FROM THE EDITORS
We are pleased to present Volume 21 of Musica Judaica, which, once again, eloquently attests to the extraordinary diversity of Jewish music. We begin with Anders Hammarlund’s fresh insight into the life and work of Abraham Baer (1834-1894), focusing on his iconic masterpiece, Baal T’fillah oder Der pratische Vorbeter. The author explains:
During my research, I became convinced that Baer’s work cannot be fully understood if seen only in its internal Jewish context. To a certain extent it is an expression of a very specific cultural context—the emerging city of Gothenburg, representing the liberal avant-garde of Swedish 19th-century society.
Bret Werb’s richly detailed contribution examines fourteen Shoah songbooks. An introductory statement from one publication cannot fail to arouse our deepest emotions:
The following songs and poems are the only relics from the concentration camps and the ghettos that can possibly live. Memory dies with the men and women who suffered the agony of living in these places where death was a release from the living torture of a sadist’s paradise. Humbly then we offer the world these lyrics and poems in the hope that the world will remember the singers. Remember this: We sang as our beloved ones went to the gas chamber. We chanted as the Gestapo led us to the crematoria, and the poems consoled us in the miseries of the ghettos. After all, we sang because we hoped, and we still hope that a kinder fate will lead us to a happier land where we can sing these songs as a memory—and a warning.
Our next two articles touch upon some of the complex problems which may arise in Jewish ethnomusicological research. Jeffrey Summit describes his experiences with Jewish communities in Boston and Uganda, examining “the dynamics we encounter when the participant observer is also a Jewishly observant, committed and knowledgeable participant.” Meredith Aska McBride, another participant/researcher, writes about the evolving musical practices of Kol Tzedek, a Reconstructionist synagogue in West Philadelphia. She explains that Mordecai Kaplan’s notion of “ritual and recreation” underpins much of the philosophy and aesthetics of this young congregation.
A fascinating exchange of letters between George Herzog and Israel J. Katz covers a wide variety of topics, from scholarly observations to practical matters such as research funding. One letter dated October 18, 1975 mentions the forthcoming issue of a new journal edited by Dr. Katz, to be called Musica Judaica, and Dr. Herzog writes that the new undertaking “sounds very worthwhile.”
Our issue concludes with a number of memorial articles which highlight the achievements of three important contributors to the contemporary Jewish musical scene: Chana Mlotek, Yiddish archivist, scholar and activist, the celebrated folk singer Debbie Friedman, and Dr. Jack Gottlieb, author, noted composer and a past president of the American Society for Jewish music. As we went to press we were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Amnon Shiloah, a preeminent scholar in the areas of Jewish and Arabic music.
Finally, we wish to thank all of our contributors to this issue, as well as Michael Leavitt and the Board of the American Society for Jewish music for their continuing support.
Arbie Orenstein and Mark Kligman
We are pleased to present Volume 21 of Musica Judaica, which, once again, eloquently attests to the extraordinary diversity of Jewish music. We begin with Anders Hammarlund’s fresh insight into the life and work of Abraham Baer (1834-1894), focusing on his iconic masterpiece, Baal T’fillah oder Der pratische Vorbeter. The author explains:
During my research, I became convinced that Baer’s work cannot be fully understood if seen only in its internal Jewish context. To a certain extent it is an expression of a very specific cultural context—the emerging city of Gothenburg, representing the liberal avant-garde of Swedish 19th-century society.
Bret Werb’s richly detailed contribution examines fourteen Shoah songbooks. An introductory statement from one publication cannot fail to arouse our deepest emotions:
The following songs and poems are the only relics from the concentration camps and the ghettos that can possibly live. Memory dies with the men and women who suffered the agony of living in these places where death was a release from the living torture of a sadist’s paradise. Humbly then we offer the world these lyrics and poems in the hope that the world will remember the singers. Remember this: We sang as our beloved ones went to the gas chamber. We chanted as the Gestapo led us to the crematoria, and the poems consoled us in the miseries of the ghettos. After all, we sang because we hoped, and we still hope that a kinder fate will lead us to a happier land where we can sing these songs as a memory—and a warning.
