On the High Holidays, Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews may feel torn between orthodox Mizrahi/Sephardi services or progressive Ashkenazi services. Meanwhile, Jewish community leaders and laypeople alike may be ignorant of the High Holiday prayers from anywhere other than Central and Eastern Europe. For these reasons, on Sept 18, trailblazing Jewish multicultural educator and hazzan Loolwa Khazzoom will teach, “Iraqi High Holiday Hits,” in an online class open to people of all backgrounds. No Hebrew or Jewish knowledge is required.
As part of the program fee, class participants will receive a free digital copy of Khazzoom’s new a cappella album, Ancestral Ways – releasing on the day of, and featuring the same songs taught in, the class. This album is being released exclusively to program particpiants (and to Khazzoom’s Patreon members, who can purchase the album). In addition, class participants will receive a free digital copy of the 2022 edition of The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage – the first anthology by Jewish women of color – to deepen their knowledge about progressive Mizrahi and Sephardi women.
On Yom Kippur, Khazzoom will co-lead egalitarian multicultural Yom Kippur services at Kanisse, a burgeoning progressive Mizrahi and Sephardi community in New York, chanting many of the same prayers being taught at her upcoming program. For novices to the world of Mizrahi and Sephardi prayers, Khazzoom’s program serves as a primer for active participation in parts of the service.
For more information about “Iraqi High Holiday Hits,” visit KHAZZOOM.com/IraqiHits. For more information about KHAZZOOM, visit KHAZZOOM.com/About. For more information about The Flying Camel, visit TheFlyingCamelBook.com. For more information about Kanisse, visit Kanisse.org.
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