Secular Humanistic Judaism & "One Chorus, One Family"

In my post last week about my cousin's wedding, I asked the question "why do Secular Humanists need Rabbi's?" In rereading the post, I realized that the question sounded a bit snide or condescending. I'll admit it that it was probably meant that way at the time. It's easy to be snide about things you don't understand and, I'll be frank, I wasn't that impressed with the Secular Humanist Rabbi I had just met. But this blog is supposed to be about exploring the edges (as well as the center) of Judaism and Jewish music, so I apologize to Secular Humanist Jewish community.

My self-assigned penance was to learn more about SHJ community and, of course, check out their music. I was quite surprised to learn that SHJ originated quite recently here on the North Coast (aka Michigan). Rabbi Sherwin Wine developed SHJ based on the following principles (quoted from Wikipedia):

• A Jew is someone who identifies with the history, culture and future of the Jewish people;
• Judaism is the historic culture of the Jewish people, and religion is only one part of that culture;
• People possess the power and responsibility to shape their own lives independent of supernatural authority;
• Ethics and morality should serve human needs, and choices should be based upon consideration of the consequences of actions rather than pre-ordained rules or commandments; and,
• Jewish history, like all history, is a purely human and natural phenomenon. Biblical and other traditional texts are the products of human activity and are best understood through archaeology and other scientific analysis.

Lots more info on SHJ is available through their key organizations websites. These include the International Federation of Secular Humanist Jews and the Society for Humanistic Jews.

I'm still not exactly clear why someone who held these views would want a Rabbi or what the role of that Rabbi would be, but at least I've got a better idea what the basis for the belief system is. I find it an interesting system. As I've mentioned before, I've always struggled with belief in God. There are times I lean toward believing and times I don't. I've reconciled it for myself to consider myself a believer and not let my days of doubt trouble me. I summed it up to some folks at a synagogue retreat a couple years ago by saying "My lack of faith isn't God's problem, it's mine." The SHJ stance, if I understand it properly, is more like "because I lack faith I will redefine my religion as one that not only doesn't require it but doesn't allow for it." To me such a statement is as much an act of will or belief as internalizing a genuine belief in God, an act of will I'm not capable of making (in either direction).

As for music, there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity. The websites for the Society and the International Federation both point to a single CD, Abe and Mickie Mandel's "One Chorus, One Family." The Mandels "performed, wrote, recorded and taught music together as a team since they were "flower Children" in the late 60's" and "probably best-known for the popular 'Music-Mates" preschool program they created and taught for 15 years at The Lucy Moses School of the Kaufman Cultural Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan."

I haven't been able to find any online samples of One Chorus, but the Society for Humanistic Judaism does provide a track list. It has a heavy emphasis on Israeli & Yiddish folksongs, such as Rozjenkes Mit Mandlen & Tsena Tsena, and American Jewish musical theater pieces, such as Sunrise, Sunset and Bistu Shayn. The recording only has a few pieces that would seem liturgical. These include Ayfo Oree? by SHJ Rabbi Sherman Wine and a Wedding Medley comprised mostly of Leonard Bernstein pieces. This assemblage seems very much in line with Judaism as culture bent of SHJ in that leaves out any real piyyut (hymns) that refer to God, which means most everything out of the traditional Siddur and Machsor.

My big question is how is this music used? I have no idea what rituals or practices comprise SHJ so it's not clear if this disc intended for casual listening, clergy training, or simcha performance. I'll have to do some more home work as I'm able. If any SHJ folks read this and want to set me straight, please drop me a line.

Shabbat Niggun

Shabbat Shalom everyone,

Here's my weekly pre-Shabbat 'get in the mood' video. This week I don't know much about the recording other that the musician's name is Adi and that it's that the lyrics are from the Psalms (Psalm 63 and 19?). Elokai Netzor, recited at the conclusion of the Shemonei-Esrei/Amidah prayer and Psalm 19.

Open my heart to Your Torah

Here is a rough transliteration offered by the poster of the video.

P'tach libi betoratecha, v'acharei
mitzvotecha tirdof nafshi.

