[HANASHIR:14704] Re: secular music

[rahel <rahel...>]

At 08:21 PM 6/20/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>My 19 year old cousin Tamar was killed last week in the bombing in 
>Jerusalem.  19.  Yeah.  Yes, she was killed by Hamas, and not a Jew like 
>Rabin was, but still.  She was killed during a fight between cultures, 
>that centers around religion.

First of all, I am very sorry for the loss of your cousin, and for the 
continued loss of our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel. Whether her 
death was due to a fight that centers around religion - I'm not so sure 
this is the case - but that is not a topic for this listserv.

The point that I believe Sholom has made time and time again - and seems to 
be missed time and time again - (and please correct me if I have 
misunderstood) - is that we have so very little time allotted us to be able 
to teach, or pass on, our Jewish culture, traditions and heritage to our 
children. While we all love a good variety of music, secular or not, our 
focus should remain on teaching our children Jewish music and Jewish 
musical traditions. That can or cannot include a mention of Jewish 
composers and songwriters throughout the generations if need be. But 
because we have so very little time with our Jewish children we really need 
to be focused and specific about Jewish content.

Sholom asked:
Should the survival of the Jewish people, fully realized in its potential, 
be our goal?

Our Jewish children have every opportunity in their secular world to learn 
and sing "Imagine" and all the other secular tunes that have been mentioned 
throughout this discussion. I always believed Jewish camps, and Jewish 
institutions, educational or otherwise, as well as the Jewish State of 
Israel, were all established in order to secure the survival of the Jewish 
people. As a parent, I expect that my children will be learning Jewish 
songs, and not "Imagine" when I pay the outrageous sums of money to send 
them specifically to a JEWISH camp. If I wanted them to learn and sing 
"Imagine: I could send them to any old camp for much less money. As a 
parent, if I found out my kids were being taught a selection of songs that 
were not Jewish in content (in the Jewish institution), I would withdraw my 
children immediately from that place and demand my money back.  I have no 
interest in a Jewish institution that does not place the highest priority 
on teaching my children their Jewish traditions - and that includes music 
(even if I am a John Lennon fan!).

With so little time, we need not miss our opportunities.

Rahel