Fw: Kol Isha - or, the erotic in music

[Shirona <shirona...>]

     Yoel, Alex and all... it's probably no coincidence that the current
Moment
   Magazine has a cover article featuring Leonard Nemoy - (who is also an
   accomplished photographer) titled: "In search of the Shekhina".  Recently
   Nemoy published a book of photographs ("Shekhina"), and this interview is
   about the book.  The Jewish museum purchased some photographs... it's
making
   quite a buzz.  I haven't seen the book but the cover shows a young woman
   wearing T'filin, and a see-through Talit - clearly revealing that she is
   nude underneath this Talit, she has her eyes closed with an expression
that
   can be both erotic or prayerful... It's very beautiful...you decide.

      Yoel wrote:
     > I would suggest that the orthodox religious experience and the
     > erotic experience are close of kin.
     > There is certainly no lack of erotic imagery in the service, for
example.
     > Come, my Sabbath Bride.  Also, the physical acts of prayer - binding
the arm
      >and head, hugging and kissing the Torah scroll, rocking in the
ecstasy of
     > davenning - all have sexual connotations.  Of course, a lot of
     > rationalization goes toward denying this relationship between the
ecstasy of
     > prayer and the ecstasy of intercourse, but you don't have to look far
beyond
     > the words and the acts to see the obvious.

     I love it when some rabbis explain that the "true meaning" of the
Breasts
   in Shir Hashirim are metaphors for Moses and Aaron...;-)
     >
     > Consider also the stylistic affectations of liturgical music - the
breaking
     > voice, the glottal breaks, bending the pitch at moments of harmonic
     > intensity - these are also techniques used in classical and popular
music to
     > express explicitly erotic feelings.
     >
     > So, I ask, if religious ecstasy is essentially an erotic feeling, why
is the
     > presence of women so disruptive of this ecstasy?  I don't have an
easy
     > answer to that, but perhaps some of the Kol Isha firebrands on the
list
     > would like to comment.

    I just love these observations Yoel, and could go on and on about
   them...but instead I'll quote some of Nemoy's comments:

    Moment: To what do you attribute the negative reaction? ( Certain people
   didn't appreciate this book, obviously...S.)
    Nimoy: My feeling finally is that it is a male dominance issue. I'm
quite
   convinced that because the book elevates women in the hierarchy of
Judaism,
   certain Jewish males are disturbed by it..."

    Moment: Do you feel that it is important to inject this feminine
presence
   of the Shekhina into organized Judaism?
    Nemoy: There is a very strong feminist movement in Judaism and I welcome
   it... I believe that if there were more feminine aspects in the daily
   functions of various nations around the world, perhaps some of the chaos
   could be avoided or relieved.  We are out of balance. The world, the
   Universe is out of balance.  We are in the chaos of darkness.  People all
   over the world, in various ways, are suffering as a result. And I have a
   strong belief that this lack of balance has to do with the preponderance
of
   the power of the male in making the decisions about how to go about our
   business dealing with each other in this world. I have a strong belief
that
   if there were more of a feminine presence, more of a feminine
consciousness
   in these processes, we'd have a better chance of being in balance"

     End of article.

     Shirona




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