Ve'chol hakamim alai r'ah
meheira hafeir atzatam, vekalkel
machshavotam. x2

Asei lema'an Shmach
Asei lema'an yeminach
Asei lema'an toratach
Asei lema'an kedushatach

Lema'an ye'chal'tzhun
yedidecha. Hoshiah yeminecha
va'aneini.

yih'yu l'ratzon imrei fi v'hegyon
libi lefanecha ANONAI tzuri
v'goali

Update: I got a nice note from Adam (aka YouTube user FeivelJay770) correcting my lyrics source and pointing me to two other cool videos.

"Hi Jack, I'm go glad you shared the video on your blog. Many thanks. Spread the light. Here's the other video I recorded of Adi singing his niggun to this prayer at a Lag Bomer bonfire our friends made this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8GthSgFTuo

One thing- none of the lyrics are from Psalm 63. The prayer is from Elokai Netzor, recited at the conclusion of the Shemonei-Esrei/Amidah prayer though the last verse is indeed from Psalm 19, as you mentioned. However, Psalm 63 is indeed one of my favorite psalms and here is a video of me singing two verses from it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0V2QJeKRvc

Be blessed, have a happy and healthy new year,
Adam"

Hat tip to YouTube user FeivelJay770 for posting the video.

David Chevan's "Yizkor for Martyrs"

Way back in May of 2007, I posted videos of the Afro-Semitic Experience performing David Chevan's Yizkor. Now a year and half later, the Yiskor album has come out and the record publisher has put together a nice music video to help promote it. Personally, I can't think of a better album to listen to in Elul.

Yizkor for Martyrs (studio tracking)

Here's the official description....

"From Reckless DC Music, this is the title track from the album "Yizkor: Music of Memory" by David Chevan with Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi and the Afro-Semitic Experience. Recorded at New Haven's Firehouse 12 studio, this special ensemble has created a soulful blend of Spiritual Jazz and Jewish cantorial music. Specifically, the melodies are based on the singing style of Hazzanut, an almost forgotten cantorial style. Chevan sets ancient prayers against world rhythms and modern melodies, all to honor those who have come before us. It has been a joy and a privilege for me to help share their efforts. Special thanks to the Gibbs College (Norwalk, CT) Digital Video Program for the support. For more info, please see www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c345_a 13167/The_Arts/Music.html"

For more information, you can see Chevan's Yiskor Project MySpace page. The disc is available through your favorite online or offline music store. including Amazon and PayPlay.

Jailhouse Rock & The Puple Gang

Ok, so this one's a stretch even for me. But I can't resist.

A couple of weeks ago I caught the Red Sea Pedestrians in concert and picked up their album "A Lesson in Cartography". During the intro to the Pedestrian's great song "One Mile Wide," band leader Ian Gorman taught us a great bit of local Detroit Jewish history. "One Mile Wide" is about the notorius Purple Gang, a group of particularly vicious, mostly Jewish, gangsters that were bootleggers during Prohibition. According to Wikipedia..

"The Purple Gang was a mob of bootleggers and hijackers in the 1920s. Under the leadership of Abe Bernstein, the gang operated out of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, which was a major port for running cached alcohol products across during Prohibition, since it is on the border with Canada. The gang supposedly received their name during a conversation between two Detroit market owners, each of them gang victims. One owner made the comment: "They're rotten, purple like the color of bad meat."

The Purple Gang has shown up in pop culture prior to the Pedestrians song (which can be heard on their MySpace page). In fact, it shows up in a highly unlikely place...Elvis. Specifically the song "Jailhouse Rock," in which Elvis describes his band saying "the whole rhythm section is the Purple Gang."

So in honor of the Purple Gang, here's Jail House Rock. I've substituted the classic Blues Brothers performance instead of Elvis's performance because, well, I enjoy it more. If you want to see the King himself, check out this YouTube video.

Blues Brothers - Jail House Rock


You can read more about the Purple Gang at My Jewish Learning.com.

Rivkah - Daughters of Israel Hear Me

a traveling soul all alone trying to find her way back home the path she left seems out of reach, she's praying to be heard....you have a speck of God in you, you're a Jewish girl....

