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Re: barmitzvah tune

Ernie, what I have heard from Old Folks around here (Chicago) is that a Bar
Mitzvah used to be a religious ceremony where no instrumental music was
allowed, nor women either (I guess they are talking about Orthodox). Sometime
around the 1930's or '40's people started having a party afterwards with
music. There is a guy lives near here who claims to have played the first Bar
Mitzvah party in Chicago, but I forget when he said it was.

Anyway, the point is that people started having music at the Bar Mitzvah party
about the same time they stopped listening to klezmer music. Those early
parties this guy is talking about, they played American music, with maybe a
couple of Jewish tunes. So according to what I have heard, if you are looking
for a traditional klezmer tune that is traditionally played at a Bar Mitzvah,
you have to, or get to, make up your own tradition.

Josh

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