New Members Syllabus


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For more information about joining the CA and an application form contact Cantor Jeffrey Myers: hazzanjsm@aol.com 516-541-0740.

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION STUDY GUIDE

This is intended to help applicants identify areas of study and should not be regarded as a complete syllabus. We strongly urge applicants to seek a qualified mentor who can guide the learning process.

I.JEWISH HISTORY:

Applicants should:

1.Know the dates and eras of the Temples and their respective destructions.

2.Know about the modern wars for Israel.

3.Know all of the groups of Jews during the Greek and Roman periods who were influenced by Rabbinic groups.

4.Identify major centers of Jewish learning and which groups of rabbis led them.

5.Identify the major institution of justice for the Jewish nation.

6.Identify the major sovereigns of Ancient Israel.

7.Know the major leaders of Jewish resistance prior to the modern era.

8.Identify the major chronological groupings and personalities of the rabbis of the Talmudic periods and their achievements.

9.Know about the codifications of the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds.

10.Know the dates of the Moslem conquest of Spain and Europe.

11.Know about the Greek version of the Bible.

12.Know about the contributions of the Prague Jewish community.

13.Know about the Haskalah and its contributions to Reform Judaism.

14.Know about the Pittsburgh Platform and its effects on all branches of Judaism at the time in America.

15.Identify and have understanding about the early pioneering Conservative rabbis in America and their contributions.

16.Identify major Conservative rabbis who furthered the causes of Conservative Judaism in mid and later 20^th century.

17.Know about the leaders of modern Israel since 1948.

18.Know about the Hasidim and Mitnagdim.

19.Know about the origins of the Ghetto.

20.Know about the Warsaw Ghetto and the Partisans.

21.Know about the Camp David accords.

22.Know about the early Sephardim in America.

23.Know about the blood libel in the Middle Ages.

24.Know about the major death camps of the Shoah.

25.Know about the Pale of Jewish settlements.

TERMS, PERSONALITIES, DATES TO KNOW:

Kings Saul, David, Solomon

Bar Kochba, The Rambam, The Maharal of Prague, Ezra, Nehemiah,

Golda Meir, Chaim Weizmann, Menachem Begin, Moses Mendelssohn,

Zechariah (Issachar) Frankel, Mordecai Anielewitz,

Rabban Gamliel, Rashi, Hillel, Shammai

Rabbis Isaac Luria, Akiva, Yehuda Hanassi, Noah Mannheimer, The Baal Shem Tov,

Vilna Gaon, Zalman of Liadi, Yochanan ben Zakkai,

Rabbis Isaac Meyer Wise, Gershom Mendes Sexias, Solomon Schechter,

Rabbis Mordechai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Simon Greenberg,

Rabbis Louis Finkelstein, Jacob Kohn, David Lieber

DATES:

586 BCE: Destruction of the First Temple, 70 CE: Destruction of the Second Temple,

300 CE: Talmud Yerushalmi, 475 CE: Talmud Bavli, 632 CE: Conquering of Palestine by Moslems, 712 CE: Moslem Conquest of Iberia, 1453 CE: Conquering of Palestine by Turks, 1492 CE: Expulsion from Spain, 1776-1800CE: Haskalah in Europe, 1918 CE: Conquering of Palestine by Allies, 1948 CE: State of Israel founded, 1967 CE: Six Day War, 1973 CE: Yom Kippur War

MOVEMENTS/ PHILOPHIES/ GROUPS

Perushim, Sicarii, Tzedokim, Kanaim, Tanaim, Amoraim, Geonim, Haskalah, Reform, Neo-Orthodoxy, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Sephardi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Mysticism, Hasidism, Mitnagdim

PLACES, ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

Eretz Yisrael, Yavneh, Vilna, Jerusalem, The Ghetto, The Pale of Jewish Settlements, Babylonia, Sandredrin, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Venice,

Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, University of Judaism, Yeshivah University, Academy for Jewish Religion, School of Sacred Music, H. L. Miller Cantorial School, Belz Cantorial School, Jewish Ministers Association, Rabbinical Assembly, Cantors Assembly, Central Conference of American Rabbis, American Conference of Cantors, USY

RECOMMENDED READING:

Ben-Sasson, H.H., ed. A History of the Jewish People, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1976

Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The Jewish Heritage, Oxford, England, Basil Blackwell, 1988

Silver, Daniel, A History of Judaism, New York, Basic Books, 1974

III.HEBREW GRAMMAR AND COMPREHENSION

Applicants should be able to:

1.Identify parts of speech in a given text.

2.Change words to reflect correct gender and number.

3.Correctly identify verb infinitives, roots, tenses and pronouns.

4.Demonstrate proficiency in modern spoken Hebrew by translating provided sentences in English and/or writing a short essay in Hebrew.

5.Demonstrate an ability to comprehend selections from the liturgy by answering questions about provided prayer texts.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Band, Ora and Bergman, Bella. Hebrew: A Language Course, New Jersey, Berhman House

Simon, Resnikoff, Motzkin. First Hebrew Primer, 3^rd Edition, Oakland, CA EKS Publishing Co., 1992

III.JEWISH MUSIC HISTORY

Applicant should:

1.Know the instruments mentioned in the Bible, specifically Tehillim

2.Know about the role of the Leviim in the Beit Hamikdash.

3.Know by whom, when and where the cantillation system was codified.

4.Know when the public Torah reading began.

5.Know what Chironomy is.

6.Know who at JTS has researched cantillation.

7.Know when Jewish music became polyphonic.

8.Know who worked on rediscovering 18^th Century synagogue music.

9.Know the major writers of synagogue music of the19^th and 20^th Centuries.

10.Know the famous Hazzanim of the 19^th and 20^th Centuries.

