Re: Jewish Music Trivia

[Mitch Bassman <mbassman...>]

At 08:12 AM 11/6/97 -0500, Isabelle Ganz wrote:
>[snip]
>best Judeo-Christian song
>[snip]
>Oh Jingle bells, jingles bells, jingle all the way....."

Hmmm, I usually let comments like this one ride when I see them on other
mailing lists, but I simply have to respond here.

"Jingle Bells" is *not* a Christmas/Christian song. That is a common
misconception. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Christian holiday
of Christmas, which happens to fall in the winter season in the Northern
hemisphere. "Jingle Bells" is a perfectly generic *winter* song, suitable
for use in the months of July and August in the Southern hemisphere,
suitable for use in a Jewish household whenever there is snow, suitable for
use in a very Jewish summer camp in the mountains in the middle of August
in 1957 where I can recall singing it (at age 10) when we experienced a
freak snowfall in the middle of the night. I have been told that this song
was actually composed for the late November holiday of Thanksgiving in the
United States.

"Jingle Bells" (along with many other non-Christian *winter season* songs,
such as "Winter Wonderland") has grown to be associated with the Christmas
holiday season. Oddly enough, it's often played in December even when there
is no snow on the ground but is rarely heard in January and February when
there is often much snow.

Check out the lyrics: "Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open
sleigh, ...." It never mentions anything related to Christmas. I wonder:
could I get away with having my choir sing in our synagogue? Maybe on
Thanksgiving? No way!

Mitch Bassman
Burke, Virginia, USA