Cantor to debut Holocaust film, music presentation

Some projects just take a little more time than others.

Cantor Moshe Friedler's most recent endeavor took about 15 years from conception to completion.

"Like the birth of a baby, only a lot longer," he says, laughing.

Friedler, of Congregation Rodeph Sholom, will debut his "Songs of Despair and Hope" at 7 p.m. Sunday at his synagogue.

Instead of a concert, this multimedia production is a 45-minute film he produced on his new Apple computer. It includes 12 original songs he wrote, all inspired by Elie Wiesel's book, "One Generation After," set to a film montage of Holocaust images.

That's the despair part. The hope comes toward the end, with modern-day images and songs that celebrate Israel.

One could say this was a lifelong project for the 67-year-old cantor, who grew up in Argentina. His father had eight brothers and one sister - all killed in the Holocaust. As a young child, Friedler recalls attending Yiddish-speaking commemoration services for the Jews who lost their lives in one of the darkest eras of modern history.

After moving to the United States in 1977, he vowed not to forget that connection to his past and do something to remember it through his God-given talent of voice and music.

The inspiration for this music came years ago while on vacation at a campground in Cocoa Beach. He was reading Wiesel's book and was swept away by emotion. Friedler picked up his ever-present guitar and the "songs just started to flow from my soul."

A few years ago, he paired up with Thomas McColley, program director at Independence Day School in Carrollwood, who wrote the arrangements. The result was a 90-minute live concert of the Holocaust-themed songs with a string quartet that played at several venues.

As powerful as the music is, Friedler wanted to expand the project. That became possible after he got his computer.

"I never thought I could make a movie, but it's possible with technology," he says. "The things you can do are amazing."

Because of the subject matter, some of the songs are intensely emotional. Soloist Maureen Cohn, a choir member at Rodeph Sholom, sings "Lullaby," a haunting number about a mother and child being transported by train to an unknown destination. The listener knows they are headed to a concentration camp.

"It brings me to tears every time," she says. "Every time I sing it, I'm on that train and that's my baby, and I know at the end of the line, I could be saying goodbye forever."

Cohn felt it was important to take part in the project because "you can't remember the Holocaust enough and you can't tell the story enough."

"Moshe put his heart and soul in this production. You can feel it in every song," she says. "He is passionate about everything he does."

Congregation member Rosa Miller appreciates the cantor's work for a personal reason. Of Italian heritage, she grew up in the Greek town of Salonica, which lost 98 percent of its 60,000 Jewish residents during the Holocaust. She survived by hiding out in the homes of sympathizers in Athens during the occupation.

After the war, she married and lived all over the world with her husband, who worked in health and foreign aid programs. She spoke several languages and served as a linguist for the CIA and National Security Administration.

"At first, you turn against your religion, because you think, 'If this is what they are doing to Jews, I don't want to be Jewish.' But that vanishes, and you come back with hope," she says.

The 80-year-old widow now speaks about her experience at schools and other venues. She did a four-hour interview with producers of director Steven Spielberg's video archive project and wrote her own account called "The Destruction of Salonica Jewry: A Personal View."

She worries that the younger generation doesn't understand the enormity of what happened 70 years ago, so she appreciates projects like Friedler's "Songs."

"It is so important, to create songs and poems and write about it," she says. "Already some people say it never happened at all. That is so tragic."

Friedler's work on the project may be complete, but he won't be satisfied until the film is seen by one of his heroes.

"I still dream of the honor and privilege of showing it to Elie Wiesel. His book was my inspiration and I owe so much to him," Friedler says of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "He wrote of the despair, but also the hope, which is such an important part of the story."

IF YOU GO

Songs Of Despair And Hope

WHAT: Premiere of Cantor Moshe Friedler's multimedia production of original songs inspired by Elie Wiesel's book "One Generation After"

WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 2713 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa

COST: Free

INFORMATION: (813) 837-1911