Re: Teens and Jewish Music

[Gumby4 <Gumby4...>]

I agree with your point.  Jewish teens need more exposure to Jewish music.  I
am a Jewish teen.  I am also a NFTY songleader and love Jewish music.  I am
actually known at school to often have my walkman with a NFTY tape in it.
However, I am sorry to say that I am the exception rather than the rule.

I think that if Jewish teens are more active in Judaism, that music will come
along with that too.  I know that I started playing guitar at my first real
NFTY event.  I now hardly go to an event without my guitar.  I try and include
music in all my Temple Youth Group events.  I teach a song every month.  It is
this kind of thing which works well for me.  However, the people learning the
songs and the people singing are only the people at the events, the people who
are active in Judaism.  It is harder to keep people active than to keep the
active people involved in music.  At Kutz (The NFTY leadership Academy) there
is a songsession every day.  I'm sure singing is a big part of other UAHC
camps as well.  NFTY music is moving into synagog services.  Music is part of
temple life, however the struggle is moving it out to non-temple life.

I would guess that many people (posters here excluded) don't listen to Jewish
music regularly in their houses.  Many do listen to Classical music.  It is
eaisier to expose teens to classical music than Jewish music.  For teens to be
more immersed in Jewish music would require a change in adults.  Parents would
need to listen to the music.  Jewish music would need to be integrated into
the cirriculum of Hebrew School from day 1 to post-confirmation.  If when
playing musical chairs in the baby-sitting room the kids listened to Israeli
dance music or kids Jewish music rather than secular music, then they would
start younger.  When teaching the story of Noah's ark if you sing Rise &
Shine.  When teaching about the Red Sea parting sing different versions of Mi
Cham.  It is places like this that music can be a part of teaching where it
isn't always.  It is places like this where music can be taught by being fun.

Well, I'll stop rambling...sorry for any spelling or grammer mistakes.


-Josh Segal
Brooklyn, NY
NFTY-NYC
Gumby4 (at) aol(dot)com
JoSegal (at) packer(dot)edu