Itsy Bitsy Spider, Liturgy, Geography

[richard_wolpoe <richard_wolpoe...>]

Dear Wendy,
        I don't think we'll take this completely off list... just but why 
should we subject the whole list to our tedious hairsplitting debates of 
liturgical minutiae! (I'm assuming Latin is OK!)

        Bottom line, I really would like to see both a traditional liturgy (sans
(that's French for without) itsy bitsy teenie weenies) but one that would 
include themes from any or every community from the old world, and limited tot 
Eastern Europe exclusively.  Furthermore, I think that we Americans are just as 
entitled to our customs as Europeans.  When individuals in Europe (as oppose to 
masses) migrated from one section to another, they quickly adopted the local 
customs.  (By the way, Polish Jews and Chassidic Jews who migrated west to 
Germany did NOT by and large acclimate to the German customs.  I wonder what 
would have happened if German Jews migrated to a predominately Chassidic ton and
built a large German-style shul and kept Germanic customs, how they would have 
felt.)

Today in north America, very few of us are native Europeans anymore.  And very 
few congregations are monolithically Lithuanian, Rumanian, Polish , etc.  
Rather, most congregations are now an amalgam.  Few of us feel an EXCLUSIVE 
loyalty to old country customs.  Why not begin evolving uniquely American custom
drawing on ALL of our ancestors and predecessors,  and not simply favor one to 
the exclusion of the others?  Why can't a service incorporate German, Sepahrdic 
as wells as Polish and Moldavian themes?  As long as those themes are 
liturgically appropriate of course!  What's wrong with a Torah a service using 
say a Lewandowksi Vayehi Binsoa, followed by a Koussevitsky style Av Horachamim 
followed by a rousing Naoumbmurg Seu Sheorim, conclude with Rosenblatts' 
u'v'nucho Yomar?

I occasionally daven (pray) at a nearby Syrian service.  It's very different 
with what I grew up with, but it's quite beautiful in its own right.  Every 
word is said out loud (with exceptions for the silent "amido") and all of the 
baalei tefilloh (conductors) use flawless diction and pronunciation.  The 
congregation does their responses with gusto!  No mumbling.  they go quite 
fast, but they skip no words.  I'm not one drop Sepharadic, but I love their 
service because of its intensity and the delicate care they take with their 
customs.

So even though I advocate a modernizing or westernizing of style ,I would not 
like it trivialized with itsy bitsy's etc.  Knowing that there are gazillions 
of legitimate musical pieces in our heritage, why overlook them in favor of 
nursery songs???  There must be dozens of beautiful arrangements to Adon Olom, 
so do we need to sing it to some really trivial popular music (Purim exempted) 
So instead of incorporating trivial music, let's revive some beautiful music 
that has fallen into disuse and neglect - and add some new stuff in a 
conscientious way.

Also I grew up with 1 Etz Chayim Hee.  Now some congregations have a new one 
which is truly beautiful, but they now use that one EVERY week. My congregation 
routinely uses 5 different Uv'nucho Yomars throughout the year.  Breuer's 
probably uses a dozen.  I think this not only adds variety, it literally expands
US in that we're not in a liturgical RUT.

A good shabbos and a Good chodesh (month) to all.

Rich Wolpoe


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re[8]: Itsy Bitsy Spider and other Liturgucal Themes 
Author:  <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org > at tcpgate 
Date:    2/26/98 11:09 PM


Oh please, Rich and Itzik Leib, don't take this wonderful discussion off 
list - it took a lot of doing to get the list to discuss liturgical music, 
and I'm enjoying the exchanges immensely. Just please translate your more 
obscure Yiddish phrases so the non-speakers will not feel left out.

Ladino? Sure, got it covered.
Funny, I've never heard anyone complain about our use of loshnkoydesh.

Wendy


>Zeit Mir Moychel Zein! or just plain old please forgive me! 
>
>Ok. Reb Itzik Leib, if you send me your email adress, I'll be glad to 
>discuss with you these things offline!
>
>Rich Wolpoe (reuvenw (at) freeyellow(dot)com) 
>
>PS is Ladino ok?
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator 
>________________________________
>Subject: Re: Re[6]: Itsy Bitsy Spider and other Liturgucal Themes 
>Author:  <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org > at tcpgate
>Date:    2/26/98 12:36 PM
>
>
>I'd just like to request that poster either limit their use of Yiddish or 
>translate it.