Re: Three Weeks in context

[Alex Jacobowitz <Alex_Jacobowitz...>]

B"H Luzern, Switzerland

Interesting to see that the question of when/when not to play has taken the
"T.V." route...

1) the TV people -- at least the non-Jewish majority of them -- have no
need or will to follow Halacha

2) it's clear that the majority of this list aren't interested in keeping
the Halacha anyway regarding
    performances

3) need it be said that the non-Jewish TV audience doesn't have an interest
in having their programming
    curtailed for "Jewish" reasons?

4) the Jewish TV audience mostly couldn't care less

So, said the Jewish Devil's advocate, what's the point? the mesiras nefesh
we exhibit by turning down
a TV gig because it's on Shabbos, when no one keeps Shabbos anyway? Na,
we're too "professional"
NOT to play on Shabbos, right? Hm, wait a second here, folks... let's get
this thing turned around. K?

START THINKING ABOUT ETHICS! 

1) When is ALL playing 'verboten' for me? For instance, Shabbos? If so,
decide how close before and
     after Shabbos I will not play. The same for Jewish holidays.

2) Regarding TV, the best thing to do, in my opinion,is to INSIST on a
disclaimer from the announcer
     or a subtitle proclaiming that the performance was not live, or as in
the case of my last Israeli TV
     performance, not on Shabbos.

3) If someone on the TV staff is Jewish, it may make sense to work with him
or her to explain the sensitivity
     of the broadcast to others on the staff who may be reluctant. Of
course, the TV station will broadcast
     whenever they choose. And just because a program with Jewish content
is scheduled for "Friday morning"
     or whatever doesn't mean that a programming change won't result in
something being aired on Shabbos
     itself. Be prepared with your ethics first - then let the results flow
out of who you are. Or you can watch      "Network". Or you can learn the
hard way what it means to sacrifice your soul for television

4) think about doing a TV or radio interview instead of playing.  After
all, talking is allowed on Shabbos, 
     and the non-Jewish radio staff in particular can play the CD in place
of a "live" performance, thereby 
     avoiding violation of Halacha. But it stinks.  And wonder whether
you're implicating other Jewish 
     members of the media in these Shabbos shenanigans.

5) Another thing that's often done is that Jewish performers who are
sensitive to "the Shabbos thing" print in     the CD booklet or tape insert
a short request NOT to have their CDs or tapes played on Shabbos or on
    Jewish holidays, thereby seeking not to be responsible for melacha a
listener may do. Praiseworhy, this...

What about when the broadcaster mixes a Jewish set with a Church set, to
make some kind of ecumenical
message? (This happened last month - German TV filmed by playing Bach in
Leipzig, then cut to Bach's
B minor Mass (yes, the anti-Semitic one!). Have I no responsibility for how
my music is presented? Do I have
any liability for these messages? Or shall I say, "it's beyond my control"?

(regarding some of the other letters, no, I'm not an amateur posek, nor a
posek at all - just a simple Jew. 
BTW, I heartily agree with the 3000-year development of the sound of our
collective "Jewish Soul", and advocate great circimspection in
consideration of what we are and what we're doing. And I appreciate the
readers who have twinned by questions about Germany and Shabbos -
determining what is worthy of our professional silence, before determining
what is worthy of our musical energies.)

Shalom u'vracha,

Alex Jacobowitz