Article from 'Centre', the newsletter of the North Western Reform Synagogue

Astute readers of the Jewish Chronicle may have noticed, a few weeks ago, a short article about two Jewish recipients of one of the very-hard-to-come-by Heritage Lottery Fund grants. One of these recipients was Alyth and the money was awarded, after a year and a half of hard slog, for “Viv’s New Music Project”. Whilst campaigning for the grant, the long-winded “Jewish Music and Oral History Project” was the best name that Viv and project manager Vicky Joseph managed to come up with! But graphic designers Clinton-Smith came to the rescue, after much discussion, not only with the name “REFLECTIONS - Jewish Musical Journeys” but (as you can see) a great logo, attractive stationery and a dynamic website. So what is “REFLECTIONS” all about? What is being reflected? Who is doing the reflecting? The seed of the “REFLECTIONS” idea was planted about two years ago when Viv was chatting to Vicky about her ambition to create an anthology of new Shabbat Zmirot and Seder melodies in honour of her late parents, Nat and Kitty Bellos. Vicky immediately offered to be Viv’s PA, fund raiser, project manager and general dogsbody, and several cappuccino and brainstorming sessions followed. Viv wanted to explore the way melodies had developed and changed over the generations and so we started by running a pilot with a member of Edgware Reform Synagogue. The gentleman in question had so many fascinating stories that it was decided that not only would we interview individuals and families from as many different backgrounds as possible - hopefully from all the Jewish communities in the world that are represented in the UK - but we would also enliven the anthology with personal histories, anecdotes and photographs. So that, in a musical nutshell, is what “REFLECTIONS” is all about. Now that we have the money and the infrastructure set up, all we need are the ‘punters’! So ... do you sing Zmirot at the Shabbat table? Do you sing unusual Seder songs or tunes? Are your songs special to your family, perhaps different from other families’ songs? Where does your family originally come from? Are several generations of your family alive? If any of these questions resonate with you we would love to hear from you. Please speak to Viv Bellos and she can tell you more and arrange to interview you so that your family's melodies can be remembered for all time in this wonderful archive. Return to top