🎧 The Secret Synagogue Tapes

For decades, people have secretly recorded synagogue services. Why?

This is a very short post to tell you about a very special episode of Belief in the Future, the most ambitious one we’ve ever made.

In the 1970s, a Holocaust survivor named Mel Feld decided to preserve the cantorial traditions that had been decimated by the Nazis. Unfortunately, recording on Shabbat and holidays is taboo and/or a violation of Jewish law. In order to get around this problem, Mel did his recording in secret, with portable tape recorders and even spy equipment.

He wasn’t alone. Many other people had the same idea, and they’ve been conducting their work in secret for decades. It still happens today.

In this episode, I tell the story of these “live davenings” (a.k.a. bootleg synagogue tapes) and the people who made them.

I really hope you enjoy this episode. It takes a lot more work than a typical episode, so we’ll only do more like this if there’s clear interest.