[HANASHIR:14659] Re: secular music

[rahel <rahel...>]

At 11:43 AM 6/18/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>Shalom,
>I think that secular music is only secular if we ourselves cannot connect 
>some spiritual meaning to it.

I know a lot of people who practice spirituality of one kind or another - 
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans.... anyone can take a song 
and make it relevant to their belief system. I could probably take any song 
from another belief system and find some way of connecting it to my own 
(Jewish) belief system.

I believe that this brought us closer to God and each other better than 
anything "Jewish" could have.

This sentence/statement stunned me. Better than anything Jewish could 
have???? Judaism is so rich in practice, belief, spirituality, sentiment, 
emotion AND SONG!!! Our roots run deep - they reach up from the depths of 
the earth and far into the heavens showing us the way. One has only to open 
their eyes just a little bit - starting with the letter Aleph. If you've 
studied Aleph, go on to Bet and keep going - little step by little step to 
the Ein Sof - to the endless eternity. Because that's how far reaching our 
heritage, laws, culture, traditions, sources, philosophies, knowledge, --- 
our TORAH is. That's how rich our heritage is. That's how rich our SONGS are.

My goodness, why can't anyone find something of relevance from within our 
own sources, our own traditions to teach to our Jewish children???

I am having a lot of trouble expressing the sorrow and sadness I am 
experiencing while reading through these discussions - ever since the 
discussion on HaTikvah and up until now where we are trying to place 
songsters such as Dylan, Paul Simon and other Jewish composers (who have 
hardly a connection to their own Jewish heritage anyway- let alone 
musicians such as Pete Seeger and Joan Baez who come to Israel only to 
support the Palestinian cause) - over our own so very rich and meaningful 
Jewish sources and traditions.
Please open up the Torah, or even the siddur - and find a passage that 
speaks to you and put it to music that you feel connected to. Make those 
words your own and then pass them on to our children.

Why do we try so hard to ignore our beautiful Torah? The Tehillim (Psalms), 
the Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) - some of the most beautiful words I have 
ever read in my entire life. I sing them and chant them and teach them to 
my students. I perform them at every venue. In school we open the books up 
and look to find out where the words are written. WE OPEN THE BOOK AND 
LOOK. We've even written our own music to some of these words. It was a 
blast. We laughed and had fun and sang those words in HEBREW and made our 
connections to them. We looked at the words and said these are OUR words. 
These are OUR songs. They live in us now just as they lived in the hearts 
and lives of our ancestors who read those same words thousands of years ago.

Why is it so important for us to sing American folk songs instead of these 
ageless and timeless words from G-d and from our sages and ancestors? Dylan 
(who can't even use his own Jewish name), Paul Simon, Irving Berlin - they 
all assimilated into American life and left their Jewish heritage behind. 
Why do we prefer to follow THEIR example and pass this on to our children???

I am nearly in tears when I read your discussions of late. I know that many 
of you prefer me to keep my opinions to myself. I cannot. As a Jewish 
(song)leader in my own community, I am struggling to keep Judaism alive, to 
make it relevant to the children I teach, and to hold on dearly to our rich 
traditions and heritage. I am a songster. I speak through music and I speak 
through words - and as a Jew I speak through my actions and deeds. Our 
traditions are rich with resources that have lasted throughout the ages - 
through all efforts to cast us away. The music has carried us through the 
struggles. Miriam took her timbrel and sang and danced. We praise G-d with 
instruments, dance and song in Psalm 150. In Psalm 137 we are asked to sing 
the songs of Zion while in exile and we ask - how can we sing the songs of 
Zion while on foreign soil?

Have we lost our way so completely now that we cannot remember these songs 
anymore? Have we lost ourselves so completely that we don't even know where 
to look to find them?

I am forlorn.

Rahel