JOURNAL
OF SYNAGOGUE
MUSIC
October 1975 / H eshvan 5736
Volume VI
Number 2
CONTE NTS
Synagogue Music Is Dead Michael Isaacson 3
The Challenge of Synagogue Music :
A PERSONAL STATEMENT
Elliot B. Gertel 6
America In East European
Yiddish FOLKSONG
Eleanor Gordon Mlotek 20
Articulating Music With
Foreign Language Study
Dr. Daniel Chazanoff37
The Subj ect of J ewish Music :
A Review of Nulman's, "Concise
Encyclopedia of J ewish Music"
MaxWohlbergM
DE PARTME NTS
Music Section
Compositions by Schlosberg,
Bernstein and Eisenstadt
From Our Readers
Exchange of letters between Professors Weiser
and Wohlberg
JOURNAL OF SYNAGOGUE music, Volume VI, Number 2
October 1975 /Heshvan 5736
editor : Morton Shames
managing editor : Samuel Rosenbaum
editorial board: Saul Meisels, Marshall Portnoy, David J. Putter-
man, Moses J. Silverman, Pinchas Spiro, David Tilman, Dr. Max
Wohlberg.
business manager: Yehuda Mandel
officers of the cantors assembly: Michal Hammerman, Pres-
ident; Kurt Silberman, Vice President; Zvan Perlman, Treasurer;
Jacob Barkin, Secretary; Samuel Rosenbaum, Executive Vice
President.
journal of synagogue music is a quarterly p u b / / ca 1 i o n . The sub-
scription fee is $12.50 per year. Second-class postage paid at New
York, New York. All articles, communications and subscriptions
should be addressed to Journal of Synagogue Music, Cantors Assem-
bly, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York 10011 .
Copyright © 1975, Cantors Assembly
SYNAGOGUE MUSIC IS DEAD
Michael ISAACSON
Several years ago when I first became involved with synagogue
music on a professional basis, I believed that the music which I had
grown up hearing was about to go through real change. I was certain
that the 19th Century romanticism of Sulzer, Lewandowski and
Dunajewsky had had its day and newer music that spoke to 20th
Century needs was to replace it. Freed, Weiner, Binder, and Fromm
had made the transition and young American trained composers
like Adler, Bernstein, Foss and Davidson, among others, were ex-
perimenting with contemporary sounds for the Synagogue. I, as a
young composer took heart in this activity. It was a noble pursuit,
I believed, to carry the torch, Affirming the importance of music
to the J ewish experience, we in the latter half of the 20th Century
were to forge new musical paths in the contemporary worship ex-
perience. It was an optimistic period : The old order changing, yield-
ing to the new.
I n 1975, only twenty-five years before the 21st Century the
momentum has died, the optimism is gone. The young have grown old
and dreams of the future have been replaced by nostalgia for the
past. What has happened to synagogue music? It has died. Who
killed it? Anti-Semites? Secularists? No. Tragically, the music and
perhaps the Synagogue itself has been killed by the Sentimentalists.
The older establishment of I nstitutional J ewry who have chosen to
forget the sham and impoverishment of the past, who are getting
too old and tired to confront the present and resort to fanciful trips
of nostalgia to justify their twilight years. The reason these Senti-
mentalists are so influential today is that for the most part they are
the ones who support the religious establishment. To their credit
they do pay the synagogue's bills and they do sustain the religious
institutes and seminaries. But let us not delude ourselves, they are
ultimately dealing with present and future challenges by retreating
into a sentimental past that, indeed, never really existed. Ironically,
their concern for the preservation of J udaism and its music is
destructive.
After Ph.D. studies in composition with Samuel Adler at the Eastman School of
Music, Michael Isaacson was appointed Music Director of The Temple in Cleve-
land, Ohio. Quickly gaining a reputation as a serious composer, Isaacson is also
the youngest composer of regularly published and performed synagogue music.
He is a frequent contributor to this Journal and lectures throughout the United
States on aspects of J ewish music.
Does all this sound paranoid ? Look at the musical indications.
Firstly, as a composer, it is no longer prudent to be associated
with J ewish music. There is less than a handful of composers writing
now for the Synagogue, and most of them are in their sixties. If
their music is published by the one remaining J ewish music publish-
ing house, the plates must be paid for by private subsidy. This same
publisher does little to promote the music because of the massive
use of unlawful copying which precludes the possibility of volume
sales. Secondly, the frenzy over congregational participation has
discouraged the serious professional composer and encouraged every
congregation's amateur folk singer. Everyone is a composer today
and the result is no one is.
Thirdly, our American cantorial schools are not providing in-
novative leadership. The musical training is substandard, the values
advocated are weary rehashings of what has happened for over one-
hundred years and the result is the graduation of young cantors who
think and sing like those who are about to retire. Don't misunder-
stand. The art of the cantor given Synagogue music that is fresh
and vibrant is irreplaceable. However, nothing is more pathetic than
a young "Shaliach Tsibur" trying to represent his flock before God
with sounds that are no longer remotely meaningful to his con-
gregation; it is an ego trip of the worst kind.
Finally, consider the bizarre interest of late in hassidic niggu-
nim. In 1975, American Conservative and Reform J ews who live in
sophisticated suburbs, read the latest books, see the newest movies,
have the most intricate audio equipment, quote the current philos-
ophers with a craving for relevance, are singing 18th and 19th Cen-
tury reworked Polish and Lithuanian ditties in their worship services
as though they had been brought up all their lives under the tutelage
of the Modzitzer Rebbe. Fantastic !
Why bother? If J ews themselves are "Uncle Tom"-ing it, their
message is blatant. "We have found nothing to hold onto in the music
of this century-Regress is our most important product".
I recently asked an outstanding composer and conductor who
has written much J ewish music to lend his name to a competition to
find new young J ewish composers. His reply was that he didn't know
what good his involvement would bring. The leaders of the past have
grown old. There are too few younger composers writing in this
genre today and no one is encouraging them. Their prospective
audiences don't really want the commodity they can offer. They
can't publish in a meaningful way and they certainly cannot make a
living from composing music for today's J ewry. Does Nationalism
still exist? Don't look to Israeli composers. They are trying hard to
survive in thenon-J ewish cosmopolitan music world. Their J ewish-
ness has less and less to do with the religious experience.
"Why bother yourself lamenting the current state of affairs?",
you may ask, 'There is enough old music to carry us along for a long
time". The answer should be obvious to any enlightened J ew. Music
has always mirrored the hopes and aspirations of its people. I n this
world "standing still" is, in fact, moving backwards, but conscious
regression is catapulting decadence. If synagogue music is dying,
then it is a good indication that Institutional J udaism is breathing
its last as well.
Some might argue that the Synagogue is not a place for rele-
vance; Relevance by definition has transient overtones. "With all
the moving around these days some things should remain the same".
This defense for inertia is valid if J udaism is founded on the prin-
ciples of sonambulism. The hard truth, as one pundit has pointed
out, is that "constant change is here to stay". J ews as a probing,
thinking, "transient" people should know this more than any other
group. Either we recreate contemporary meaning from our J ewish
traditions and values or we must severely reexami ne them.
Perhaps the old must die before the new lives. I, as a synagogue
composer, and an informed observer, know that synagogue music
has had it. It is dead and thosej ews who put more value in the past
than in the future are the ones who have killed it.
THE CHALLENGE OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC:
A PERSONAL STATEMENT
ELLIOT B.GERTEL
I am neither a cantor nor a cantor's son, but I do have some
thoughts about the present status of American hazzanut, and I
believe that this is the best forum in which to share them. I do not
intend to preach about the importance of piety to the ability of the
hazzan to serve as shaliach tzibbur, and to interpret the complex
traditions of synagogue music. Professor Abraham Heschel, of
blessed memory, already communicated this as eloquently and as
movingly as possible.' Besides, piety cannot be measured as fairly
as the status of hazzanut can be appraised. It is easier to gauge social
tastes than to guess individual commitment. The latter can be mea-
sured only by God, and indicated, to some extent, by the respect or
lack of respect of congregants. Yet the tracing of the religio-cultural
interests of a particular age or community yields evidence as de-
cisive as the differences between generations and the gaps between
continents.
What distresses me is that while the role of the cantor has
acquired unprecedented (and well -deserved) communal stature,
while every congregation (even, in ever growing numbers, within
the Reform Movement) recognizes the necessity of engaging some
human repository of the precious traditions of synagogue music,
a cantor trained at some seminary as well as at some school of music-
the stature of the art of hazzanut is at an all-time low. And our
cantorial bodies have not even begun to deal adequately with the
problem! At their conventions, they derive fulfillment from learning
more and more about a musical heritage concerning which our con-
gregants know (and care) less and less. Forgive me, but the modern
cantor may well be the last of a breed which Solomon Schechter
described as "spiritual schnorrers."
The problem, as I see it, is that synagogue music is subordinated
to music in the synagogue. The efforts of Bloch, Ephros, Achron,
Freed, Binder, and Helfman to develop effective and pleasing har-
monies for the oral traditions of East European hazzanut have given
way to the Israeli ruach song, worn of its effectiveness and even of
Elliot Gertel is currently a student in the Joint Program of the Jewish Theological
Seminary and Columbia University. Although only 20 years old he has already
published a number of articles in the field of J udaica.
its appeal by years of repetition; to the guitar, the adolescent of all
musical instruments if the organ is really to be considered their
"grandfather" ; and the Ramah tune, which solves the problem of
congregational singing by accumulating what is most trite in the
popular sound wherever it may be found-whether on American or
Israeli radio, or in the American synagogue or "Hasidic Festival"
repertoire. Instead of seeking to raise individuals in a broad and
carefully-selected tradition of synagogue music, our congregations
are actually narrowing the scope of liturgical music in order to ac-
commodate the sound of a youth cult. The only problem with a youth
cult is that a heritage is not mastered until one has offered a part of
his youth to it; and no cult is tolerable in the synagogue except that
of the God of Israel.
I realize that just as one cannot deify a youth cult, so one cannot
apotheosize any tradition of music. Few people require music to
lead them to their chosen altars. Music, when carefully utilized, can
aid men and women to walk with greater dignity and joy to altars
that demand of them self-sacrifice and self-scrutiny. And reverent
or frivilous use of music always determines, with the greatest sub-
tlety, the altars one truly desires even when he is walking in the
direction of the Ark of the Covenant.
Ruth Gay once described synagogue music as too "baroque,"
as too much of a hodgepodge of the varying traditions of distant cli-
mates and generations. 2 I think that while her impulse to complain
may be correct, her reasons are all wrong. It is true that our services
have become much too "topical." The late Friday evening service in
particular (which is gradually becoming extinct) has degenerated
somewhat into a series of musical "tokenisms" for the sake of token-
ism ; each service must represent a variety of sounds-the tradi-
tional nusach, the Israeli, the East European, and the Germanic or
Sephardic.
A combination of many different modes of sound is not neces-
sarily a cacophany, although it may well be "baroque." Yet it re-
quires a keen sense of music and a rare (though cultivatable) stan-
dard of artistry in order to achieve this properly. I personally am
delighted when Lewandowski's Man Tovu (in the style of Giordan i's
Can mio benj is followed by Sephardic Lekhah Dodi, then by Secun-
da's Hashkivenu or A havatO lam and Rossi's "On that Day" —
especially when these are integrated as beautifully as at Congrega-
tion Beth El in Springfield, Massachusetts, the synagogue in which
I was raised. I could not help learning to appreciate these different
sounds, which are artistically unified by Hazzan Morton Shames.
The congregation has indeed been fortunate to assemble within its
choir (of which my father is a member) an impressive group of
semi-professional talent, bound together by rare interest and com-
mitment. Shames, who has guided the choir with rare musical acumen
was assisted by Robert S. Swan, perhaps the most ingenious and
dexterious synagogue organist of our time, until Swan's untimely
passing in 1971.3
I was exposed, as well, to the finest synagogue concert material
that is available. Hazzan Shames attempts each year to introduce
or to revive such masterpieces as Rossi's Sacred Service, Secunda's
Zemirot and Welcoming the Sabbath and If Not Higher a cantata,
Ellstein's oratorio Ode to the King of Kings, Binder's Passover to
Freedom, the Sephardic Service, the moving Israeli collection, Shab-
batMitzion, F reed's Hasidic Service, and many others in Hebrew,
Yiddish and English which not only inspired appreciation of J ewish
music, but of all music. Even when some of these "concert" services
were presented on Friday evening, they always evoked a sense of
wonder and Sabbath joy among our congregants who, while touched
and sometimes stunned by these services, were never intimidated nor
asphyxiated by them, nor were they entertained or serenaded. Of
course there are some services, like Smolover's Edge of Freedom and
Davidson's Lost Sabbath (at least with its dance and melodrama)
which I feel are not conducive even to the late Friday evening service.
Yet I must confess that even when these otherwise impressive works
were performed in Springfield, they were presented with dignity and
effectiveness. The services I knew in Springfield were "concerts"-
but actually concerts for God which as an organic whole swept the
yearnings of the congregants into the progression and movement of
the musical offerings. These were chosen by Hazzan Shames in order
to spur on the worshipers' initiation into prayer with a simultaneous
movement from one mode to another or from one organic composition
in a special service to the next.
Hazzan Shames' particular approach is by no means iconoclastic
or renegade. It is parallel to the efforts of such creative lights as
Samuel Rosenbaum and Charles Davidson. And what's more, it re-
flects the dominant tendency in modern "Hazzan-Cantor," as op-
posed to "haxxan-xoger" hazzanut This distinction was made by the
revered Hazzan Adolph Katchko, 4 who observed back in 1949 that
the zoger-oistaytsher, "who created a motif for each separate word,"
could not find place in America "because in order to appreciate the
individually-musically illustrated word, it is essential that the lis-
tener understand every word that the hazzan is uttering." 5 Cantor
Shames, like many dedicated and realistic Conservative hazzanim,
found it necessary and natural to davven by coordinating a series
of sounds into a particular mood while subtly interpreting words.
Had he not introduced that approach in Springfield, the words of
the liturgy would have become more meaningless to the congrega-
tion than their musical embellishments.
Yet because of my father, who is deeply steeped in the tradi-
tional East Europeon hazzanut he knew in Poland and in Montreal,
and who possesses a fine tenor voice and an uncanny ability to im-
provise these pieces back into his memory, the art of the hazzan-
zoger has never been strange to me. And, of course, there are those
at Beth El in Springfield who still enjoyed this approach, while they
appreciate the superlative creative efforts of Cantor Shames. That
is why our congregation is also fortunate to benefit from the talents
of Rev. Herman Abramson, its Ritual Director, who is one of the
most productive improvisors in East European hazzanut that I have
heard, and who sometimes creates fascinating compositions when
leading the congregation during summer and other services.
