[HANASHIR:8676] Teaching Chad Gadya and a defense for new songleaders

[Adam Griff <agg3...>]

Laura and all,

I've just read all of the replies so far to your situation, and something
very important seems to be missing.  I had a very similar experience
teaching Chad Gadya to first graders on Sunday, except it was me who took a
step back after class and said, whoa, that's a violent song.  My immeidate
question was, "what does it mean?"  That is, what does Chad Gadya have to do
with Pesach, and can I convey that message to this age-group.  If we can't
answer that question about any song we are teaching, then we are not
teaching it!

I don't like to get up on the soapbox, but honestly, meaning is so important
to songleading, and so often neglected.

I'd also like to commnent on the issue of new songleaders.  Ideally, I would
agree with everything that has been said.  However, I would add a warning
not to frighten off new songleaders with your insistence that they are
entirely developed in their skills before they begin to songlead.  There is
an extreme shortage of songleaders in my community, and I would suspect in
many communities.  To brush off people who are not yet proficient as doing a
"great disservice" is very dangerous.  All of us are hopefully getting
better at songleading continuously.  Please don't be so quick to dismiss
those who are not yet at the same experience level as you.  Though Josh's
suggestions sound absolutely wonderful, they are not available to everybody.
I find that some of the remarks that have been made present songleading as
an overwhelming skill that should be studied and developed for years and
years before being practiced.  I agree wholeheartedly that songleading is a
skill that takes an extreme amount of work and dedication to develop, but
try to be more inviting to those just getting their feet wet.

B'shalom,
Adam Griff

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