“L’shana Tova!” “A good New Year!” “Good Yontif!” “What’s that sound coming from the organ loft?”

The last of those phrases is not a traditional greeting for the High Holidays, but I hope that members of Sinai Temple will notice and enjoy some different sounds in our sanctuary this New Year. John Gerry-Karajanes will once again be playing the organ for our services, but this year he will have a second keyboard to play up in the loft: our electric piano, the instrument we use for Kabbalat Shabbat services. Part of our temple’s sound system upgrade included installation of the jacks nec- essary to plug the keyboard directly into the system during the High Holidays, so it can be heard through the expanded sanctuary.

You may ask: “Why would we need a keyboard in the loft, when we have the organ?” The answer has to do with differences in compositional styles for Jewish worship music. Much of the Reform music for the High Holidays was written with an organ in mind, and fea- tures long, sustained notes in the accompaniment. This is what an organ is built to do. If you hold down a key on the organ, it will keep playing until you release the key. On a piano, when you play a note, the sound will eventually fade away whether or not the key is released. Many beloved pieces of music for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur would sound thin and unsupported if played on the piano, because they were written for an organ accompaniment. But many newer Jewish musical settings were written with the piano as the intended instrument, and when those pieces are played on an organ, they tend to sound muddy. By having both the organ and the electric keyboard up in the loft, John will be able to use the most appropriate instrument for ev- ery musical piece, as we pray with both the traditional and contemporary music of our Reform Jewish heritage.

Ivdu et Hashem B’simcha!
Serve the Holy One with Joy!

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