Re: Re, Cantors...

[richard_wolpoe <richard_wolpoe...>]

Dear Stan,
        Permit me to use an oversimplified model to help better understand what 
is going on with Jews and Judaism...
1)    There is a "Jewish People"  It's sort of a nation, sort of an ethnic 
group, sort of a common ancestry (perhaps like the Irish).  We may not 
agree on all the details, but all Jews consider themselves members of one 
family (notwithstanding the predilection of some Jews for fratricide...)
2)    Then there is a "Jewish Religion" which subscribes to "Torah", 
"Halacha", tradition, or whatever criteria to determine religious beliefs 
and behavior.   E.G., while Orthodox are loosely bound by a common concept 
of Halacha, the precise observances of individual laws and customs vary so 
much that even 2 brothers may not agree on family customs. (E.G. I just 
heard the other day that 2 brothers debated their family custom as to 
sitting in the sukkah on Shmini Atseres which is technically 1 day 
following sukkos).  And while there are 4 major Jewish Belief systems 
today (or perhaps more), within each group they are actually quite 
fractious to the point that there really is very little consensus at all.  
        There is a cute story or anecdote that illustrates this.  A visitor 
comes to a shul (perhaps it was the blessing of the New Moon during the Sefiro) 
and the Cantor begins to chant Av Horachamim.  Half the synagogue starts 
banging on their "shtenders" (lecterns) "No, no! we don't say Av Horachamim 
today!"  The visitor questions the rabbi: - "What is the custom of THIS 
synagogue?" and the rabbi replies: "This is our custom, half the people say the 
Av Horachamim, and the other half bang on their shtenders!" Or as Israel's 
first president, the late chayim Weizmann said, "I'm President of a country of 
1 million presidents!"

        Without advocating any one view, IMHO  there will be very different 
approaches to Judaism such as secular, religious., Orthodox, and Reform for a 
long time or until the Messiah comes (and even then we'll probably disagree on 
something!)

My 2 cents of Chanukah gelt

Rich Wolpoe



______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re, Cantors... 
Author:  <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org > at tcpgate 
Date:    12/26/97 8:59 PM


What folly to stick my goy nose between these two rollers!  And yet I will.

Pondering (from outside) the rising contention between pietistic Judaism of 
all stripes and secular Judaism, I can't help feeling that world culture and 
humanity are stakeholders in the issue.  As a history buff and sometime 
practicing futurist, I can image one possible outcome of this debate 
accomplishing what all the Eichmans could not:  if secular Judaism eventually 
supplanted observance, what a wealth of not only music [Ari] but literature, 
reverence for scholarship, and diversity in its noblest form would be put at 
risk for all of us.  A world with Judaism as only a nostalgic ethnic residue 
would be much impoverished.

I may never get hear a Cantor (though I plan to).  But I take some quiet 
comfort in knowing they are still there. 

Stan