Re: What is Jewish Music?

[Alex Lubet <lubet001...>]

>How about the case of the man who asked a question of our list recently about
>klezmer music to be referenced in a work being written to honor Holocaust
>survivors, written by someone not Jewish:  is that Jewish music?
>
I could provide an answer to this particular case, but in the long 
run that would be unproductive.  It would be better for you to 
attempt to apply the definition and come up with your own answer.

I attempted to provide a means to evaluate cases which I stated was 
fluid and contingent and which permitted many variables of agency 
regarding the 'use' of music.  I had no intention of providing a 
formula that was failsafe and upon which everyone engaged in this 
debate would agree.  If one attempts to answer this question on a 
case-by-case basis in which only the composition and the composer are 
considered, I would recommend revisiting the definition, because 
using music and composing it are neither the same thing nor mutually 
inclusive.  I'm also not interested in playing stump the band with 
people who want to poke holes in the definition I provided.  I'm 
personally quite happy with it and pleased that it continues to 
provoke discussion, which is may be as much as one can ask of an 
idea.  In my experience of having debated the definition of Jewish 
music for many years, I've found that most people who don't like my 
definition either provide one that is far more limiting (often 
revolving around nusach or liturgy) or throw their hands up in the 
air and say it can't be defined.

If you don't like my definition, come up with your own.  I'm actually 
quite capable of generating my own problematic cases and my own 
ambivalent answers.  Since there's no universally accepted definition 
of either music or Jewish, the problem a complex.


-- 
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
University of Minnesota
100 Ferguson Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 (o)
612 699-1097 (h)
612 624-8001  ATTN:  Alex Lubet (FAX)

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