When I came to New York as a student in the Combined Pro-
gram at Columbia University and the J ewish Theological Seminary,
I exposed myself to many different forms of hazzanut, most of them
in the haxxan-zoger style. I discovered an entirely new dimension
in synagogue music, or, rather, I should say that I found an extremely
dynamic aspect of an old dimension. This occurred when I visited
Temple AnscheChesed of Manhattan, where I "discovered" Hazzan
Charles Bloch, whom I would venture, without the slightest hesita-
tion, to name as the finest interpreter of the haxxan-zoger approach
that one could hope to find anywhere. If, as it is said, Moshe Kousse-
vitsky modernized the music of Rosenblatt and Israel Shorr, then
Bloch has translated for me, by sheer mastery of the vocal and inter-
pretive arts, some very "old" and "remote" sounds into some very
moving and dynamic and highly creative avenues of religious ex-
pression. Indeed, Cantor Bloch has told me that he regards hazzanut
as an aspect of d'rush, the art and responsibility of preaching.
Of course, the congregation of Ansche Chesed, being comprised
mainly of retired people, is quite accustomed to (and insistent upon)
thezoger tradition, interpreted in modern fashion. It is a tribute
to the congregation that even during troublesome years of decline
it has maintained an excellent choir-quartet and an ingenious, highly-
promising young organist-composer, Jonathan Golden* With un-
*l predict that some of Golden's compositions, particularly his choral arrangement
for Yihyu L'Ratzon ("May the Words") will become universally well-known in
synagogue music.
canny synchronization and spontaneity, Golden directs the organ
and choir to enhance even B loch's most breath-taking moments of
improvizational genius, such as his dramatic and poignant version
of Atta Yatxarta for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh. The improvization of
Bloch, Golden and the Choir lend uplifting spontaneity even to the
classical compositions of Rappoport, J . Schraeter, Kaminsky, Bazian,
Schlossberg, Glantz, Helfman, Vilkomirsky, and others whose works
comprise the Cantor's broad and fine "repertoire" of hazzanut. And
Bloch's improvizations of the Birkat Kohanim and other aspects of
the Musaph enhance the tradition of zoger-hazzanut in the same
pulpit which Adolph Katchko himself occupied for twenty-four
years.
J ust as I find Shames able, by sheer musical artistry and pains-
taking use of voice and direction, to render the service as a whole
into the powerful coalescence of its parts, so I find Bloch, with equal
artistry and his chosen emphasis on vocal homiletics, to thread
individual cantorial compositions and improvizations of nusach into
a stunning tapestry around the words of the liturgy (even when
interpreting the works of Helfman, J anowski and Dunajewski). I
consider it a great privilge to know both of these cantors personally,
and therefore to have studied their different philosophies of haz-
zanut, which I feel complement one another as they have comple-
mented my own understanding of the many traditions-ancient,
medieval and modern-which comprise hazzanut, and which provide
it with various potentialities of expression and vistas of creativity.
It is not my intention here merely to panegyrize some esteemed
friends, or to offer an autobiography of my own personal "musical
upbringing" in the synagogue and in the home, which I realize would
be boring to anyone but myself. Nor do I intend to propose how to
combine the differing approaches of Shames and Bloch. Each has
been effective in his own milieu, and each is versatile enough to com-
municate his own artistic and interpretive perspective to a different
milieu. And each point of view, while not necessarily exclusive of the
other, is independent and authentic because each is built upon the
traditional nusach. I have digressed because I want to demonstrate
how fortunate I have been in being exposed to cantors who not only
select their compositions carefully, but are concerned and involved
with creativity in synagogue composition in their respective spheres.
In returning to the problem I posed at the beginning of this
essay, I would suggest that contemporary hazzanut will legitimate
itself as part of a unique tradition of religious expression only when
it asserts itself as a popularly-understood form of artistic interpre-
tation which is followed with interest by congregants rather than
sung at them ! The contemporary hazzan, whether of the "hazzan-
zoger"or " hazzan-cantor" point of view, must first concern himself
with actively battling those trends in modern J udaism which would
assail the value of hazzanut as art or as religious expression or both.
The early Reform Movement, for example, declared that hazzanut
cannot possibly be considered an "art" in the Western sense, it being
a mere vestige of "primitive" and "oriental" chanting. 6 And this
silly proclamation became a platform in America for nearly a century
after Sulzer had already proved that traditional nusach, in a slightly
novel setting, could prove inspiring and pleasing even to the most
discerning Gentile ears of Vienna itself! 7 Indeed, A. Binder has
described in sad detail how the most radical triumph of his career was
the restoration of some semblance of traditional hazzanut to the
American Reform synagogue, whose music had been composed pri-
marily by non-J ewish hymnologists or organists. 8
Within certain Orthodox quarters, such as the Hasidim and the
self-styled "elitist" Young Israel circle (founded, by the way, by two
Seminary professors, Israel Friedlander and Mordecai Kaplan) there
were always attempts to do away with hazzanut in general and with
the hazzan in particular. What was questioned then was the religious
appropriateness of hazzanut-a grossly unfair indictment in view
of even the most excessive theatrics of the "Golden Age of Cantors"
back in the twenties (especially since the most acrobatic performers
of this era were often the most pious and God-fearing J ews!). In
recent years, the modern havurot have also questioned the religious
appropriateness of an artistic hazzanut. To be sure, the Young Israel
and havurah groups share a tolerance and sometimes even an en-
thusiasm for cantorial "concepts" (particularly when performed by
the Zamir Chorale), where compositions long chanted as the high-
lights of the religious service are applauded after instead of "dav-
vened" after.
Virtually every "anti-establishment" trend in J udaism (and
even some "establishment" leaders, 9 generally rabbis as jealous of
their cantors as Saul was of David) has, indeed, entailed a revolt of
some kind against hazzanut. This is quite a tribute to the central ity
of hazzanut to thej ewish religious service, for has it not always
been there to attack and to mock? Hazzanut as a tradition or, rather,
as a complex of traditions, each representing a particular approach
or climate, has failed-both as an art and as a religious function,
for they are inseparable-because there has been no concerted, sus-
12
tained program whatever in this country to cultivate an appreciation
of it on historical, musical and, above all, religio- artistic grounds.
Why, in some places a cantor with a well-trained voice and well-
chosen compositions is looked upon as a liability! Hazzanut has
become a professional jargon, a guild, an esoteric art, a mysterious
priestly tradition that is sometimes performed but never discussed,
that startles people on a weekly basis but is never reconciled with
them. Little wonder that the vast majority of American J ews-nay,
the vast majority of those affiliated with and active in the synagogue
-can make neither heads nor tails of it, nor could they distinguish
between Rossi and Rosenblatt, Israel Shorr and Sholom Secunda,
Dunajewski and Charles Davidson.
The cantor has an immense responsibility, both as an individual
and as a member of a cantorial assembly. He must not only lead his
congregation in prayer, drawing them into the spirit and letters of
the liturgy. He must, by his vocal interpretation and congregational
teaching, insure that his congregants appreciate the compositions
and composers which lend movement and melody to the language of
prayer. To impart an appreciation for J ewish music is to foster an
appreciation for all music written for the synagogue, including
Schubert's Tov L'hodot, Halevy's MinHa-mexar, and Schoenberg's
Kol Nidre. (Indeed, certain classical masterworks on Biblical themes,
which capture the spirit of Hebrew Scripture, and even adapt local
J ewish nusach, might well be performed in the synagogue duing
special music festivals. Handel's Israel in Egypt or Judas Macca-
baeus, or Mendelssohn's Elijah are oratories that immediately come
to mind. All of Handel's oratories on themes of the Hebrew Bible
are quite appropriate for the synagogue; parts of Solomon would
be particularly suitable as anthems during the dedication of a
sanctuary.*)
*Nietzsche correctly observed: "Only in Handel's music there resounded
that J ewish-heroic trait which gave a trait of greatness to the Reformat ion -the
Old Testament became music, not the New." This is also true of Mendelssohn's
Elijah. In his careful study of Mendelssohn, Eric Werner pointed out that the
piece, "And the Lord passed by. "in Elijah is based upon the old German-J ewish
nusach for "Adonai, Adonai El Rahum .. which Mendelssohn heard as a child,
and which he associated with the Divine Majesty. However, the enthusiasm for
Mendelssohn, particularly in Reform temples, has led to a most inappropriate
adaptation of pieces from his Christological oratorio, St. Paul. Thus, I would
consider it entirely out of place to use "God, have mercy upon me, and blot out my
transgressions" (#18, 'The Conversion," St. Paul) as a synagogue anthem, although
this has long been done at New York's Temple Emanu-EI. While the words are from
Psalm 69, the composition depicts Saul's regret for having been a "stiff-necked"
j ew..
I do not want to be misunderstood. I am not an advocate of the
"synagogue center" concept, at least as propounded by Mordecai
Kaplan. I do not believe that J udaism is a civilization-even a "re-
ligious" civilization. J udaism, to be sure, is the religion that pre-
serves the J ewish people, but it is more than just the cement or core
of a people. The purpose of the synagogue is not to be a convenient
center for the "liberation" of a sub-culture or for the fostering of
an elitist or the bolstering of a dominant culture, but to attune the
people to the Living Word of God that transcends culture. J udaism,
to cite Heschel, is the "art of surpassing civilization." 10 While the
study of Torah is central to the services of which it is a part, there
are many times during the course of the week when it is not read.
Prayer is the province of the synagogue; in Rabbinic theology, its
importance parallels that of the Temple cult. 11 The reading of the
Torah is intended to stress that J udaism is the interaction of the
people with the Word of God and with its classic interpreters. The
purpose of the synagogue is to remind us that God, Whose supernal
holiness is merely reflected by tradition itself, has revealed Himself
to us in love, beckoning and commanding"* us to appear before Him.
'The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him
in truth" (Psalm 145), that is, He is close to each of us-as individ-
uals, as selves, as egos in the most dignified sense. Thus, we may
open ourselves unto Him-in petition, in joy, or in praise-aware
that God's work cannot be finished on earth unless we magnify His
Name by approaching Him with all that we are, by sharing our
yearnings with Him and, above all, by sanctifying our existence
with His Torah.
Music can help us to express ourselves in prayer; and it is, I re-
peat, with the self that we approach Him. Prayer is, as Max Ka-
dushin describes it, a "normal mysticism" where the self is not
nullified, but enhanced, by the Divine Presence. 13 It is only by en-
abling ourselves to be inspired by the best that cultural traditions
have yielded, that we can be moved beyond expressing ourselves as
human beings to human beings. We can be carried to open ourselves,
however fleetingly, to Him Who abides beyond civilization. To ap-
preciate and to appropriate the best in civilization is to familiarize
oneself with its master artists. To be aware of the master artists of
synagogue music is to recognize the milieu, the mode, the motion
and the mood of a particular composition. J ust as no collector really
possesses a painting or sculpture unless he knows its origin, so no
worshiper can feel that a composition helps him to offer himself
unless he is aware of the composer. I n Europe, from the small J ewish
communities of the Middle Ages through the Seitenstetengasse
Tempel of Sulzer, the congregation identified with the composition
because it was their hazzan's. Now that cantors are better and better
trained in the art of composition-in the practical science of theory
and harmony-more congregations should experience that same
pleasure of identifying with a cantor-composer. At the very least,
they ought to be familiar with the compositions and nusachot they
hear in the synagogue.
The leaders of the Cantors Assembly have for some time per-
ceived the need to assume the immense responsibility to impart a
popular awareness of the classics of J ewish music. 14 With the help of
the United Synagogue Book Service, the Cantors Assembly should
produce records which anthologize the outstanding cantorial and
choral work of the great masters. Thus, a disc might be devoted to
Lewandowski, Achron, Ephros, L. Weiner, Dunajewski, Kaminsky,
etc. Different cantorial artists could be asked to participate in such
an endeavor, with the assistance, if possible, of the composer him-
self. The Cantors Assembly must labor also to publish literatureon
the outstanding J ewish composers, with samples of their musical
scores and critical, through sympathetic assessment of their art. The
illuminating sections on J ewish composers to be found in A. Z. Idel-
sohn'syew/sh Music are fine as far as they go, but there are masters
who have, thank God, arisen in Israel si nee the book was written, not
to mention those whom Idelsohn himself may have overlooked.
It is equally essential for the Cantors Assembly to do everything
conceivably possible, through records and publications and other
supportative ventures, to foster appreciation of those great cantors
of the past whose voices are still preserved for us. The masters of
the "golden age" of hazzanut must never be forgotten-despite the
prejudices which prevail about the vocal artists of that age. Their
voices must be preserved and their records must be available, espe-
cially those discs on which they record their own compositions.
I do not think that my suggestions are impractical, just as I
cannot venture to call them revolutionary. It is true that the demand
for cantorial music has never been as profound as it could be, as
any record dealer will readily confirm. Yet much of the blame lies
with cantors who have failed to recognize that they are part of a
tradition of hazxanut which must be zealuosly preserved and taught
in all of its manifestations if they themselves are to be appreciated
both religiously and artistically. No cantor is an island unto himself.
The most gifted cantors always considered it a sacred duty to pre-
serve and to revise the works of their predecessors. Thus, for ex-
ample, Moshe Koussevitsky was moved to re-set and to "modernize"
15
Rosenblatt's expressive composition for "Ad HenahAzrunu" (Nish-
mat), as well as Israel Schorr's classic YehiRatzon . . . Sheyiboneh
Bet Hamikdash. To breathe new life into old works is to realize the
continuity of the cantorial art which unifies hazzanim with a com-
mon heritage and not merely with a common interest.
Hazzanut can become a popular and moving force in the J ewish
community. It no longer has to degrade itself by vying with other
forms of "entertainment," as the last vestige of "ghetto diversion."
Even the finest composers and hazzanim were not entirely free
from the cross-cultural trap which is the enshrinement of entertain-
ment as the universal language. It was not difficult for a people
who had once been edified (in the profoundest spiritual sense) by
therendition of their liturgy, to exchange the old manner of edifica-
tion for one over-conscious of "popular" and "folk" sounds. There
will always be a strong temptation to mimic the theatrical, rather
than the levitical tradition of music. Yet the modern search for
authenticity and spontaneity, particularly among young people ; the
widespread use of stereo tape recorders and record players ; and the
vast numbers of young J ews (in Israel, as well) who receive some
extent of musical training in school augur well for the possibility
of a renewed interest in hazzanut. Indeed, the very emphasis on
spontaneity among young people may well result in revival of zoger-
haxxanut in some interesting forms. The guidance of cantors will
alone determine the artistic and religious value of such attempts.
