Re: Debbie Friedman article

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Dick,

I have never been more moved by music then when I sang the Kol Nidre
as the kol bo for a Kol Nidre service.  Knowing that on that very day,
around the world, other Jews were singing the same words, many with
the same melody; knowing that many had made great sacrifices to do the
same over the centuries, even in the death camps; I found that
extraordinarily moving.

As to the other tune you mention, for me at least, they would fall in
the "matzah ball"/shir hadash category (rather than the prayer tunes
that I identified as being reflections of nusah).

By the way, I would guess that the traditional "Ose Shalom" that you
refer to is from a Hassidic Song Festival from 1969.

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Rosenberg <drosenberg (at) dht(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Monday, April 19, 1999 10:04 AM
Subject: RE: Debbie Friedman article


>I would like to add, that, in my adult experience, which means
belonging
>to a unaffiliated Reform/Reconstructionist synagogue, contemporary
>"tunes" like Debbie Friedman's "Mi Shebereyach" and "Ose Shalom" and
>Chana Senesh's "Eli, Eli" are as moving to me as, for instance, "Atz
>Chayim Hi" and what I would call the traditional "Ose Shalom"
(although
>I have no idea how old or traditional it is). Also, the contemporary
>tunes I mentioned are "more" moving to me then, for instance "Ein
>Keloheinu", which I learned as a kid in the Orthodox synagogue I
>attended. For that matter, Shlomo Carlebach's "Ein Kelokeinu" is more
>moving to me than the one that is usually sung in synagogue.
>
>I think that being "moved" by the music and the message thereof is of
>paramount importance.
>
>Dick Rosenberg
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Ari Davidow [SMTP:ari (at) ivritype(dot)com]
>>Sent: Monday, April 19, 1999 9:26 AM
>>To: World music from a Jewish slant.
>>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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>