Re: Oy Gevalt! (Part Two)

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

At 09:46 AM 4/26/2002 +0200, you wrote:
>Dear Eliott,
>
>>Thank you for a first-hand account of what is happening in your 
>>beautiful country. As someone whose historical specialization is 
>>Germany between the wars, I find your report extremely disturbing.
>><snip>
>>
>>Eliott Kahn
>
>
>You touch exactly the issue that I was trying to point at with my 
>rather long -- and hopefully not too OT (my apologies to those who 
>felt it inappropriate: although I of course believe it is not...) -- 
>posting.
>That is, the relationship between the "love" for "Jewish culture" 
>within a non-Jewish society and the "difficulty" in dealing with the 
>"Jews"...
>
>I have been exploring Jewish and non-Jewish sources from pre-WWII 
>Italy, looking for information about musical life, the role of Jewish 
>composers, and the popularity of Jewish music and cultural themes. 
>Well, it can be easily assessed that Jewish music enjoyed a wide 
>popularity in Italy up to 1936, when the anti-Semitic laws were 
>passed.

Francesco,

You bring up some excellent questions that have been on my own mind, and 
especially on my mind since reading Ruth Ellen Gruber's "Virtually Jewish" 
(which is still on my desk--I don't feel I'm done with it yet).

You also put your finger on something that struck me on my first reading--the 
idea of having a klezmer festival in Italy to celebrate Jewish culture and 
tradition (in a country where klezmer music was not, until most recently, even 
a part of Jewish culture and tradition).

If there is a way to discuss your article thoughtfully and meaningfully without 
succumbing to the need to push political cliches about the current situation 
(assuming such a divorce is plausible, possible, or desirable), I wish it would 
be done.

Those who have lost the e-mails that sparked this thread can find them in 
http://shamash.org/listarchives/jewish-music/020425

ari


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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