I went on a rant yesterday during Hebrew School music. We were beginning to learn a Chanukah version of "Let it Go" (written by my colleague Deborah Jacobsen and adapted by me), and - there are a couple of higher note points - one child started to do the "opera voice" in reaction to the way some of the kids were trying to sing. I lost it. Here's what I posted on my Facebook page : Nothing - I mean NOTHING - makes me more upset than kids making fun of the way other kids sing. Too many grownups won't sing because their voices were mocked when they were children by teachers and/or peers (Believe it or not, I am a prime example). Cantor Kessler's #1 Music Rule is: no one makes fun of anyone's voice. Cross that rule at your peril. OK, rant over. Here's part 1 of the back story. Years ago an adult told me that when he was a bar mitzvah student, his cantor told him that he shouldn't chant the haftarah because it wouldn't sound good. T
Because cantors talk, too.