Re: Fw: Kol Isha - or, the erotic in music

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

First, I don't think I'm the Alex to whom this is directed.  Second, Shirona, I
hope you understand that, despite my admonition that you might expend your
energies differently to increase your chances of making a difference, I'm
absolutely on your side on this issue.  Third, this is actually getting
interesting.

Some other faith traditions (such as Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism) seem to
understand the balance between the erotic and the spiritual somewhat differently
from the ways it's often expressed in Judaism.  In conjunction with my Wagner
research (about his various and interrelated bigotries), I'm currently reading
Nietzsche, whose negativity about Christianity is pretty palpable and much of it
seems to relate to that religion's use of the term 'world' as an epithet, which
I read as in part a condemnation of the physical.  It seems possible if not
likely that that strain in Jewish thinking, at least Ashkenazic thinking, may be
rooted in our long years in the Western Disapora.

Shirona wrote:

>      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
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music and Jewish Studies
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+