Too much time has been wasted in arguing whether the religious,
folk and operatic sounds of Eastern and Western Europe belong in
the synagogue. Everyone must agree that the source of a particular
sound is merely secondary to its power to draw out the individual
self so that it can stand before the Almighty. Only if a piece of music
absolutely embodies for everyone an idea or ideal alien toj udaism,
only if its use will prove totally offensive or ludicrous, can it be
allowed to rest at the ledge of oblivion. While it is the responsibility
of the hymnologist to write everything, and of the musicologist to
preserve everything, it is the absolute responsibility of the hazzan to
set standards. The question of the chronological and geographical
origin of synagogue music is entirely contingent upon the place and
standard involved. Precious time and energy should not be spent in
arguing over the tastes of the nineteenth century. What must be
recalled, however, is that the last century produced many classics
in synagogue music because creativity was not a program or a luxury,
but a necessity. It was a kiddush ha-shem, a sanctifi cation of God's
Name, to reaffirm in sound that the God of Israel is also the God
of the West, and to join East and West by reuniting the Western
J ew with his God. True, some of these compositions were wholesale
imitations of the dominant culture. But, as I have suggested, J udaism
is not a civilization but a perspective on civilization. It is, as Hesche!
taught, "God's anthropology" interpreted by prophets and sages-
and by hazzanim. It is no sin against God to be moved by a sound that
echoes the disciplined musical geniuses of any age. It is a sin-against
human creativity and against the J ewish spirit — to ape dominant
sounds and to revel flightily in their charm as if J ewish music were
a vacuum to be filled.
I have avoided a plea for nusach because any cantor worthy of
the title has been trained to perceive its centrality to any rendition
or regeneration of synagogue music. Both the hazzan-zoger and the
hazzan-cantor approaches can do justice to nusach. Abraham Heshel
was entirely correct in observing that in J ewish prayer both music
and (liturgical) words bear witness to the mystery beyond which
God may be found. 16 Yet there has never been any fixed rule about
the speed or intonation, the emphasis or technique, of either witness.
So long as each word is clearly enunciated, it makes little difference
whether the jewels of insight which rest in the words of the Siddur
are delicately drawn forth in each musical note or organically cap-
tured in measures or intervals. Today, there is no radical difference
between the approaches. The modern cantor who endeavors to inter-
pret the liturgy with the flavor of the hazzan-zoger perceives, no
less than his colleague of the other persuasion, that coordination and
synchronization of compositions does not necessarily hamper spon-
taneity. Besides, the same nusach and the same compositions (often
the classics of Dunajewski, Lewandowski and others) are employed
by them both. The difference lies in the emphasis and over-all flavor
of the service. There are no grounds here for halakhic or cultural
arguments which merely detract from a positive program to stim-
ulate interest in the best of all cantorial traditions. Such a program
can be achieved through disciplined choice and rendition of composi-
tions. The cantor can begin positive action immediately by urging
announcement from the pulpit, or better still, by listing in the
bulletin the Sabbath compositions before or after they are rendered.
As is well-known, Temple Emanu-EI in New York City has long
done the latter. Lest anyone believe that congregants will be unable
to tell the difference between these compositions, the present writer
confesses that he cannot read a note of music, but resents the arro-
gance of those cantors who would consider him tone deaf for this
reason.
17
Because of our love of synagogue (and other) music, we must
confront the painful truth that song is but a rhythmic grunting of
the throat by muscular reflex, and that musical composition (like
all writing) is but a spaced smear on paper. Everything we produce
is constantly perishing-, even our immortality and recognition in
this world are a matter of chance. But not all is vanity. The spirit
that animates us to preserve what has moved us saves civilization
from oblivion and points the way for further avenues of self-expres-
sion. It is a relatively short time si nee we have I earned how to pre-
serve the voice. It is sad to consider how many pious and creative
cantors in numerous generations, some of whom possessed the most
wondrous vocal instruments of their times, will remain unknown
to us. We do not even know the composer of the words of the H ineni
Prayer for Rosh Hashannah, let alone the original nusach for it.
Why, as recent a masterwork as Mendelssohn's Psalm 100, com-
posed by request of the Hamburg Tempel, is lost to us! I cannot
help stressing for one last time that if a composition or recording
moves any of us, even if it is vaguely interesting, we owe it to our-
selves and to others to preserve it and to give it a hearing. According
to Rabbi J oshua ben Levi, "Whosoever reports a thing in the name
of him who said it brings deliverance into the world." 17 He who
preserves a word brings the world redemption. And he who pre-
serves and teaches a simple nigun or a complex composition saves
culture for such deliverance.
Hazzanut is the last complex of oral traditions in J udaism,
which has yet to be committed into a Talmud-like text of varying,
well-notated and equally authentic classical traditions, for which all
subsequent compositions will be "commentary." We have not even
evolved distinctive "academies" of hazzanut (corresponding, for
example, to the different approaches of Rabbi Akibah and Rabbi
Ishmael); 18 cantorial traditions are still distinguishable only by
historical, cultural and stylistic variations.
All of the traditions in J udaism have stemmed from oral tradi-
tions-the Biblical, 19 the Prophetic, 12 as well as the various Talmudic,
Kabbalistic and Hasidic traditions. The Rabbis delayed the commit-
ment of oral traditions into writing as long as possible.** The Prayer
Book itself was committed into writing only in respective responsa
of Amram and Saadia Gaon, in response to the wide diffusion of
J ewish communities at the beginning of the Middle Ages.** Tradition
has always demanded spontaneity-kavvanah (inwardness) as well
as ke/a (the universally sacred text) -whether we stand before God
in prayer or perceive his daily communication in theTorah. Tradi-
tion has emphasized that holy words live beyond paper and are them-
selves more far-reaching than any human communications medium."
These cantors and musicologists who have complained about the
dearth of adequate notation in the past fail to perceive that upon
them falls the most sacred task of modern J udaism: the committing
into writing of the last and most aural of all J ewish oral traditions.
The only way that this tradition will remain spontaneous and alive
is through the education and participation of every J ewish man and
woman. Before the sages of music can deliberate, hazzanut must be
restored to its rightful place as the only art that can be integrated
with sacred words. Ours is a jealous God Who allows us to approach
Him with scarcely anything but ourselves. He allots us only our
sacred words, so we will not be tongue-tied in His Presence, and our
best music, so that we shall be aware of ourselves as the people and
the individuals whom He seeks.
NOTES
1. See Abraham Heschel 'The Vocation of the Cantor," in The Insecurity of
Freedom (New York: Schocken, 1972).
2. See Ruth Gay, "Baroque J udaism," Midstream, April, 1972, p, 47.
3. On the unusual organ in Springfield's Temple Beth El, see Dr. Swan's article,
"Some Reflections on the Design and Use of the Pipe Organ in the Synagogue,"
TheJ ournnl of Synagogue M usic, April 1970 (vol. 2, no. 4).
4. See Adolph Katchko, "Changing Concepts of Hazzanut" (1949 Convention
Address), reprinted in The Journal of Synagogue Music, Twenty-Fifth An-
niversary issue, April 1972 (vol. 4, nos. 1-2). While, in the present essay, we
accept Hazzan Katchko's terminology, we are in fact utilizing his distinction
slightly out of context, for he emphasizes the difference in musical conception
and we speak of stylistic orientation. As we shall remark later, there are,
today, many similarities in choice of composition and vocal training among
cantors of both tendencies.
5. Ibid., p. 15.
6. See A. Z. I delsohn, Jewish Music in Its Historic Development (N.Y.: Schocken,
1967), pp. 232 ff. On the tension, during the nineteenth century, between East
and West in Jewish ideology, see Arthur Hertzberg's brilliant Introduction to
The Zionist Idea (New York: Schocken, 1966).
7. See Max Wohlberg, "Solomon Sulzer and the Seitenstettengasse Tempel," The
J ournal of Synagogue Music, April 1970.
8. See A. Binder, "A Perspective on Synagogue Music in America," in Studies in
Jewish Music: Collected Writings of A. W. Binder, ed. Irene Hoskes (New
York: Bloch, 1971), pp. 278 ff.
9. See, for example, Rabbi Enoch ben Abraham's remark, cited in J acob Millgram,
Jewish Worship (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America,
1971), p 29.
10. See Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 250.
11. See Millgram, Jewish Worship, pp. 83 ff.
12. In Rabbinic literature, Exodus 23:25 is interpreted as the commandment to
pray.
13. See Max Kadushin, Worship and Ethics (New York: Bloch, 197). pp. 13 ff.
14. See Samuel Rosenbaum's typically astute observations in "Epitaph for Jewish
Music?" (1968). The J ournal ofSynagogue Music, April 1972.
15. See, for example, the records Cershon Ephros (Tikva, prod. Allen Jacobs) ;
Choral Masterworks of the Synagogue (Westminster, conduc. Hugo Weiss-
gall): and New Music for the Synagogue (Tikva, Dubrow-Weiner) are fine
examples of the anthologization that is (urgently! ) required. Of course, records
by individual, outstanding hazzanim ought also to be subsidized by our cantor-
ial and synagogal organizations. However, it is a sin against the traditions of
hazzanut and against simple artistics integrity for any cantor to perform on
such records the public domain works of the great masters without acknowl-
ing the composers.
16. See Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, pp. 246-7.
17. Pirke Avot 6: 6.
18. On the differences between these schools, see A. Heschel, Torah Min Hasha-
mayim B'aspaklariahHa-dorot (London: Schocken), vol. I (1962). vol. II
(1965). For a socio-economic explanation of the more well-known differences
between the schools of Hillel and of Shammai, see Louis Finkelsteln, The
Pharisees: The Sociological Background of their Faith, third edition (Phil-
adelphia: The J ewish Publication Society of America, 1966).
19. SeeUmberto Cassuto, Torat Ha-te'udot (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1941).
20. See Louis Finkelstein, New Light From the Prophets (London: Vallentine-
Mitchell, 1969).
21. See Millgram, pp. 125-126; and Saul Lieberman, 'The Publication of the
Mishnah," in Hellenism in Jewish Palestine (New York: The J ewish Theo-
logical Seminary of America, 1950).
22. See Millgram, pp. 367 ff.
23. See Gershom Scholem's fine essay, "Revelation and Tradition as Religious
Categories in Judaism/In The Messianic Idea in Judaism and Other Essays
on Jewish Spirituality (New York: Schocken, 1972).
20
AMERICA IN EAST EUROPEAN YIDDISH POLK SONG
Eleanor Gordon Mlotek
The following paper is reprinted from "The Field of Yiddish:
Studies in Language, Folklore and Literature," published on the
occasion of the Columbia University Bicentennial, Uriel Eisenberg,
Editor, and is used with permission of the publisher.
The theme of the paper is a highly interesting one and more
than incidentally appropriate to America's bicentennial celebration.
SR
The Yiddish folksong of Eastern Europe has rarely been utilized to present
the attitude of that J ewry to particular social phenomena or single events.
There have appeared collections of recruit and soldiers' songs, workers' songs,
revolutionary, ghetto and concentration camp songs, but seldom have compre-
hensive analyses of these followed. Generalizations of the sort: "the life of the
J ewish people is reflected in their song," or: "to obtain a glimpse of and to
understand the dai ly problems of the J ews one must know the songs they sang,"
have been many. As a matter of fact, it was usually the everyday matters that
occupied thej ews and were recorded in song (eg. children's songs and games,
work, love, dance, even gambling, and so forth) that were subjected to analysis
from time to time. However, such has rarely been the case with songs arising
from specific historic events or situations. This is certainly a lapse since, to
paraphrase theabove generalization, the feelings of individuals, as expressed in
song, are in some respects comparable to letters, memoirs, interviews or even
autobiographies which have been recognized and accepted as source material for
historical or sociological studies.
In undertaking this topic, therefore, I was primarily interested in discovering
if, and to what extent, America had been treated in theYiddish folksong, in
view of its historic significance for the Eastern European J ews as the land of
immigration. And secondly, I hoped to be able to determine, on the basis of the
first, in what light America was regarded. The topic suggested itself, in connection
with the tercentenary of J ewish-lie in America, as a link between the J ews on
either side of the Atlantic. For as the editors of a symposium on J ewish social
research expressed it, ".. neither can American J ewish life be rightly understood
without reference to Central European and Eastern European antecedents and
cross-influences.'"
In order to limit the material to be examined, which was necessitated by space
assigned, I chose to restrict myself to Yiddish East European songs that appeared
1 H . L. Lurie and M ax Weinreieh, ed.: "J ewish Social Research in America: Status and
Prospects, A Symposium," Yivo Annual of Jewish Social science 4 (1949), p. 309.
Eleanor (Charm) Mlotek, folklorist, research associate YIVO, author of research
papers on Yiddish folk songs and ballads published in YIVO Bleter, field of
Yiddish (Columbia University) and others compiler of anthology of folk and
art songs, co-author of Pearl Fun Der Yiddisher Poezie and co-editor of the weekly
page of the Jewish Daily Forward, devoted to Yiddish poetry and song.
21
in Yiddish folksong collections and to unpublished songs of Eastern Europe
that are found in the archives of the Yiddish Scientific Institute-Yivo, and to
exclude all songs about America that were born in this country, unless they had
been widespread in Eastern Europe before the destruction of Jewish life by the
Nazis in World War II and had attained the degree of popularity in indigenous
creations.
A collection of songs about America has hitherto never been published. Nor
has an index of Yiddish songs ever appeared, although an index for my purpose
would not have proved too conclusive either, since songs with mention of America,
as I expected, were scattered among the various categories, and allusions to
America in a song were not necessarily to be found in its first lines. This meant
that the entire inventory of Yiddish songs available in the three aforementioned
categories had to be explored.
If we accept the estimate by S. Z. Pipe in 1939' of the total number of Yiddish
folksongs published up to that time as having been over 2,000, then to date
there should be close to three thousand published songs. In theYivo's unpub-
lished A. Litvin Folksong Collection there are over 300 songs. This means that I
have examined about 3,009 songs. Out of these I succeeded in gathering 38 songs
with mention of America. Nine songs just carry mention of America with no
other import, 3 and 29 songs, in alluding to America, bear connotations that
will be presented for analysis.
One reason for this paucity, I would be inclined to believe, is the relative
recency, in terms of the folksong, of America's appearance in the ken of the
Eastern European J ew. The direct significance that America conveyed to East
European J ewry was inchoate with the J ewish mass migration to the United
States in 1881. By that time the growing influence of Yiddish literature in
East Europe had acted as a deterrent upon anonymous folksong creation. Many
folk-like songs of literary origin replaced the anonymous folksong in the repertoire
of the East European J ew. By means of publications, the press, traveling folk
bards, and the theater, the number of songs was increased and their spread
among the communities was hastened. Those songs of traceable authorship
were however rejected by folksong compilers, whose rigid definition of a folksong
barred the inclusion of any literary compositions. Thus, hundreds of songs
originating from the Yiddishfolk poets, E. Tsunzer (Zunser) or M. M. Varshavski,
from A. Goldfaden and other playwrights, as well as from the labor poets Morris
Rosenfeld, Dovid Edelshtat, Morris Vintshevski and others, which were created
in Europe or were transmitted from the United States and dealt with life in
this country, were considered unacceptable as authentic folklore material,
unless they had undergone thorough transformations. As could be expected,
subsequent study nevertheless disclosed the literary derivation of a number of
seemingly anonymous songs that were included in the folksong collections.
