The Exaltation of Ululation

At Touro Synagogue September 2, 2017

by Aaron Ginsburg BLOG   FACEBOOK

On September second over 60 members of the Danesh and Hakim families, originally from Iran, visited Touro Synagogue for an aufruf. It was a joyous occasion.  The video has the same spirit that we experienced.

The Exaltation of Ululation 
to the tune of the theme song from "The Sound of Music"

The shul is alive with the sound of ruach,

A sound we have heard for a thousand years.

The Danesh and Hakim families fill the shul with ululation,

To wish Jessica and Danny simcha and mazel tov.

We gladly join them to celebrate,

The aufruf of Danny Hakim,

On this very special day.

From the balcony to the bimah,

Our voices rise up to the sky!

To make that long wavering high pitched sound,

Resembling a trilling howl,

We make a high pitched noise,

With rapid movement of the tongue and uvula.

We shower the groom, 

With candy and raisins,

For sweetness and fruitfulness in the days to come.

As they create a bayit

Like so many before them,

Jessica and Danny join B’nai Yisrael

L’dor v’dor, l’dor v’dor.

Bayit=home

B’nai Yisrael=the children of Israel

L’dor v’dor=from generation to generation

The poem can be sung to the theme from “The Sound of Music.”