Three Weeks in context

[Solidarity Foundation <svzandt...>]

> I do wonder, however, whether there are specific gigs that
> Jewish musicians would not, in general, take. There are 
> obvious ones--I think even the least religious among us would
> be unable to play a Yom Kippur bar mitzvah (despite the 
> wonderfully oxymoronic conception of such of thing), but
> what are the limits that being a Jewish musician plays
> on where or when one accepts gigs.

Ari, I find this a really fascinating and important question. The way I
understand it, you're changing the original question (or rather, amateur posek)
of Alex Jacobowitz in two respects: 

1. Moving from the Three Weeks to all possible contextual constraints on Jews
playing Jewish music

2. Broadening from a question of halakhic constraints to a question also
including ethical constraints

3. In addition, I think it would be worthwhile to add another category: what
about non-Jewish musicians playing Jewish music? Should they respect
constraints and if so, what are they?

The main reason I think this is so important is that it focuses attention on an
issue that has been neglected in discussions on this list. After all, it's the
Jewish Music list, so naturally we've been talking about Jewish music. But this
question calls attention to THE CONTEXT IN WHICH JEWISH MUSIC IS PERFORMED. And
it is clear, not only with Jewish music, but with all musics based in ethnic
tradition, that in recent times the performance contexts have been changing
fast and furiously. For example, the whole question of "the German thing" is
basically a question of context-- and there are many others.

Some will say, so what else is new? contexts are changing all the time. For
example, the introduction of sound recording was a huge change, and that
started 100 years ago. But I would answer that what's fairly new is the DEGREE,
VARIETY, and RATE of the changes.

I think a lot of previous discussions -- even the dreaded "what is Jewish
music?" -- can become clearer from this perspective. 

Moreover, we often think of these changing contexts as if they are simply
something to which musicians passively adapt and nothing more. Of course
there's much truth in that, especially if you are trying to make your living by
performing Jewish music. "Give the public what it wants." But musicians don't
only adapt. They also create, "set a tone," start new trends, preserve old
ones. Furthermore it is not only musicians that make these decisions. It can
also be agents, managers, producers, all of whom have their own ideas and
perspectives. There are many genres of Jewish music. Within each genre, there
are many styles, and thus many publics. Nor are we necessarily giving all of
them exactly what they want. If they could tell us exactly, they'd have to be
the musicians, wouldn't they? There may well be publics that are not getting
what they want at all and which therefore are still untapped. 

The important thing is, as these performance contexts change, inevitably the
music also changes. Sometimes subtlely, sometimes very obviously; sometimes
just on the surface, sometimes in its very essence. Some might say there's no
right or wrong about it, the changes simply follow "the times." Others might
say the music could change for the better or for the worse, or perhaps just
maintain itself in new contexts, like folk dancing, for example. Anyway, there
might be a question of responsibility involved. Maybe it's a responsibility
toward the collective upkeep of musical traditions that we have inherited, not
created, and would like our children and grandchildren to get the benefit of
just as we did. We develop the tradition, but it's still the tradition. 

I realize I haven't yet answered Ari's question. What I've tried to do is tease
out what I think it really involves. For why else should a Jewish musician, or
a non-Jewish musician for that matter, feel any constraints about performing
Jewish music anywhere, any time? I don't think there's any TECHNICAL, MUSICAL
reason not to play for "a bar mitzvah on Yom Kippur". Yet how would you feel if
you heard that a non-Jewish klezmer band, let's say in some foreign country,
had performed -- with the best will in the world, mind you --  not only ON Yom
Kippur, but l'kuved (in HONOR of) Yom Kippur? Would you not feel -- "wait a
minute, there's something wrong here." Yet they couldn't be violating any
halakha, since it doesn't apply to them.

I believe Jewish music is in danger of losing its soul if it gets too far away
from its source. If we are not following halakhic constraints, we can still see
constraints based on respect for tradition, or to avoid conveying to the public
a "message" about the relation of Jewish music to Judaism that we might not
want to convey. In performing, we cannot avoid teaching the public about Jewish
music, about our attitude towards the tradition and, by extension, what we
think their attitude should be. Do we want to convey that we feel no
responsibility or obligation whatsoever? To paraphrase a friend of mine, "It
took the Jewish people 3,000 years to develop this sound -- we should give a
little thought to what we're doing with it."

O.K. Here's one real-life example. A torah-observant Jew was asked if he would
perform some klezmer for a television talk-show that would be aired on the
first night of Passover. Of course the reason they wanted Jewish music that
night was precisely because it WAS the first night of Passover. The program
would be taped a few days before, so the performance would not violate halakha.
Yet the musician declined the gig because he didn't think it was right to be
seen playing Erev Pesakh. It so happened that they then asked me if I wanted to
do it. It would have been a great opportunity for me, but I also declined, for
a similar reason, although I didn't interpet it in halakhic terms, but just in
terms of general respect.  Similarly, though not orthodox, I don't perform
Shabbes.

Itzik-Leyb Volokh (Jeffrey Wollock)