I found our class about Jewish music very interesting. I was unaware that there was such a wide variety of sounds and genres that qualified as “Jewish” music. I had never really considered that music other than that played in temple or at other Jewish ceremonies could be classified as Jewish music. I really enjoyed the array of samples we heard. Some of the prayers we heard at the beginning of the class were familiar to me. To me, this is what I picture as Jewish music. I think of prayers and hymns that I hear in temple as Jewish music. I was, however, very interested to hear that many of the tunes the prayers were set to were developed recently (most within the last century).

The most interesting part of the class was when we began to listen to the more contemporary music. As I said before, my perception of Jewish music has always been prayers and music played in synagogue. Listening to some of the modern-day Jewish music, such as the reggae styling of Matisyahu, really got me thinking differently about what defines music as Jewish. Instead of keeping with my original thoughts that Jewish music had to be religious in nature to be considered “Jewish”. Matisyahu is just one example of secular Jewish music. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to his song Jerusalem. The lyrics coupled with the reggae music was new, but very pleasurable. This may be a strange comment to make but while I was listening to Matisyahu, I couldn’t help but think Jerusalem was just as much a Jewish song as religious prayers and hymns you hear in temple.

Lowenstein also talked about the origins of Jewish music and how many of the tunes and other aspects of the music came from different cultures and groups of people. I spent a good deal of time talking about the fluid boundaries of Judaism (and in particular Jewish music) in my midterm essay. Lowenstein says on page 177, “We know that much Jewish folk music, whether secular or religious, is borrowed from, or at least influenced by, the musical traditions of the people among whom the Jews lived.” I was very unaware prior to taking this class that so much of Jewish music comes from other cultures. This class period as well as the corresponding readings completely changed my perspective of Jewish music.

Last class we listened to samples of “Jewish” music, which included different clips from the Jewish High Holiday services and popular reggae “Jewish” music. What I found interesting was my own reaction to what I previously perceived as two separate types of music. The two pieces in particular that I am referring to are the Kol Nidre prayer, which occurs the during the service the night before Yom Kippur, and the song Jerusalem by Matisyahu, which is a reggae style song about not forgetting the city of Jerusalem.

While listening to the Kol Nidre prayer I found myself actually singing along in my head, because after all it does happen to be one of my favorite prayers of all time. It may seem weird to think that someone could have a prayer that is truly one of their favorites, but I would encourage anyone who isn’t familiar with it to just type it into YouTube and just listen to it. Now I feel that I must clarify even further that the Kol Nidre incantation, which I am referring to is from the traditional Ashkenazic service; and by Ashkenazic, I am referring to Jews that descend primarily from Eastern Europe and Russia. This prayer is a very emotional and soulful prayer, which is chanted and repeated three times and every year. While in services I tend to get chills, I am just absorbed into a trance (which is the best way I can describe it, although it might seem foreign to some); and in class I experienced a similar feeling even though I wasn’t in services. I guess I can explain my reaction to the connection I make personally with that prayer. That would explain how I started to feel the same way I did the week previously while listening to my Shliach Tzibbur (Cantor) chant the prayer.

While I listened to Jerusalem by Matisyahu, I experienced the similar feelings to when I listen to Kol Nidre. The feeling I got put me in a sort of Jewish trance, which made me think about my trip to Jerusalem only a few years ago. Matisyahu adapts some of his lyrics for that song directly from Psalm 137:5, which is why I make the claim that his music is Jewish. However, his music is enjoyed by the secular community as well.

Which causes me to ask, can both the secular and Jewish communities enjoy Jewish music, but have it still represent something uniquely special to Jews?

I would argue yes because, although non-Jews may enjoy the music of Matisyahu I believe that I am able to make a deeper connection to the songs. In the song Jerusalem, he makes an allusion to the Holocaust, “years gone by, about 60 / Burn in the oven in this century / And the gas tried to choke, but it couldn’t choke me”; and having been to the death camps in Poland, those lyrics strike a particular chord in me because they bring back those memories. The verse continues with,

“Change your name and your identity
Afraid of the truth and our dark history
Why is everybody always chasing me
Cut off the roots of your family tree
Don’t you know that’s not the way to be”,

which stresses that you should not forget your past, which is an ideal that I believe strongly in. Now I am unsure if that connection is the same to all Jew’s, I doubt it is, however, I would also wager that a non-Jew would be distanced even further from making a personal connection of that sort.

I just think that it is interesting that the soulful sorrowful lyrics of the Kol Nidre prayer and the powerful lyrics of Matisyahu can illicit similar reactions from me.