Jews in Handel's time

[Joel Bresler <joel.br...>]

Fred Blumenthal wrote (about the Handel oratoria "Judas Maccabeas")

But I prefer the apocryphal story that Handel was advised to compose for 
royalty and the aristocracy, but wanted to see seats filled in the theater, 
and so wrote for the Jews.

Yoel Epstein, aka Joel HaRishon, wrote:

How fascinating. Does anyone know anything about the concertgoing habits of 
Jews in this period? Did Jews actually go to Handel's concerts, and did 
they constitute a significant part of the audience? What about in countries 
other than England?

Joel Bresler, aka Joel HaSheni, wrote his brother in law's brother in law 
(it's a small Jewish world), Prof. Todd Endelman of the University of 
Michigan, author of "The Jews of Modern Britain, 1656 to 2000" and "The 
Jews of Georgian England, 1714-1830" and put the question to him. He replies:

Dear Joel,

I very much doubt that Jews attended performances of Handel's music during 
his lifetime. Few Jews in central and northern Europe would have been 
sufficiently acculturated that they would attend public concerts. There may 
have been a handful of wealthy Sephardim in Amsterdam and London who were 
concert goers, but they would hardly have been noticed. It is also 
important to remember that in the 18th century the overwhelming majority of 
Jews in central Europe did not live in big cities. They were scattered in 
small towns and villages. Berlin, for example, during Handel's lifetime was 
a backwater. Urbanization is a 19th-century phenomenon. In short, the story 
sounds entirely apocryphal. It says much more about those who believe it 
than it does about Jews of the past.
---
Shabbat shalom,

Joel HaSheni




Joel Bresler
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420
USA

781-862-4104 (Telephone & FAX)
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