MARCH 2008

let’s halhole!
Younger generation embraces tradition
BY JOYCE WISWELL
PHOTO BY WILSON SARKIS
When Avita Bacall
got married a year
and a half ago, her
grandmother let
loose with a giant trill – better
known to members of the
Chaldean community as the
halhole.
“She said, ‘I can’t help
myself, it comes from the heart.
It’s an overcoming of joy,’”
recalled Bacall, 24, of
Waterford.
Bacall didn’t mind – in fact,
she loves the halhole, that
shrill, high-pitched sound of
happiness women make (which
usually startles any non-
Chaldeans in attendance).
“It is used to celebrate
happy occasions,” said
Josephine Sarafa, executive
director of the Chaldean
Cultural Center. “At funerals,
it’s more of a wailing sound.”
The halhole, which many
learn as young girls from their
mothers, grandmothers and
aunts, started to die out locally
in the 1950s as immigrants
embraced American ways. But
since the mid-1960s, the halhole
has reemerged as a
favorite wedding tradition,
Sarafa said.
“After 1965 when thousands
of Chaldeans came from
Iraq all the old traditions were
reinforced by the newcomers,”
she said. “It has become a
resurgent tradition.”
Nadine Rabban, 56, said she
wishes she’d learned the sound
as a girl. “My mother and aunt
did it at my wedding 22 years
ago but I never learned,” said
the Novi resident. “Now my
daughters try it. It’s a great tradition
and if I had learned it when
I was younger, I would do it.”
Younger generations are also
Alia Shango is feted by a zeffa band as she leaves her parents’ home.
starting to embrace other traditions
from Iraq, Sarafa said,
including a henna party and
the throwing of sweets onto
the bride. Bacall’s wedding day
featured the tabul (drum) and
zarna (flute).
“The groom’s mom and other
females come and literally take
the bride from her home,”
Bacall said. “I loved it, and it
sparked a lot of emotions of
back home with my grandparents
and my dad.”
Margueritte Esshaki of Cass
Lake is one of the community’s
best-known halholers. “I have
good breath,” said the 70-yearold.
“I can go for a long time
and do it very high.”
Esshaki wins prizes at bridal
showers for her trilling skills,
but said she refrains at weddings.
“With the men
there, it’s a little different,”
she admitted.
Some church leaders
are asking women to
refrain from the halhole
during marriage ceremonies,
saying it’s
become too competitive
of who can do it the
loudest or longest.
“Do it outside all you
want, but don’t cut off
the prayers,” said Fr.
Frank Kalabat of St.
Thomas. “Keep a serene
and prayerful atmosphere
in the church.”
Rather than forbid it
outright, Fr. Kalabat asks celebrants
to wait until the couple is
introduced as husband and wife.
“Then you can take out your
frustration,” he laughed, “and
let all that pent-up halhole
out.”
the wedding guide
“GIVE ALL TO LOVE; OBEY THY HEART.”
– RALPH WALDO EMERSON
MARCH 2008 CHALDEAN NEWS 31