Re: Klezmer in Germany

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

Heiko:

No, I believe that Die Geschichte des Rabbi Nachmans was a bestseller--among 
Jews and non-Jews.
Although the great majority of German Jews were "CV Juden"--assimilated members 
of the Central Verein--there was a growing group of important cultural figures, 
particularly after the first world war.
Gershon Sholem, Rosenzweig, Buber, Arno Nadel, to name a few. 

There were 10,000 card-carrying German Zionists by the 1920s. Again, not a 
great number out of 600,000, but so many were very dynamic individuals.

Try to read Brenner's book if you get a chance. It's very illuminating re: the 
various Jewish cultural institutions that sprung up after World War I. I don't 
agree with Brenner that it was a movement that embraced a lot of German Jewry, 
but, nevertheless, it was extremely influential--if anything, to America and 
Israel, the two countries where most of these folks ended up.

Many German Jews were content with the status quo--up until 1929 and the 
economic effects of the stock market crash and Nazi boycotts. But the Zionists 
really did see the writing on the wall, and that literally saved many of their 
lives. Of course, with the restricted immigration laws in my country and the 
British White Paper restricting emigration to Palestine, there were not many 
places for the less affluent to go. That's why we lost so many poor souls in 
Poland alone--I believe three million. The Germans were not the only 
antisemites during this sick time, although I don't need to tell you that they 
carried it to a degree that the entire globe still finds unfathomable.

I'm encouraged that you have respect enough for these victims not to try and 
"rebuild" that which has gone away: "Vos geven iz geven." I'm also honored that 
you find our culture and music so appealing.

Me, I've always loved J.S. Bach, Mozart, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, 
Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald, so I can certainly appreciate your musical 
position. 

Again, thank you for that informative article; your English is excellent!

Be well,

Eliott



At 11:08 AM 10/30/00 +0100, you wrote:
>You´re right, Eliott. I didn´t think that that Buber´s influence and his
>following was too big in this context, so I left him out.
>
>This text is articulation to become part of a communication; there is no
>intension in it to "rebuild" anything (as if there was a possibility).
>
>Heiko.
>
>-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
>Von: Eliott Kahn <Elkahn (at) JTSA(dot)EDU>
>An: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Gesendet: Freitag, 27. Oktober 2000 22:09
>Betreff: Re: Klezmer in Germany
>
>
>
>
>
>At 11:04 AM 10/27/00 +0200, you wrote:
> >At WOMEX in Berlin a week ago I did a lecture on "Klezmer in
>Germany/Germans and Klezmer: Reparation or Contribution". The (English)
>script can be seen under
> >
> ><http://www.sukke.de/lecture.html>www.sukke.de/lecture.html
> >
> >Heiko.
>
>
>I found this essay extremely thoughtful and informative. Two brief comments:
>
>
>1. "To Germans, this was to become a Jewish cliché later, and German Jews
>during the course of the Haskalah separated
>themselves from the Hasidim; they wanted to look like Germans. So along with
>the decline of Yiddish culture in Germany, the
>tradition of the letsonim or klezmorim also vanished to the point that it
>became nothing more than a synonym for a stereotype
>about Jews. Neither German Gentiles nor German Jews liked it, the first
>thinking of it as ridiculous, the latter being afraid of
>being taken for Eastern Jews."
>
>
>Beginning in the first decade of the twentieth century there was actually an
>interest in a return to Eastern-European Jewish culture on the part of
>German Jews. Most of these folks--such as Martin Buber, with his "Tales of
>Rabbi Nachman" (1907) --were associated with a cultural offshoot of the
>political Zionist party. Although not a large movement, it grew somewhat,
>especially after the first world war. Writer/philosopher Franz Rosenzweig,
>with his founding of the Lehrhaus after the war, was an important member of
>this group. (Please see: Brenner, Michael, THE RENAISSANCE OF JEWISH CULTURE
>IN WEIMAR GERMANY, 1994--There should be a new German edition recently
>published.)
>
>2. "Reparation or Contribution? An example.
>
>Klezmer music in Germany is both. Some performers want to take an active
>part in the restoration of East European Jewish
>culture. This position is problematic but not unintelligible. The fact that
>their efforts are mostly not accepted by Jewish people
>always shocks them. The protagonists have no answer to the question of how
>to restore East European Jewish culture
>without the actual Jews."
>
>And they never shall, because it can't be done. I find it appropriate that
>young Germans refer to 1945 as "Zeit null." For me, as a Jew, and for the
>hundreds of other Jews I've spoken with, the Holocaust was a collective act
>so far beyond moral comprehension that somehow one would like to put a big
>gash on a timeline and say: this is where it all ended. The Jewish history
>in Europe. Western Civilization. I know in my lifetime I'll never be
>convinced otherwise.
>
>Heiko, I applaud your candor and am confident you are seeking truth--which
>is essential to anyone who wishes to create art. But we should all let the
>dead sleep a little. It's too early--I believe--to "rebuild" anything.
>
>Shalom aleichem,
>
>Eliott Kahn
>
>

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