Our next two articles touch upon some of the complex problems which may arise in Jewish ethnomusicological research. Jeffrey Summit describes his experiences with Jewish communities in Boston and Uganda, examining “the dynamics we encounter when the participant observer is also a Jewishly observant, committed and knowledgeable participant.” Meredith Aska McBride, another participant/researcher, writes about the evolving musical practices of Kol Tzedek, a Reconstructionist synagogue in West Philadelphia. She explains that Mordecai Kaplan’s notion of “ritual and recreation” underpins much of the philosophy and aesthetics of this young congregation.
A fascinating exchange of letters between George Herzog and Israel J. Katz covers a wide variety of topics, from scholarly observations to practical matters such as research funding. One letter dated October 18, 1975 mentions the forthcoming issue of a new journal edited by Dr. Katz, to be called Musica Judaica, and Dr. Herzog writes that the new undertaking “sounds very worthwhile.”
Our issue concludes with a number of memorial articles which highlight the achievements of three important contributors to the contemporary Jewish musical scene: Chana Mlotek, Yiddish archivist, scholar and activist, the celebrated folk singer Debbie Friedman, and Dr. Jack Gottlieb, author, noted composer and a past president of the American Society for Jewish music. As we went to press we were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Amnon Shiloah, a preeminent scholar in the areas of Jewish and Arabic music.
Finally, we wish to thank all of our contributors to this issue, as well as Michael Leavitt and the Board of the American Society for Jewish music for their continuing support.
Arbie Orenstein and Mark Kligman
Table of Contents
MUSICA JUDAICA
Journal of the American Society for Jewish Music
Volume XX 5774/2013-2014
President’s Greetings v
From the Editors viii
Nusach and Music: Abraham Baer, Joseph Czapek
and Der practische Vorbeter
Anders Hammarlund 1
Fourteen Shoah Songbooks
Bret Werb 39
The Participating Observer: Fieldwork in Jewish Settings
Jeffrey A. Summit 117
Ritual and Recreation: Agency, Exigency, and
Pedagogy in the Musical Practices of a Philadelphia
Reconstructionist Synagogue
Meredith R. Aska McBride 143
Letters from George Herzog
Israel J. Katz 199
In Memoriam:
Eleanor & Chana: The Musical Mediators
Mark Slobin 249
Debbie Friedman: A Life Transcribed
Judah Cohen 257
Visions of Debbie Friedman
Jeff Klepper 263
Remembering Jack Gottlieb
October 12, 1930 – February 23, 2011
Jamie Bernstein 281
Jack Gottlieb – A Retrospective
Joshua Breitzer 283
Contributors of articles to this issue 297
Musica Judaica Online Reviews (Website Link) 302
Information for Submitting Articles 303
Membership Form 304
MUSICA JUDAICA
Journal of the American Society for Jewish Music
Volume XX 5774/2013-2014
President’s Greetings v
From the Editors viii
Nusach and Music: Abraham Baer, Joseph Czapek
and Der practische Vorbeter
Anders Hammarlund 1
Fourteen Shoah Songbooks
Bret Werb 39
The Participating Observer: Fieldwork in Jewish Settings
Jeffrey A. Summit 117
Ritual and Recreation: Agency, Exigency, and
Pedagogy in the Musical Practices of a Philadelphia
Reconstructionist Synagogue
Meredith R. Aska McBride 143
Letters from George Herzog
Israel J. Katz 199
In Memoriam:
Eleanor & Chana: The Musical Mediators
Mark Slobin 249
Debbie Friedman: A Life Transcribed
Judah Cohen 257
Visions of Debbie Friedman
Jeff Klepper 263
Remembering Jack Gottlieb
October 12, 1930 – February 23, 2011
Jamie Bernstein 281
Jack Gottlieb – A Retrospective
Joshua Breitzer 283
Contributors of articles to this issue 297
Musica Judaica Online Reviews (Website Link) 302
Information for Submitting Articles 303
Membership Form 304