These, particularly the ones describing conditions in America, were altered in
the folksong in such a way that they no longer pertained to or mentioned America
but reflected the conditions in Europe. Among the folksongs proper, or rather
* S. Z. Pipe: [Folklore Songs], Yivo-bleter 14 (1939), p. 350.
1 Three variants of songs describing the sinking of the Titanic; three dance songs;two
Soviet Yiddieh songs; elegy upon the death of Baron de Hirsch.
22
these of unknown literary origin, this situation also occurred; thus, one song will
mention America while variants of it will just refer to a distant land.
Obviously, most of the motives quoted by social historians for J ewish emigra-
tion to America reappear in the songs, namely poverty, striving for a better
livelihood, persecution, the horrors of military conscription in Czarist Russia,
imprisonment, unhappy family life. Furthermore, the persons addressed or
referred to in these songs seem to reflect the general attitude of the singer to
America. Thus, there is implied mistrust and doubt, criticism, hope and
praise of America.
Inasmuch as these songs cannot be arranged chronologically, I have elected to
group them according to attitude and type.
"The Bitter Am erica..."
In the first place, then, we hear of criticism and unhappiness. America is
indirectly considered responsible for husbands' betrayals of wives and the
disintegration of families. These sentiments are to be found mainly in the songs
of either agunes (deserted wives), or of soon to be parted lovers. The agune-songs
are not rare in Yiddish folklore. They appeared formerly as love songs, lullabies,
recruits' and even humorous songs. With the beginnings of J ewish emigration to
America in the 60's and 70's of the past century and the later mass emigration
at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 29th century, the agune became a
more frequent figure, in consequence of the opportunity America presented for
desertion, Incidentally, it is the agune songs to which I. Orshanski in the 60's
referred as the only factual evidence of emigration at that time: "Unfortunately
we have no data on the details of this phenomenon, no statistics on its size.
As far as I know, nothing about it was ever even mentioned in print up to now.
It is therefore interesting to dwell upon those undetermined and not precise
data concerning this which we can gather from the Yiddish fdksong."4
The wife who was left behind with the children ascribed her bitter circum-
stances to America whose fortunes and temptations brought about her husband's
betrayal. Her bitterness was aggravated by the fact that according to J ewish
law, only the husband is permitted to send his wife a divorce. Accordingly, the
request for a divorce recurs in a number of the agune songs.
The translations of the song excerpts that follow are more or less literal
and may therefore sound awkward in places. The Yiddish original texts are
cited in footnotes only for previously unpublished songs.
1. Oh, my dear huaband / M ay you rot in the earth /And remain without years / How
long / Must I beg you / To write me a letter? / 1 cry and wail at night / I lie awake and
think /Perhaps you cannot live without me/ I beg you, my husband /To be so good /and
send me a reply.
Listen here, you scoundrel /Oh, you rascal / M ay you bum like a fire / A curse upon
your years / For going off / And refusing to return to me / The children beg for food / And
you have forgotten / There is no bread to live on / I have already pawned everything / Even
your prayer shawl / And you don't want to send me a reply....
Fat Sore /And black-haired Dobe /Are already fortunate /Their husbands have made
them happy /And have sent them money /They have left for N ew York / W hile I remain
* I. G. Orshanski: [Folk Songs of the Russian J ews] in Hakarmel, Russian supplement,
nos. 31,32 (1867); republished in his J evreji vRoss// (1877), pp. 391-401, eep. 396f Quoted by
Z. Skuditski in Folklor-lider,M oscow, 1936, vol. 2, p. 26.
Shut in /And Sit and wait/I have been ejected from the apartment / Moyshdeis sickl I
pray to the heavens /And you don't want to send me a reply....
Perhaps you have there /Another in my stead / I shan't begrudge you those American
joys [glikn] / Do not suppose / I will weep for you / But a divorce you must send me / May
you perish / In the golden land / God will give me a second /And I will be rid of such an
affliction / From me, your wife Khaye Sore.. ..5
Another variant of this song has additional verses of a more moralizing nature:
4. ,,, It's already six years /That you're so far away /To America you went to seek
your fortune / You left me here / An unhappy wife / And don't want to send me a reply.
I can't understand / What has happened to you / That you should forget your family /
Your three small children /To whom you were so devoted /You never would eat without
them.
I can't understand / That it doesn't bother you / You have learned such tyrannous
ways /You have been away from me /So long /That your character has already changed.
The bitter America takes away strength / And reduces many wretched to tears /[It
takes so long] until you finally raise [khovel ays] husbands and wives / Then they are not
heard from.
Those who leave, promise /That they will look after their family /A yearpasses before /
They even remember/To send the first letters.. ..6
In another song the agune sings to her child of her misfortune: "Your father
went to America where he drinks the best beer," while she was left behind with
two small children. Greater is her pain when she recalls that it was she who
saved him from imprisonment. She contrasts his prosperity-drinking beer and
wine and dancing atballs-with her own poverty and hard life.
3. Your father went to America /And there drinks the best beer / Me he left with two
small children / Like a beggar at a door.
Your father went to America /And there drinks the best wine / I wanted to spare him
from all misfortunes /He should not go to prison.
Your father went to America/ And there dances at balls /Me heleftat Rokhele Shapiro' s/
To wash her dishes for her. 7
In a dialogue between a querulous wife and her indifferent husband who is
leaving for America, we again learn of the contrast in circumstances following
their separation:
4. :Where are you going, Elikl / Elikl, my husband: / To America, my little wife /To
America, my little dove / To America, my crown / You remain at home alone.
*Sh. Bastomski: Bayrn kval..., Vilna, 1923, p. 77, no. 15; variant in Brivdekh fun rusland,
Warsaw, 1913, p. 3.
•Skuditski, vol. 2, p. 120.
T Ibid., p. 113; Y. Dobrushin and A. Yuditski: Yidishe folkslider, Moscow, 1949, p. 225,
n. 40. This song is reminiscent of another agune song, one in which America is not mentioned
though probably meant, since in it the husband has left for a very distant land to make his
fortune (Skudits'ki, p. 124):
Leaning on her elbow /A young woman sits late at night /Tears pour from her eyes /As
she sits alone and thinks.
Children, children, your father no more will you see / (Except) sometimes on paper /
Your father left to make his fortune /Alack and alas for me.
Your father left to make his fortune / In a very distant land / May he at least send
me a divorce / Lest shame befall me.
Your father left me / At strange homes, before a strange door / By the whole world
an agune regarded /Alack and alas for me.
:What then will I eat, eat / Elikl, my husband: / Bread, my little wife....
:Where will I get bread, bread / Elikl, my husband: / You will work, my little wife....
Elikl went away / And his wife remained at home / Oh, she suffers hunger / While he
prospers there /Oh, farewell, my dear little wife /Oh, farewell, my dear little dove /Fare-
well, my precious crown /Die at home alone.'
A variant of this song speaks of the dishes the wife must prepare for the
Sabbath, about which the husband at first seems unconcerned and becomes
increasingly annoyed :
6. Where are you going, Elikl, my husband / Where are you going, Elik, you scoundrel/
To America, my little wife / To America, my little dove / To America, my crown / My
golden beauty.
Where then will I get meat for the Sabbath /Where then will I get meat for the Sabbath /
At the butcher's, my little wife....
Where then will I get candles for the Sabbath / Where then will I get candles for the
Sabbath / I will tie you up / So you won't have to light candles /And no money do I have.
Where then will I get tsimes* for the Sabbath /Where then will I get tsimes for the Sab-
bath / If you keep on about tsimes /You grow tiresome / And no money do I have.
Where then will I get bread for the Sabbath /Where then will I get bread for the Sabbath /
If you keep on about bread /Then go drop dead /And no money do I have. 10
The following song merely mentions America as the place to which the husband
has set out. Actually it is a type of unhappy love song in which the wife recalls
the last conversation she had with her husband before he left for America.
6. You are setting off for America, my dear life / While I remain in Russia / Oh, I tell
you, my dear sweet life / To write me frequently.
Frequent letters will I write you / But you won't be able to read them / I tell you, my
dear sweet life / That you will yet regret your years.
Remember when we went to the wedding canopy /How the moon and stars shone brightly
for us / Even then my heart told me /That we would not be together long.. ..11
The last song of this group is a love song of parting in which a girl grieves
over the ill-fated outcome of her love affair. Weeping over the impending de-
parture of her lover, she tells him that "a girl who would fall in love should
foresee the end." She is distrustful of him and feels that he is running off to
America in order to break off with her.
7. I stand at the river's edge /And cannot come to you /You with your sweet talk / Have
destroyed my life.
My fingers will become pens /And my lips as paper pale/With the tears of my eyes /Will
I write love letters to you.
My heart yearns for you / As magnet draws to steel / Whoever begins to play at love /
Should see that it is for keeps.
My eyes refuse to dry /And my head is numb from pain / Whoever dares play at love /
Should not be made a fool.
8 Tsaytshrift fat yidislter geshikhte, demografye tin ekonomik, literatiir-forslittiig, shprakh-
i u , <tajye (Minsk), vol. 2-3 (1928), p. 814.
9 Fruit or vegetable preserves served on the Sabbath and on holidays.
10 Skuditski, p. 114.
11 Ibid., p. 112; Dobrushin and Yuditski, p. 225.
W hy do you inflict this torment /Oh, torment and pain / I n the finest love affair /The
outcome ehould be foreseen.
You want to go to America with me /For you know I have no money /You want to
put an end to my young years / Through you my world is ruined...."
# Sva*sj»nj * vitrbJ
Odestt ®-?»
"In AMERICA There Is J oy For all"
Of the folksongs collected about America there is a number that presents
America in a favorable and optimistic light." In comparing the second group
with the former we find that sometimes the same circumstances prevail, the same
problems, the same alleged prosperity in America, but the attitude of the singer
is an altogether different one. This group looks to America with hope, as to the
land of plenty, of milk and honey, of freedom.
One of the most popular and widespread of all songs of this kind is the lullaby
Shlof, maynkind ("Sleep, my child"). This isone of the few well-known poems
11 S. M . Ginzburg and P. S. M arek: Jevrejskije natodnyje pesni v Rossii St. Petersburg,
1901, p. 168.
11 Incidentally, this aspect was ignored by the Soviet folklorist Z. Skuditeki, who only
mentioned the first, negative, category (op. cit., p. 26).
written by the great prose writer, Sholom Aleichem, in 1892. 14 That this song
becamea folksong almost immediately is evinced by the fact that six years later,
when the compilers of the first major collection of Yiddish folksongs, Gineburg
and Marek, started to gather their material, this song was sent in by five different
correspondents from five different localities and was published in 1901 as one
among over 300 Yiddish folksongs (see map). This song is still being sung today
with different texts and at least five melodic variants.16
A mother rocks her son to sleep and describes the wonders of that distant land
America, where his father has gone, "By your cradle your mother sits, sings a
song and weeps. You may some day understand what her weeping meant."
Her tears are not bitter, as in the songs of the agunes, they are not tears of
resentment or accusation, but of hope and longing for reunion in America.
America for her means the paradise where khale (white bread baked only for
the Sabbath and holidays) can be eaten every day and where she will prepare
broth for her son.
8. Sleep, my child, sweet comfort mine / Sleep now, lyu-lyu-lyu / Sleep, my life, sole
kadishU mine / Sleep, my I ittle one.
Byyourcradle your mother sits/ Sings a song and weeps/ Some day you may understand /
What her weeping meant.
In America is your father/ lyu-lyu-lyu / You are but still a child / So sleep, my I ittle son.
In America there is for all /Heal joy [glik], they say /And for all a paradise/ Something
wondrous.
There on weekdays they eat / Khale, my little son / Broths will I cook for you / Sleep
now, lyu-lyu-lyu.
God bidding, hewill send us /Letters, my little one /And will make us happy very
soon / So sleep, lyu-lyu-lyu.
Hewill send us twenty dollars /And his picture too /He will take us-long life to him /
Over there.
Hewill hug us then and kiss us /Even dance for joy /Torrents of tears will I then shed/
And weep quietly.
Until the good ticket comes / Sleep, lyu-lyu-lyu / For sleep is a dear remedy / So sleep,
my I ittle son."
The original poem by Sholem Aleichem contains certain significant words
and stanzas that were omitted or changed in the folksong variants. 15 For example,
14 Published in Kol mevasertsu der yidisher folks-biblyotek, Odessa, 1892.
15 According to the author's footnote to the lullaby when itwas first printed, it was to
be sung to the melody of Lermontov's Spi, mladenels moj prekrasnyj, bajuski baju. However,
another melody was inserted between pp. 24 and 25, and Sholem Aleichem writes: "After
the poem, 'Sleep, My Child/ was already printed, we made the acquaintance of the talented
music student, Mr. Dovid Kovanovski (the composer of the 'Notn leshirey teiyen'), who
composed this authentic Jewish melody for us on the spot. " This and other melodic variants
in A. Z. Idelaohn: "The Folk Song of the East European Jews," Thesaurus of Hebrew Ori-
ental Melodies, vol. 9, Leipzig, 1932, nos. 116, 128,492,628; Sarah P. Schack and E. S. Cohen:
Yiddish Folk Songs, New York, 1927, no. 3, p. 18; A. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 96.
" The son who recites the prayer for the dead parent.
"Ginzburg and Marek, p. 73, no. 82; M . Beregovski and I. Fefer: Yidishe folkslider,
Kiev, 1938, p. 318; Dobrushin and Yuditski, p. 53, no. 28; Schack and Cohen, no. 3, p. 18.
18 In the anthologies by Jacob Fikhman, Di yidishe mwe, Warsaw, 1911, p. 90, and M .
instead of "And for all a paradise" the original line reads "And for J ews a
paradise" (yidn instead of yedn). Stanzas that were omitted are the following:
So, in the meantime, let us hope / What else can we do? / I would long have gone to
him / But i know not where.
He will provide everything / For our sake /And will come ahead to meet us / So sleep,
sleep, lyu-lyu.
These hopes were shared by thousands throughout Eastern Europe. In the
cities and towns people waited for letters, for the "twenty dollars," for a "picture"
of the loved one across the seas-above all, their dream was that he "... take
us over there." Perhaps this is the reason that the song attained such popularity
among thej ews of Eastern Europe, who later used the basictheme in a number
of workers', revolutionary, and ghetto songs.
Among the Yiddish ballads there is one which describes an accident in a
linen factory in J assy, Rumania, in which a girl met her death. Here America
serves to contrast the tragedy : Saturday night she was supposed to go to America
for the long-awaited reunion with her father-and on Friday her funeral was
held instead.
9. Listen to what has occurred / In the linen factory in J assy /Oh, when a girl ran
hack from lunch / The foreman sent her up to work.
As soon as the girl threw down the linen / All the machines remained still / And when
they ran over to her / Her head was caught in the machine.
As soon as her mother came to the factory / She stood as though stunned /Oh, she
caught the dead body to her / And hugged it and kissed.
