Jewish Music

Jewish music . . . Where do I begin? Let’s start with Abraham, remember him? I’m not sure there’s any hard evidence of this, but I remember hearing in Hebrew school that Abraham was a very good horn player. Of course he would have to be, since he originated the shofar and you all know from the many listenings on the High Holidays how difficult it is to play the shofar. Sometimes while the pagans were bowling, Abraham would entertain with popular tunes of the time... No, not Joshua fit the battle. Joshua wasn’t around yet. “Sands of Time” was big . . . they had lots of sand back then. Sometimes Omar the tentmaker would hire a trio to play under the big top and Abraham would put it all together. But I digress. In the days of the Temple, Jewish music was played during the prayer service as an important part of the service. Where do you think the goyim got the idea? Then when the Temple was destroyed we mourn for its loss by not playing Jewish music during the service. OK, only the Orthodox and some Conservatives still observe this strictly, but I’m not kidding.

Of course we all know and have exhausted ourselves dancing to Havah Nagila. Probably the most famous Jewish song ever. I think Harry Belafonte did a version of it. Then there’s the beautiful Hatikvah, the Israeli National Anthem, haunting, deep, spiritual. To hear it is to hear angels sing. And Klezmer music. Wonderful. It’s the music of the Hasidim and truly captures their passion for Judaism. Klezmer is where we’ve taken much of our music for the Silly Music collection. If anything says “Jewish music” it’s the feel of the Klezmer style. The combination of major and minor keys juxtaposed evokes the Jewish experience on the planet. Joyful and mournful at once. Complex. Exciting. Exhilarating. I love it.

And don’t forget the Jewish music stylings of Sammy Davis, Jr. A major Jew. In fact he even changed the spelling of his name after he converted to Sammy Davis Jewnyor. It’s a little known fact, but totally true. OK, it's not true.

My favorite Jewish song is “White Christmas”. WHAT?????? It was written by Irving Berlin, a Jew. OK, so it’s not my favorite Jewish song but, I sometimes imagine people who don’t necessarily like Jews singing their hearts out at Christmas, closing their eyes to the strains of “White Christmas,” maybe noshing a bagel. What a picture.

My actual favorite Jewish music is a Hebrew song called “Erev Shel Shoshanim.” Theodore Bikel did a beautiful rendition of it a long time ago. Actually, if you want to hear some incredible Jewish songs and music, get yourself an album or CD by Theodore Bikel, but not before you get “Goys and Dolls” or “Say Oy Vey.” He’s an extremely gifted man and a fine musician and entertainer.

So, that’s my short but sweet take on Jewish music. Not a research paper by any means, but just some fond memories and random thoughts to perk up your day.