Re: What is Jewish Music?

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

Responding to the message of <bc(dot)158df741(dot)284f21a7 (at) aol(dot)com>
from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org:
> 
> Has it possibly dawned on anyone that there as many definitions of "Jewish 
> life" as there are people who live Jewish lives? or that it is not up to any 
> self-appointed police force to say those lives or the expressions of 
> Jewishness that come from them -- whether from John Zorn or Hankus Netsky -- 
> are "Jewish" enough? hair-splitting doesn't make you a cultural angel.  
> Neither does impsoing your own taste or philosophical system on music so that 
> it may then tout the party line and be "Jewish enough".
> 
At the risk of hubris, I think I've been saying this all along.  I'll offer a 
non-musical example to clarify.  Not far from my house is Cecil's Delicatessen, 
a St. Paul landmark where for decades Jews have gathered for 'kosher style' (but
not kosher) food.  It's pretty easy to see that some folks think the place 
propagates Jewish life by providing a heymish place for Jews to gather, while 
others think it it's an insult and an injury to Jewish life because it serves 
treyf which Jews flock to consume in large quantities. Herein we see the issues 
and also why I have offered a definition that adjusts to those who chose to 
employ it.

 

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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