Several weeks ago, I posted on facebook about the passing of my great-uncle, R’ Shalom Rackovsky (known to us as Dod Sholem). He was the youngest of the nine children of my great-grandparents, and the last to pass away. As a child, he was a prodigy in the world of Chazzanut, singing as a soloist with the choir led by the legendary R’ Shlomo Zalman Rivlin, and while he was a bank manager by profession, he was a baal tefilla in his essence. He had vast expertise in nussach- the modes and tunes of Jewish prayer- and many chazzanim and baalei tefilla would call him before Yamim Tovim for consults. In the early 2000s, before he became afflicted with dementia, he recorded the full nussach for the Yamim Noraim. Indeed, even when his mind began to go and he forgot everything else, it was tefilla that he still remembered. He was also an incredibly kind, refined and learned individual- he delivered five shiurim a week, including two Gemara shiurim a week in two different tractates, and he was beloved by everyone privileged to know him. In the weeks since I posted this on Facebook, and with his Shloshim approaching, I have been contacted by people who knew him or heard him daven. I am attaching a recording of my great uncle singing the words “Ana Avda Dekudsha Brich Hu”- I am a servant of God, taken from the Torah service. This setting is composed by the great Mordechai Hershman, one of the legends of the Golden Age of Chazzanut. Even if you are not usually a fan of cantorial music, listen to my great uncle daven. The purity of his feeling, the musicality of his interpretation and the complete lack of frills or augmentation of any kind is, I think, extremely powerful.
Hakarat Hatov Corner
I am grateful to HKBH that I had the opportunity to receive my booster vaccine this week, and I would urge everyone else to do the same (or get vaccinated altogether).
Rabbi’s Recommendation
The final installment in my series How To Do Shul took place this past Wednesday. I am grateful to all those who participated in person or virtually. Here is the recording for Shabbat Mussaf.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
Congregation Shaare Tefilla 6131 Churchill Way Dallas, TX 75230
