Any congregant of Sinai Temple would say that music and prayer are united at Sinai. One of our great joys, for example, are the performances of the Junior Choir. On this page, and liniked to it, we will be bringing some of that music to you through our web pages.

Why Are The High Holiday Tunes Different?

The Kol Nidre melody is the most famous one in all of Jewish liturgy, but it is only one of a vast array of musical themes which are associated with the High Holidays. The themes are part of a rich tapestry of melodic motifs which come from many periods of Jewish history and are drawn from the various places in the world where Jews have made their home.

There are basic musical modes or tunes called “nusah” which appear as threads throughout worship services.  They are specific to Shabbat, Festival and High Holiday services and designate a theme in order to evoke a mood or feeling for each particular holiday or season. 

Cantors, as far back as the Middle Ages, introduced special songs for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which have been kept alive over the centuries to our own day. These melodies have been esteemed with such importance that they are known as Mi-Sinai chants, chants as if they have been passed down “from Mt. Sinai”.

There is a recurring theme in the Bar’chu and Michamocha which we sing on both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which is particular to the High Holidays.  The melody for the Shema is also different.

High Holy Days Music CD on the Web

Every year we change the sanctuary to white as a visible sign of holiness and purity and we wrap ourselves in the special melodies of the Days of Awe and of our people.

In the words of Rebbe Nachman of Breslav “Come here, I will show you a new way to the Creator - not through speech, but through song! Let us sing and Heaven will understand us.”