COPLAND, AARON (1900-- 1990), U.S. composer. Copland was born in Brooklyn and studied in New York and Paris. Returning to the U.S. in 1924, he became active as a composer, teacher, and conductor. In his early years Copland attracted the attention of Serge Koussevitzky, then conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who became an ardent champion of his music. His Piano Concerto, which he played with Koussevitzky in 1927, shocked the staid Boston audience by its aggressive jazz idiom. But Copland's talent soon won for him universal acceptance. In 1964 he received the Medal of Freedom from the U.S. government.
Today the hub of the Habad empire is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. There is also a large branch in Israel centered at Kefar Habad, near Lod. The 7th Lubavitch leader, Menahem Mendel Schneersohn, born in Russia in 1902 and educated in mathematics and engineering at the Sorbonne in Paris, led the New York community from 1951 until his death in 1994. He was childless and did not designate a successor. Under his direction, the influence of the Lubavitch community spread far beyond the hasidic community and penetrated the mainstream of Jewish life in all parts of the world. In theory, the Habad Hasid is too sophisticated to expect miracles from his leader --- he looks to him only for spiritual guidance. Nevertheless, the great "Rebbe" was said to have cured a man of cancer by placing his hand on the man's side and saying "si'z gornisht" (It's nothing). A campaign hailing Rabbi Schneersohn as a Messiah began in the late 80s and has continued beyond his death in the 1990s. The messianism gripped a large part of the Lubavitch community and has created a huge debate in the ultra-Orthodox communities in the Diaspora and Israel.
One thing I noticed was that the text throughout the encyclopedia uses the term Ultra Orthodox to describe various mainstream Orthodox groups, among them the Lubavitch.
Danny Kaye was also included in my search of Brooklyn which mentioned several of the important films he made. It did not mention White Christmas among these movies. It also listed a number of Hazzan including Berle Chagy, Baseball Pitcher Sandy Kouflax,actor Zero Mostel, The City of New York, The Satmar Hassidim, Self Defense, Sports, Barbra Steisand, Fanny Brice, The United States with a musical link to the Star Spangle Banner, Gerald Warburg, and Yeshiva University. One can make on notes all these topics along using cut and past text.
I chose an article on Prayer and a large article appeared on the history and development of Jewish Prayer going back to biblical prayer. The sound file is a nice Sephardi hymn with voice and some sort of guitar like accompaniment. The Article itself is tremendous with topics within it including Biblical Prayer, Prayer in the Rabbinical Period, The Language of Worships, Prayer in Modern Jewish Thought, and The Order and Content of The Prayer Service. Every aspect of the topic is covered. Indeed, it is a rich article, perhaps 15 typical pages long.
