It’s Friday night at 3:00 am in Jerusalem - what scene can you expect to see? People in their homes fast asleep, getting shut eye so they can wake up for shul in the morning, right?
Correct, except for one place: the Ades Synagogue.
Founded by Syrian immigrants in 1901 and named after the Ades brothers who financed its construction, the Ades synagogue is a center for Syrian hazzanut, especially known for the baqashot (lit. requests), a practice of singing piyyutim starting late Friday night until sunrise.
My cousin Ido told me about the baqashot, and it only runs from Sukkot (around October) to Parashat Zachor (around March), so since it was the season - I decided to give it a try.
I couldn't convince any of my friends to join me for this late night excursion, and frankly, I don’t blame them. I didn’t know the exact location–only that it is near Shuk Machane Yehuda–so I got there around 2:30 am and waited. Sure enough, people came and I followed them (I didn’t even need to ask where they were going - nothing else was going on other than Ades). Going to a mystery location in the middle of the night, I felt part of a secret club. We traversed our way through the alleyways of the historic Nachlaot neighborhood, and arrived at the synagogue.
I expected maybe a dozen people, mostly old, white-haired men, sitting in a small room - who else would be meshuggeneh to stay up so late? Boy was I wrong.
When I walked inside, I saw a group of at least 50 people, spanning the entire age spectrum–kids to senior citizens–waiting with great excitement for the baqashot. And there were all types of people: mizrahi and ashkenazi, Israeli and American, charedi and modern - they all wanted to experience the phenomenon of Syrian-style hazzanut.
Next I noticed the magnificent paintings and decorations on the wall, with intricate Middle Eastern designs fabricated along a green and yellow wallpaper.
The Ades Synagogue
After a few minutes, the gabbai started the first piyyut, and everyone joined along. Hearing everyone singing the Middle Eastern melodies accompanying the Hebrew words was like a Hebraized version of Umm Kulthum– the most amazing singer of the Arab world in the last century–but multiplied by 50!
After a few piyyutim, I understood the structure: The chazan leads, without words, just climbing the vocal ladder for 30 seconds gracefully; yet with a slight edge. Then, as the old timers nod their heads with approval, the whole congregation joins in. You won’t understand until you see it - here’s a Thursday night recreation of the event:
About every 30 minutes, someone passed around tea to keep everyone awake. Alas, my fatigue overtook me, and at approximately 4:00 am I called it a day and headed back.
In summary, it was a great and unique cultural experience - and I highly recommend it to anyone finding themselves in Jerusalem on a Friday night with nothing to do at 3:00 am…
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