Re: Popular Chassidic Music

[Eliezer Kaplan <zelwel...>]

At 02:10 AM 12/23/98 +0000, Owen Davidson said:
>I find it interesting that so many religious authorities, whatever their
>persuasion , are mistrustful of the spiritual effect of music.  One finds
it most
>strongly in "orthodox" communities, by which term I do not refer to the
Jewish
>religion per se, but to that contingent in any religious group that
arrogates to
>itself the "right" manner of observance.  So you find in fundamentalist
Islam bans
>against all musical performance save religious or "patriotic."  The same
applies
>to fundamentalist Chrisatian churches.  How many blues performers had to
retire or
>play only gospel music after "getting religion" in the Baptist church?  I
think it
>goes beyond the dichotomy between "body" and "soul."  Music, among all the
vices
>and sins, seems to be particularly threatening in that it *does* move the
spirit,
>but in a way that bypasses the "proper channels" and provides a direct
link to the
>divine.  In other words, it provides a mystical experience that must be
strongly
>opposed, in the name of law, order, and the State of God.  By the way, I
grew up
>as a Unitarian, where the only thing sinful in playing music is playing it
badly.
>Oy, have I sinned!
>
>Owen

The funny thing about this is that the music which is considered 'evil'
usually wins out by being adopted into a form that becomes sanctioned by
whatever church. Note that (extreme) Jewish orthodoxy has gone for rock and
disco. There's also Christian rock and rap, and to top it all off, Qawalli
(Pkistani Sufi music) is some of the most ecstatic music on the face of the
earth. It's not that the 'church' opposes music, so much as it seeks to
channel the ecstacy.
                                        EK