By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–At an outdoor party sponsored by the House of Israel on Sunday afternoon, many Americans in the audience learned that “The Star Spangled Banner” actually has more than one stanza. Kol HaKavod, the San Diego Jewish Men’s choir, dressed in blue jeans, dress white shirts and white kippot, sang both the first and fourth stanzas of the National Anthem, causing a ripple of surprise in a crowd that is used to clapping and cheering after the first stanza only.
Except for the last two lines, the lyrics of the fourth stanza might also appeal to Israelis, if they didn’t already have “Hatikvah” and if Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner” wasn’t such a challenge for most vocal ranges — although not for Kol HaKavod, whose singers range from tenor to baritone to basso profundo.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
When the applause died down, the men, conducted by Ruth Lopez-Yanez, broke into a medley of Hebrew songs including “Hartsa Halinu” which prompted several people to dance on the large lawned shared by the various cottages of the House of Pacific Relations — an organization founded several years after World War II in the hope that the world, through better understanding of each other’s customs, would be more “pacific” or “peaceful.” Many of the countries represented in the cottages are in Europe, prompting some who think “Pacific” refers to the ocean, to wonder why that area of Balboa Park (across the drive from the Organ Pavillion) is not called “The House of Atlantic Relations.” Israel, which has coasts on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was one of the early exceptions to the Atlantic orientation of the international assemblage of cottages. The House of Israel now is undergoing interior renovations, including the installation of a wall of Jerusalem stone.
Kol Hakavod, which also performed the mournful march from the opera “Nabucco,” which tells of Jewish captivity in Babylon, was a hard act to follow, but children from the choir of the religious school from Ohr Shalom Synagogue, stepped up on stage with enthusiasm and performed more Hebrew melodies, some from Israel and some from Erev Shabbat services.
Among their songs was “Eretz Zavat Chalav U’d’vash,” (Land of Milk and Honey), which once was the subject of a film documentary made by Ohr Shalom’s frequent musical director Zeji Ozeri, who teaches at many Jewish institutions.
Then it was time for Yael Gmach, a sultry folksinger, to come on stage with accompanist Vladimir Yarovinsky, formerly of the Ukraine, to get the dancers back on their feet with a lusty version of “Hava Nagilah” and other songs, occasionally straying off the Israel/ Jewish theme such as when she sang “La Vie En Rose” made famous by Edith Piaf.
Yael’s father, David Gmach, served as chair of the entertainment committee, but before any reader jumps to a conclusion that there was nepotism afoot, one should know that Yael already has an established reputation as a musician (see www.yaelsongs.com) along with a strong, positive stage presence that could enchant any audience as it did on Sunday afternoon.
She was followed to the stage by young Jonathan Sussman, a flutist, and Brendan Prednis, a guitarist, who played more Hebrew songs in a performance accompanied by folkdancers practicing their moves for a later session which would include audience participation. I. Gerry Burstain, a former president of Ner Tamid Synagogue in Poway, proudly told friends that the two young prodigies were members at his shul.
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com