It is Jewish music, but is the music Jewish?

Some time ago I was driving on the Jerusalem highway scanning the radio stations. On one frequency, a very intense dance rhythm exploded from the speakers. He was about to turn the dial a little more for a Jewish tune when the vocalist started to play. Shocked by shocks, he was a strongly Hasidic singer, complete with Eastern European pronunciation. And what was he singing? “Kumee oy’ree ki va oy-reich ..” from Rabbi Shlomo Alkavetz’s classic Saturday poem from the 16th century, L’cha Dodi. Before his performance began, I was expecting something like “Oh honey, the way you move with me …”!

I had to ask the old question: “Is this good for the Jews?” And I had to give the old answer: “Does hair grow in the palm of your hand?”

Of course it’s not good for Jews, I thought. Poor and unfortunate L’cha Dodi, dragged from the Tsfat fields on the eve of Saturday and infected with Saturday night fever! Made with love by a Hasid, no less!

Speaking of Tsfat, I remember wandering around his Klezmer festival once and hearing a contemporary setting of Psalm 126. It had a funk beat and the words didn’t fit. The singer had to divide the words in two, which rendered them more or less meaningless. Good for Jews? Nah.

What bothered me about this supposed Jewish music? To put it briefly, aside from the words, it just wasn’t. It was dance, trance, shmantz. It was modern, thought-provoking, suggestive. If you were wondering where you wanted to play this music, the synagogue or the skin of sin club, the answer was clear. If Jewish music is defined as such, it must have authentic Jewish roots. And a lot of contemporary music just doesn’t. Where was the source of this tradition? Nowhere. That’s what bothered me.

But, as Tevye reminds us, there is another hand. After all, go listen to the classic Hasidic nigunim (melodies). Then go listen to Russian folk songs. Creepy, huh? Weren’t those popular songs the “dance” of your time?

Even stronger, go see the religious children. They love contemporary popular music and all its villains. What these new Jewish groups do is take what’s hot and put Jewish content into it. Isn’t that what the original Hasidic nigunim were all about? If we don’t want to lose our youth in the culture war, we have to compete. Didn’t Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch bring the choral works of Lewandowsky and Japhet into the service of the synagogue, even though they were entirely in the style of the German composers of the time, such as Schubert and Mendelssohn? halachicly Jewish)? So maybe I shouldn’t just calm down, I should applaud this phenomenon.

Expect. We are both right, I think. This is how I council the difference and my sincere appeal to all who create Jewish music. The most important thing is to ask: “To be or not to be?” That is the question.

Each song has a purpose, a message. It can be joy, faith, meditation, determination, anything. The message is in the melody and the rhythm, which create the atmosphere. It is in the text, which gives articulation to the message. And it’s in the performance, which makes the message personal between the performer and the listener. If the message is congruent, if the music and the lyrics are a perfect union that inspires the performer, then you have a great piece of music. If the message is mixed, if there is a battle between rhythm and words, then we are worried. That’s why that “kumee oy’ree” was so absolutely horrible. It was a mixed message of licentious music with sacred texts.

We love to put music in verses of the liturgy, and that is wonderful. Composers have a special responsibility to ensure that the music conveys the message and colors the words with deeper meanings. I do that, and I am fascinated, I am inspired, even if it is a contemporary style.

But be very, very careful with the verses. We tend to ask, “Do you think Adon Olam is going to this?”, When we would do better to ask, “What does this tune say?” If it says Adon Olam, fine. If not, WRITE YOUR OWN WORDS. To stick with the message idea, if you have a great tune that can say something worthwhile (something human and real, not negative or immodest), say it your way. That satisfies.

The basis of Jewish music has always been to express what is in our hearts as a prayer to God. That expression must be congruent, pure, sincere. There is room in the world of Jewish music for great innovation, if it comes from our hearts, not from the charts.