Re: Debbie Friedman article

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Ari,

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss the matter of nusah further.  I
would have written some of the following in my original post, but I
thought that it was already pretty long.

Nusah is the same for all Ashkenaz denominations, at least as far as I
know.  I have never heard of, for example, a Reconstructionist nusah.
I think that if you go to any Ashkenaz Conservative,
Reconstructionist, Reform, or Orthodox congregations you will hear
identical (or at least, very similar melodies) for many prayers, such
as Kol Nidre, the Kaddish and the Hatzi Kaddish, and the beginning of
the Amidah, as well as the trope tunes of K'riat Sh'ma, the B'rahot
for the Torah Reading (Aliyah), and the Torah and Haftorah readings
themselves.  I would be surprised if your experience has been
different.  To the extent that those congregations have abandoned
nusah for such fundamental parts of the liturgy (and I'm sure that
others will add to the list), my earlier observations apply.

Certainly there are other Jewish nusah and trope traditions.  I have
collected recordings of them for over 25 years.  There are even
different Kol Nidre tunes.  I have lectured on the topic.  But the
fact is that those different nusah and trope traditions serve the same
functions.  They bind their Jewish communities together.  (And I do
think that it's wonderful when a Ashkenaz congregation borrows a
Sephardic melody, for example, for Shirat Hayam (Az Yashir Moshe)).
To the extent that any Jewish community loses touch with its basic
common musical tradition, my earlier observations apply.

I intentionally did not refer to Har Sinai melodies (that's why I said
only that the issue "has been debated for centuries" although perhaps
Adrian can give us a better sense of dates).  As I just commented,
there are different Jewish musical traditions, but if we use the idea
of Mt. Sinai tunes metaphorically to mean "really old" and entitled to
respect, then I'm for the concept.

So, Ari, I hope that we can agree on the incorporation of the Shir
Hadash (e.g., Oseh Shalom) in the liturgy while emphasizing and
preserving the foundation of nusah and trope.  I think that we all can
and should play an active role in the development of this most
important form of Jewish music rather than adopting a passive laissez
faire, taking things as they come approach.

Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: Ari Davidow <ari (at) ivritype(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Monday, April 19, 1999 9:37 AM
Subject: Re: Debbie Friedman article


>Bob,
>
>I guess my problem with your statement about nusah is that it is not,
in my
>experience, true.
>
>>I am not trained by a cantor's institute, but I do know that it is
>>through nusah that, with my eyes shut, not even hearing a word, I
can
>>tell where I am in Jewish time -- the Jewish day (e.g., holiday,
>>shabbat, weekday) and the time of day (e.g., morning, evening).
Nusah
>>is our leitmotif (yes, we had it before Wagner).  Nusah is a Krazy
>>Glue that binds us together.
>
>If you are in a Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, or other,
non-
>Ashkenazic or non-Orthodox congregation, the melodies will be
different.
>More important, if you are in a Teimani or Sephardic congregation,
there
>will similarly be differences, some bigger, some smaller, and by the
time
>you get to the music of groups such as the Bukharians or Mountain
Jews
>from the former Soviet Union, things are very different, at least in
terms
>of the limited amounts that I have heard. (And, of course, their
popular
>song diverges even further!)
>
>It is, of course, entirely legitimate to enjoy a tradition, including
a
>tradition of melody, that is hundreds of years old, but nusah does
not
>come from Mt. Sinai (at least, not that I know of, or that anyone can
>provide evidence of), so it may yet change further. That doesn't mean
>that any given change is good, just that what we take as "the way
things
>are," isn't necessarily the way things are for all or most Jews, even
today.
>
>Just my two cents,
>ari
>
>
>Ari Davidow
>ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
>list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>the klezmer shack: http://www.well.com/user/ari/klez/
>
>----------------------
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>