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Michtam LeDavid - מכתם לדוד


The prayers of Motsae Shabbat begin with Michtam LeDavid; a chapter in Tehilim in which various paytanim in the synagogue each chant one verse as a petiha. The maqam is El-Maya and therefore each line sounds the same.
In my recording, I change the tune at Avarech as was custom in Spanish Morocco all the way until Neimot which reverts back to the final concluding petiha. Normally, the Neimot Biminecha Nesah ends abruptly in order to segue into the chapter of Tehilim following: LeDavid Baruch... However for the sake of this recording, I ended the chapter as if I was ending a song, but note that it's not how it's done in synagogue.
French Moroccan Jews have the custom to recite the verse of Avarech also in the tune of a petiha, and then change the tune at shiviti. French Moroccan Jews have multiple tunes of Shiviti throughout the year, while Spanish Moroccans only sing one tune (the one I recorded).
This isn't easy to learn and master, but with lots of practice, you can easily rank yourself with the best paytanim around.

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