism-Lite.” They want the clergy to be on the floor with them, to be “cool.” But the clergy needs to act like clergy, and do what we’re supposed to do. We need to feel the pageantry of our ancestors. We need to feel connected to our history.
People want participatory services, right?
Ninety percent of the service is participatory. There may be one solo piece by the chazzan now. Young people need to hear our incredible rabbis and the real chazzanut.
I sing what people need to hear, not what they want to hear. If I don’t do that, I might as well not keep kosher anymore. I don’t want my legacy to be pandering to young people whose basic premise to religion is to be entertained.
What’s wrong with having instruments at services?
Instruments are basically used to keep people on pitch. The problem is, instruments become the focal point. They overpower, and the prayers become robotic. Remember, you should not just be singing but praying.
How do you maintain your commitment and passion to cantorial music?
I love being a chazzan and knowing that I am carrying on the tradition of other beloved chazzanim. I’m not from the New Age. I don’t burn incense, and I’m not a ‘Jew-Bu’ [a Jewish Buddhist]. I’m a Jew, and proud of it.
I had a near-death experience when I was 8 years old. I’ve held the hand of 14 dying people and sung to them, and I feel that people need to turn to God not only when they’re in need.
My brothers and I became cantors because we believed in it. We saw it was real. I feel that electricity all the time. All the time.
What is it about music that moves the spirit?
Music is inside your body because your heart beats. As a cantor, I want to light up their hearts and the cerebral parts connected to God. I want people to intellectualize the melodies. It’s not about fun but about people feeling fulfilled. At some point in your life, you have to stop being a seeker. You have to realize what you seek is what’s in you.
How do you feel about the new generation of cantors?
I think there’s a glut of cantors who are trained and not enough places for them. But when you have a chazzan who really gets it—they’re a ba’al tefillah [prayer chanter], a shaliach tzibur [emissary of the congregation] and a chazzan—they’ll make it somewhere.
It’s time for the next generation of cantors to speak up, so people get the idea, the understanding, the feeling. It needs to be part of them and congeal in their soul. There’s no substitute for substance.
“Face To Face” is sold in the Chizuk Amuno gift shop, or online at emanuelperlman.com or hazzanperlman.com