Discovering Jewish Music

by Marsha Bryan Edelman

Most of us have experienced Jewish music, whether it's through synagogue attendance, a bar mitzvah celebration, a klezmer concert, or the playing of Hava Nagila at a baseball game. The many different kinds of Jewish music are reflected by the multitude of Jewish communities throughout the world, each having its own unique set of experiences and values. This book puts the music into a context of Jewish history, philosophy, and sociology. Edelman begins 3,000 years ago, with a discussion of music in the Bible, and then examines the nature of folk and liturgical music in the three major Diaspora communities that evolved over centuries, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. From there, she explores music of the 20th century, including the explosion of popular music in North America and Israel and its impact on Jews and their musical identities.

Genres: Judaica

396 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2003

Reviews

[Jordon Gyarmathy]

Out of all the books I have read on Jewish Music, this is the selection that I appreciated the most. While not being bogged down in music jargon and not occupying too many pages with sheet music, Edelman manages to inform us about the murky origin of Jewish Music and bring us all the way to modern Jewish Music. I love that Edelman translated all the lyrics and provided music examples and a CD as well! The excerpts of stories and biographies of historic musicians was wonderful to get a deeper look at. I really enjoyed this one.