There many occasions that we celebrate in our culture. The birth of a baby girl or boy is a joyous event celebrated by Jewish families all over the world. On the eighth day of a boy's birth, a Brit Milah (circumcision) ceremony is performed. There are special prayers and pizmonim that are said on that day to celebrate this significant event. When a boy turns thirteen year old, a Bar Mitzva ceremony is done. The Bar Mitzva period signifies a boy's transition into manhood and as such it is a very significant day. There are special prayers and pizmonim for this occasion. Additionally in Jewish life, wedding is a joyous celebration which has its own ceremony and pizmonim. In this section, I have recorded some of the most popular songs that we use to celebrate these events. I hope to add more pizmonim to this section in the future.

Berachot or blessings are an essential part of Jewish traditions. There are blessings for different holidays, different occasions and on a daily basis. Please note that your version of the text for the blessings may differ slightly. In this section, I will be uploading some of most common blessings that we regularly use.

Arabic maqam is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music. Each maqam is built on a scale, and carries a tradition that defines its habitual phrases, important notes, melodic development and modulation. Each Shabbat, Sephardic Middle Eastern congregations conduct services applying a different maqam. The maqam is selected based on the Torah portion's theme or an upcoming occasion. The melodies used in a given maqam aim effectively to express the appropriate emotional mindset throughout the liturgy (The explanations of the maqamot are courtesy of

There many occasions that we celebrate in our culture. The birth of a baby girl or boy is a joyous event celebrated by Jewish families all over the world. On the eighth day of a boy's birth, a Brit Milah (circumcision) ceremony is performed. There are special prayers and pizmonim that are said on that day to celebrate this significant event. When a boy turns thirteen year old, a Bar Mitzva ceremony is done. The Bar Mitzva period signifies a boy's transition into manhood and as such it is a very significant day. There are special prayers and pizmonim for this occasion. Additionally in Jewish life, wedding is a joyous celebration which has its own ceremony and pizmonim. In this section, I have recorded some of the most popular songs that we use to celebrate these events. I hope to add more pizmonim to this section in the future.

In Jewish life, Shabbat is a very important day of the week. It is a day families get together to pray, sing and celebrate. There are many traditions, customs and laws associated with the Shabbat day. On Friday evening we begin our prayers with Minha, followed by Kabbalat Shabbat (these are perakim of Tehillim and Piyutim to herald the beginning of the Shabbat), Shir Hashirim (one of the five Megilot that is written by King Solomon) and Arbit.At the Friday night dinner, we sing Eshet Hail and say the Kiddush (prayer before a meal on Shabbat). On Shabbat morning, we say the Shahrit prayer. Following Shahrit, we read a parasha from the Torah (see

The Tanach is an acronym which stands for Torah, Nevi'im and Ketubim. It consists of the twenty four books that comprise the written scripture. The Torah, which consists of five books as listed below, is further subdivided into fifty-two parashiot. On Shabbat, a parasha is recited in the synagogue allowing for the annual completion of the Torah. To follow the recordings with an actual text click on the following link: