Immersion in Jewish Music

By Abe Fried-Tanzer
KOC Assistant Editor
New York University

If you take a look at my iPod playlists, a good number of them contain songs that I would label "Jewish" music. I have excerpts from different services set to assorted familiar melodies, pop songs from Israel and typical Jewish songs associated with holidays or just the religion itself. They make up a very wonderful, reliable collection of heartwarming and energetic songs and every time I start listening to one of them I'm transported back to amazing memories of when I first came into contact with all these songs.

Camp Ramah in New England provided me with an immersion into Jewish music and dance. While summer camp wasn't quite for me, it afforded me a valuable opportunity to become more knowledgeable about and familiar with Jewish music. In addition to quickly learning the words and tunes for services, I vividly remember singing Shalom Rav and Mipi Eil after meals and struggling pleasantly to master the steps necessary for dances like Jessica and Od Lo Ahavti Dai. Israeli dancing was a major part of my Bar Mitzvah, where my parents were eager to emphasize it over the popular teenage music preferred at most of my classmates' parties. It was great to be able to get interested in and excited about something that both captures part of my religious heritage and enables me to appreciate such terrific music.

One of my favorite parts of USY was the tradition of ruach sessions (spirited singing) after meals on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. Songs like Mipi Eil that I knew already were joined by new favorites of mine like Mah Yedidut and Erev Shel Shoshanim. The energy that comes from the songs is simply incredible. It doesn't even matter if people don't know the words – humming along to the melodies is just as powerful. In college I've found the same thing. The Friday night tish (Yiddish for table)at NYU is a place where we sing some of the same songs and I've even learned a number of excellent unfamiliar melodies. I made a point last year to photocopy the song sheets to ensure there were enough for all the attendees. One Friday night, I offered a song sheet to someone sitting quietly by and she told me she couldn't read Hebrew and therefore didn't need one. She seemed very happy sitting by and listening to the energy of the group and I think that truly demonstrates how powerful this music can be.

Lately, I've gotten very into listening to a cappella music. I realize that the term a cappella can apply to non-Jewish music, but when I hear it, that's always the first thing I think. NYU's Jewish a cappella group, Ani V'Ata, has gotten me into songs like Darkeinu and Ahavah Ktanah which I can hardly stop listening to now. My mom introduced me to the Best of Jewish A Cappella CD which features a terrific version of Yigdal and a cool medley of Ayshes Chayil. The point of a cappella for me, in one sense, is to recreate the experience of listening to a full band as a one-time thing, and therefore listening to it over and over as I walk to class seems to decrease that notion in a way. I look at it instead as a way to fully live in Jewish music, allowing myself to flash back to great memories and experiences I positively associate with my Jewish heritage and life.

[Posted 3/25/09]