49-508: Hillel Tigay (born 1969), formerly performing as Dr. Dreidle , is an American musician and chazzan . Influenced by rock, alternative, Spanish, and Middle Eastern music in his childhood, Tigay studied musicology at the University of Pennsylvania before leaving to Los Angeles in the hope of starting a music career. His initial stints with A&M Records and Jewish rap group M.O.T. were unsuccessful, but in 2005, Tigay found success as
98-530: A Yortsayt . Proficiency in Hebrew pronunciation is preferred. In practice, in synagogues without an official ḥazzan, or in the absence of one, those with the best voice and the greatest knowledge of the prayers typically assume the role. Even in the earliest times the chief qualifications demanded of the hazzan , in addition to knowledge of Biblical and liturgical literature as well as the prayer motifs ( Yiddish : שטײַגער , romanized : shtayger ), were
147-572: A hazzan for a synagogue (and made sure that a kosher butcher was established in the neighborhood) for some time before setting about hiring a rabbi, seeing the hazzan (and the shokhet , or kosher butcher) as a more immediate need. The hazzan therefore solemnized marriages and otherwise represented the congregation in the eyes of civil authorities. In the United States, many hazzanim supplement their ministry by also earning certification as and working as mohels , for bris ceremonies. In
196-430: A Jewish court, could not act as hazzan on those days, unless he had previously done penance. However many authorities were lenient in this regard, and as long as a cantor was merutzeh l'kehal , desired by the congregation, he was permitted to lead the prayers even on the holiest of days. Today, a hazzan , particularly in more formal (usually not Orthodox) synagogues, is likely to have academic credentials—most often
245-522: A cantor seemed too close to "going into the family business", as his father was a rabbi. Brous convinced Tigay to join by challenging him to create his own music for IKAR's services, in order to create a service Tigay would want to attend. Initially, Tigay attempted to mimic the style of Shlomo Carlebach , but he grew to dislike the result of that and pursued a different path. Drawing on his own inspirations (excluding techno and hip-hop), Tigay looked to Middle Eastern and Sephardic music for rhythm, while leaving
294-540: A capacity of 300 people, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts. The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, co-sponsored by the West Los Angeles Japanese American Community Center, is held at the park. Other parks and recreations in the area are Cheviot Hills Park, Rancho Park Golf Course and Reynier Park. Sawtelle Boulevard has become one of the most prominent food streets in
343-520: A degree in music or in sacred music, sometimes a degree in music education or in Jewish religious education or a related discipline. The doctor of music degree is sometimes awarded to honour a hazzan . Early sources in the Mishnah refer to a position called chazzan hakenesset , which involved leadership roles in public prayer, although not necessarily involving music or singing. Later, as public worship
392-918: A five-year training program. Members of the Cantorial Council, the Orthodox cantorial association, can train at the Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music at Yeshiva University in New York. ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal , includes a cantorial training program as part of its ordination program. Full cantorial training is also offered by the Cantorial School of the Academy for Jewish Religion (California) in Los Angeles,
441-522: A pleasant voice and an artistic delivery; for the sake of these, many faults were willingly overlooked. The hazzan was required to possess a pleasing appearance, to be married, and to have a flowing beard. Sometimes, according to Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (13th century), a young hazzan having only a slight growth of beard was tolerated. Maimonides ruled that the hazzan who recited the prayers on an ordinary Shabbat and on weekdays need not possess an appearance pleasing to everybody; he might even have
490-544: A prayer. However, the term hazzan more commonly refers to someone who has special training in leading prayers, or who is appointed to lead prayers on a regular basis in a particular synagogue. Jewish law restricts the role of sh'liah tzibbur to adult Jews; in Orthodox Judaism , it is restricted to males. In theory, any layperson can be a sh'liaḥ tzibbur ; many synagogue-attending Jews will serve in this role from time to time, especially on weekdays or during
539-468: A record deal. He initially scored one with A&M Records through David Anderle , recording one album before being dropped when new leadership took over a year later. He then joined a Jewish rap group called M.O.T. in the late 1990s, performing as Dr. Dreidle alongside companion Ice Berg. M.O.T.'s style of rap heavily involved self-aware Jewish puns, in a style similar to the Beastie Boys . M.O.T.
