RE: Debbie Friedman article

[Adrian Durlester <durleste...>]

Bob and I are perhaps in agreement more than either of us think. There is
clearly a place for nusach, and, indeed, "traditional" nusach, which, if not
identical the world over, does have some sort of connection does create a
certain sense of time and space and a Jewish "feel." On that, I would not
argue. I feel it an experience it myself. (But I have also experienced
similar feelings with the so called "new American nusach." )

But what I would argue is that new musical forms can and do serve the same
function for some people, and it is not our place to insist that only the
"traditional" nusach which some of us feel is "Jewish" in its core is
capable of this.

Yes, as (not if, but as or when) these newer musical styles find their way
into what becomes in the future the "traditional" nusach, there will be some
sense of loss, we will have lost just a little piece of some connection to a
tradition, whether of centuries or decades or millenia does not matter.
Thus, the call to ask contemporary writers to become familiar with the now
accepted "traditional" nusach and find ways to incorporate it into their own
work is an appropriate call, as long as we do not insist on it 100% of the
time, nor use it to define what is acceptable liturgical music.

An apparently mistaken impression by A.Z. Idelsohn that the eastern nusachs
were, due to their simplicity, likely closer to the more ancient forms
resulted in a whole slew of new music based on these styles purporting to be
more authentic. Eric Werner and others have challenged Idelsohn's thesis. So
now we have this whole body of music that we have come to identify as being
more authentically Jewish sounding that in fact is probably no more so than
the Ashkenazic styles or any other.

What is tradition? It is all very linked to minhag hamkom. Working as I do
as a music director in Reform settings, I see those who rail against the new
American nusach not desiring a return to the "traditional nusach" but to the
"traditional" music of Binder et al. One chorus of Binder's "All the World"
(an English Vayateinu) heard with one's ears closed and one would certainly
believe they were in a Protestant church. (Are there "new American nusach"
tunes that would have the same effect? Undoubtedly so. But just because they
sound non-Jewish, does that automatically make then non-Jewish? What makes
Nurit Hirsch's Ose Shalom sound Jewish other than our own contextualizing it
in that fashion?)

Let's not throw out the traditions, and let us respect them, for they are
due such as Bob suggests, just for having achieved a "traditional" status,
but let us allow them to be open to further change and modification, as they
have been throughout their history.

The mystics of Safed, realizing that music was yet another shard of the
shattered vessel, began to allow what the rabbis had prohibited for
centuries. And secular music began to find its way back into worship-because
they way to make music holy and help repair the world was to use even the
most secular music in a sacred way. Today's contemporary songwriters
continue this great tradition. We should honor them in that work.

Adrian
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Adrian A. Durlester  -  durleste (at) home(dot)com
http://members.home.net/durleste/
Student, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/vds/vds-home.htm
Music Director, Congregation Micah, Nashville, TN
http://www.micahnash.org/
Home phone (615) 646-9788
Nextel cel-phone (615) 207-2661
You can page me from http://www.nextel.com
List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
shamash(dot)org
http://uahc.org/hanashir
Editor, Bim Bam (for Torah Aura Productions)
http://www.torahaura.com/
Alternate Email: aad (at) iname(dot)com  adriand (at) aol(dot)com




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