[HANASHIR:1868] Re: Spielberg

[Judy Git <hillel...>]

Boy!!  Another worm can has definitely been opened here!!

I think that some of the people responding here are unaware of the fact that 
there
is not ONE, but FOUR cds out there based on the Prince of Egypt.  I believe that
some of the composers for the actual soundtrack cd are Jewish, and that's the cd
where Ofra Haza performs.  HOWEVER - Dreamworks saw fit - in ADDITION to the
soundtrack to put out two other full length cds (and the shmorgasborb one that
goes with the gift package) - a country and western one and a RELIGIOUS one.  It
is the RELIGIOUS cd - which did NOT include any of the Jewish artists who write
religious music, but only Christian ones that bugs me and, I'm reasonably 
certain,
Adrian and Karen, as well.  (Right, guys?)

There are so many wonderful Jewish artists who already HAVE songs on these
subjects - many of them right here on this list.  If they wanted to put out a
religious cd, why couldn't it have included some of these songs, and not just
Christian artists?  It's not the SOUNDTRACK that's the problem.

We tend to assume that everyone knows that this is OUR tradition - OUR story.
Well, folks - guess again.  Go into a bookstore - any bookstore - and ask where
you might find a book about the Exodus from Egypt.  I'll bet you dollars to
doughnuts that they'll send you to the section about Christianity.  That's 
where I
found a book once about Noah.  When my husband commented once in a letter to the
editor about some translation of the 23rd psalm which had been presented in the
newspaper, he was told by a Christian acquaintance of ours that this was a
Christian issue, and he oughtn't to mix in.

I deal with missionaries online on an ongoing basis and have come to realize to
what enormous extent these people have comandeered our Tanach - our traditions -
and claim them for their own.  We need to stake our claim to what is rightfully
ours very loudly and very clearly.

Judy

Rglauber (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> I feel that Adrian makes a valid point, but I don't agree with it.  Rather
> than this effort being an "insult to Jewish music", I see it more as a
> reaching out and a bridge building toward the Christian "market" (if you
> will).
>
> I could imagine a whole lot of Christian consumers receiving a deeper
> understanding of the interconnectedness between our faiths, and to me, that's
> not a bad thing.
>
> We talk and bemoan the fact of Jewish artists not being represented in Tower
> Records etc. and it's always a question of market share this and market share
> that.  Well, Spielberg has made a product that is obviously going to appeal to
> a huge market share, and good for him.  Perhaps some of us might think about
> how we could appeal to a wider audience than just Jews.
>
> When I recorded my album, the Soul Parade, I consciously wanted it to be
> rooted in Judaism, but with a universal appeal.  Some of my most cherished
> compliments have been from Christian, even fundamentalist parents who
> appreciate the album.  So I don't feel co-opted and I don't feel like a
> stooge.  I think that there is a huge untapped audience for Jewishly rooted
> music (or film) that reaches out across the gulf.  That's where the market
> share is, my friends