Mood Mix with Chazzan Nissim Saal

He might have missed the golden age of chazzanim by several decades, but the golden voice of CHAZZAN NISSIM SAAL makes up for the void. Chazzan Saal leads the davening as chief chazzan at the century-old Yeshurun Central Synagogue in Jerusalem, with his extraordinary vocal range. Originally from Monroe, New York, his recent album, Chazunes Collection, brings classical masterpieces up to fresh, crystal clear digital recording standards, and his poignant single, “Va’asayem B’Tefillah,” captures the mood of a beseeching nation over the last 12 months.

HOW I GET INTO TISHREI MODE 

From Shabbos Mevarchin of Rosh Chodesh Elul, I use some melodies associated with the Yamim Noraim in davening. This year during Elul, I’ve been singing the niggunim of “Chamol” and “Ochilah Lakeil” on Shabbos. And I used Yossi Green’s “Ki Lo Sachpotz” on parts of Lecha Dodi, which went down very well.

HOW I REHEARSE ACROSS THE WORLD 

I start after Shavuos by relistening to all my nusach recordings to refresh my memory, then I prepare some new material. After that, I have to rehearse with the shul choir, but they’re in Yerushalayim. As I live in New York, I meet with the choir leader on Zoom, and share with him the chazzanus pieces I’m planning. He selects the tunes that we’ll sing during davening, then he prepares the arrangements for the choir members. But because the choir has over a dozen members, we also need some rehearsals in person. We try to arrange those on dates when I’m in Eretz Yisrael, and then the last ones take place when I arrive for Yom Tov, a couple of days before Rosh Hashanah.

HOW THE CROWD GETS INSPIRED 

They sing along with a lot of the traditional nusach. Maariv has its wordless theme, “Aha aha ah aha aha ah…” as does Mussaf, and everybody expects to join in those themes. Although we daven in the time-honored nusach, we keep things contemporary by using a variety of tunes for “Vechol Maaminim” and “Melech Elyon.” Choosing them is the job of the choir leader, and he finds tunes that the crowd knows. They might be from Chabad or from Carlebach, or something more contemporary — whatever he feels will go down well.

MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE

Aside from the physical challenge of standing for many hours and davening and singing aloud, the biggest challenge is the burden of responsibility. The kahal is looking at you and counting on you — you’re their shaliach for the tefillos which they hope will be accepted, and that is a weighty responsibility that creates a certain internal pressure — but it’s a rewarding pressure.