Saturday night she was to go to America / Eight years had she her father not seen /Oh,
Saturday night she was to go to America / And Friday her funeral will be.... 19
We have a song where a man decides to take his fate into his own hands and
asks God to help him execute his decision to go to America, where he is ready to
sell himself as a slave rather than remain in Russia. This song is interesting
since it confirms a report in the 1880's of rumors that the emigrating J ews were
to be sold as slaves in America. Thej ews were supposed to have replied to this
rumor thus: "... but even should we become slaves there ... it is still better to
be a slave in America than to live here under such terrible conditions." 20
10. One thing, God, will I begof you /That it may be granted me /From Russia I must
flee / America will be my goal.
Of no joy do I know / in Russia it is very bad / To America I will set out / And sell
myself as a slave.... 21
Basin, Finf hundert yor yidishe poezye, New York, 1917, p. 240, the following stanzas are
also included in the lullaby: "There they know not of exile, oppression / Persecution,
little son / Nor of worry, grief / So sleep, lyu-lyu. — There, they say, Jews are / Rich,
no evil eye / Each one lives contendedly / All are equal."
19Yidisher folklor, Yiddish Scientific Institute, New York, no. 1 (January 1954), p. 10.
20 M. Friedhinder: Funf Wochen in Brody under judisch-rvssischen Emigranten, Vienna,
1882; quoted in Ceehikhte fun der yidiaher arbeter-bavegung in di fateynikte shtatn vol. 1,
New York, 1943, p. 174.
21 A. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 904. The original text:
In the following group of songs light is shed on internal relations existing
within thej ewish community, more specifically on the age-old traditionally set
conventions of marriage. The yikhes (social status) of the prospective bride or
groom played the dominant role in arranging a match. The highest status in a
groom was considered his own learning or his descent from learned people,
while in the bride's case the larger the naddn (dowry) she could provide, the
better. There were many instances where love affairs, usually carried on clan-
destinely, had to be severed because of parental standards and objections.
By such lovers the happy solution that America presented was also carried
over into their song, where we see America as a means of breaking through
social barriers.
A girl promises her lover, on the eve of his leaving for service in the army,
that she will wait five years for him. If after that time, she frets, his parents
disapprove of her, what then? He reassures her; in that event they will simply
elope to America and marry there,
11. Oh, myjoy, my dearest life /Both are we an equal pair /I swear to you by my very
life /That I will wait five years for you.
Five years will I wait for you /Upon the sixth you will be freed /And if I will not please
your parents / Ah, my pain will then be great.
Do not fret, my dear life/ Lest my parents be not pleased /To America will we run
off /And have our wedding there.
Wewill have our wedding there /In the presence of ten [minyen]/ God in heaven
will be our witness /And 'neath the canopy will bless US....22
Eyn zakh vel ikh, got, ba dir betn / Az di znkli zol mil zxiyn bashert / Fun rusland muz ikh
optretn / Keyn amerike vet zayn mayn pakhod.
Fun keyne glikn vers ikh nit /In rusland iz mir xeyet shlekht / Keyn amerike muz ikh
opjorn / Fatkoyjn vel ikh zikh jar a knekht....
2AKH va
-3 J ■
-3 r?
^'i;i
11 Y. L. Cahan: Y\d\s\\efolkslider nit melodyes oys dem folksmoyl, vol. 1, New York,
1912, p. 102, no. 12.
In avarianttothissong itisthegirl that proposes eloping to America:
12. The beginning of our love affair /Was as sugar sweet /But the end of our love affair /
Proved very bitter....
If you love me truly / I will ask you something / Sneak away from your parents /And
come to see me off.
And when you will come out of the army / You will already not want me / Let's both
go to America / There we will have our wedding...."
A similar motive for going to America is revealed in a song in which a rich
girl confides in her mother about her lover and begs her to let her marry him.
The mother furiously points out the difference in status between them; she
disinherits her, as she says, for "cursing" her parents, and tells her to marry
whomever she wishes. The couple in the song take their things and go off to
America.
13. Mother love, mother dear/My head aches I grow ill / Heal the wounds of my heart /
And give me the one I want.
Daughter love, daughter dear / Poison would I rather give / When you have a father
so rich /A rogue you choose for a husband.
Mother love, mother dear / Do not boast of your wealth / I have seen many richer than
we / But we outlive them all. [!]
Daughter love, daughter dear / I cast you off as my child / If you can so curse your
father and mother / Then marry whomever you wish.
Sweetheart love, sweetheart dear / To my mother I have spoken / The next day we
took our money and things / And for America we left.
As soon as we came to America / We turned rich from poor / With how many boys
I went / No one is equal to mine...."
In a lighter vein is the song In amerike forn furn ("In America wagons ride").
In America, when a boy loves a girl, he kneels before her and will wed her without
a penny, i.e., without her having to provide a dowry. In America she will be
his equal.
14. In America wagons ride /Up hill and down /And when a boy loves a girl / He kneels
before her.
I n America khales are baked / For the whole world / And when a boy loves a girl /He
weds her without a cent.
In America be ygl are baked/For a whole year / l-your groom, and you-my bride /An
equal pair will we be. 25
A n oth er op portu n i ty th at A m eri ca offered w as th e escape f rom th e h orrors
of theTsarist military service. The agonies which Jewish soldiers underwent
in the Tsarist army make up a sad chapter in Jewish history. For orthodox
Jewry military service was especially hard since the Russian army did not
recognize their right to kashrut and those soldiers were forced to subsist for
three or four years on a diet of cold water and dry bread.
"S.Z. Pipe: [Yiddish Folksongs from Galicia (Sanok)], Yivo-bleter 11 (1937), p. 68.
"Derpinkes (Vilna), 1913, p. 402, no. 8.
"Ginzburg and Marek, p. 183, no. 228; Dobrushin and Yuditski, p. 67, no. 18.
The first song is of a recruit who would have fled to America had he had the
money. Judging from the terms used and from the first stanza, it would appear
that the singer had come to Russia from Austria (Galicia) and there had fallen
into the hands of the khapers (snatchers of boys for impression into military
service).
16. As soon as I came to Russia /With a wail and with a cry / I at once resolved / That
I would not become a soldier.
How many tears did my dear mother shed / Until she bore me / Today a [recruiting]
board arrived /And made me a soldier.
They took me to the engagement party / Seated me in the middle / Gave me a sabre
for a bride/ And the emperor became my in-law.
As soon as I came to the squadron / I already thought of escaping / Should I serve three
years / Should I run to America?
To America I would escape / And travel throughout the world / But I have, alas, one
drawback /There isn't a single penny. 26
We have here the very popular image, which recurs in many songs, of the
recruit's "marriage," i.e. induction, with the sabre becoming his bride and the
emperor his father-in-law.
In another song a Jewish recruit enumerates the many hardships to be expected
in the army and after each stanza sings a refrain:
16. Well, I ask you, my Lord, is it just /And how is a person to bear it? /Give me your
answer to this, my Lord / Should I not run off to America?27
The third soldier's song stems from the first World War and is the only one of
many variants with mention of America. The song is found in many collections
and can still be heard quite often. It is a song of a wounded soldier in World
War I. In this variant the soldier has run away and, being wounded, regrets
his not having gone to America before his life was ruined.
17. The [19]14th year arrived / To be a soldier I was taken / Three days I lay in the
barracks /And no food was given.
Three fled from the regiment /The first bullet struck me /Who will follow my funeral? /
Only my faithful horse.
Who will weep and mourn for me? /Who will recite kadish after me? /Amidst the woods,
in the fields / A soldier lies slain.
My mother wrote to the Red Cross /That her son remained in the field / I should better
have gone to America / Before ruining my young life. 28
14 A. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 613. The original text:
Ikh bin nor kcyn rtishuid gekiimen / Mil exit yoiner mi mil eyn gereyn / In zincn hob ikh
mir genu men /Az keyn zelner zol ikh nil zayn.
Vifttrern hoi I , Qeton fargisn t. nil gehat Hay nl iz ongekumen a
mikh gemakhi jai cyn soldat.
< n -Mi in der mitn / Dos zeybele jar a
kale gegebn / Vnder keyser blaybt mayn mekhutn.
Vi ikh bin in akadron arayngekumen / Geklert hob ikh shoyn oyj a[nt]loyfn/ Tsi zol ikh
dray yor dineii / Tsi :j>i ikh keyn amerike antloyfti.
! II ikh antlofn / Barayzt di gantee velt/ Nor leyder ikh hob a khiaorn / S'iz
nito keyn gray tser gelt.
11 M. Osherovitsh: Shtet un shtetlekh in Ukraine, vol. 1, New York, 1948, p. 20.
18 Bastomski, p. 108, no. 3.
"A LETTER TO Mother"
What were the sentiments of the new immigrant in America? According to the
songs that were sung in Eastern Europe-disillusionment, bitterness, and
loneliness. These were also expressed in the songs by the older Yiddish poets
in this country in the early 90' s and the beginning of this century: Vintshevski,
Edelshtat, Yoysef Bovshover, Rosenfeld, and others; they were also reflected
in the Yiddish theater. 29
The following two songs might well be a product of the Yiddish theater. They
describe the transformation and disillusionment of young immigrant girls in
America.
18. There came a cousin to me / Pretty as gold was she, the green one / Her cheeks
were like red oranges / Her little feet just begged for a dance.
She walked not but she skipped / She talked not but she sang / Gay and cheerful was
her manner / This is how my cousin once was.
I came in to my neighbor/Who has a millinery store / I got a job for my cousin / Praised
be the golden land.
Many years have since passed /My cousin became a wreck / Many years of collecting
wages / Till nothing was left of her.
Beneath her pretty blue eyes / Black lines are drawn / Her cheeks, once like red oranges /
Have turned completely green already.
Today, when I meet my cousin /And I ask her: How are you, green one? / She'll reply
with a grimace / To blazes with Columbus's country."
19. I am a little girl, a green one from Poland / Came to America in search of a good
boy / Gnls i ii ill i ii hom Poland / What America is, I will tell you.
I came to New York, a town a delight / And bless the Lord for the land so free / Girls....
Two weeks at my rich uncle's / And they begin to ask me: How do you like America....
They tell me with a smile: You must "ungreen" yourself / And with they they mean:
Go out and earn....
I run around from shop to shop, I run senselessly / But because 1 am green I can't find a
*• Perhaps one of the most popular songs describing the hard life of the immigrant of
that period was Morris Rosenfeld' s Mayn yingele ("My little son"), in which a father sings
of his little son whom he never has a chance to be with, since he must leave for work at
dawn when the boy is still asleep and returns late at night when his son has long been put
to bed. Many such songs were widely current throughout Eastern Europe.
«° A. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 227 A. The original text:
i geven, di grine / Di bekelekh vi royte
Nit gegangen izzi-^nor geshprungen /Nit geredt, nor gerungen / Freylekh, lustik iz geven
it mine lOt aza geven iz mayn kuzine.
Ikh bin arayn Isu mayn nekst-dorke /Vos zi hot a milineri-storke / A dzhab gekrogn hob
ikh far mayn kuzine / At lebn zol di goldene medine.
Avek raynen fun demolt on shoyn yarn / Fan mayn kuzine iz a lei gcvorn / Peydes yorn
I a nip hot zi geklib i is lit geblibn.
Vnter ire bloye sheyne oygn / Shvartse pasn hobn zikh fartsoygn / Di bekelekh, di royte
pomerantsn / Hobn zikh shoyn oysgegrint in gantsn.
Haynt, at ikh bagegn ' ' Un ikh freo zi: "Voszhemakhstu,grinet" / Entjert
xi mif hi (7 a krumet mi no /"Azbrenenzol kolurnhuses medine!"
Copyrteht©1922byJ ■ J ■ Kammen M USic Co.. Copyright renewed. Used by Permission
Found one finally at a relative's, what a joy / Earn almost five dollars a week and work
by the piece....
I meet up with a boy, an East Broadway dandy / He pays me many compliments and
already asks for my hand.. .
Ah, in this land, the rich one of all pleasures / You can't get the holiest, the purest
here....
This pure love, this truthful life/This Uncle Sam will not give at any price...."
The following song is again in the popular form of a letter, in which the
singer writes to his mother of his longing to see her again. He would return
but his wife, fearing the threat of military conscription in Russia, forbids it. 32
This song, entitled A briv fun amerike ("A Letter from America"), is by one
of the most popular Yiddish folk poets, M . M . Varshavski, whose songs were
the favorites of Eastern European Jewry.
20. Dear mama, dear mother /My dear pure heart /Do you know how I weep so bitterly /
And how great my pain is here? /Oh, what would I not give /To look upon you / I would
give my life for you / If I could only return to you.
But these are not the years / That we can do everything / Mama, I cannot come to
you / Writing this isn't easy for me / Leyenyu forbids it, she is afraid / She trembles at
the thought of conscription.. . 33
In another song regret is expressed about having left home, for what fortunes
were then found in America?
21. Why did I run to America /And what fortunes met me there? / Since I remained
alone / So far from my sisters and brothers.
Bin ikh mir a meydele, a grininke fun poyln / Kum ikh keyn amerike, nokh a boy a voyln/
Meydelekh, ay meydelekh, grininke fun poyln / Vos es iz amwike vel ikh aykh dertseyln.
Gekumen bin ikh keyn nyu-york—aahtetl gor a mekhaye /Unbentshdokh take got jar do8
31 A. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 228A. The original text:
meydele, a grininke fun poyln / Kum ikh keyn am
eydelekh, grininke fun poyln /Vos esiz amwike vei
ikh keyn nyu-york—aahtetl gor a mekhaye /Unbentshdokh take got jar do8
land dos jraye....
Opgeven tsvey vokhn bay dem onkl bay dem raykhn /Un men heybt mikh on Utu fregnshoyn:
Vi tusi amerike glaykhn....
Men zogt mit mit a ahmeykhele: darfstzikk geyn oysgrinen/Unin erntst meynt men dos:
gey zikh air jardinen....
Zkh loyj arum funshaplsushap, ikh loyf arum on zinen/ Nor vayl ikh bin a grininke,
ken ikh keyn drhab gefinen....
Gefunen endlekh, bay a korev, gor a glik / Fardin a vokh finf dolar koym, un arbet mir fun
shtik....
i bokherl an ist-brodvey[er] J rant / Et git mir komplimentn fil un bet
Akh in dem land, dem tayern, jun ale fargenign / Dos heyliktte, do8 kerlekhste kent ir
" "Some young people who came here in the {18]40's and 50's and returned to Russia
already as Americans were arrested by the police as fugitives from the Russian military
service." Geahikhtef under yidisher arbeter-bavegung... (see footnote 20), vol. 1, p. 67.
» Idelsohn, no. 746; M. M. Varshavski -.Yidishefolktlider, 2nd ed., New York, 1918, p. 6.
Now my parents beg me to return /And to go back isn't right for me / A fire bums within
me / For my dear devoted mother.
And my heart yearns only for her / I know she will give me back/My bread to live / And
I sing my dear devoted mother's song. 34
The question, "Why did I run to America?" appears in a fragment of a variant
in which the singer seems to be on a boat going back.
