By the Rivers of Babylon - the Mizrahim

When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem ca 586 BCE, it was the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new Edah.  The Israelites were taken as slaves back to Babylon during what became known as the Babylonian captivity. Although some of the group of exiles returned to Jerusalem seventy years later, many stayed in the Middle Eastern diaspora.  This group became the Mizrahi, or "Eastern" Jews.

We have been learning about the culture and music of this dynamic population of Jews, beginning with Psalm 137, which is a lamentation of the Jewish exiles "by the rivers of Babylon."  We learned the song, and even heard the reggae version! 

We learned that the Jews of the Middle Eastern Diaspora developed the distinctive beat that is found in many dance tunes today.  

We called this the "ride the pony" beat (think of the rhythm when you say those words), and we practiced it on our various percussion instruments, many of which are "found" items.

 One of the students' favorite examples of this style is the traditional song "Im Ninalu," performed by Ofra Haza, an Israeli pop star who called upon the musical traditions of her Yemenite background to create a unique blend of eastern and western music that remains popular today. In this video, you can see the traditional musical percussion instrument of the Yemenite Jews, as well as traditional Yemenite costumes.

We wrapped up the unit by listening to, dancing to and evaluating many of the popular "Mizrahit" tunes of contemporary Israel.  There is a wide selection that can be found on YouTube (just type in Mizrahit mix).  Here is one of our favorite new Yemenite Israeli groups, A Wa:



These three sisters pull inspiration from Ofrah Haza's music and their Yemeni Jewish roots, as well as exploring commonalities with their Arab neighbors, including language; the band usually sings in Yemeni Arabic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3bjZlmsb4A

Throughout the unit, we witnessed the life and culture of Mizrachi Jews through videos and film, learned new songs and dances, and made origami Torahs to commemorate the first writings of the Torah during the Babylonian Exile. Finally, each student made their own mizrach to hang on the eastern wall of their homes to know which direction to face when praying.