Jewish Music Definition

[Peter Rushefsky <Rushefsky_P...>]

I'm still a bit exhausted from the last time the list took up this
discussion, but Alex's proposed definition left me questioning.

Alex proposes:  "Music used by Jews to propagate Jewish life is Jewish
music."  

I certainly agree with this, but I'm not sure you can use it as an
all-inclusive definition.

Does it have to be used by Jews?  How about a klezmer band of non-Jewish
performers that play for a non-Jewish audience-- could this be seen as
propagating Jewish culture, though no Jews are present in the interface.
Heiko's excellent article regarding klezmer in Germany particularly piqued
my interest in this question.

>>> Alex J. Lubet 05/01 11:36 PM >>>
Responding to the message of <e5(dot)5bf29b3(dot)2820d47b (at) aol(dot)com>
from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org: 
> 
> In a message dated 5/1/01 9:07:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> Warschauer (at) aol(dot)com writes:
> 
> << Hmmmm... does this question lead to a quagmire as sticky as the
question 
>  "what is Jewish Music?"  ;-)  >>
> 
> I'm sure this question has been addressed before on the list and probably 
> been endlessly debated, but since Jeff did bring it up.... How would
everyone 
> 
> here define Jewish music?
>     I'm inclined to follow the Idelson approach and say that the inclusion
of 
> 
> a Jewish mode would merit the title "Jewish Music". But, after being
attacked 
> 
> by many of my peers for excluding the music of R' Carlebach, MBD, Avraham 
> Fried etc.("How can you not call it Jewish Music?!?!?! It's written by
Jews, 
> and we listen to it!!!"), I'm forced to rethink my position. Just because 
> Jews listen to it, does the music deserve to be identified from a 
> musicological standpoint as being "Jewish"? Would the music of those whose

> names I mentioned above, in addition to that of modern songwriters such as

> Debbie Friedman (though I am not too familiar with her work) be considered

> Jewish?
> If a Jewish songwriter composes a tune in swing rhythm, but includes
passages 
> 
> from psalms or the prayer book would that make it Jewish? What if the 
> audience is mostly Orthodox? Many make the (somewhat shaky) assumption
that 
> they are the ones whose ties to Jewish CULTURE are the strongest (the 
> division of Torah and culture is another debate altogether). If most
Orthodox 
> 
> Jews do listen to it, has it attained the status of being "Jewish"? This
is a 
> 
> question I'm forced to reply to almost every day.
> 
> Kol Tuv,
> Elie
> 
> 
> 
> .  An article on Wolf Krakowski, forthcoming in Polin, takes a utilitarian

stance on this issue, noting that music used by Jews to propagate Jewish
life is
Jewish music.  Pretty inclusive, I know, but better that than divisiveness.

Having written the article myself, I tend to agree with the author (as I do
most
of the time).






Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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