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#1732787111770588-429: A reputation not wholly spotless, provided he was living a life morally free from reproach at the time of his appointment. But all these moderations of the rule disappeared on holidays; then an especially worthy hazzan was demanded, one whose life was absolutely irreproachable, who was generally popular, and who was endowed with an expressive delivery. Even a person who had ever litigated in a non-Jewish court, instead of
637-505: A specialized set of skills and becoming a career in itself. The role of the hazzan as a respected full-time profession has become a reality in recent centuries. In the last two centuries Jews in a number of European communities, notably Germany and Britain, came to view professionally trained hazzanim as clergy and the hazzan as the deputy rabbi. After the enlightenment, when European nations gave full citizenship and civil rights to Jews, professionally trained hazzanim were accepted by
686-492: Is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer . In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor , a term also used in Christianity . The person who leads the congregation in a public prayer is called the sh'liaḥ tzibbur ( Hebrew for ' emissary of the congregation'). Any person is called a sh'liach tzibbur while they are leading
735-473: Is an area within the city of Los Angeles , California , United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by different sources. Each lies within the larger Westside region of Los Angeles County . The West Los Angeles Community Plan area recognized by the city of Los Angeles
784-447: Is generally bounded by Centinela Avenue on the west; Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard on the north; National Boulevard, Pico Boulevard , and Exposition Boulevard on the south; and Durango Avenue, Robertson Boulevard, and Canfield Avenue on the east. Among the neighborhoods included within it are Sawtelle , Rancho Park , Beverlywood , Cheviot Hills , Castle Heights , and Century City . The Community Plan area itself
833-411: Is high for the county and the area is highly diverse compared to both City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles averages. Mexico (29.0%) and Iran (13.8%) are the most common foreign places of birth. Notably, 49.8% of residents 25 and older have a four-year degree, which is high for the city of Los Angeles and high for the county. The percentages of never married males and never married females are among
882-561: Is part of the larger West Los Angeles Area Plan Commission area (i.e., the Westside region ). The Automobile Club of Southern California does not mark boundaries on its map, but centers the neighborhood of West Los Angeles proper as south of Santa Monica Boulevard, west of Interstate 405 , north of Olympic Boulevard and east of Barrington Avenue. The borders of the official West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council correspond closely to this definition. Specifically, its district stretches from
931-549: Is sometimes called the United States' first female cantor, serving San Francisco's Temple Emanu-El from 1884 until 1893. However, she was not ordained. Another early and un-ordained woman ḥazzan was Madame Goldye Steiner , who sang in cantorial concerts as well as in Broadway shows throughout the 1920s. She was one of the first African-American female cantors. In 1955, Betty Robbins (born Berta Abramson in 1924, in Greece)
980-508: Is the portion of incorporated Los Angeles between the Santa Monica city limits on the west, Wilshire Boulevard on the north, Century City to the east and extending just beyond National Boulevard on the south. Sections of West L.A. run the gamut from stylish Cheviot Hills to a cluster of generic homes east of Bundy Drive. That report on the meaning of West Los Angeles also included Rancho Park , located at Pico and Beverly Glen, and
1029-528: The Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. project defined West Los Angeles as south of Santa Monica Boulevard , west of Beverly Glen Boulevard , north of Pico Boulevard and east of Sepulveda Boulevard . Profiling the neighborhood in 2018, the Times described it as follows: Nowadays, West L.A. is a marooned rump of the once-mighty West Los Angeles of old, which stretched from Century City to
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#17327871117701078-561: The Harvard Heights area is a graduate and undergraduate college. The Los Angeles Public Library operates the West Los Angeles Regional Library. The Stoner Recreation Center is situated in the area. The center includes a waterpark, barbecue pits, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium without weights and
1127-497: The "golden age" of hazzanut (cantorial performance). The great figures of this era include Zavel Kwartin (1874–1953), Moritz Henle (1850–1925), Joseph "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882–1933), Gershon Sirota (1874–1943), and Leib Glantz . In the post–World War II period, prominent cantors were Moshe Koussevitzky , David Werdyger , Frank Birnbaum , Richard Tucker and Abraham Lopes Cardozo (1914–2006). Operatic tenor Jan Peerce , whose cantorial recordings were highly regarded,
1176-618: The 405 freeway in the east to Centinela Avenue in the west and Wilshire Boulevard in the north and the 10 freeway in the south. This is roughly the same area labeled as "Sawtelle" in the Mapping L.A. website of the Los Angeles Times . In 2003, a Los Angeles Times correspondent noted: The meaning of the term West Los Angeles varies widely. Some use it to describe the entire Westside including Santa Monica , Venice and stretching east to Western Avenue . More precisely, though, it
1225-482: The 405 freeway, Mapping L.A. gives the population of the 2.69-square-mile "Sawtelle" neighborhood as 35,844 according to the 2000 U.S. census, with a rise to 38,698 in 2008 as estimated by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Its density of 13,319 people per square mile, about was average for the city of Los Angeles but among the highest densities for the county. The percentage of Asian people
