Re: Shtetlization

[Elliott Raisen <elliott16...>]

This reminds me of the experience when Fiddler on the roof came out. My
parents and their friends who, had left the shetels, did not enjoy Fiddler .
To  them it revived bad memories. Similarly, when I saw the play Nunsense
about a nun and her treatment of the students there were three young girls
in front of me who didn't laugh very much. To them this was bad memories of
parochial school
        Elliott
        ellllllllllllll
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Ari Davidow" <ari (at) ivritype(dot)com>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: Shtetlization


> At 03:48 PM 1/2/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >Enjoyed Ari's musings on Shtetl romanticism, but also don't think the
posting
> >tells the full story (which it probably wasn't meant to do).  Here's a
couple
> >comments:
> >
> >1)  As a fan of the European klezmer recreationists (Budowitz, Khevrisa,
Di
> >Naye Kapelye-- sorry Josh and others to throw you guys together again), I
think
> >the best bands are attempting to reclaim and celebrate the artistry of
European
> >Jewish life.  I agree that in less-skilled hands this can degrade into
> >romanticism.
>
> Since two of those bands released albums this year and both were in the
"Top10 of 2000" list, and the third's praises I sang just this weekend, I am
disinclined to disagree. None of the musicians involved were on my mind;
rather it was the specific term, "Shtetl," and my feeling that it has come
to represent a myth that wasn't. But as I explored that thought, I also
realized that there was more to the story. Some of that, I hope, came
through.
>
> >2) I had a problem with the following statement Ari made:
> >
> >"the real flowering of Yiddish culture happened not in those towns, or
the even
> >smaller villages, but in the cities--in places like Vilna, the Jerusalem
of
> >Lithuania, or in Warsaw, where Habima and so much of Yiddish Theatre was
born...
>
> to which you wrote:
>
> >Ouch!  One of the things that has impressed me in my readings of the Pale
is
> >the extent and sophistication of Jewish cultural and social organization
in
> >even
> >the smallest of settlements.
>
> Pete, the ouch is mine. You are right. Certainly relative to towns as we
think of them today, shtetlakh had a lot going on. On the other hand, towns
today also have a host of organizations--take a look at the signs as you
enter many small towns with their various lodges, then consider the Church-
or synagogue- or school-related organizations. There is a lot there. But to
what degree were those small towns different in their suspicions of new
things, or their freedom from conformity? I'm not sure they were.
>
> Yet, in reacting to the term, "shtetl," and to its romanticization, I went
too far in condemning shtetls for what they were not, as well. My
exageration, and an anti-romanticization as flawed as what I criticize.
>
> There is more to say, certainly, in response to the very thoughtful
comments by George Robinson and David Chevan, but I want some time to think
things over. Mostly, I feel very grateful for the comments received so far
as they have helped me clarify my own thoughts and helped me clarify what I
might have written had I been a better writer and a better thinker. In the
meantime, I don't want to cut off any emerging discussion.
>
> ari
>
>
> Ari Davidow
> ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
> list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/
>
>

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