22, Why did I run to America / And what fortune met me there? / : I write a letter
and sit on the boat:
When I lie on my bed / I count the hours on the clock / : I moan and weep, for tomorrow
I must....: 35
This sentiment of longing for home and mother found expression in the song
Abnveleder mamen ("A Letter to Mother") written by S. Shmulevitz in America.
Although the song is of the mother in the old country who begs her child in
America not to forget to write her a letter, it became the beloved song of both
sons and daughters in America as well as of lonesome parents left behind.
19. My child, my comfort, you are going away / See that you be a good eon / This, with
tears and worry / Your devoted mother begs of you.
You are going, my child, my only child / Across distant seas/Oh arrive there in good
health /And don't forget your mother....
Yes, depart and get there in safety / See that you send a letter each week / To refresh
your mother's heart, my child.
A letter to mother/Do not delay/ Writesoon, dear child/ And give her some consolation /
Your mother will read your letter / And w-ill rejoice / You will heal her wounds /Her
bitter heart / You will refresh her spirit. 36
In the last stanza we learn:
In New York City, a rich house / Of hearts without pity / There livee her eon / He lives
quite well / With divine gifts....
He receives a letter informing him of his mother's death and of her last wish
that he recite the kadish after her.
"Long Live America With Its Dollars"
TheJ ews in Eastern Europe suffered acutepoverty during the depression
following World War I and were largely dependent upon the aid which American
Jewry provided, through individuals as well as through specially set-up relief
organizations. The American dollar was considered the only stable currency and
trading of dollars for other currency was conducted extensively. There arose a
number of humorous songs about the American dollar in Poland, where poverty
was especially great.
For the sake of dollars, one song reveals, the singer is ready to marry a shrew, a
cripple, as long as she has dollars, or even an aunt in America.
** Skuditski, p. 112.
*» Pipe, [Folklore Songs] (see footnote 2), p. 354.
« Idelsohn, no. 428; Nathan AusubekA Treasury of Jewish Folklore, New York, 1948,
p. 677.
24. Dollars, give them hereto me /Dollars, that is my desire/ Let my bride be a shrew/
As long as [she has] a full sack of dollars / Dollars, give them here to me....
Let my bride be deformed /As long as [she baa] an aunt in America / Dollars....
Let her be without a nose/ As long as [she has] a full measure of dollars....
Let her be swollen like a barrel /As long as [she has] a whole street of dollars.. ..27
There is irony coupled with bitterness in the songs describing the relief which
various American Jewish delegations brought. It often seemed to the j ews in
Poland that the visiting delegates didn't possess the necessary understanding
for their fundamental needs. They also felt that these delegates often used their
positions on the relief committees to their own advantage.
26. Long live America / With her dollars / The delegates arrive / And proceed to fool
us / They take the dollars and change them for marks / And achieve thereby the beet
speculations.
Long live America / When she became aware /That we, in Vashlikov, go naked and
in rags / She sent us fancy shoes / With long pointed tipe / The girls want to go walking
with the boys / And have to stay at home. 33
This ridicule of the aid which American Jewry sent is again expressed in a
variant:
26. Long live America /Long may she thrive /When she learned /That we are in tatters /
She clothed us / In satin and plush / And made us up / Like fools in top hats."
Another song praises the American Jews for sending dollars but not for their
delegates:
27. Our American brothers send us dollars / Blessed be their deeds/ There is only one
thing bothering us, brothers /Why muet you send us the delegates? 40
Criticism of the local committees which were created for the purpose of
distributing relief was articulated in the following song. The money and clothes
that were sent from America, so it seemed to the people, were taken away by
the committee men instead of being distributed to the poor.
28. Long live America / For sending us clothes /So that the committee men can have /
Rolls to bake [i.e. so they can trade the clothes for bread].
Long live America /For sending us dollars /So that the committee men can have /What
to take.
Long live America / For sending us flour / May the committee men / Turn green and
yellow.
Long live America / For sending us bread / May the committee men /All drop dead. 41
39 Ibid.
40 Sent in by Mr. B. Levin, Los Angeles, 1954. The original text: Undz'r eamerikaner
brider shikn undz dohirn / (u hi ill tatn / Nor eyn zat brider, vos undz
tut am / Isu delegatn?
41 Received from Mr. L. Ran, New York, 1953, who recorded the song in Vashlikov
before World War II. The original text:
Lebn zol amerike / Vos zi s/. / undz vakn / i i kom tkis / Bulkelekh isu bakn.
Lebn zol amerike / Vos zi shikt undz dolarn/Az di komitetnikea / Zoln hobn vos tsu sham.
Lebn zol amerike / Vos zi shikt undzmel/ . ,n / Vera grin un gel.
Lebn zol amerike / V oe z > ' , hriqn dem toyt.
The final song which treats of this same situation is a parody on the lullaby by
Sholom Aleichem (see no. 8). The images which were used formerly to present
hope and optimism are here transformed into pessimism and bitterness. The
dollars which the father will send from America will now be used to buy worthless
Polish marks. The broth that the mother promised to prepare for her son is
now eaten by the American delegates in Warsaw. In this song, criticism of the
new Poland of 1918 (which was resurrected following the Versailles Peace
Treaty) is revealed, particularly for its worthless currency and its disorder, in
which packages get lost. Furthermore, the inability to comprehend the bureau-
cratic ways of American delegates made the Polish Jews skeptical and critical
of the good intentions of the former.
29. Sleep, my child, my comfort, life /Sleep already, lyu-lyu-lyu /Food "shmood",
bah, t'is ugly / Shut your little eyes.
From America your father /Dear little child /Has sent us a package /So sleep, lyu-lyu-
lyu.
And a few dollars too/Dear little child /Your father, long life to him /Sent us over here.
For a dollar you can get / Whole eacka of marks /And we both, child mine, will grow /
Rich without end.
But the package has been lost /Alack and woe is me /And the dollars have been frozen /
So sleep, sleep, my child.
And the dollars lie around / Somewhere in the banks /And we both, my child, get /
None of it meanwhile.
Someone from America is here /A man called Morgenthau 43/ He nourishes us upon his
speeches /Alack and woe is me.
And after him a Doctor Bogen"/ Who speaks endlessly / The delegates come and go / So
sleep, meanwhile, sleep.
They come to ease our troubles / Our worry and our pain /But they sit around like lords /
in theAngielski Bar. 44
There they eat on weekdays /broths with chicken, too/While we, my child, both
are ill /So sleep, eleep, my son.
Neither dollars, nor a package / Do we have, my child / Oh we're caught in a trap /So
sleep, sleep, my child.46
42 Henry Morgenthau, Sr. (1856-1946), head of Woodrow Wilson's commission to in-
vestigate the treatment of J ews in the newly created Polish republic.
43 Boris David Bogen (1869-1929), di rector -general of the Joint Distribution Committee
during World War I.
14 A Warsaw restaurant.
4JA. Litvin Collection of Yivo, no. 826. The original text:
■j.me ~J.t iota / tyu /Undz geshikt a peklhoi er/ S/
Un derUu nokk a por doler / Tayer ki ndenyu / Shikt dayn tate.lebn zol er / Undz ahertiuUu.
Far a doler kon men krign /AfarknganUezek /Un mir beyde.kind maynt, vern/ Raykh
QOraman ek.
Nor dot pekl iz jarloym / Vey izmirun vind/Undi doler* oysgefroyrn / Shloj she, thlif
mayn kind.
Un didoler blaybn lign /Ergetsin dibenk/Un mir beyde, kind mayns, krign / Oy dervayl a
Epetizdofun amerike / Eyner Morgntoy / Shpayzt et undz mit zaynedroahet/ Vey ix mir
un oy.
Unnokhima dokter Bogn /Redt et on a aof / Kumen, fommeihulokhim/ Shloj zhedtrvayle,
tklof.
With the introduction of immigration restrictions in the United States which
culminated in the Quota Law of 1924, Jewish mass immigration to this country
was virtually ended. As the gates of the golden land were closed to the East
European Jews, so were their hopes and aspirations for America extinguished.
The songs that arose after that period may have been a reflection of this realiza-
tion that America had become an unattainable dream, for no new songs about
the golden land were composed or imported; or was it that the daily, more
pressing, problems took precedence in the songs that were sung? In any event,
the Yiddish folksong of Eastern Europe no longer spoke of America-of its
golden fortunes for the poverty-stricken, of the refuge for the oppressed, of the
solution for unhappy lovers, of homesick letters, of weeping, of dreams, of joys. . . .
irbeyde,kind mayns, zokhn / Shlof
Nit keyn dolera, nisht keyn pekl / Hobn mir mayn kind j Oy, lign mir tif'in zekl/ Shlof
zhe, shlof mayn kind.
SHLOf Mitt X»D. I
^M
shlof me vn - im -•
ARTICULATING MUSIC WITH FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY
Daniel Chazanoff
The following paper was prepared for the Annual Meeting of
the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers and
delivered on October 14, 1975 to that body. We think that the ideas
expressed can be relevant and meaningful to those hazzanim and
music teachers whose duty it is to teach Jewish music, Some of us
have long felt that in most congregational schools music is used
merely as a respite from more "serious" study, as a sort of musical
coffee break for the tired student. Perhaps this is why success in
this field is so limited. Since music in Jewish life is not an adornment
to it, but rather a part of its very fabric, so, too, music should be
conceived of not as a respite from the curriculum, but rather as an
integral part of its core.
In our situation we are trying to do more than to teach a tune.
The words, ideas, history and cultural background of each song or
prayer melody taught should be intimately correlated with the He-
brew vocabulary, on a graded level, which is so important a part of
the religious school's curriculum.
We think that Dr. Chazanoff s paper might point the way.
SR
Dr. Daniel Chazanoff isthe Director of Musicfor the City School District of
Rochester, NewYork. Hehas more than two decades of experience as teacher,
conductor, performer and administrator. He is a first-rate cellist, having served
at the first desks of The Birmingham Symphony, The Berkshire Music Festival
among others.
The Three E's of Cultural Learning: Exposure Expression,
Experience.
You can go just so far in talking about culture. Sooner or later
foreign language teachers and students must come to grips with it
through participation and experience. A simple formula to be fol-
lowed by the foreign language teacher, regardless of talent or musical
level, would include three ingredients or the three E's of cultural
learning as follows:
1. EXPOSURE to a rich cultural environment
2. EXPRESSION through participation or doing and
3. EXPERIENCE which results from EXPOSURE and
EXPRESSION
The poet H ei nri ch H ei ne once sai d, "Where words fai I , there
music begins". It follows that music can take the foreign language
student into a cultural realm not possible with the spoken or written
word alone. Culture is not only ideas and knowledge; it is also
feelings and communication.
We need to bridge the gap which separates language tech-
nicians from educated linguists ; it is the excitement of a cultural
experience which gives the student the feeling of a land from which
a particular language comes. Culture should bethought of as facets
of human experience which spring from the soil of a land or people.
As such, it appears in many forms i.e., language, music, dance,
literature, poetry, food, costume, architecture and mores. The unique
quality of music lies in its ability to underline the sonority, rhythm
and inflections inherent to each language. Could any of us imagine
singing "All mankind are brothers" to Beethoven's setting of Schil-
ler's "Ode to J oy" instead of "Alle menchen seinen bruder". The
words means exactly the same thing ; yet, the feeling would not be
the same.
The Anatomy of a M usical Score: Foreign Language as a
Component Part
In dealing with music and foreign language, one should be aware
of two coexistent media ; sound and the spoken or written word. The
anatomy of any musical score is made up of both. Foreign language
terms, as part of any instrumental music score, guide the speed,
mood, dynamics and nuance of a performance. I n the case of vocal
music, it does the same but, in addition, provides inspiration through
the written word, for the musical settings of the composer and the
spoken word of the singer. Why not utilize the written and spoken
word of vocal music settings to make language study more func-
tional? What better way to begin than through the use of folk songs
which reflect the gamut of life in any culture. Some suggested steps
to follow are:
1. find song material in the language being studied
2. teach the words of songs to students
3. enlist the help of a pianist, guitarist or accordionist to
accompany the class (this includes teaching the melodic
line to which the words are applied). This might be a
music teacher, student or community resource person.
4. make tapes of learned songs so that a cassette library
of resource material may be developed.
Conversely, foreign language learnings can enhance the under-
standing and enjoyment of music. Ask any theater manager what
kind of production draws the largest audience for the longest period
of time and you'll probably hear 'The Broadway Show". Need I go
any further than "Oklahoma" which ran for eight years on Broad-
way. The fusion of staging, story and memorable tunes brought this
about. Our students know the tunes and understand the words of
the American musical theater because both are part of our living
culture. Yet, how many of our foreign language students know
the tunes or understand the words of even the most popular operas
written in Italian, French, or German? This requires a broadening
of horizons.
Broadening H orizons: From Ideas and Knowledge to Awareness and
Understanding
In broadening horizons we must be aware that students relate to
the living culture about them. At the same time, we cannot lose sight
of the fact that they recognize and appreciate fine cultural presen-
tations-and these need not be of a contemporary nature only. Stu-
dents have an intellectual curiosity which requires nurturing-and
we need to provide stimulating experiences which promote growth.
We cannot assume that anything is "highbrow" or "lowbrow";
students should have the opportunity to decide for themselves. An
experience of September 30 will bear this out. On that date, the
Rochester Philharmonic played a program entitled "Shall We Dance"
at an innercity junior high school in Rochester. The conductor, Isaiah
J ackson, made comments about each work in the program, in-
volved students by asking questions and the orchestra played dance
music of various periods. At no time was the audience unruly or
embarrassed. On the contrary, they were most enthusiastic and
appreciative. In the context of "Articulating Music and Foreign
Language Study" the living culture may move in or out of the school.
The language teacher can begin by inviting talented students from
his or her classes, students from other classes, faculty or community
resource peopleto perform or talk about the musicof the particular
culture. Radio, television, videotapes, and films can also be used.
The field trip is still another way of enriching the language class
experience. Why not take your class to an opera, a dance company
performance or a solo recital appropriate to the language studied?
Finally, if students are to become educated linguists, they need
to develop a listening repertoire of the particular culture's music.
This should include a knowledge of folk songs and dances, com-
posers, compositions and outstanding performers of the linguistic
group. For the language teacher, a few minutes spent during a lesson
in the playing of an appropriate recording can go a long way to
inspire the class and, at the same time, add some variety to the in-
structional format.
A Listening Repertoi re -.Spanish Music
On the subject of a listening repertoire, I should like to speak briefly
about Spanish music as a former student of high school Spanish.
The Spanish culture has fired the imagination of Spanish and non-
Spanish musicians alike. Pablo deSarasate, the great Spanish vio-
linist and composer, did much to popularize his country's idiom.
