Disparate teenage Jewish voices became one at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. While standing atop the historic stage, Pittsburghers, alongside more than 100 peers from across the country, sang Hebrew songs and participated in Hazamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir’s annual concert and festival weekend.
The March 15 gala represented months of training, Pittsburgh conductor Cantor Laura Berman said. Teens came together with a goal of creating beautiful music and “Jewish community.”
Before traveling to New York City for several days of preparation, the Pittsburgh contingent practiced weekly at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, Nera Akiva, 17, said. “We would work on the music every Sunday, and it was just a really nice community where we could also be connected with Israel.”
During typical years, the Manhattan-based concert and festival weekend features opportunities for high schoolers from across the U.S. and Israel to foster connections and promote pluralism through excellence in music. This year, however, due to war-related complications Hazamir was unable to welcome nearly 100 Israeli teens who had also spent months rehearsing, Berman said. “There was a lot of disappointment, but also a deep respect for what these Israeli teens were going through.”
Organizers, according to Berman, did their best to create international connections by streaming performances and encouraging virtual meetups.
“It was sad to hear that they couldn’t come,” Pittsburgher Jordan Block, 17, said of the Israelis. Still, the mindset was “we have to make the most out of it.”
Despite noticeable absences, the gathering delivered meaningful Jewish engagement, Akiva told the Chronicle.
“Hazamir is a very unique space, a unique experience, it’s something you can’t get in other youth movements,” Block said.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, there are “so many different forms of Judaism,” Akiva said. Hazamir’s commitment to pluralism ensures connections are created “between Jewish people that just can’t really be recreated in another space.”
Berman agreed, and said it is no secret that this is a “time of great anxiety and division in the Jewish community.”
“Here, none of that stuff matters,” she continued. “It is about the music. It is about heritage. It is about creating something extremely special, honoring our tradition and honoring our potential for the future.”
Berman credited Matthew Lazar, creator of the Zamir Choral Foundation with setting expectations “at a very professional level.” Teens recognize the demands, “stretch themselves and achieve new heights.”
Akiva, whose three-year participation in Hazamir has resulted in performances on New York City’s biggest stages, said the payoff is well worth the prep. “It’s amazing being able to sing at such amazing venues so young. Singing at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center is something that people dream of.”
Along with Maestro Gerard Schwarz, Pittsburgher Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers served as gala co-chair this year.
Before arriving in New York, Myers said the event is for a “wonderful and unique cause,” and that through the “highest level Jewish music” Hazamir connects and supports Jewish teens from across the U.S. and Israel.
Berman agreed, and said Hazamir enables teens to “make new connections and deepen their understanding.” Participants broaden their “Jewish experiences and deepen connections with kids across the Jewish spectrum. Really, there’s so much to be said for it.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.