September 25, 2009 – Still Leonard Cohen

A little more about Leonard Cohen. Tomorrow is Shabbat Tshuva, the Sabbath of Return before Yom Kippur. Cohen’s concert was superbly appropriate for these high holidays. Not only because the entire concert was dedicated to the grieving parents of those lost in the struggles here on both sides, but also because of his entire conscious structure. He opened his act in Ramat Gan stadium by greeting the audiences with “Ma tovu ohalecha yaacov, mishkenoteha Yisrael” or “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!” and welcoming the screaming crowd. His inclusion of the audience was only one of the ‘tricks’ to bring everyone together and to effect a situation of mutual worship. “Who by fire” won over those previously untouched, and all the steps toward the ‘nehila’ of “Halelluyah! worked together to make the whole concert into a kind of purification.