[HANASHIR:14651] secular music

[Golda18 <Golda18...>]

Shalom,
I think that secular music is only secular if we ourselves cannot connect 
some spiritual meaning to it.  For the 9/11 anniversary last year, I took my 
5th &
 6th graders outside.  We sat in a close group on the grass.  They had 
already had assemblies and discussions in school. Rather than doing a formal 
service 
with traditional liturgy, we read a poem and sang John Lennon's Imagine.  
That song became a prayer for a peaceful time to come. (Ironic isn't it because 
it talks about a time of no religion!)

For kids, some of whom were no further than two steps of separation from the 
tragedy we were commemorating, I believe that this brough us closer to God and 
each other better than anything "Jewish" could have.

Gail F. Nalven
New York