11.Know the outstanding scholars of Jewish music in the 20^th Century.

12.Know the composers of Yiddish song in the 20^th Century.

13.Know the composers of Hebrew folk and art songs in the 20^th Century.

14.Know the founder of the Cantors Assembly and when it was started.

15.Know the roles of Samuel Rosenbaum and Max Wohlberg in Jewish music and the cantorate.

(Note: Many individuals whose accomplishments qualify them for mention in more than one category are listed only once; for example, scholars or composers who were also accomplished cantors.)

HISTORICAL TERMS/PERSONALITIES

Shofar, Nevel, Chinor, Tof, Asor, Minim, Ugav, Chatzotzra, Leviim

Ben Asher, Chironomy, Salomone Rossi, Ovadia HaGer

SCHOLARS

Solomon Rosowski, Abraham Binder, Israel Adler, Abraham Z. Idelsohn, Max Wohlberg, Samuel Rosenbaum

18^th- 19^th CENTURY CANTORS AND COMPOSERS

Louis Lewandowski, Salomon Sulzer, Nissi Belzer, Emmanuel Kirschner, M. Wodok, Moritz Deutsch, Samuel Naumbourg, Eduard Birnbaum, Aharon Baer, Abraham Baer, A. M. Bernstein

20^th CENTURY COMPOSERS

Meyer Machtenberg, Joseph Rumshinsky, Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky, Abraham Ellstein, Yehezkiel Braun, Gershon Ephros, Srul Irving Glick, Charles Davidson, Paul Zim, Sol Zim, Debbie Friedman, Craig Taubman, Julie Silver, Paul Ben Hayyim, Naomi Shemer, Doug Cotler, Michael Isaacson, Shlomo Carlebach, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Max Helfman, Max Janowski, Meir Finkelstein, Ben Steinberg, Robert Straussberg, Simon Sargon, Jose Bowen, Hugo Chaim Adler, Abba Hugo Weisgal, Harry Coopersmith, Lazar Weiner, Solomon Golub, Mordecai Gebertig, Julius Engel

20^th CENTURY CANTORS

Yossele Rosenblatt, Mordecai Hershmann, Gershon Sirota, David Roitman, Pierre (Pinchas) Pinchik, David & Moshe Koussevitsky, Moshe Ganchoff, Israel Alter, David Putterman,

MOVEMENTS/ORGANIZATIONS

Cantors Assembly, American Conference of Cantors, Jewish Ministers Association, "Golden Age" of Hazzanut, Yiddish Art Song, Hebrew Art Song

PLACES/INSTITUTIONS

Italy, Russia, Germany, Austria, United States, St. Petersburg Society for Jewish Music, Cantors Institute of JTS, H. L. Miller Cantorial School, School of Sacred Music-HUC, Belz School, Yeshiva University, T'veriah, Israel, Yiddish Theater in America

IV. LITURGY AND DINEI T'FILAH

Applicants should be able to demonstrate fluency with the customs and practices that are normally encountered in the performance of the liturgy, including but not limited to:

1.Identifying special prayers and rituals and when they are recited, for example: Tal on Pesach, Akdamut on Shavuot.

2.Identifying parts of the service, when they are recited and how they change for different occasions, for example: Changes in Kabbalat Shabbat when it is together with a festival, Know when Tachanun is not recited.

3.Identifying which books of the Bible are recited as part of the liturgy and on what occasions, for example: which Megillot are chanted on which holidays?

4.Knowing where well-known Torah and aftir readings can be found, for example: where are the Maftir readings for Shabbat Shekalim or Shabbat Chanukkah?

5.Knowing how many Sifrei Torah are used on various occasions and how many Aliyot are called from each, for example: 4 Aliyot from one Torah on a weekday Rosh Chodesh, 7 from the first scroll and Maftir from the second scroll on Shabbat Parah.

6.Knowing which services are chanted using what Nusach and at what times, for example: HaShem Malach is the Nusach for Kabbalat Shabbat and Magen Avot is for Arvit L'Shabbat.

7.Knowing all the names of all of the holidays in the Jewish calendar year, for example: Shavuot is also known as Chag Habikkurim and Z'man Matan Torateinu.

RECOMMENDED READING: Liturgy and Dinei T'filah

Elbogen, Ismar, Jewish Liturgy, trans. Raymond Scheindlin, Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1993

Heinemann, Joseph, with Jacob J. Petuchowski, Literature of the Synagogue, New York, Berhman House, 1975

Jacobson, B. S., Meditations On The Siddur, Tel Aviv, Sinai, 1966

Klein, Isaac, A Guide To Jewish Religious Practice, New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, 1979

Millgram, Abraham Ezra, Jewish Worship, Philaadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1971

V.MUSIC THEORY

Applicant will be asked to:

1.Identify all of the key signatures, for both major and minor keys, in both treble and bass clefs.

2.Notate a given interval from any note.

3.Build major and minor chords with a given note as the tonic.

4.Harmonize or compose an accompaniment to a given melody.

5.Transpose a melody to a different key.

6.Notate familiar melodies without using a piano or other instrument.

VI. TANACH

Applicants will be asked a series of questions to determine the extent of their Biblical literacy. Questions will be drawn primarily ffrom the narrative portions of the Tanach normally encountered in the annual cycle of Torah, Haftarah and Megillot readings.

Know the personalities and major events/stories concerning the following individuals, other personalities connected to them and their families where applicable:

Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Esau, Pharoah, Moses (and family), Aaron, Moses (and family), Joshua, The 12 Spies, Rachav, Devorah, Yael, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ruth, Esther.

VII. PHILOSOPHY OF THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT

Applicants should know the history and philosophy of the Conservative Movement