Deborah Katchko-Gray
Freedom is something to sing about. And at seder dinners celebrating Passover — and the Jewish people’s escape from bondage in Egypt — Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray feels music and singing should have a central place.
“The message of freedom and renewal,” she said. “It’s important to remember the journey from slavery to freedom, but I think it’s best felt with music.
“Once I attended a seder where there was no singing — they raced through the passages, not a lot of Hebrew, no singing. I cried,” she said.
That’s part of what’s behind the CD she made: Passover Seder Songs.
“I wanted to do a recording that would go from the beginning of the seder to the end, a musical menu of the seder,” she said.
“It’s mostly the traditional music I grew up with.
“Passover is one of my favorite times of the year, and my memories of sitting around the table with my father singing most of the seder are one of my fondest memories,” she said.
“It’s a wonderful moment. It’s one of the few times we sit around a table and sing — or should be singing.”
The cantor at Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield for 16 years now, she comes from a long line of cantors.
“My father was a cantor, my grandfather was a famous cantor, and my great-grandfather was a cantor in Poland, as well,” she said.
Her commitment to musical celebration is personal.
“I’m very grateful for growing up in such a musical home,” she said.
“Four generations — music runs very deep, and I try to pass it on as much as I can to my kids and my guests at the seder table.
“I always make sure I have a very musical seder, and make it easy for people to participate as well. I have song sheets, I use my guitar, try to make it lively,” she said. “And even my four very cool older sons now can sit around and sing.”
The seder is a time for celebration — fun — and she has a song sheet of parodies for singing at her seder. The Passover Seder Songs CD includes one parody— Don’t Sit on the Afikomen, which is sung to the tune of the Civil War song The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Her own seders usually have about 20 to 25 guests.
“I get very sad if it’s not more than 20. I love to have a full house,” she said.
“When people come to my seders they always say, ‘This is the most musical seder I’ve ever been to.’ To me, most of it should be sung. It’s such beautiful music,” she said.
Community seder
A community seder is planned for the second evening of Passover on Saturday, led jointly by Rabbi David Reiner of Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield and Rabbi Marcus Burstein of the Jewish Family Congregation in Lewisboro — two temples that are considering a merger.
“The second evening Passover seder is with both congregations, coming together, that’s the first time we’re doing this,” she said.
The second evening Passover seder is at 6 p.m. Saturday at Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield. The cost is $18 per adult, and $10 each for children under 10.
“People in the community are welcome to attend the seder,” she said.
“We’re asking people to bring a kosher for Passover dish to share.”
People who would like to attend should RSVP to Kathleen at the Jewish Family Congregation by calling 914-763-3028 or by email to ksakowicz@jewishfamilycongregation.org.
Community sing-along
The cantor’s commitment to music as a means of bringing people together has her involved in another project: community sing-alongs, which she co-hosts with Edwin Taylor, the music minister of First Congregational Church of Ridgefield, and his wife, Faith Ferry, a music teacher.
The next one is Sunday, April 12, from 4 to 5 at the First Congregational Church (the sing-alongs are usually at the Community Center, but it’s been undergoing renovations).
This is the third or fourth sing-along, she said. They’ve been having them every other month — and have talked of making it a monthly event.
“We have a nice local group. We’re getting like 40 to 50 people. We use a songbook called Get America Singing Again,” she said.
“It’s to reclaim this lost art of community singing.”
Two guitars, cello
Passover Seder Songs features Cantor Katchko-Gray singing, along with two guitars, percussion and cello.
“I played guitar on it. I also played cello,” she said.
But the instrumental star of the CD, she insists, is South Salem, N.Y., resident Jay Heffler of Hal Prince Music
“He did Hatikva, The Hope, the national anthem of Israel,” she said.
Mr. Heffler used the famous Jimi Hendrix electric guitar version of The Star-Spangled Banner from the 1969 Woodstock concert as an inspiration for his version of the Hatikva.
“He did it with electric guitar like Jimi Hendrix,” she said. “He did it with a Jimi Hendrix feel.”
Another different approach is taken on the traditional song Dayenu, which translates from Hebrew as “It would have been enough.”
“It’s done with a country swing feeling,” she said. “It’s bluegrass, but we call it ‘Jew grass’ — we like to spice things up.”
The CD is available from a variety of sources on the Internet, including her website and CD Baby, or Amazon, and it’s also on iTunes.
“You just type in Passover Seder Songs, and Deborah Katchko-Gray,” she said.
“It turns out, of the nine CDs I’ve made it’s the only one that sells pretty well — that’s pretty gratifying,” she said.
“I enjoyed making this particular CD.”