I thought I knew how this review was going to go. The album cover is labeled for women only and so I've had it sitting on my desk for a couple of months waiting for me to write about Kol Isha. I expected to make some nice comments about the singer, note the irony of the male music producer sending the disc to me for a review, and then write more on the women's only music scene. But something else happened. I listened to it and heard it.

Back when I was in college the first Tori Amos album came out. I remember being in the puppet lab at about 1 in the morning working on puppets for an upcoming show when one of the puppeteers came in. She waked over to the shared boom-box, turned off what ever was on and put the disc in. She told us to listen. We did. We've never been quite the same since. There was something about that album that was deep and scary and beautiful and true. The album got passed from hand to hand for weeks until we all new every word and the melodies were tattooed on our lives.

Rivkah Krinsky's "In Your Hands" is like that, though not scary, not shattered like the Amos album. Instead there is a vibrant joy here. But it is a knowing joy, one that feels and transcends pain. In his book "Inner Rhythms: The Kabbalah of Music" DovBer Pinson writes "When a person contemplates how far [s]he is from the truth, and how separate, alone and alienated [s]he is in this world, and from God, [s]he becomes frightened, bitter, and down on [her]self. This experience is called Marirrut....When someone is bitter about [her] situation, and examines [her]spiritual life, [s]he realizes that [s]he has distanced [her]self from the path ... [s]he is overwhelmed with a longing for Godliness and holiness." Krinsky's lyrics are filled with this kind of longing, and it resonates for me more than anything I've heard in a while.

In particular the song Jewish Girl speak volumes to me. It's the story of an identity crisis in a girl who longs for something but isn't sure what. That what turns out to be her Jewish identify restored to her through the help of holy rebbe. A story like that could easily have been insipid and cloying, but it wasn't. Instead I've listened to it over and over again. Something about her phrasing is both universal and so specific that it shook me. The chorus, which could have trite instead was fiercely proud. "Your heart it knows it's true, you have a speck of God in you"

I empathize so much with the girls uncertainty and longing it that hurts to listen to it. But I haven't had any happy ending yet. I'm just as alienated and confused as ever. Not fully committed, not part of a real Jewish community, not truly believing, but not giving up either. I don't think that giving myself over to a kindly rebbe is the answer for me, like it is for the girl, but who knows. I do know that listening to the song has me motivated to grab my tallis and teffilin off the shelf and get back to the Chabad house for morning prayers. I haven't been in over a year. And maybe this time I'll take up the rabbi's offer to come over to his house for a Shabbat meal.

By the way, I realize I haven't talked at all about what the album sounds like. Which is strange because that's where I usually start with music and Rivkah's music is well worth writing about. She has a sound that is reminiscent of Sara McLaughlin and Sinead O'Conner, a sound that is at the same time lush and understated, melodic and edgy. But here, listen for yourself....

Rivkah Krinsky Sampler

This sample is courtesy of her publisher, Sameach Records and the Sameach Music Podcast. You can buy the album at their Jewish Jukebox website. You can find out more about Rivkah at her website and MySpace page.

One last comment on the "women only" nature of this album. I hope if Rivkah reads this review she's not too upset that I (a Jewish guy) has listened to it. I promise to save it for my daughters when they're old enough. They'll love it and, I think, need it.

Klezwoods, and the art of being an Impromptu Jewish Wedding Consultant

I spent this weekend away from my computer, hanging out in Boston. The primary reason was to attend the wedding of my cousin, L. The secondary reason was to hang out with my wife's best grad school buddy. My little wigglers got their first taste of the big city. The subway was a big hit, though they could not get their head around the fact in Boston it's called "The T." I think the moment when the Red Line comes out from the underground to cross the Charles River is indelibly etched in my elder wiggler's imagination. She talked about it endlessly.

Back to L's wedding. L's a pretty secular Jew and married a fine fellow, T, who is as goy as they come. The wedding was a simple, hip affair, hosted in an art school gallery, with a secular humanist rabbi (why do secular humanists need rabbis?), catered lamb and brownies (yum!), a do-it-yourself DJ dance party, and one big splurge....they hired Boston's Klezwoods to play a chamber style klezmer set during the pre-and immediately post wedding cocktail hour(s).

