RE: Adon Olam

[Adrian A. Durlester <durleste...>]

Raquel:

Having been privileged to attend one of those workshops you mentioned given by 
you and your husband, I can attest that you have some very excellent ideas and 
approaches to bringing spirituality into the classroom. My problem with what 
you are saying here is that you are defining how to create sacred space and a 
"spiritual atmosphere" through a very narrow set of criteria.  And you are 
attempting to define what is meaningful for others by using what is meaningful 
for you as the standard. I'm willing to bet that the party we held on the far 
side of the reed sea was a real blowout! I imagine people were singing praises 
to God using some of the popular melodies and drinking songs of the time. As 
you said, it's the kavanah, the intent, that counts.

I think it is dangerous to require a link between a melody and specific words, 
i.e. that a tune was written with specific words in mind. The fact that the 
theme to Gilligan's island can be used with other words (or simply instrumen  
tally) proves that the melody itself is good. Innocuous maybe, but it stands on 
its own. So do the words to Adon Olam.

Last summer, Klepper taught us a beautiful oriental Adon Olam. It turns out 
that the melody was actually written as a Yigdal! Good tune, good words-they 
can all go together-interchangeably (most of the time.)

Did Mozart write music with the intent it would be the background music for 
Elvira Madigan ? (Oy, I'm dating myself.) Did Tchaikowsky write the 1812 
Overture to sell breakfast cereal? ("This is the cereal that's shot from guns" 
-how many of you remember that one?) But the music works in those settings. In 
a similar way, the interchange of melodies and words, or melodies and purpose 
can be mixed, interchanged, and still be a good and valuable thing. Did whoever 
composed the Viennese drinking song that has become the popular tune for the 
Shema expect it to be used for that purpose? (I don't know this for fact, it's 
just that every time I hear that tune I think Vienna and beer steins! The 
experts on this list can correct me if I'm wrong.)

A melody "captures the feeling of the text" if the person combining the two 
feels it so.  The songwriters on the list won't want to hear me say this, but, 
once you release the music of your heart to the world, it's there for us, as 
individuals, to use-and if we want to put different words to it-that's our 
choice. (I'm not talking copyright, amateur or professional performance 
here-just what we might do in our own showers.) God, the rabbis, and numerous 
anonymous composers and poets and scholars gave us all the prayers, piyyutim, 
melodies that are our liturgy. Let us make of them what we will so long as wish 
use them in praise to, adoration of, or in service to God.

Adrian



On Thursday, March 05, 1998 0:14, QuelliPG [SMTP:QuelliPG (at) aol(dot)com] 
wrote:
> I respectfully disagree, Neil.  As I just wrote to Rick, I think that the
> kavannah is much more important than the words.  (maybe I'm just a chassid at
> heart)  Not that we don't want our students to learn the words.  Absolutely
> we
> do.  And sure, go ahead and use a catchy upbeat tune.  Uzi Hitman's tune is
> FUN!  It's silly.  I don't really think it captures the feeling of the text,
> but it was  WRITTEN FOR THOSE WORDS!  I don't picture Bob Denver and Alan
> Hale
> when I sing it!  There are lots of other tunes (or you can make up a simple
> one of your own) that can be used to teach the words, without cheapening 
them!
>
> I agree that music is the best way for many people (including myself) to
> learn
> words, history facts, spelling words, foreign languages, and countless other
> things...I still can name all the Torah portions in order because of a song I
> was taught as a child in day school!  And Schoolhouse Rock is another
> excellent example!  But I don't want kids to memorize prayers.  I want them
> to
> learn to read Hebrew and read the prayers.  And I want them to be thinking
> about what they're saying as they say/sing the prayers!  The object of
> praying
> in Sunday school or Junior congregation on shabbat is not just to have a good
> time.  It's to have a meaningful time.  AND the critical  key to good praying
> with kids is having adults who are praying their guts out.  Sit in a circle.
> Wrap yourself in your talit.  Shuckle. close your eyes.  sing loud.  pray
> like
> you personally are going to bring the mashiach!  You'll find that your
> students will follow suit or at least you will have gotten their attention
> and
> made an impression on them that prayer is meaningful and important to you.
> I've seen many a class where the teacher is sitting at his/her desk and the
> kids at theirs and they say Ok, now we're going to do tefillot.  turn to
> page...  and then spend the whole time disciplining or walking around
> reminding kids to sing etc.  If the teacher isn't praying why should they?
> oops, I'm getting carried away...it's late.  My husband and I do a whole
> workshop on bringing spirituality into the religious school setting and I
> could go on and on...
> Raquel