1274-594: The Cantorial Program at the similarly named Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College . These institutions are unaffiliated with any particular Jewish denomination. The curricula for students in these programs generally include, but are not limited to: Until 2012, neither the Reform nor Conservative streams used the term ordained for trained cantors; use of
1323-461: The Santa Monica city limits, and which has atomized over the years into a handful of disparate neighborhoods. ... Many people assume West Los Angeles refers to all that lies between the sea and Robertson Boulevard (or wherever their own arbitrary border of central Los Angeles lies). But it is its own place, not just a toponym to be used interchangeably with " the Westside ." For the area west of
1372-808: The United States there are three main organizations for professionally trained hazzanim , one from each of the major Jewish denominations: Many members of the Cantors Assembly are trained at the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America . Many members of the American Conference of Cantors are trained at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Both of these programs offer
1421-1002: The West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue. Los Angeles Fire Department Station 59 at 11505 W. Olympic Boulevard serves the area. West Los Angeles is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District . Neighborhood elementary schools are Brockton Avenue , Canfield Elementary School, Castle Heights Elementary School, Charnock Road Elementary School, Cheviot Hills Continuation School, Clover Avenue Elementary School, Crescent Heights Boulevard Elementary School, Nora Sterry Elementary School, Overland Elementary School, Shenandoah Street Elementary School and Warner Avenue . Middle schools are Emerson , Palms, and Webster. High schools are Hamilton High School , Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies , University High School and Indian Springs Continuation, both on
1470-719: The Westdale Trousdale area near National Boulevard and Barrington Avenue. The 2004 City of Los Angeles & Communities map by the Los Angeles Almanac shows West Los Angeles as a neighborhood south of Santa Monica Boulevard and north of Culver City. West Los Angeles is book-ended with Mid-City , Mid-City West and Mid-Wilshire on the east and Sawtelle on the west. Century City, Rancho Park, and Cheviot Hills are shown (without boundaries) as sub-neighborhoods in West Los Angeles. Together,
1519-549: The Who , and Led Zeppelin , as well as Middle Eastern and Sephardic music he recounted picking up while visiting Israel . He studied musicology at the University of Pennsylvania , where he studied the sitar and the lute and played in a Renaissance troupe and a balalaika orchestra. He also studied abroad in Spain , learning classical guitar . Tigay left college during his last semester for Los Angeles in an attempt to secure
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1568-447: The areas east and west of Sepulveda Boulevard/I-405 comprise a large portion of the official West Los Angeles Community Plan area. The Frommer's Guide described West Los Angeles as "a label that generally applies to everything that isn't one of the other Westside neighborhoods." It lies "south of Santa Monica Boulevard , north of Venice Boulevard , east of Santa Monica and Venice , and west and south of Century City . In 2009,
1617-556: The chazzan and music director of IKAR , a Jewish congregation. From the IKAR Music Lab, and with the help of congregants influential in the music industry, Tigay has released several albums and launched his own music group, Palms Station . Hillel Tigay was influenced by music from an early age, deciding to learn guitar after hearing the Beatles ' Abbey Road at the age of 11. Other early influences include Tears for Fears ,
1666-622: The county's highest. For the area east of the 405 freeway, Mapping L.A. gives the population of the 1.05-square-mile neighborhood as 12,659 according to the 2000 U.S. census, with a rise to 13,582 in 2008 as estimated by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Its density of 12,061 people was about average for the city of Los Angeles. 76.7% of residents were non-Hispanic white , 11.4% were Asian-American ; 5.3% were Hispanic or Latino of any race; 2.3% were African American and 4.1% identified themselves with other or mixed race categories. The median household income in east Mapping L.A. area
1715-483: The first cantor (female or otherwise) in Humanistic Judaism; however, Humanistic Judaism has since stopped graduating cantors. In 2009, Iran-born Tannoz Bahremand Foruzanfar was ordained as a cantor by the non-denominational Academy for Jewish Religion (California) , becoming the first female Persian ordained cantor in the United States. The period between the two world wars is often referred to as
1764-533: The first female cantor in Jewish Renewal (and the first female cantor in Germany) in 2002. Susan Wehle became the first American female cantor in Jewish Renewal in 2006, serving until her death in 2009. The first American women to be ordained as cantors in Jewish Renewal after Susan Wehle's ordination were Michal Rubin and Abbe Lyons , both ordained on January 10, 2010. In 2001 Deborah Davis became
1813-421: The first ordained female cantor in Jewish history. The Women Cantors' Network was founded in 1982 to support and advocate for women cantors by Deborah Katchko, the second woman ever to serve as a cantor in a Conservative synagogue. Initially a group of only twelve women, its membership grew to 90 by 1996. The organization holds an annual conference. In 1987 Erica Lippitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel became
