[HANASHIR:8008] RE: Percussion

[Andy Curry <acurry...>]

Jack,

Thanks for an excellent posting.

Last Saturday night I watched (for the second time) Robert Duvall's great movie "The Apostle".  My daily music listening is likely to include Mahalia Jackson, the Dixie Hummingbirds, or religious music by Bill Monroe or the Louvin Brothers (I also listen to Shlomo!).  I love the unabashed simplicity and sincerity of charismatic worship.

For a long time, I've seen the irony in the Jewish-prayer situation.  We invented prayer, yet, in too many of our synagogues, we don't remember how, or don't seem to care, or we do care but don't want to stick out.

There ARE some good reasons for the relative restraint of Jewish  prayer:

1) We have a SET liturgy which is rather long.  It covers all the bases and is beautiful, but repetition day after day tends to mute its meaning, and its establishedness tends to discourage spontaneity;

2) The halachic prescriptions for "body language" during the public worship emphasize humility rather than
the unabashed displays we associate with charismatic worship.  For example, we are supposed to recite the Amidah with our feet together and stationary, because we are in the presence of HaMelech malchey hamlachim; and, it's hard to wave your arms in the air when you're holding a siddur!

And yet... we read chasidic stories of spiritual transport, trembling, dancing, possession - all happening without drummers and Fender basses and gospel choirs.  So what did those chasidim have that we (in the aggregate) don't?

For one thing, they knew Hebrew and they knew the liturgy.

Another factor, often overlooked, is that they congregated in smallish rooms, easier for ruach to fill, rather than the large, cold sanctuaries (sleeps 700) we've inherited from the 1950s and 60s.

They also knew each other pretty well.

Finally, the fact that a particular chasidic story survives indicates that there was a tzadik, a "charismatic rebbe", involved.

Some of these differences can be addressed by the synagogue.  Some depend on brave souls stepping forward.  Some can only be addressed by the individual or by society as a whole.

I don't criticize what you're doing.  As you say, it brings Jews in who might not otherwise come; it's sincere and it's meaningful.  The question I would ask is:  What now?  Does it move the worshipper to learn more, to do more, to delve deeper into OUR incredibly beautiful traditional liturgies?  I sing along with the Louvin Brothers shouting "Let's sing and shout and walk about/There's a Higher Power!" in my living room, but at shul the version goes "Kol han'shama t'halel Yah!"

To me, the challenge is to move a group of Jews to the point where its collective spirit can carry Jewish prayer to heaven, with or without instrumental music.  If what you're doing provides a first step, kol hakavod.

Kol tuv,
Andy

At 03:47 PM 1/19/01 -0800, you wrote: 
>>>>
> My two cents regarding instrumentations: 

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Andy Curry
Schlumberger - CellNet Data Systems
11146 Thompson Ave
Lenexa KS 66219
Office: 913-312-4739
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E-Mail: acurry (at) cellnet(dot)com
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