Re: Kol Isha

[eliott kahn <elkahn...>]

Shira:

As the original poster of the invitation to the performing arts series, I
felt it was important to respond.

First of all, I completely agree with you. It's unfair and keeps women
singers from possibly earning a little money and getting some publicity.
Anything that hampers a person economically really is a form of slavery.

That said, speaking as a musician, if I could give 75% of eligible
performers some opportunity for a venue as opposed to 0%, I would have to
choose the former.

This is not the case of women singers being blackballed and completely
prohihited from earning a dollar or performing. There are plenty of
opportunities for women cantors and soloists to perform at Reform,
Reconstructionist, and Conservative congregations. And anyone is free to
set up their own series at one of these venues.

In my estimation, it is the Orthodox community's loss that they don't
treasure the sound of the lovely female voice: Ella Fitzgerald and Sara
Vaughn are two of my favorite singers.

However, it is also to the Orthodox community's credit that they have not
instantly caved in to every politically correct religous fad that comes
along. By not doing that, they have preserved a certain authentic beauty in
both Jewish worship and song that has been lost in the more liberal
denominations.

Which is why I --who am not Orthodox, Kosher, or married to a Jew--enjoy
worshipping at an Orthodox shul. As stated before in this venue, although I
don't agree with everything these folks believe in, they have a profound
regard for Jewish tradition and--imagine this--they seem to actually
believe in God.

All I want to do is pray. I don't want to be explained to WHY to pray. I'm
tired of showing up every other week with clueless Jews and being shown HOW
to pray. 

I wouldn't expect to change the Pope's mind re: birth control and I
certainly wouldn't expect to change the Orthodoxy's mind re: Kol Isha.
Personally, I find it very distracting. But what a lovely distraction. 

As I said earlier, I regret having to exclude anyone from anything.  But
there's simply nothing I can do about it. Again, I worship at an Orthodox
shul but I am not Orthodox. I have already expressed my displeasure a few
times, but, to no avail. 

The responses I have received  from performers so far have been very
encouraging. I encourage anyone interested in performing in this series at
the Old Broadway Synagogue in Harlem to get in touch with me off-list.

Again, my apologies to the lady singers.

Shabbat Shalom?

Eliott Kahn






 


At 11:34 AM 9/24/99 -0500, you wrote:
>On 09/24/99 11:22:38 Dixk Rosenberg wrote:
>>
>>This discussion of Kol Isha is all very nice but:
>>
>>1 - It is not going to change the views of the synagogue in Harlem
>>
>>3 - From the point of view of the purpose of this list Kol Isha is a
>>GIANT rat hole
>>
>>so...
>>
>>Let's talk about Jewish music (if you want to vent, elucidate, etc.
>>about Kol Isha, please do it on an appropriate forum)
>
>As I suppose my earlier post makes clear, I respectfully disagree with Dick. 
> I think this list 
>is exactly the appropriate place to discuss kol isha, because it relates to 
>Jewish music most 
>directly. If our purpose is not to discuss all aspects of Jewish music, then 
>exactly what is it?  
>To only trade song lyrics? Obviously, I think the purpose is broader than 
>that. The various 
>arcane (although interesting) postings/discussions about aspects of the 
>Jewish holidays and 
>specific prayers are, to my mind, much less relevant to the general topic of 
>Jewish music than 
>kol isha, which is, after all, a restriction on Jews which deals directly 
>with music.  If not 
>here, where?  If not now, when?  If not Jewish musicians, then who?  
>
>Indeed, the issue can be regarded as a "rat hole" in the sense that we won't 
>resolve it here.  
>So, please clearly indicate the subject of your posting is kol isha when you 
>discuss this (if 
>you do), so that the uninterested/turned off can delete the posting unread, 
>should they wish to.  
>I have always thought that one of the great aspects of our heritage is our 
>passion and 
>intellectual (dare I say talmudic) fervor which leads to a willingness to 
>discuss and argue - 
>often with great emphasis.  Responding to the majoritarian 
>Christian/English-speaking culture, 
>we have learned to be more restrained in our arguments - or at least I've 
>tried to be.  You 
>can't imagine the flaming I was tempted to indulge in but mentally deleted 
>before formulating my 
>1st posting!
>
>


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