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The Art of Torah Cantillation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Chanting Torah; Have you ever participated in a Shabbat worship service, followed along as the cantor chanted from the Torah, and wished that you could learn to chant too? Now your wish can become a reality with the URJ PRESS' newly published The Art of Torah Cantillation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Chanting Torah by Cantor Josée Wolff and Cantor Marshall Portnoy. The first book of its kind to instruct the layperson how to chant Torah, it is accompanied by a compact disc which leads the novice though the Torah chanting process with easy to follow exercises and instructions. Divided into 13 lessons and additional useful appendices and bibliography, it also contains a list of parashiyot and High Holiday cantillation, and it allows the reader to "self teach" the important principles of Torah cantillation. "This book is designed for lay people--adult students, B'nai Mitzvah candidates, or any congregant who know how to read Hebrew," says Wolff, the associate director of the Joint Commission on Synagogue Music of Reform Judaism. "The book explains how the cantillation system is really a grammatical system, so that one will learn not only to chant the trope symbols but also how to interpret the Hebrew text. With this book anyone can become a Torah reader, so long as they're willing to learn." Wolff notes that the book can be used with or without a teacher, as the CD corresponds with the written exercises. Furthermore, she encourages readers to first learn the melodies of the trope patterns by listening to the CD recording, and then to compare their own chanting of the exercises to that of the teachers featured on the CD. "This is a great book for learning to change, as it's so comprehensive and well done," said Debbie Silverman, a member of Temple Judea in Coral Gables, FL, who learned to chant Torah using the system prescribed in the Art of Torah Cantillation. "I would recommend this to anyone--adults who are learning on their own as well as teachers, who can use it as an aid when teaching B'nai Mitzvah students. Since the lessons are written so clearly, it's a musical foreign language that can be easily understood and mastered." The Art of Torah Cantillation retails for $19.95 and can be ordered from the URJ PRESS toll free at 1-888-489-UAHC or through the website at http://www.URJPress.com. The URJ PRESS is the publishing arm of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America, uniting 1.5 million Reform Jews in 895 synagogues. UAHC services include camps, music and book publishing, outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews and educational programs. # # # (1/2000)
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