Klezwoods did a great job providing a cocktail soundscape. It's hard to give them a proper review, since I was doing some heavy mingling and mojito drinking at the time. My recollection is that they have a nice warm, woody sound, mixing clarinet, accordion, upright bass, and violin. Their set mixed together some standard klezmer repertoire, a few out of the Yiddish folk tunes and a number of jazzier pieces that I didn't recognize. They even ended with a rollicking tune (Der Gassn Niggun?) that suggested that they could have done a dance set or stage set if they'd been asked. As it was, they provided the perfect backdrop and context setting for the wedding. You can find out more about them at the Klezwoods MySpace Page.

I think I've mentioned before that my wife and I went to a lot of trouble to have as traditional a Jewish wedding as we could. It was a wonderful experience for us and our guests. Since then, I've gotten asked to help out a couple of other family members inject a little Jewiness into otherwise secular, American, weddings. L's wedding, much to my surprise, ended up being another. I say much to my surprise in that I had no involvement in the wedding planning until about 10 minutes before the reception dinner started. Word got to me during the post-wedding photo shoot that T, L's new husband wanted to talk to me. It turned out that he and L were hoping that I could arrange a short-notice hora and chair-lift during the dancing.

Now, a dance leader I'm not, but as you know from reading this blog, I'm not shy about being ignorant in public. So, I corralled my brothers, a cousin, and some of the groom's men and gave them a crash course in how to hoist wooden chairs (no folding chairs, tip the chairs back a bit). The groom's man in charge of DJ'ing had one iTunes Hava Nagilia and a repeat button to work with. I couldn't remember the details of the hora dance step and would just have to wing it.

As it turned out, it was a magic moment. When Hava Nagilia started up, I grabbed a couple guests and got them moving in a circle. Once they were vaguely circling, I cued the guys to hoist the couple. Once the chairs were airborne, the crowd surged and circled on their own. We looked a bit more like a mosh-pit than a Yiddish dance, but hey, we had a lot of enthusiasm and a clockwise orbit. The look of exhilaration and love in L and T's faces as they were bobbed up and down holding onto each other via a cloth napkin said we did well enough.

After it was over, one of T's friends came up to me and told me that between the crash and cheering of the breaking of the glass and the swirling of the pseudo-hora, this was the first wedding he'd been to where he was actually personally excited and involved. It meant enough to him that he sought me out to tell me about it. The DIY DJ had a similar reaction. I'm mentioning this specifically because I've talked to a number Jewish relatives and friends who are afraid to include traditional Jewish elements in their weddings because their non-Jewish guests (and even many of the Jewish guests) may not be familiar with them and may feel uncomfortable or alienated. It just doesn't happen liked that. There's some pretty deep magic in a Jewish wedding done right and people of all types respond to it.

So if you know of anyone who is thinking of adding some extra magic to their wedding and needs an Impromptu Jewish Wedding Consultant, drop me a line. I can recommend some good references and suggest some specific elements that are easy to accomplish and meaningful for all in attendance.

Eli Eli with Ancient Drum

Ok, it's Thursday night and I'm not quite thinking about Shabbat yet. But I'm Boston for a family wedding, not likely to make it to the computer tomorrow, and wanted to make sure I got in my weekly pre-Shabbat get in the mood video. So an early Shabbat Shalom to everyone one. Enjoy.

This week's video is the group Voices of Eden performing a lovely version of Eli Eli. Written in Israel in 1942 by Hannah Senesh with music by David Zehavi, Eli Eli is a powerhouse of a song that has become a classic Shabbat Z'mirot. The song is both a powerhouse because of it's beautiful lyrics (see below) and Senesh's story. Not long after composing Eli Eli Senesh volunteered to parachute into Yugoslovia to help Jews escape to Israel. She was caught and executed by the Germans in Hungary in 1944. Despite being written at the height of the Holocaust, the song reflects a deep faith in our the intimate connection with God and a wonderful lyric sensitivity.

