Home-grown talent and the story of freedom from slavery will be on the menu at a concert jointly hosted by Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid and Tabernacle Baptist Church and on Sunday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m., at the synagogue, 6880 N. Green Bay Ave.
The program is titled “Go Down Moses: Songs of Freedom and Kinship.”
The idea for the concert was sparked at an earlier event hosted by both congregations. There, the Rev. Don Darius Butler of Tabernacle delivered what CBINT’s cantor, Hazzan Jeremy Stein, described as a very moving talk about the connection between Jews and African-Americans.
“He spoke about the shared lived experience through the biblical narrative of slavery and redemption,” Stein said.
“He said that people who supported African-American slavery often used biblical texts to support the institution,” Stein continued, “but that when those slaves looked at the Bible, particularly Exodus, they saw a very different reality expressed.
“They saw that God intends for humans to live as free people, that the institutions of slavery violated those principles and were, in fact, an affront to God.”
Stein proposed a follow-up event in which the congregations presented this shared narrative using music as a vehicle. Stein and Milton Childs, Tabernacle’s minister of music, began a conversation.
“We developed a framework for how we could present this theme through music and song, and also highlight the work that Jews and African-Americans did throughout the Civil Rights Movement,” Stein said, “with the hopes of not just having one isolated concert, but using this as a way to build a stronger relationship.”
One area of commonality, Stein said, was the book of Psalms. Both, he said, hold the Psalms dear and as an important part of liturgy. So the concert will include two settings of Psalm 121, one each from the African-American and Jewish traditions.
Spirituals are on the program, Stein said, as they date back to the era of African-American slavery and use biblical imagery.
Concertgoers can expect to hear “Go Down Moses” and “We Shall Overcome,” sung by a choir comprised of members from both congregations. Backup musicians include professionals and members of the church’s band.
Cantor Alberto Mizrachi of Chicago and Milwaukee native and baritone Jason McKinney will be among those performing selections from jazz great Dave Brubeck’s work “Gates of Justice.”
“‘Gates of Justice’ was Brubeck’s musical reflection on the unique bond shared by Jews and African-Americans,” Stein said, “and among others it contains texts taken from speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rabbi Hillel and Psalms. It was written for a choir, cantor and an African-American baritone and is backed up by a jazz ensemble.”
The choirs also will perform Stein’s arrangement of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s “Oseh Shalom,” and the concert will end with a piece that will give the audience a chance to add its voice to those already singing.
“It’s a unique and exciting event in our community,” Stein said, “and we’re excited to have Tabernacle Baptist Church as our community partner in this.”
Admission is free but donations are accepted. For more information, call 414-352-7310 or visit cbintmilwaukee.org.
Amy Waldman is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer, retention alert coordinator at Milwaukee Area Technical College and winner of a 2013 Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism.
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