Re: dead (wild) horses couldn't stop ...

[Sam Weiss <SamWeiss...>]

At 12:19 AM 1/21/04, Judith R Cohen wrote:
Quoting Simon:
>> > This is a Jewish MUSIC list for anyone who has an interest in the
>> > music.

>um.... aren't Jewish women singing part of Jewish music?
>whether or not men listen to them?

I'm finally joining the fray this time around, since Judith's question 
points to exactly why I have not done so earlier.  I agree with Simon here, 
and would say that "Jewish music" is a thin figleaf over the volatile 
subject of Kol Isha which, as it inevitably gets treated on this list, is 
essentially a discussion of Jewish cultural history, Jewish religion 
(principally Orthodox-bashing), communal politics, gender politics, labor 
practices, etc.  It is always a case of the tail (in subject matter as well 
as level of discourse) wagging the horse of Jewish music.  This is borne 
out by the "Unsubscribe" requests that usually follow the onslaught.  The 
current iteration was initiated by my friend Shirona's gratuitous titling 
of a forwarded article "Afghan Pop Singer Breaks Tv Taboo" as "Kol (Isha) 
Afghanistan."   Given our listserve's history, this titling had the 
intended effect of exhuming prior discussions on Jewish cultural history, 
Jewish religion, communal politics, gender politics and labor practices.  I 
don't recall any advancement of our knowledge of Afghani or Jewish music on 
this thread.  Shirona claims that her goal was expanding our consciousness, 
but I would respectfully submit that her goal was to expand our 
consciousness in one particular direction; otherwise, the only thing that 
was expanded was our blood-pressure.  She also writes that "some of us on 
this list can be in a position to make a decision that would result in 
women singing or not singing at some future event."  This is indeed a 
worthwhile goal, and I'm eager to hear if anyone on this list feels that 
our discussions have or will have that effect.  I understand the need to 
vent frustrations, and believe me I empathize entirely with the cause -- I 
deal constantly with gender politics disguised as Jewish tradition in my 
line of work and in my particular congregation.  But I question if our 
discussions on =this= list will have the desired effect.



_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ


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