FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skokie, Illinois, June 7, 2017. You may be familiar with Hebrew trope as the melodies you hear in services, but trope is best known for helping readers understand the texts. Trope brings Torah to today through the use of pauses to break verses into bite-sized phrases and clarify the meaning of Jewish texts. Hebrew Seminary’s summer semester begins June 27th and includes trope and text study classes in a way that facilitates a broader understanding of the present and illuminates our tomorrows.
This summer’s trope theory class with Rabbi Cantor Michael Davis includes an exploration of its ancient hand signs. Trope is an essential tool for unpacking the ancient sacred Hebrew of the Tanakh which is often written in succinct prose or poetry. Chironomy, or hand signals, is an ancient way of indicating the musical turns of chanting. Combined with an understanding of the grammar of trope, this is a way of performing the language of the Torah through hand gestures. Hebrew Seminary’s Trope Theory & the Visualization of Hebrew Grammer through Ancient Hand Signs class is open to auditing students.
Rabbi Michael was born in England and grew up in Israel, where he trained with the Chief Cantor of the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem and in leading Israeli seminaries. He has been a nationally recognized cantor for over 20 years and was the first president of Reform Cantors of Chicago and is founder of the Open Hillel Rabbinical Council. Rabbi Cantor Michael Davis has been on Hebrew Seminary faculty for eight years and received smicha, rabbinic ordination from President Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer in 2015.
Hebrew Seminary has been an inclusive and egalitarian community for the study and practice of Judaism since its founding in 1992. Our ordained Rabbis and Jewish educators support underserved Jewish populations. Those interested in Hebrew Seminary’s rabbinic program are invited to visit a class this summer. For more information about our summer schedule visit http://blog.hebrewseminary.org/389-2/. To make arrangements to visit our program contact Alison Brown at 847/679-4113 or abrown@hebrewseminary.org.
