Twenty five people came to SCoJeC's Kosher Ceilidh in Portree on the Isle of Skye, several of whom were delighted to discover that they were not, as they had thought, the only Jewish person living on the island. The audience also included a number of people with connections to Israel, amongst whom were a Christian pastor who regularly leads visits to Israel with members of his church, a couple who had spent some time living and working on a kibbutz, and one woman who treated us to a Gaelic song that she has also sung at the Tel Aviv folk music club. |
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From the first song the audience joined in with enthusiasm – in fact, at the end of the evening, the receptionist at the Aros Centre, where the event was held, commented that it was "wonderful" to hear everyone singing along, something he hadn't heard for a very long time. |
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Emotions ran high as the music brought back memories; one member of the audience remembered his father and uncles singing "My Yiddishe Mama" to his grandmother, another that it recalled the happy time she had spent in Israel.
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The Kosher Ceilidh wasn't, however, just an opportunity to remember the past, but also a spur to the future, and, by the end of the evening, some people who hadn't before known of each other's Jewish connection were making arrangements to meet up for other events in future. |
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