Reuben’s Haftorah trop class now spans the world

BRIAN JOSS
Since Rosh Hashanah last year, students from Reuben Wagenheim’s Haftorah trop classes have read 64 Haftorot in nine shuls, including five in December on Shabbat Vayeshev, and to celebrate 10 years of learning each shul will be presented with a Book of Haftorot.
Wagenheim’s trop class is, as far as could be established, the only one of its kind in South Africa. It started 10 years ago when a few of his friends asked him to teach them the Haftorah trop and from small beginnings with three students at his Camps Bay home, it has gone international thanks to Skype.
“There’s a difference between the Haftorah trop and the Torah trop: the Torah trop also sounds different and is read by a strictly observant Jew, usually a rabbi. The Haftorah is read in shul every week and on special days and festivals.
“Some people learnt their Haftorah portion by repetition, CD or tape, so can only recite the one they have learnt. On the other hand, I teach the Haftorah trop, so the ‘student’ can recite any Haftorah. This is how Cantor Jakub Lichterman of Vredehoek Shul taught me my barmitzvah Haftorah.
“So I am able to read any Haftorah with minimal preparation,” said Wagenheim.
The Haftorah trops are the musical notes and their sounds give meaning to the readings.
“You do not have to have a musical ear to recite the Haftorah, but the more musical you are, the more pleasant it will sound. I have had students who were tone deaf, and they sounded fine because the word pronunciation and the pauses were appropriate,” Wagenheim said.
Wagenheim teaches students who are learning for their second barmitzvah (at age 83) or because they want to recite Haftorah fluently. The youngest in his class is 39 and the oldest turned 88 on September 1.
“Until now I have taught three people for their second barmitzvah, including my cousin in Port Elizabeth via Skype and two more students will have theirs in the next eight months.
“Thanks to Skype, students have read Haftorot in shuls in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Umhlanga, and even in Sydney, Melbourne, Dallas and Vancouver.
“I also taught my brother Morris in Sydney, who then read the Haftorot in Sydney at the ufruffs of both his daughter and son before their weddings, and also at the Marais Road Shul when he celebrated his 38th wedding anniversary,” said Wagenheim, 
Over the years there have been some funny and poignant moments. “Once, one of my students stopped two sentences before the end of the Haftorah and froze and just couldn’t finish. He did eventually. It was scary then, but very funny in retrospect – like ending a 10 000 metre race after 9 500 metres. 
“A sad moment was when another student who had worked very hard to reach proficiency and looked so forward to making his post-barmitzvah debut, hosting family from all over for what was to be a big occasion, had to do it without his wife who had died some weeks earlier.
“I feel privileged to be part of this group, to teach and learn. The sound of men singing from the Books of Prophets in one’s own home is uplifting and a thing of spiritual beauty,” said Wagenheim who is a member of the Marais Road Shul, where he regularly leads the davening during the week.