MUSIC FROM ANTIQUITY: ELI ELI WITH ANCIENT DRUM

Voices of Eden is an ensemble lead by Eliana Gilad, who "is an internationally recognized expert in the conscious use of voice and rhythm as a natural healer, as they were used in ancient times." I'm not exactly sure what that means, other than that it involves "[h]ealing chants, medically proven to induce relaxation and focus, that connect us to our Source." If this sounds interesting, please check out her website. Gilad notes that in this video she "sings into the worlds oldest frame drum, dated 5600 B.C. in the mystical city of Safed." I'm also not sure that that means. Ancient style of drum? I don't see anything on the website clarifying it. But it is a lovely sound.

I'm big fan of Eli, Eli and thought I'd share the lyrics. While there are lots of great versions of it floating around I'm particularly partial to the one performed by Stephanie Schneiderman on Oy Baby. (sample).

Eili Eili Shelo yigameir l'olam, Hachol v'hayam rishrush shel hamayim, B'rak hashamyim t'filat ha-adam.

O Lord, my God, I pray that these things shall never end. The sand and the sea, the rush of the waters, the crash of the heavens, the prayer of man.

sources: The Jewish Agency for Israel, Project Z'mirot and HebrewSongs

Mogwai's Avinu Malkenu - Post-rock for Elul

So here's an interesting one. A band gets taught the simple, powerful, Jewish melody Avinu Malkenu, Our Father, Our King. They get caught up in it, and work with it, until it becomes the anchor song of their set. Their apocalyptic encore piece. Then they release it as a 22 minute single. A Yom Kippur prayer become cathartic experience for an arena full of screaming fans.

The band is the post-rock group Mogwai, from Scotland. Post-rock is a form of art-rock that emerged from the indie and post-punk scene's of the 70's, 80's and 90's (e.g. Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth but also Pink Floyd and Can.) Like other post-rock groups, Mogwai is mostly instrumental music, alternating between quiet lyrical passages and growling, furious guitars and drums. Their Avinu Malkenu is raises up a maelstrom and then resolves it, letting the simple melody break through. I find it strangely moving.

Mogwai at the Royal Albert Hall


By the way, this is the second post-rock band I've features in Teruah, though I didn't know the term the first time. The first was The Silver Mt. Zion, who's song "God Bless Our Dead Marines" still is one of my favorite Teruah discoveries. This is also the second time I've featured unexpected versions of Avinu Malkenu. The first was by the jam band Phish, another group known for long musical explorations.

Kol Isha

i feel like i'm being muzzled. (C, a 23 year old Frum female singer)

When I started writing this blog I had a grand idea. I'd be a musical schadchen, though I didn't even know the term yet (it means matchmaker). I'd break down barriers between Jewish music genres and movements. And I'd learn a lot in the process. One thing I learned is that some barriers are harder to tear down than others. One of the big ones is Kol Isha.

Kol Isha is a Orthodox rabbinic decree that men should not hear a woman sing, unless that woman is his wife or a child. As Rabbi Howard Jachter explains, quoting Rashi "a woman’s voice is attractive to a man, and is thus prohibited to him." That means that every time I post a recording of a woman singing, I'm violating Kol Isha and am encouraging frum (Orthodox) Jewish men to do the same.

The controversy around Kol Isha runs deep. First, it is a point of contention between liberal and traditional Jewish movements. To the liberal movements, who cherish their female rabbi's, cantor's, songleaders, and fellow congregants, the implication of Kol Isha is that women have no place in religious life and no role in society other than as a sexual temptation to men. To the traditional movements, as noted in the Rashi quote, Kol Isha is an important element of female modesty and propriety, one of the many shields that a frum woman builds around herself, her family and her Torah.

Even within the traditional movements, Kol Isha is controversial. As Rabbi Jachter notes, "Rav Hai Gaon (cited in the Mordechai Berachot 80) writes that this restriction applies to a man who is reading Kriat Shema, because a woman’s singing will distract him." So which is it, is any female singing a problem, or just singing at specific times? Is it only a problem if the singing is live (since you can't see a woman who's singing on the radio)? What if the woman's voice is part of a mixed group, where you can't single out any specific woman? Each of these issues gets debated by the Rabbis and the Orthodox community.