Referring to Sarasate, the American violinist Aaron Rosand says,
"When I think back to those student days, and the many recitals I
attended rarely did one go by without something by Sarasate being
included on the program. This is what we waited for, and, invariably
it brought down the house. And Sarasate's music will continue to do
so-as long as there are people to listen to the glories of the music
of Spain, the beauty of guitars, of castanets, of dark-eyed mantilla-ed
senoritas, of the fiesta brava, and of perfumed nights." While this
statement is a fellow musician's reaction to Sarasate's music, it also
aptly describes flamenco, the integrated musical form unique to
Spain. For the student of Spanish, flamenco is not only exciting
but also has a long history. The guitar, for example, was not born
in Spain, it was brought there by the Moors when they invaded that
country in 711 A.D. However, the Spanish created an impressive
literature for that instrument. So much so, that the guitar and
Spanish music are almost synonymous. Teenagers will be interested
in the name J uan Arriaga, a contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven,
who is known as the "Spanish Mozart". He composed an opera at
the age of 13, was an Assistant Professor at the Paris Conservatory
by the age of 18 and, unfortunately, died before the age of 20, having
completed a number of symphonic works, three string quartets,
several religious works and a number of cantatas for voice and
orchestra. The third movement of his Sinfonia A Gran Orquesta
contains a jota of Aragon ; while Arriaga's music was Mozartian in
style, it was written with a Spanish signature. Non-Spanish com-
posers who captured the feeling of Spain include such greats as the
Russian, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff and the Frenchman, Eduard
Lalo. Rimsky-Korsakoff brilliantly orchestrated Capriccio Espanol
ends with a Fandango Asturiana while Lalo's Symphonie Espanol
for violin and orchestra reflects the style of Sarasate's violin music.
A Listening Repertoire: Italian Music
Every culture has its own musical traditions. Students of Italian
should be aware of two great movements which began in Italy. The
first is violin and orchestral literature which were sparked by the
invention of the violin in Italy, more than 400 years ago. Second is
the opera which began at the palace of Count Bardi, in Florence,
around 1600 when a group of musicians and poets known as the
"Camerata" tried to capture the spirit of the ancient Greek drama.
I n doing so, they fashioned a form which was to establish a new
tradition. To the Italian, the opera is his "Broadway Show" complete
with story, staging, action and music. A unique opportunity awaits
the student of Italian in enjoying a great body of literature through
his understanding of language. Given the language skill, he or she
can grasp the joy of the "Drinking Song" from "La Traviata" the
humor of the "Largo al Factotum" from the "Barber of Seville"
and the tragedy of "Vesta la Giuba" from "Pagliacci". For the jazz
"buff" there is a similarity between the Sextet from "Lucia" by
Donizetti and Dixieland in the individual melodies carried by each
of the six voices.
A Listening Repertoire: German Music
A great treasure of music literature awaits the student of German.
To begin, the "lieder" provide poetic stories combined with the
melodies of master composers. One of the great melodists of all
time, Franz Schubert, wrote a song a day for an entire year during
his short lifetime of 31 years. While the 3 B's are considered
"heavies" of music, they might perhaps be looked upon in a more
kindly light by our students. After all, our young "Rock" musicians
who explore different sounds by experimenting with instrumenta-
tion are no different from Bach who used a different group of instru-
ments in the solo parts of each one of his Brandenburg Concerti.
Beethoven, also a rebel, used chords, which his critics called "dis-
sonant". And Mozart, a close relative of the 3 B's in the "heavy"
department used an A flat against an A natural in the "Dissonant"
Quartet. Was he saying something to Stan Kenton?
A Listening Repertoire: French Music
The French have one advantage over the previous three cultures
mentioned i.e., the world's most popular opera, "Carmen" with its
colorful bull fighter, soldiers, gypsies and, of course, zestful mel-
odies. In the "Pop" concert field, millions have enjoyed 'The Carnival
of the Animals" and "Danse Macabre" by Saint Saens as well as
'The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Dukas. Hector Berlioz, the father of
modern instrumentation used a harp in a symphony orchestra 100
years before Lucky Strike cigarettes sponsored a harp player on
the Saturday Night "Hit Parade". Finally, France was a leader
during the period of Impressionism-and the sounds of its masters,
Debussy and Ravel are still being used by present day arrangers.
Summary
In articulating music with foreign language study I would submit
that a variety of approaches can be applied in or out of school,
through participation and listening activities and with the aid of
various media. The success of the teacher will depend upon reaching
out, hazarding risks, involving pupils and sharing outcomes.
THE SUBJECT OF JEWISH MUSIC
Max Wohlberg
Some days ago I was asked to review for "J ewish Bookland",
Macy Nul man's Concise Encyclopedia of Jewish Music, (McGraw-
Hill, N.Y.) . Of necessity the review had to be a brief one. As a result
a number of aspects of the volume of interest to musicians could not
be dealt with adequately or even touched upon. What I failed to do
there I propose to accomplish on the hospitable pages of this journal.
However, before discussing the book at hand it may be worth-
while to submit a-1 hope useful -prolegomena to the subject.
J ewish M usic, on the most obvious and fundamental level, con-
sists of two elements: 1) Liturgical and 2) Secular. Between these
two-and related to both-lies a group of Zemirot, Wedding and
Hassidic songs (with and without words).
The liturgical part includes : a) Cantillations-with numerous
variations-for the Sabbath (and weekdays), High Holidays, the
Megillot; b) Nusah for the annual liturgical cycle, consisting of
bl) MiSinai tunes and b2) specific musical modes; c) Cantorial
recitatives ; d) Congregational tunes ; e) Choral settings and f) Com-
positions for instruments.
The secular part includes: a) Folk songs (with numerous
thematic subdivisions) in various languages; b) Art songs (in
Hebrew, Yiddish, English, French, German). Some of these, as well
as those in group (a) often utilize musical themes associated with the
liturgy ; c) Instrumental music (piano, organ, violin, cello, flute,
recorder, string quartet, orchestra). Some of these, at times, may
also make use of so-called "traditional" motifs and d) Oratorios,
Cantatas and Operas.
Since music played a vital role in our history and since ours
was a literary ancestry it was to be expected that through the
centuries our literature would reflect our relation to music and de-
scribe its role in the life of our people.
We therefore encounter many clear (and some dubious) ref-
erences to music in the books of the Bible, in the (Babylonian and
J erusalem) Talmud, in Gaonic and medieval responsa as well as in
the literature of the modern and contemporary period. Not un-
expectedly (since our people did not live in isolation) ancient and
recent non-J ewish sources also shed some light on the role and
nature of our music.
Dr. Max Wohlberg is Professor of Nusah at the Cantors Institute of the J ewish
Theological Seminary, and a frequent contributor of articles on J ewish music.
While a study of the aforementioned aspects of the subject re-
quire primarily a historical-literary approach, a definition or de-
scription, of the nature and quality of J ewish music demands a
musi col ogical -analytical effort. This latter area of research has
understandably been confined to only a few well-equipped scholars.
Far less stringent demands are made on those writing on (not
evaluating) the creators and performers (composers, cantors, con-
ductors, singers) of J ewish music.
However, of one attempting a critical evaluation we are justi-
fied in expecting competent musicianship, aesthetic sensitivity, un-
biased objectivity and, of course, thorough familiarity with the
subject.
It seems to me that in an encyclopedia of J ewish music we may
rightfully expect to attain a true, clear, over-all view of the sig-
nificant aspects of the subject, a description of its elements, a pin-
pointing of its essential characteristics and an evaluation of its
high points.
Since the volume we are examining makes claim to be concise
we cannot expect it to be exhaustive in any given area but we should
expect it to be judicious in its selection of entries and, of course,
authentic entries in its information. We also expect some logic and
order in its use of references and bibliographies.
It is with these presumptions that I studied Nulman's work
and regretfully, found it, uneven, disconcerting, and finally, dis-
appointing.
In its favor are: handsome appearance, legible type, numerous
(some, not easily available) musical examples (some, alas, without
attribution), many pictorial illustrations and photographs (some,
as the one on page 45 should have been dated), adequate coverage
on Shofar, Te'amim, Israeli composers and a five-page, "Highlights
in the History of J ewish Music" (with some debatable points)
placed at the end of the volume.
It's flaws are those of: commission, omission, bibliographies
and evaluation. In reference to inclusions: si nee this book is neither
a text book for cantorial students nor an introduction to the liturgy,
why was it deemed necessary to include such entries as: Shahrit,
AzYashir, Kabalat Shabat, Minha, Mahzor, Psalter, Mi Khamokha,
Kinot, Megillot, Mathil, Piyut, Pizmon, Ba-al Tefilah, Ba-al Shahrit,
Ba-al Musaf, Ba-al Tokeia, Yom Kippur Katan, Hosha-Na, Hagga-
dah, Halleluyah, Akdamut, etc. ?
If any of these have relevance to, say, Nusah, Hazzanut, Cantil-
lations or whatever subject is treated in the work they could have
been dealt with in those places. But, in truth, most of those (and
others) have, at best only a nebulous relevance to the avowed (con-
cise) purpose of the book.
Reading the entry Ba-al Tefilah (pg. 20), for example, one
finds that three fourths of the comments deal with Baer's Ba-al
Tefilah. As Baer's biography appears on page 24 would it not make
more sense to discuss his work there? Is Wagner's anti-Semitic
diatribe Das Judenthum In Der Musik worthy of a cross-reference
(pg. 126) on the selfsame page?
How can onejustify entries such as Kolan, Matzil, Kammerton
and Stimmgabel all referring to the tuning fork when the inclusion
of the latter is in itself unjustified ?
The entry Schulklopfer (pg. 126) is informative but why repeat
the identical tune of a poem seven times?
One is at a loss to understand the reason for the presence of
such entries as: drong (why not alokalyike?), Mann Auditorium,
brummen, brettel, dirigent, probe, repetitze, concert. And why
special headings for reader, oberkantor, char-hazzan, stadt-hazzan
and voiceless-hazzan ?
Inexplicably-and with expectedly odd results-the author
chose to assign individual headings to titles of some compositions
by composers whose biographies may or may not appear in the
book. In some cases as, for example, in those of Castelnuovo-Tedesco
and Bloch this results in mere duplication. In others, as in the case
of Leonard Bernstein, it defies a rational explanation. Bernstein is
excluded from the volume but, amazingly, there is an entry: Hash-
kivenu under which heading there is only one setting mentioned.
You guessed it-that of Bernstein.
The reasons for Nulman's selecting one or two musical settings
from a multitude of settings are difficult to comprehend. Thus,
under Psalm 118 we are told to see M in Hammetzar. There, two
settings are noted : Halevy, and Tal. Why omit the four more popular
settings of Dunajewski ?
Psalm 92 (Tou Lehodot) refers only to the setting of Schubert
which-in my opinion-neither adds appreciably to the stature of
Schubert nor to the riches of synagogue music. Why not mention-
if it has to be done at all-the Tov Lehodot of Nowakovsky? The
ultimate folly, however, is reached at the end of the article on Sulzer.
Dispensing with a bibliography the author merely suggests: See
Psalm 92.
In regard to compositions by non-J ewish composers it would
seem to be more logical to include them under one heading instead
of scattering them-by name of composition-throughout the book.
One is truly surprised in seeing the entry: Judas Maccabeeus
(Handel). Why not also Esther, Athalia, Samson, Joshua, Joseph,
Solomon, Deborah, Jephta, Belshazzar and Israel in Egypt?
Puzzling, indeed, are other inclusions. What purpose does it
serve to refer to only one modern setting (Milhaud) of the Shema?
Did only Bloch write a First or Second Symphony? Why separate
entries for these?
Encountering the entry Rachem (a song by Mana-Zucca) is
totally unexpected. Rosenblatt-we are informed-made it popular.
Using that criteria on may well ask why not DosPinteleYid, Dos
Talesil, Oif'n Pripetchok, Mein Shtetele Belz or, indeed, why not
Bei Mir Bistu Shein? And how about, If I Were a Rich Man?
If we now turn our attention to omissions (keeping in mind the
inclusion of practically every Israeli musician, excepting Zaira) we
are confronted by the puzzling absence of so many prominent Amer-
ican J ewish musicians.
Why are there no entries far Gideon, Copeland, Weisgall, J anow-
sky, Gottleib, Diamond and Amram? Why ignore the works of Piket,
Davidson, Eisenstein and others? Aren't the works of these com-
parable, if not superior, to the works of so many included? One is
baffled.
Si nee the author is director of theCantorial Training Institute
of Yeshiva University, one would expect a more rational or fairer,
presentation of cantors in the book. However, one meets with dis-
appointment in this area as well.
Surely Kwartin was a cantor of world-renown but he is ignored
as are his famous colleagues : Karniol, Rutman, Roitman, Shteinberg,
Katchko, and Ganchoff. Few names are better known in the cantorial
world than that of the Kusevitskys but you will look in vain for them.
The author cites a number of times a volume ; Synagogue Music
by Contemporary Composers but fails to mention Cantor Putterman
who is responsible for the commissioning of the composers as well
as for the publication of the volume. And, are there many cantorial
concerts taking place without at least one composition by Alter?
But Alter's name is conspicuously absent.
How can one justify the omission of the brilliant, unique, in-
novative, exciting Leib Glantz? One is simply aghast at such an
oversight-if that's what it is. One almost senses a gigantic, fab-
ricated Orwellian deception, an enormous cruel hoax whereby men
of talent and achievement are rendered un-persons and are cast into
oblivion. It is truly an intolerable miscarriage of justice! If a choice
had to be made did not these men outweigh such as, say, Shkuder
and Yakovkin?
The author alludes a number of times to his edition of a service
by Wassilkowsky but fails to allot space for Wassilkowsky who was
a fine scholar, a good musician and a popular composer. Similarly
slighted are Semiatin and Zemachsohn.
It is not a pleasant task to find fault in a work which obviously
consumed a great deal of time in preparation. However, an exam-
ination of the bibliographies provided here are as exasperating as
they are ludicrous.
To cite a few examples : As there are some twenty-odd canti Hat-
ing signs one would expect a note after each one referring the reader
to one place (Te-amim, cantillation, accents, Troppes or Ne-imot)
where a comprehensive bibliography would be found. Instead, one
finds a different bibliography after virtually each sign. Those for
Zakef Gadol are not those for Zakef Katon. Some, as Ethnahta, re-
ceive none at all. What perverted logic lies hidden here?
Incidentally, after reading the comments on Ta'am Ha-elyon I
wonder if the author heard of M iles Cohen's The System of Accen-
tuation in the Hebrew Bible and his The Dual Accentuation of the
Ten Commandments.
Isaac Rivkind's, Klei-Zmorim is the only authentic work on the
subject. One would never learn of this reading the article, Klezmer.
One wishing to acquire more than superficial knowledge of
Israeli music will not get it by reading that article. If however, he
will stumble on the biography of Smoira-Cohn he will learn of her
work -.Folk Song In Israel- An Analysis Attempted.
