Assaf Tsuberi, Coordinator of Piyut
The Tu B'Shvat Seder held this year at the Ben Gurion School in Ofakim was different, indeed unique. The Seder was opened by paytan (composer of Jewish liturgical poetry) Moshe Zagury, the father of a student at the school, who sang, together with the entire school body, the piyut (Jewish liturgical poem): Yom Tu B'Shvat Hanehedar (The wonderful day of Tu B'shvat). The idea of including Moshe, who is an expert in the poetry of Moroccan Jews and the traditional Jerusalemite-Sephardic version, was enthusiastically received by the staff, students and parents who attended the ceremony.
"The piyut recited at the Seder was the culmination of a long process at the school, during which grades 2 to 6 were introduced to the subject of piyut", explains Assaf Tsubery, who coordinates the subject at Maarag-Morasha, Kol Israel Haverim-Alliance. "The process begins with the personal stories of students from a broad spectrum of communities: Azerbaijan, Morocco, Russia and others. The youngsters discover that just as each community has its unique foods, customs and language, it also has its unique music and sounds".
At the next stage they study familiar piyutim: Shalom Aleichem, Ehad Mi Yodea, Lecha Dodi and Bar Yochai. A similar learning process also took place this year at the Tsipori School in Bat Yam, the Multi-Disciplinary School in Ofakim and other schools.
The purpose of the program is to familiarize students from all backgrounds with the subject of piyut, both in terms of content and new activity, in accordance with the needs of the school. As part of the holistic concept of the process, Assaf plays an active part in creating ceremonies for the holidays in the school, with an emphasis on the musical aspects, together with the coordinators and teachers.
Yardena Nachtomy, Director in Maarag Morasha, Kol Israel Haverim-Alliance, considers the study of piyut an important element in shaping youngsters' identity: "The program allows the student to recognize and appreciate his/her family traditions. Realizing that there is a full and rich world of culture and music in your parents' home and their country of origin is a very empowering insight", she says, "especially for students from communities that did not have appropriate cultural expression. Furthermore, piyut is a wonderful way to enrich the student's Jewish - cultural vocabulary".
"Above and beyond the enthusiasm with which the study of piyut was greeted", continues Assaf, "I was happy to see how proud Moshe Zagury's son, a fourth grader, was of the role that his father played in school. The excitement aroused by the students' cultural identity is repeated in the musical encounters at many schools. "
Assaf sees his work as a mission, which is essentially the desire to expose students to the knowledge and values that are inherent in the musical traditions of their parents' homes. "I see piyut as an important alternative to the contemporary music that children are exposed to and the values that they represent. I want to connect the students to the concept that underlies piyut, which focuses specifically on the power of the collective and the connection of the individual to it. I hope to introduce the youngsters to the vast and rich repertoire from which piyut draws, a repertoire that is often inaccessible to entire communities in Israeli society. My goal is bring the piyut to light, to recite it and to make it something living and breathing".
Assaf's mission is not limited to the students; he would also like to introduce piyut to the teachers. In the project, Sh'taltim Nigunim (you planted melodies) that takes place at teachers meetings in several schools, teachers present piyutim from their homes and tell their story. Then they all sing them together. "The main purpose of these meetings," notes Assaf", is to encourage joint singing, to encourage music in school and basically to re-create the role of the 'music teacher' – which was significant in the past, but has diminished".
Assaf also leads other projects. As part of the "Roots" project, seventh grade students at the Multi-Disciplinary School in Ofakim researched piyutim that were preserved in their families. In the Abir Yaakov school in Ofakim, a community hilula celebration in memory of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Yaakov Abu Hatzeira, combined piyutim, songs in Amharic and other musical traditions. Says Assaf, "It is important to me to work with the entire school community and to connect the parents to the experience. If we can mobilize the parents and teachers to preserve and hand down their musical heritage even when I am no longer here, then this will be a true success".
In addition to serving as the coordinator of piyut at Maarag Morasha, Kol Israel Haverim-Alliance, Assaf is a member of the Mima'amakim band, which plays Jewish music. He attests that he is a great believer in the power of music to bridge between different groups and beliefs. "It makes me very happy to see how contemporary Israeli artists are spreading the trend of piyut in Israeli society. You could say that piyut is sacred Hebrew song, which for centuries, dominated the personal poetic and musical creativity of the Jewish people. My vision is for the Jewish cultural tradition exemplified by piyut to become an integral part of all aspects of life in Israel, just as it was in the past".
Assaf's mission is part of a long-standing piyut project initiated by Maarag Morasha, Kol Israel Haverim-Alliance. Within the framework of this project, a series of textbooks, Poetry and Roots – that focus on transmitting the cultural heritage of Jewish communities exemplified by piyut to schoolchildren - was developed and published.
