Since this is such a basic question, and it comes up in articles and interviews from time to time, I feel it’s important to write something about it here, although it’s discussed in much greater depth in my upcoming book. Anyway, here’s a short discussion, and hopefully you’ll choose to dig in deeper by getting the book (due summer 2012, G-d willing).
Recently, I heard an interview where a musician drew form the writings of the ethno-musicologist Idelson to define Jewish sounding music as using the phrygian mode (freygish scale). I consider this terribly simplistic. Many other cultures use the same scale, and a tremendous amount of Jewish music doesn’t use it. So I think the matter is considerably more complex.
1) It is culturally associated with and identifiable as being Jewish.
Judaism is obviously not just a religion – if it was, only liturgical music would be considered Jewish. On the other hand, it is inextricably tied to religion, therefore an Israeli soccer team’s anthem would not be considered Jewish music. It is a culture, but not only a culture. To be Jewish, music has to be identified with something specifically Jewish.
This also disqualifies music written by Jews for non-Jewish purposes as being Jewish music. If a Jew writes music for the church, or Christmas carols, or even Broadway shows, classical music or American folk songs, it doesn’t qualify as Jewish music just because a Jew wrote it. Most people have no idea this music was even written by Jews, unless they have specific prior knowledge that the composer was Jewish; nothing in the music itself connects it to Jews or Jewishness.
However, the converse is also true: music imported from a different culture and used in a Jewish context, doesn’t make that music Jewish either. Singing opera arias in shul to words from the siddur doesn’t make the aria Jewish music. Playing Irish punk music at a Jewish wedding doesn’t make it Jewish wedding music. Putting Jewish lyrics to a popular rock song doesn’t make it Jewish music.
To illustrate this, let’s use ethnic food as an example. If you serve pizza at a Shabbos meal, does that make pizza a Jewish food? If you serve won-ton soup at a Jewish wedding, does it make won-ton soup Jewish cuisine? If a Jewish chef cooks treif French food for a political banquet, does that make the food Jewish?
2) It is a continuation and evolution of an existing Jewish musical tradition within a Jewish cultural context
Chazzanus is a tradition with religious roots going back hundreds, if not thousands of years. It has evolved over time, but today’s chazzanus is still recognizable as an outgrowth of that tradition, and chazzanim of today consciously build on the tradition of the past. Klezmer, except where it is dominated by foreign influences, is also an attempt to preserve and build upon an existing musical heritage. Chassidic zemiros are also a direct continuation of a Jewish tradition dating back to the songs of the Levi’im in the Bais Hamikdosh. Although inevitably influenced by other cultures, the primary focus and attention was on the continuation and broadening of an existing tradition, as opposed to intentionally assimilating and adopting a foreign style.
To continue our metaphor: if a Jewish caterer would decide to combine two traditional Jewish foods and come up with a corn beef on cream cheese bagel, would the resulting innovation be considered Jewish food? The very fact that he would flagrantly disregard the prohibition of mixing meat and dairy disqualifies his creation from being considered Jewish. How about serving bagels and horseradish at a Pesach Seder?
3) Must be created by Jews, for Jews
This may seem simple, but some still don’t seem to get it, and it’s become somewhat controversial. Shostakovich (a non-Jewish Russian composer) based a classical composition of his on Jewish folk tunes; it’s not Jewish music, even though it may sound Jewish. Similarly, if a Jewish composer incorporates Jewish tunes into a classical composition intended for a secular, predominantly non-Jewish concert audience, it also doesn’t make it Jewish. There is no Jewish historical precedent (see #2) for classical music played by a mixed orchestra in a concert hall for a predominantly non-Jewish audience. It is totally in the context of a non-Jewish secular cultural tradition. The composer has composed his piece as an heir to the classical secular musical tradition, not to any Jewish one.
Similarly, a Jewish performer can put Jewish words to reggae or hip-hop music and present it to a primarily non-Jewish audience, and that doesn’t make it Jewish music either. Or a jazz musician using Phrygian mode in his jazz performances, for that matter. These are musicians who are primarily involved in a genre which is totally secular, without any Jewish precedent whatsoever, and by infusing some aspect of Jewish content, be it lyrics or the scale, they expect it to be called Jewish music. They are Jews playing non-Jewish music for non-Jews in a non-Jewish cultural context. It is a dual loyalty, at best. They may be Jewish, but their music does not qualify to be included within the category of genuine Jewish culture. This is completely different than the Jewish musician composing Jewish songs in a Jewish stylistic idiom, with Jewish content, primarily for Jews, who happens to incorporate some “modern” stylistics influences here and there (like I do).
Let me clarify: I do not mean to demean or demonize such musicians. They may have very noble intentions in doing their thing, whether to express their own Jewishness, to spread Jewish values to the gentiles, for outreach to the Jews among the audience, or simply to make a living. When Country Yossi did his take-off on Alvin and the Chipmunks, or 613 Torah Avenue used secular folk melodies, or Shlock Rock parodied rock tunes, these were clearly for educational and outreach purposes; no one would think of incorporating these melodies into Jewish culture. But when other “respected” Jewish performers set Jewish lyrics to similar stolen melodies that the naive religious Jewish market is unaware of their true origin, they become part of Jewish culture. We’re back to pizza for Shabbos. Where do we draw the line?
Some seek to justify the use of secular tunes to Jewish words by bringing a precedent from the Chassidic Rebbes who did so on occasion. To them I reply: they were rebbes, you are not. In most cases, these melodies were accompanied by stories regarding exactly why and how they were adopted, usually involving some mystical perception of holy sparks contained within these melodies that had to be redeemed. The Rebbe, in some cases, would actually pay for the tune, and its original composer forgot it. (Our musicians of today don’t pay a cent for these melodies, and it’s the Jews who forget where they came from.) Besides, these melodies were usually in a style so compatible to the Chassidic style that their secular origin was barely recognizable. Today, we’re constantly being shocked every time a new secular tune or style is adopted that’s even “more far out” than the one of a year ago.
In addition, music in those times was quite innocent. Secular music today is one of the most decadent, ugly manifestations of secular culture. Do we really want those influences?
More about this in my upcoming book, G-d willing. Till then, this should give you something to chomp on.
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