|
Hello from an agnostic, formerly Anglican married
to another agnostic of Jewish/Christian descent.
I think I understand where you're coming from in
that as Jews have been persecuted mercilessly by Christians among others,
Messianic Jews must seem like turncoats and to play for them would be tantamount
to agreeing they had a point. Is this somewhat right?
Would it not be also inappropriate for a Jew to
play Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's music? Or, should a First Nations carver not
show his work to another First Nations person who lives with White people and
has relinquished his Native ways? I am not trying to belittle your
position - I just can't get my head around not playing wonderful music for
people who want to hear it.
If I wanted a klezmer group to play at my
non-religious wedding, should they decline because I was Christian or because
I'm not a practising Jew? Would they decline to play for my husband
because he is not a practising Jew? What if it was for an Australian
aboriginal couple who had never heard of Judaism and weren't Jews through
no fault of their own? I, myself, had no choice but to be Christian as a
child - should I then be denied hearing soul-stirring, moving klezmer at special
occasions?
By the way, I was honored and privileged to
play in the synagogue for a wedding and my hubby and I played at a Jewish
friend's funeral. The service was Unitarian. Her husband told us
later that he had felt numb about her passing until we played her favorite
klezmer tunes during the service. He said he suddenly felt close to her
and was able to cry. This was her heritage, just as mine is the skirl
of Scotch bagpipes - which is not to say that I'd like to have "From Yon
Bonnie Banks" played at my funeral. Come to think of it, maybe I
would. But I'd also like to have "Dybbuk Shers" played, or perhaps "Nign"
or "Undoing World".
Shalom,
Mary Lowther
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 6:33 PM
Subject: One klezmer's experience Maxwell Street has been booked by messianic Jews twice in 20 years. Of course, the fact was well-hidden by the clients. In one case (a bar mitzvah), we didn't know until we got the check from the client with a New Testament message on it, and at the other one (a wedding), we didn't know till we started shmoozing with a guest on break. At the wedding, we simply stopped playing Jewish music and switched to American standards for the balance of the contract. Since it is not our choice to contribute our spirit to proselytizers for Christianity, we have since then put a clause in our contract that we don't play for messianic affairs, and if we figure out we've been booked for one, the contract is void and we get to keep the deposit. But it's only happened twice, so it's probably an unnecessary precaution. Interestingly enough, the enthusiasm of the crowd at the wedding was almost frothingly ecstatic when it came to the horas, entertaining the bride and groom, and other traditional dances. Lori @ MAX |
- One klezmer's experience MaxwellSt
- david lowther
