[HANASHIR:14652] Re: secular music

[sholom <sholom...>]

> Shalom,
> I think that secular music is only secular if we ourselves cannot
> connect  some spiritual meaning to it.

I don't think the disagreement/discussion is over whether we can "connect"
or not -- there are lots of things we can "connect to."

The issue that concerns at least some of us is whether we are using our
time to pass on our Jewish heritage, tradition, our inheretance, or not.

> 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!)

In a Jewish school, you led the singing of a song that prays for a time
there is no religion?  What message does that tell the children?

> 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.

It would be good to examine why you thought this is true.

There is nothing in Judaism that can connect to these kids better than
"Imagine" ?

That _must_ imply a failure _somewhere_, no?

-- Sholom




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