[HANASHIR:4638] Re: Rabbi Eric Yoffie's Sermon at the Biennial

[Freedabet <Freedabet...>]

One comment on 'jazzing-up' traditional tunes.  It's all well and good to 
'add tof', do something in 'waltz time' or 'add a back-beat' as long as those 
who know the tune will be able to follow you and participate if they wish.  I 
went to an adult friend's Bat Mitzvah and enjoyed the service, except when 
they did a version of V'shamru with Ashkenazic pronunciation that changed 
meter unexpectedly throughout the prayer.  I understand that the congregation 
does this every week, and I really wanted to participate, but it kept taking 
too many 'wrong turns' for it to be enjoyable for a guest.

-------- REPLY, Original message follows --------

> Date: Tuesday, 21-Dec-99 01:51 AM
> 
> From: Andy Curry               \ Internet:    (acurry (at) cellnet(dot)com)
> To:   Hanashir Mail Server     \ Internet:    (hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org)
> 
> Subject:  [HANASHIR:4632] Re: Rabbi Eric Yoffie's Sermon at the Biennial
> 
> Sender: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Reply-to:       hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> To:     hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> My Beautiful Friends (as Reb Shlomo Z"L might say),
> 
> I must take issue with the assumption that it's simply a matter of which
> melodies to use.  Rabbi Yoffie's remarks were not intended to foster
> replacing old music with new music, but rather to foster a change which is
> both backward and forward looking.  What's old is new today.
> 
> Last Shavuot, at a Conservadox congregation, a guest rabbi (sorry, can't
> remember his name, but he's a macher) started his remarks by saying "We're
> the baby boomers, and we're now in charge."  We don't want to be spectators
> while the rabbis and cantors perform.  We want to participate.
> 
> I'm not saying that we should stick with the same versions of liturgy all
> the time.  Good new melodies can and should be introduced.  I'm saying that
> we can also keep the tried-and-true ones, but instead of singing them as
> performance pieces, with the choir and the organ, we should try altering
> our kavanot.  If you are blessed with a small room in which to pray, try
> singing them a capella or with guitar.  Lewandowski's "Tzadik Katamar" is
> beautiful in any setting, especially if you have a handful of people
> willing to try harmonies.  Take the "standard" Shalom Alechem and try it in
> waltz time.  Add a "back beat" to Rothblum's "V'shamru", or have somebody
> play a camel-trot part on a tof on "Yism'chu".
> 
> If, on the other hand, you have a sanctuary which, as one local rabbi says,
> "sleeps 700", you're pretty much out of luck unless you have the gantze
> band a la Craig Taubman.
> 
> Make no mistake:  There is going to be some pain as we baby boomers assert
> our wishes.  It may involve insisting on alternating services in different
> modes, or holding multiple minyanim concurrently.
> 
> 
> Andy Curry
> 6016 Holmes St
> Kansas City MO 64110-3034
> Home: (816)363-8381
> Work: (913)312-4739
> 
> 
> 
> 

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