Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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I'm a Conservative Jew living in a Christian farm town in Michigan, USA. For me, Jewish music used to be Adon Olam, Hava Nagila, and Fiddler on the Roof. I started getting a clue a few years ago. Jewish music is Klezmer dances, Sephardic ballads and Chassidic niggun. It's thousand year old hymns, three hundred year old Shabbat table songs and 60 year old partisan resistance songs. It's contemporary hip-hop, punk rock, electronica, jazz, and chamber music. In addition to loving its musical and spiritual qualities, Jewish music helps me connect my family with a much broader and diverse Jewish culture than is available locally. The Teruah blog helps me document my exploration and share it with others. Why the name Teruah? Teruah is a call on the shofar on Rosh Hashanna.
Check out my talk at the Ann Arbor District Library last year. "Ignite Second Stage: The Silver Age of American Jewish Music is Happening Now! And You're Missing It!"
8 comments:
Fiddler on the Roof has always been a favorite of mine. I played Hodel in our summer camp production when I was nine years old, and ever since then I know all the words in the entire movie.
My two primary memories of Fiddler are getting the crap scared out of me by the Grandma Tzeitel beyond the grave scene and trying to learn Sunrise, Sunset on my elementary school clarinet. I've rewatched it ever couple of years since and figure it's time for another go.
My favourite character is Tzeitel. I tried so hard to be her in the play we were doing. I memorized every single line but someone else got it. And she didn't even try! I came to every audition, I practiced every day, and I did more than I had to. Who's everyone else's favourite character?
I'm the same person as the Anonymus just above me.
My favourite song is Matchmaker.
Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match
find me a find
catch me a catch
matchmaker matchmaker look through your book, and make me a perfect match
Matchmaker, matchmaker i'll bring the veil, you bring the groom, slender and pale
Bring me a ring for I'm longing to be the envy of all i see.
For Papa, make him a scholar
For Mama, make him rich as a king
For me, well, I wouldn't holler if he were as handsome as anything
matchmaker matchmaker make me a match find me a find catch me a catch night after night in the dark I'm alone so find me a match of my own
Tzeitel:Since when are you interested in a match, Chava. i thought you just had your eye on books. And you have your eye on the Rabbi's son
Hodel: Why shouldn't I want the best?
Tzeitel: Because you're a girl from a poor family, so whatever Yente brings you'll take.
Chava: Whatever?.....
(i memorized everything else in that part but i don't want to write everything down here, you know.)
Matchmaker matchmaker you know that i'm still very young
Please take your time
up to this minute i musunderstood that i could get stuck for good
dear yente see that he's gentle
remember you were also a bride
it's not that i'm sentimental
it's just that I'm terrified!
Matchmaker, matchmaker plan me no plans, I'm in no rush
maybe i've learned playing with matches a girl can get burned
so bring me no ring
find me no find
groom me no groom
catch me no catch
unless he's a matchless match
That's the junior version, anyway. I also know the movie version.
Hi Squirrelflight. I always identified most with Motel Kamzoil's joy and amazement that something actually gone right and that he had anything to do with it.
im going to be in this operatic in september and im auditioning for one of the younger sisters who gets to sing a song, and i am the oldest person there along with my twin sister so we are hoping we get the part of the sisters and do alternate nights on who sings, id love to get the part and im going to watch it to get into the songs, i have always loved operatics and have been going to them since i was about seven and i am fourteen now and still loving them !! :)
Hey, that's wonderful. Best of luck with the show. Please let us know if you get the part!
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