But it's more than abstract issues. Kol Isha has a lot of impact on women's lives and on the development of Jewish music. The quote above, about feeling muzzled, comes directly out of the frum community. The young woman, writing to a frum Jewish Music mailing list, was not for a moment questioning Kol Isha. She was complaining that, because she couldn't sing for men and because the Jewish "Woman Only" music market was so much smaller than the male market, she wasn't able to get a publisher to give her a contract. That's one small example of many I've run across.

Kol Isha has had some interesting side effects*, the existence of a "women only" music scene is one of them. The "women only" genre of frum music is significantly smaller than the male scene, but has it's own stars, concerts, a blog, and a radio show. I've seen a number of emails by non-frum female Jewish musicians who play both "women only" and mixed concerts commenting on how much they prefer the warmth and energy of the "women only" shows. (A sentiment that reminds me a lot of the masculine energy of punk shows). Of course, I've seen an equivalent number of complaints by female Jewish musicians who can't begin to make a living with their music because of the strict limits on their performances. Frum men can play mixed events like weddings. Frum women can't.

In case Teruah readers haven't noticed, I'm the kind of Conservative Jew that sometimes gets called "Conserva-dox," meaning that I spend a lot of my time fretting about my mediocre observance and thinking that I should become more Orthodox in practice. But this is one place I hit a brick wall. I respect the choices made by the Orthodox community and the reasons for those choices (love of Hashem and Torah, and a good faith effort to live by them), but disagree with the interpretation, the need for such strict adherence, and the burden placed on females who deserve a larger role than they are given.

But mostly, as a writer, I'm fascinated to find this unexpected wall between liberal and traditional Jews. It makes me wonder if I should specifically label recordings with women vocalists as I've seen in a couple of other places. (I won't.) It makes me wonder if I (a man) should avoid featuring (and listening to) frum women vocalists. (I won't). It makes me wonder if even bringing up this topic is likely to get me in trouble with both the liberal and Orthodox communities. (Probably). Oh well, I haven't been ignorant in public in a couple weeks. I'd hate to get too out of practice.

UPDATE: The author "Kol Isha" on the Jewish Music Report has written a nice article on Kol Isha from an Orthodox woman's perspective.

* I'm going out on a limb here, but I think that two other effects of Kol Isha are the recent rage in the Orthodox circles for boy sopranos singing with adult men (which echo's the Elizabethan English use of boys to play woman's roles) and the Sephardic love song (which emerged in an environment where the Rabbi's didn't hear the songs and therefore didn't ban them).

Yosef Karduner's Shir LaMa'alot (More on Music & Politics)

I was asked recently to help a Teruah reader track down the lyrics to the Isreali band Sheva's song Shir LaMa'alot. I did a little digging and found out the the song had been composed by musician Yosef Karduner, a member of the Israeli Breslov Chassid community. I haven't found an official publisher for the sheet music yet, but an unauthorized fan transcription can be found at JewishGuitarChords.com. I also found a video of Karduner performing the song on WeJew.com.

It's interesting that the WeJew video comments note that "this song ("Shir HaMaalot" from Tehillim) is a virtual religious national anthem for the orange youth of Israel." The term "orange youth" refers to Israeli's who protested the 2005 Unilateral Disengagement Plan to remove all Israeli citizens from the Gaza strip and a number of surrounding settlements. The lyrics of Shir LaMa'alot are drawn from Psalm 121, A Song of Ascents, and contain the phrase..

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber. (emphasis added)

Do not suffer thy foot to be moved from Gaza. Got it. A nice example of a political use of Jewish music and texts. But it's a good song regardless of your political leanings.

Yosef Karduner's Shir LaMa'alot


Update: Once again BlogInDm sets me straight. Yosef Karduner has a songbook, which includes Shir LaMa'alot, for sale at JewishJukebox.com.