Liking the Sound of It – An interview with a Bat Mitzvah who merged Karaite and Rabbanite Tropes

“Ariella chanted the Torah portion using Egyptian te’amim (trope) – a combination of Karaite and Rabbanite – because she likes the sound of it.” Lex Rofeberg of Judaism Unbound sent me this in a facebook message with a link to the recordings. My reaction, and I quote, was, “Holy Smokes”. Is that phrase sacrilegious? Who knows.

In any event, I was super moved by this message from Lex that I went and watched the entire bat mitzvah ceremony of someone I had never met, just to learn more about this Bat Mitzvah who wanted to put some Karaite melodies in her Torah Reading. I learned that she had a great-grandfather from Egypt and then I had to reach out to interview her.

1) I understand that you have an Ashkenazi Jewish great-grandfather from Egypt. Do you have any favorite stories that he shared with you?  

Ariella: My great grandfather passed away decades before I was born. and I therefore don’t remember him. He grew up in Cairo, Egypt, went to Palestine, and helped set up the Arab educational system in the new State of Israel.

2) How did you learn about Karaites and where did you find the recordings for the Karaite trope for your bat mitzvah?

Ariella: I learned about Karaite trope by researching “tropes that sound cool”. I didn’t want to use Ashkenazi trope because I don’t like the way it sounds, and I like to be different. My mom and I found Egyptian Karaite trope at this website: https://www.karaites.org/traditional-karaite-torah-cantillation.html. I started learning it from there and read Torah once at my school using this trope. Then my mom found me a teacher named Jenni Asher, who taught me her family’s te-amim, a combination of Karaite and Rabbanite melodies.

[Editor’s note: You can hear the direct Torah cantillation at this site here for each torah portion. And you can learn the ta’amim in this video.]

3) You represented many different traditions in your readings: You read your Torah portion with a mixed Karaite/Rabbanite trope; you did your haftarah in an Ashkenazi melody. Why was it important to you to include so many different cultures?

Ariella: I find it really important to include other cultures, and I think they’re really interesting. The reason I did Ashkenazi Haftarah trope was because I didn’t have the time to learn another Egyptian trope – the tunes were so hard to learn because they had so many little jumps and dips. I hadn’t learned Ashkenazi Haftarah trope yet, but my family informed me that it was easier. I learned my Haftarah two weeks before my Bat Mitzvah, with help from my dad in particular.

4) You did your Bat Mitzvah with IKAR – an organization I have followed. Many of our readers won’t know about IKAR – what is IKAR?

Ariella: IKAR is an inclusive, innovative, non-denominational, and progressive Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles.

[Editor’s note: You can learn more about IKAR here.]

As I conclude this post, I also want to note that Ariella shows her creativity through her writing. She even wrote a midrash, and you can check it out here. This is also a good time to point out that some Karaites had no problem incorporating rabbinic midrash into their Karaite works. Maybe one day someone will incorporate something from Ariella into Karaitica.

A hearty congratulations to Ariella!

8 Comments

Filed under Bat Mitzvah, Rabbanites singing Karaite Songs

8 Responses to Liking the Sound of It – An interview with a Bat Mitzvah who merged Karaite and Rabbanite Tropes

  1. Zvi

    I myself do not use the Qaraite trope, since I like how the Ashkenazic trope features a unique melody for each single cantillation mark, and I believe it is closer melodically to the Miqra’s original tunes as deciphered by the late musicologist Suzanne Haik-Vantoura OBM. But I am diligent to pronounce the consonants with their unique sounds, going even further than the Yemenites.

    Nevertheless, it is always a delight to see Ashkenazic Jews incorporate some non-Ashkenazic aspect into their religious lives.

  2. Naomi

    This is so cool to see! I am moved that someone of 12/13 years is so wise and wants to include their roots in their bat mitzah trope! Mazle tov!

  3. Aharon

    Theres no such thing as “karaite trope” or “Rabbinate Trope”. Karaites use the s same trope in Egypt as other Egyptian Jews. It is in Maqam Sigah and similar to Yerushalmi and Syrian. It also is similar to Ottomon Trope Turkey and Greece.

    • By this – I assume you mean other non-ashkenazi egyptians.

    • Ya'aqov Walker

      All of this is beautiful. As a training Karaite Hazzan, I hope my daughter is able to learn both Ashkenazi and Karaite recitation styles.

      You’re right about the Maqaam (musical mode) being very close to other MizraHi communities, but the Karaite Egyptian tradition is distinct. Similarly, Crimean Karaite recitation doesn’t sound at all like Ukrainian Ashkenazi recitation.

      Egyptian Rabbanite recitation of Esther:
      https://youtu.be/8SaEI87FbL8

      Egyptian-Israeli Karaite recitation of Esther:
      https://youtu.be/Det464Ld2EM

      Karaite prayer and recitation involves more musicality than other Orthodox Rabbinic services, and the recitation of scripture has more notes. According to Rav Joseph Pesach (at the KJA), the Moroccan cantorial tradition is interestingly the most comparable.

      Shabbat shalom!

      Ya’aqov

  4. BATTEAU

    Bonjour, j’ai besoin d’aide et je pense que vous pouvez m’aider..
    Je m’appelle Pascale BATTEAU, ici dans mon pays ça fait 20 ans et plus que je suis persécutée, harcelée… Je suis promise au sacrifice par ma “mère” et elle m’a condamnée à l’opprobre éternelle à jamais… J’ai peur vraiment peur… de ce qui se prépare… AIDEZ MOI JE VOUS EN PRIE;;;
    PASCALE BATTEAU, Poste restante, 9 quai des Indes, 56100 LORIENT
    je n’ai pas d’adresse mail pour le moment… C’est un peu compliqué pour moi en ce moment sur le net.. Je suis d’origine juives polonaise coté paternel, mais ça ne compte pas pour certains… Ici dans mon pays dont je suis officiellement une citoyenne je suis persécutée, harcelée depuis plus de 20 ans, traitée comme une criminelle ni une terroriste… Mais je ne suis pas reconnue comme Victime… (pourtant croyez moi je remplis largement les conditions requises…) Je cherche à entrer en contact avec la communauté Israel… Merci de leur communiquer mes coordonnées..

  5. Eleanor Grant

    Thank You for these posts.

    Off topic – but I’m wondering who is doing the aviv search this year, so that we can determine when the new year begins and the dates of all the holy days.

    Please post this info as soon as you know.

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