1862-1139: The first project of the IKAR Music Lab, Tigay assembled musicians from a broad array of backgrounds to create his 2012 album Judeo , including Armenian, Iranian, and Turkish traditional instrumentalists and trumpeter Herb Alpert . The album, taking Hebrew and Aramaic prayers for lyrics, is a cross between what music might have sounded like in the antiquity and what Liel Leibovitz of Tablet described as "hyper-contemporary world music ". IKAR crowdfunded Tigay's follow-up album, Judeo Vol. II: Alive , exceeding its goal of $ 35,000. For more secular music, Tigay formed Palms Station, named somewhat after his residence in West Los Angeles . Tigay recorded Palms Station's debut album in his home studio, with his two daughters serving as backup singers. Chazzan A hazzan ( / ˈ h ɑː z ən / ; Hebrew: [χaˈzan] , lit. Hazan ) or chazzan ( Hebrew : חַזָּן , romanized : ḥazzān , plural ḥazzānim ; Yiddish : חזן , romanized : khazn ; Ladino : חזן , romanized: hasan )
1911-820: The first two female cantors ordained in Conservative Judaism ; they were ordained at the same time by the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. The Cantors Assembly , a professional organization of cantors associated with Conservative Judaism, did not allow women to join until 1990. Sharon Hordes became the first cantor (female or otherwise) in Reconstructionist Judaism in 2002. Avitall Gerstetter , who lived in Germany, became
1960-431: The harmony mostly a function of Western music. Tigay also performs music from other genres, such as Tears for Fears ' " Mad World "; him and Brous cite songs like these as part and parcel of their religious practice. The congregation responded positively to Tigay's music, and members of the congregation helped connect Tigay back to the music industry. With the backing of congregant and music executive Jeff Ayeroff , and as
2009-414: The same site. YULA High School , Yeshivat Ohr Chanoch Boys High School, Vista School, Temple Issiah Preschool and Kindergarten, Saint Sebastian School , St. Mary Magdalen Elementary School, Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy, Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, Bais Chaya Mushka Chabad , West Los Angeles Baptist School and First Lutheran School of Venice are nearby private schools. Pacific States University in
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2058-420: The secular governments as clergy just as rabbis were. Paradoxically, the United States government recognized cantors as the first Jewish clergy, even before rabbis were recognized: as a congregation could be organized and led by a committee of Jewish laypersons, who would not have the expertise in liturgy a hazzan would have, newly forming congregations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries sometimes hired
2107-560: The term invested precluded confusion with those they titled rabbi. In 2021, Conservative Judaism's flagship institution, the Jewish Theological Seminary, began using the term ordain with respect to cantors. In the 21st century, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism no longer maintain gender distinctions, and therefore women often serve as cantors in these communities. The earliest known woman ḥazzan , Julie Rosewald , called "Cantor Soprano" by her congregation,
2156-440: Was $ 86,403 in 2008 dollars, which was considered high for both the city and the county. The percentage of households earning $ 125,000 and up was high for the county. Median age of residents was 38, old compared with other locality in the city and the county. The average household size was 1.9, low for both the city and the county. 51% of residents rented their living quarters, and 49% owned them. The percentage of widowed men and women
2205-518: Was among the county's highest. Iranian and Russian were the most common ancestries. The east Mapping L.A. area was highly educated, with 60.4% of residents 25 and older holding a four-year degree, a higher ratio than found in the rest of the city or the county. In 2022, there were 412 homeless individuals in West Los Angeles. Neighborhoods include: The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves West Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department operates
2254-570: Was appointed as cantor of Temple Avodah, a Reform congregation in Oceanside, New York. Like Rosewald, she was not formally ordained, but "the spokesman for the School of Sacred Music, founded in 1947 as the first training school for cantors in [the United States], said today there was no religious law, merely a tradition, against women becoming cantors", indicating the school's institutional approval. In 1975 Barbara Ostfeld-Horowitz became
2303-467: Was beset by commercial failure, releasing an album with no marketing budget in the same week as much more popular artists Madonna and Seal . In 2005, after leaving M.O.T., Tigay was hired by Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR to be the congregation's chazzan and musical director. Tigay was initially hesitant; he did not attend services regularly, and recounted to the Jewish Journal that becoming
2352-474: Was developed in the Geonic period and as the knowledge of the Hebrew language declined, singing gradually superseded the role of sermons in synagogue worship, and the role of chazzan began to focus on chanting or singing of the prayers. Thus, while the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources, the office of the ḥazzan increased in importance with the centuries, evolving
2401-626: Was never a cantor by profession but often served as one during the high holidays . Popular contemporary cantors include Shmuel Barzilai , Naftali Hershtik , Yitzchak Meir Helfgot , Chazzan Avraham Aharon Weingarten, Ari Klein, Yaakov Lemmer , Joseph Malovany , Benzion Miller , Jacob (Jack) Mendelson, Aaron Bensoussan, Aaron Aderet, Alberto Mizrahi, Yaakov Yoseph Stark, Jochen (Yaacov) Fahlenkamp, Meir Finkelstein, Alex Stein, Daniel Gross, Azi Schwartz , Netanel Hershtik and Eli Weinberg. The title Hazzan Sheni ( Sheni means 'second') can refer to West Los Angeles West Los Angeles
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