Holy Days. Lewandowski was, no doubt, the most important composer of synagogue music during the 19th Century. He was born in Posen (then in the Prussian part of Poland), where he served as choir-boy in his father's synagogue. He immigrated to Germany at the age of 13 and was the first Jew to be admitted to the Musik Hochschule in Berlin. He served for many years as the Music Director of the New Synagogue there. His famous compositions, such as Haleluja (Ps. 150) and Zacharti Lach are still among the most beloved synagogue pieces in the Ashkenazi Jewish communities. Naariz'cho / Naaritzcha (Let us adore You and sanctify You) Text: Kedusha (Sanctus) from the Mussaf additional prayer. Music: Abraham Dunajewski (1843-1911) Tenor, baritone, choir and piano The “Kedushah" (Sanctus) of the special prayers for the Sabbath and Holy-Days is one of the climaxes of the synagogue Services, and many composers adorned it with sublime compositions. The text describes the sanctification of God by the Children of Israel parallel to his sanctification by the angels, as is described by the Prophet Isaiah calling out: Holy Holy, Holy is the Lord Sebaot. The text continues describing the angels pondering the enigma of God's invisibility, yet His manifestation all over. Finally the text quotes the Slogan of the Jewish faith: Hear 0 Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One and declares its faith that God will redeem Israel as He has promised. Abraham Dunajewski was the Music Director of the great synagogue in Odessa (the Ukraine). His music begins with serious and serene melodies that befit the transcendent text, it ends with folk-like melodies to express the feeling of salvation. This piece enjoyed enormous popularity in East-European as well as in German synagogues. Part II: Yiddish Songs m o Di Nacht (The Night) Text: Michael Gelbart Music: Josef Dorfman (1940-2006), after the melody by Aharon Domnitz Choir and piano The song by Gelbart and Domnitz was written in New York in 1929 and was soon disseminated in East-Erope. The words describe loneliness and terror in a gloomy night. A man walks alone in the darkness not knowing whereto and only his Steps are heard. During the Holocaust time, Di Nacht was sung in the Ghettos and it expressed the terror that the Jews feit there. Josef Dorfman enlarged the song and created a new composition as part of a cycle in memory of the Holocaust. Dorfman was born in Odessa to a family that was steeped in Yiddish culture during the times when Jewish culture was forbidden in the Soviet Union. He studied music in the best academies of Odessa and Moscow and received the doctorate degree in composition and musicology. He immigrated to Israel in 1973 and served as Professor of Composition and Director of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. He also initiated and directed international Conferences and festivals of Jewish music. His compositions were performed in Israel, Europe and the United States. Most of his works are built on Jewish motifs or on Jewish contents. He died of heart arrest in the middle of a concert that he gave in Los Angeles. This song and the next were created for the Leipziger Synagogalchor with whose director Dorfman developed deep friendship. Ghetto Varsha (Warsaw Ghetto) Text: Shmerl Katcherginski Music: Josef Dorfman, after a melody by Leon Weiner Choir and piano INTERMISSION Shmerl Katcherginski, one of the greatest poets who lived through the Holocaust and described its horrors,