One, would surely expect to see Landshut's Amudei Ha-avodah
after the article on Piyut ; or the works of Prilutzky, Lehman, Cahan,
and perhaps: Kipnis, Kotilansky and Belarsky at the end of Folk
Songs. By the way, Golub, Posner, Roskin and Lefkowich are also
among the missing.
Yeshiva University has published a number of issues of Talpi-
yoth, a quarterly containing scholarly articles on diverse subjects.
Among these are a series on ancient musical instruments by Mena-
hem Brayer. Does Nulman know of these articles published by the
institution with which he is associated? Apparently not, for they are
not included in the bi biography on instruments.
While my comments above attempt to pinpoint a lack of or-
ganization, an absence of logic and faulty judgement, my main
quarrel with the book lies in its lack of authenticity. This is ex-
pressed in misleading statements, wrong emphasis and (I experience
difficulty in finding the right adjective) amateurish viewpoint.
I could overlook such useless and inept statements as: "I nstru-
ments, Musical. The plural term instruments is used to denote con-
trivances used specifically in Biblical and post-Biblical days to
produce musical sounds," and that, 'the most common meters (in
Folksongs) are: 2/4,3/4,4/4, and 6/8", or such non-sequitor as:
"Levy is not universally regarded as the innovator of four-part
singing in the Synagogue because according to A. Z. Idelsohn, his
work was not traditional but was entirely new"; or such "indis-
pensable" intelligence on Phonograph Record : "Disc, usually mea-
suring 7, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, in whose grooves sound tracks
have been engraved."
Far more serious is, for example, the absence of an entry for
Art Song. Such composers as Weinberg, Rosowsky, Gnessin, Milner,
Achron, Engel, the Krein brothers, Grad, Kopit, Schalit, Saminsky,
Zhitomirsky, Skliar and others have created a magnificent repertory
of Art Songs. The reader of this volume will be hard put to discover
this hidden treasure.
The words "Art Song" do not appear in the article on Lazar
Weiner, the most eloquent contemporary exponent of this musical
genre. Yes, it is said that "he is known for his musical settings for
original Yiddish texts or translations into Yiddish". And he wrote
"songs"! Incidentally only one of his many liturgical works is
mentioned.
This imbalance is noted in other places as well. Thus, the com-
ments on Binder (as on Bugatch) fail to name even one of his lit-
urgical works. On the other hand the notes on Milner name (in
addition to, In Cheder) only his Unsane Tokef, his only liturgical
work, while his preponderant secular compositions remain in
obscurity.
The statement of the author (pp. 22, 165) notwithstanding, the
Marsthallik did not disappear in the seventeenth century. I have
heard one perform and his name was I believe, Zoldy (Hungarian
for Green) and he hailed from Marmaros-Sziget, the hometown of
Elie Wiesel who may remember him.
A number of assertions in the book are subject to serious doubt
or are, at least, in need of careful qualification. Of these are: East
European Melody.. . "is expressed greatly (sic) through improvisa-
tion (page 121) ". "Melisma differs from coloratura in being ex-
pressive in character." The equation of Melisma with "niggunim
arukhim."
'The position of Hazzan Sheni evolved because the principal
Hazzan was busy with the chor-schul. He composed new music for
almost every service and occasion, trained and rehearsed with the
four-voiced choir (page 103) ".
Contrary to the view expressed on page 54, "Amen" was not
used as a refrain in the Temple. "Ein Onim Omein Bamikdosh"
(Sab. 103 :).
Of Rosowsky's "two-volume" (page 207) Shirei Tefiloh only
the second part ever appeared.
Of interest, particularly to cantors, are Nul man's evaluation of
some items pertient to the cantorate. Thus, to select one case, we
consider, "Biography of Cantors." The first to labor in this area was
Aaron Friedmann. This three-volume, Lebensbilder Beruhmter Kan-
toren (in German) is a solid work. Volume 3 includes a valuable list of
Payetanim-Hazzanim. Nulman's comment on this work is simply "a
biographical work on Cantors". Years later Elias Zaludkovsky wrote
(in Yiddish), Kulturtreger Fun Der Yiddisher Liturgie, mostly
based on Friedmann's work and including such an irrelevant journal-
istic article as, "Meg A Hazzan uein A Mesader Kiddushin"? This
volume Nul man describes as "an invaluable contribution to J ewish
liturgical music study". Curious-at the least.
Since in the case of Zaludkovsky we are given a complete list of
the articles he wrote it may be worthwhile to dwell for a moment
on one of these: "Unzere Nushaot" which appeared in 1934 in J acob
Beimel's, Jewish Music Journal. When I then read the article it
struck me as startingly familiar. In a few minutes I found the
article-virtually verbatim-in Musi kali sher Pinkas of A. M. Bern-
stein, under the name of Bernstein. I immediately telephoned Beimel
and informed him of this blatant example of plagiarism. Beimel
frankly and regretfully informed me that he did not know of the
existence of the Bernstein work.
With writing of this episode (I have never done so before) I do
not wish to denigrate the memory of Zaludkovsky who was a fine
cantor and a pleasant person with substantial achievements, nor to
belittle the knowledge of my esteemed friend Biemel, but to indicate
that one with pretentions to scholarship in a given field must first
master all disciplines, then keep abreast of all developing trends
pertinent to it. The master must be a perennial student as the term
Talmid Hakham indicates: the crucial word isTalmid.
May I add that my own adverse comments do not exhaust all
of my objections to the contents of this book but they do reflect
my general view of it. Perhaps I expected too much. After all, the
literature on the subject is vast. The primary sources are in Hebrew,
German, English and Yiddish and to study them all in addition to
mastering the art of music is too enormous a task for one individual.
Alas, the I delsohns, Werners and Sendreys do not appear to fre-
quently.
I would suggest that the next such undertaking be a joint effort
of two or three men of competence and discernment.
MUSIC SECTION
Among the six million souls lost in the Holocaust was a group
of outstanding synagogue composers who created and flourished
i n the three decades between the two worl d wars. Al I si x mi 1 1 i on
souls are precious to us, but especially close must be the hazzanim and
composers whose creativity was cut off mid-song. Among the hazza-
nim, the most tragic loss was that of Gershon Sirota, who with full
knowledge of what awaited him returned from the safety of Ameri-
can soil to his city, Warsaw, and to his people, to comfort them,
to strengthen them and to die with them.
Among the best known composers of that time and place were
Itzhak Schlosberg, Saul I.E. Taub, Hazzan A.M. Bernstein and David
Eisenstadt. In the Music Section which follows we publish a small
sampling of their creativity in the hope that hazzanim will bend
every effort to utilize them in their services, to remember them in
their prayers and thus to grant them a portion of the eternity they
richly deserve. SR
I. SHLOSBERG
(1877-1930)
JW1KTI
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56
A.M. BERNSTEIN
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FROM OUR READERS
Dear Professor Wohlberg :
Thank you so much for letting me see your article "Varying
Concepts of Ne'imah and their Place in theLiturgy" which appeared
in the journalofsynagogue music (Decemberl974).
It is a splendid piece, one of the best things you've done, and sets
one's mind and critical faculties spinning in all sorts of directions.
I have nothing but the highest regard for your semantic and
philological dexterity with which you handle the word and concept
of Ne'imah. Your exposition is truly masterful.
Where I cannot follow you-and this may very well be my fault
-is where you rightfully try to reach conclusions from your prem-
ises, where in reality you attempt to formulate an aesthetic that will
hold for J ewish liturgical music and J ewish musical practices. Part
of this difficulty stems from the age-old philosophical dichotomy of
the "moral" versus the "beautiful", and J ewish music is no more
immune to this dilemma than the music of our neighbors.
Further I do not know any statistical evidence that convincingly
demonstrates a J ewish preference for the violin over the piano. I n
fact, Sendrey's Bibliography lists almost an equal number of J ewish
pianists and violinists. If you are concerned primarily with the folk
tradition that is, of course, another kettle of fish (gefilte, of course),
and would perhaps be more explicable in sociological and anthro-
pological terms. At any rate, I'm sure you will agree that the slow
movements of Mozart's, Schubert's, Schumann's and Chopin's piano
music comes as close to your concept of Ne'imah as the violin.
The question might also be raised why J ews did not take to the
flute in art music in equal numbers-a more "zis" instrument in
the terms you have set up would be hard to find.
I would tend to judge the terms "sweetness", "plaintive" and
their numerous synonyms in musical practice as purely relative con-
cepts. I n other words, to take a si mple example close at hand: what
would be sweet and plaintive to the Ashkenazim would not neces-
sarily hold true for the Sephardim-and vice versa. Not to speak of
other J ewish communities. If you had limited your concept to a more
restricted geographical and homogeneous areas, I would be disposed
to accept your view more readily-if but still reluctantly.
But enough of my carping and fussing, you have performed a
difficult task with skill and imagination, for which again you have
my highest regard and admiration.
As ever,
With affection,
Albert Weisser
Professor Wohlberg Replies
Dear Professor Weisser,
I am indebted to you for your gracious comments regarding my
article on Varying Concepts of Ne-imah. However, I am also most
interested by your reservations on some aspects of my article and-
believe me-delighted that you raised some, entirely valid, points
which afford me the opportunity to clarify some items I have left
untouched.
As a matter of fact, in retrospect, I would vehemently deny
one, unintended, implication readers may derive-not without some
justification-from my article. But, first a word regarding my
motivation in writing the article. While recalling some historical
references to J ewish music I became aware of the surprising fre-
quency with which the word Ne-imah appeared and drew-what
seems to me-the logical conclusions.
Now to the issues : The preference for violin over the piano may,
in my opinion, be attributed to a number of historic reasons :
1. It is the older of the two instruments, hence better known.
2. It is smaller hence more convenient (and safer) for a people
often on the move.
3. It is a utilitarian instrument, played at engagements, wed-
dings.
4. Its sound is mellow and closest in timbre, to the human voice
(see Apel's Harvard Dictionary of Music)
5. Primarily-because it is homophonic. The traditional J ew is
still attracted to homophonic music and hasn't quite gotten
used to the sonorities of chords and harmonies.
Our ancestors associated the violin with King David and they
sang of "Dovid Hamdech mit zein fidde" ('Shofar Shel Moshiach-
Goldenfaden") . Interestingly enough, a number of cantors also culti-
vated the violin. Among them were Hirsh Weintraub, Israel Lowy
(who also played the cello and the piano) and, of course, the master
of the Strohfiedel (while not a contemporary violin) was our own
J oseph M. Gusikow.
With the arrival of the emancipation we begin to encounter in
ever greater numbers first in J ewish salons then in J ewish homes,
the pianoforte and J ewish pianists (I have not sought verification
for this thesis).
You are, of course, entirely correct in stating that "sweetness"
is a relative concept and may not vary with time as well as in differ-
ent localities. It is also true that I was in the main, thinking of the
63
Ashkenazic tradition. But, having attended synagogue services of
Yemenite, Syrian, Iraquian, Egyptian, Bucharian and other Se-
phardic communities I am persuaded to believe their underlying pre-
dispositions are not unlike ours.
I recall a dialogue of two Yeshiva bachurim: "How come that,
although cows are eaten, there are more cows than horses ?". 'That's
simple, horses are stolen". "But if, say, they are stolen in Pinsk-
they are taken to be sold in Minsk, why aren't there more horses
than cows in Minsk?". You fool, do you for a minute suppose that in
Minsk they don't steal horses?
The preference for sweetness in the near east is, I am convinced,
not only culinary.
As to why the flute has not become more popular-l don't know.
However, there are some flutists mentioned in J ewish literature (see
my article on Sholom Aleichem). There are also some, albeit weak,
literary and musical inferences to the instrument in J ewish songs
about shepherds (Goldfaden, Alman, Posner and Olshanetsky) . One
of our recent graduates is an excellent flutist.
However, these are minor matters in comparison with the
problem of aesthetics and the dichotomy of "moral" versus "beauti-
ful" you so properly emphasize. Let me say as clearly as I can: I
abhor the indiscriminate tendency to pursue the vulgar, the "sweet",
the "cute", the maudlin and the popular.
I n the nusach I teach, and in the recitatives I write, I endeavor
to maintain a sense of decent propriety, a respect for aesthetics, a
sense of dignity and an appreciation of originality. If I were asked
for my one word prescription for the music of the synagogue, I
would unhesitatingly choose: dignity (while being fully aware that
I am not immune to lapses).
But here I come to a matter implied in your letter and incident-
ally, admirably explored byj udith Eisenstein in the February issue
of the Reconstruct! mist, which is one of that has troubled me these
many years. I cannot here address myself to the many extremely
important elements of the issues raised but, perhaps, I can briefly
al I ude to some of the-to me, frustrati ng-aspects.
I view the music of the (Ashkenazic) synagogue as consisting
of three diverse elements: 1) Nusach (traditional modes and mel-
odies; 2) the Hazzanic recitative and 3) Choral (and solo) settings
of the liturgy with (or without) instrumental participation.
(Do forgive the personal reference but for my present purpose
it is unavoidable.) During my 45 years of uninterrupted service in
the cantorate I had, for 12 years, a first-rate (pipe) organ, organist
and professional choir with whom I could (and did) perform the
64
music of Achron, Saminsky, Fromm, Fried, Shalit, Weiner, Binder
etc. while not neglecting the "classics" and such traditional men
as Gerowitch, Nowakowsky, Birnbaum, Weisser etc.
For another 5 years I had a fair organist (mostly limited to
evening services) and a "semi-professional" choir. My repertoire
was correspondingly more modest. For approximately 8 years I
worked with a volunteer choir (no organ) and the works of con-
temporary-as well as much of the older composers practically dis-
appeared from my repertoire. During the other 20 years I had
(mostly for the High Holidays) either a second-rate (so-called pro-
fesional group) whose compositions I had to accept, or a volunteer
choir with whom I have worked hard and accomplished little.
Throughout these years I 've been exposed to congregational singing
of all varieties.
The fate of most of my colleagues in the Conservative cantorate
was musically no better-and often worse-than mine. While being
aware of the new music being created by young-often talented, oc-
casionally inspired-composers I realized that 1) most of my col-
leagues simply do not have the musical forces with which to tackle
the new music and 2) much of the new music is far too experimental
for the average worshipper and is all too often, foreign to the mood
of traditional synagogue worship.
Thus, while my aims-within my limitations-were to add au-
thenticity to Nusach, musical form to the recitative and some aesthet-
ics to congregational singing. My overwhelming desire was to narrow
the gap between the composer and the cantor-performer, a gap
that seemed to widen through the years.
That is why, when addressing my colleagues, I encouraged them
to widen their musical horizons while I asked the composers to pay
some attention to prevalent situations and to give some consideration
to the traditional worshipper to whom music in the synagogue is
not merely an independent art form but a means to deepen a religious
experience.
There is a great deal more than I would have liked to add but
I have already proved too loquacious. A French writer, (Pascal?)
concluded a rather lengthy letter by saying: forgive the length of
this letter but I had no time to write a short one.
With sincere affection,
MaxWohlberg
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