History of the Jews—Summary on a Map
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR9sWRzbdJw&list=PLJk9VXX7_rcnnyyAznUns58mS9P_a8_Sq&index=4
Another brief history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIYHMdOr5Aw
Generally speaking, the world Jewish community is divided into several major groups
Our discussion will focus on the Ashkenazim who are the largest group and the ones most present in North America.
There have been various trends over the centuries, with Jews attempting to make accommodation with their host nations, often in the face of genocidal persecution. One of the largest group in Eastern Europe were the Hasidim. To quote from a article in www.myjewishlearning.com :
Hasidic Judaism is an Orthodox spiritual revivalist movement that emerged in Eastern Europe in the 18th century. Followers of Hasidic Judaism (known as Hasidim, or “pious ones”) drew heavily on the Jewish mystical tradition in seeking a direct experience of God through ecstatic prayer and other rituals conducted under the spiritual direction of a Rebbe, a charismatic leader sometimes also known as a tsadik, or righteous man. At the movement’s height in the 19th century, it is estimated that roughly half of Eastern European Jews were Hasidim.
The movement was decimated by the Holocaust, but dozens of Hasidic sects (or courts) exist today centered mainly in Israel and the New York metropolitan area…
The Baal Shem Tov traveled widely and developed a devoted following. Rather than lecturing on Jewish law, he urged his disciples to develop a personal relationship with God. ……
Hasidism brought Jewish mysticism to the masses, something that had traditionally been kept somewhat secret and restricted to a pious and learned few. It de-emphasized Jewish study in favor of Jewish practice, particularly prayer, and embraced a culture of folk tales that often had elements of magic and miracles.
Prayer in synagogues is usually lead by a cantor (hazan) who will sing the prayers with settings in scales that are related to Middle Eastern maqam scales or those of Greece, the Balkans, and Ukraine. Here are some examples:
The following video is of a hazan of the Satmar (Hungarian and Rumanian) sect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE7TZsb0oNg
Nigum are Jewish folksongs (often Hasidic) that can have large sections with non-lexical syllables that can be accompanied by dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-chVjDxy_6k&list=PLJk9VXX7_rcnnyyAznUns58mS9P_a8_Sq&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwFCMDKs7Ik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ1tUstHUP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNI2h2qrwRo
Hasidic traditions of charismatic rabbis leading worshippers (traditionally male, with perhaps women in a separate screened off section of the synagogue) are reflected in more secular Yiddish folksongs such as “Sha shtil, makh nit keyn gerider/Der rebe geyt shoyn tantsn vider”
(Quiet, be still, don’t make a noise, the rabbi is going to dance again).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzyrwSSokWg
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Yiddish transliteration Sha Shtil Sha shtil, makh nit keyn gerider Der rebe geyt shoyn tantsn vider Sha shtil, makh nit keyn gevald Der rebe geyt shoyn tantsn bald
Un az der rebe tantst Tantsn dokh di vent Lomir ale plyasken mit di hent
Un az der rebe tantst Tantst dokh mit der tish Lomir ale tupn mit di fis
Sha shtil, makh nit keyn gerider Der rebe geyt shoyn zingen vider Sha shtil, makh nit keyn gevald Der rebe geyt shoyn zingen bald
Un az der rebe zingt Dem heylikn nign Blaybt der sotn a toyter lign |
English translation Shhh! Quiet! Shhh! Quiet, make no noise, The rabbi is going to dance again. Be quiet, make no commotion, The rabbi is going to dance soon.
And when the rabbi dances, The walls dance with him, Let's all clap our hands!
And when the rabbi dances, The table dances along, Let's all stamp our feet!
Shhh! Quiet, make no noise, The rabbi is going to sing again. Be quiet, make no commotion, The rabbi is going to sing soon.
And when the rabbi sings the holy nign, The evil one remains lying dead. |
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/sha-shtil-shhh-quiet.html
There arose a repertoire of celebratory song and instrumental music based in the hybridity of the region mixing Jewish cantorial styles with dance music from styles such as Roma, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Baltic, etc. This style became known as klezmer music, referring to the musicians. The word klezmer comes from the Hebrew words kli (vessel, container, tool) and zmer (song, music).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6hJpvXSCzg
Other trends in 18th-20th Century Jewish culture focused on secularism and reform movements like Socialism and labor unions. Only nominally religious, little emphasis was put on Hebrew, the language of prayer and study, and more on Yiddish as a language of the common people and literature. Secular folksongs, political and theatrical song abound.
There were many folksongs in Yiddish that have no specific religious content. This first one, possibly the most famous Yiddish song of all time, is about a young man agonizing over which girl to marry and which to reject. The refrain says to play the balalaika (a three-string Russian instrument) and be happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6qnVrEF3DY
The next one is sung from a young woman’s point of view after she and her boyfriend have had an argument.
The mid-19th to early 20th century witnessed violent antisemitic riots (pogroms) in the Russian Empire, killing thousands. As a result over two million Jews emigrated to Western Europe and the United States between 1881 and 1914.
Labor and Socialist movement (Bund)
Jews were in the forefront of the struggle for equality and the rights of workers, and many were involved in unions (eg. Samuel Gompers, founder of the AFL), Coming out of both the labor and Bundist (Socialist) movements, songs about socio-political struggle were popular in secular circles. Yiddish poets and songwriters were part of the fight, among them David Edelstadt, (born 1866 Kaluga, Russia, died 1892, Denver, CO)
David Edelstadt
“In Struggle” by David Edelstadt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1zShc_y4G0
In KamfMir vern gehast un getribn Mir vern dershosn, gehangen Shmit undz in ayzerne keytn Ir kent undz dermordn tiranen |
In Struggle
We are driven & hated we are shot, hanged our spirits you never can destroy you tyrants may murder or beat us
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In her 1972 book of Yiddish songs Mir Trogen a Gezang (We Carry a Song) Eleanor Gordon Mlotek writes about this song;
Rudolf Rocker describes a memorable experience in London: “It was the in which
thousands of Jewish workers marched in thick ranks to Hyde Park, where a
mammoth protest demonstration was to take place against the horrible pogrom of
the Jews in Kishniev (1903). As we marched through the city streets, thousands
gazed in mute surprise upon the strange procession…When the mass singing
Edelstadt’s In Kampf was heard, the onlookers became very solemn and took off
Their hats to the marchers.”
Many poor immigrants worked in the sweatshops in cities like New York often for twelve or fourteen hours a day, seven days a week. The conditions were appalling, and sometimes led to disasters like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of March 25 1911 the “deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and girls and 23 men – who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Italian or Jewish immigrant women and girls aged 14 to 23. [Wikipedia]. Although not specifically about the fire, the song “Mayn rue platz” refers to the conditions in the sweatshops from a woman’s point of view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwRc3mdWuds
“American Yiddish theater was born in Europe but found its greatest success in America. And though its 1882 American premiere ended in a brawl, Yiddish theater (or "Second Avenue," after the Manhattan street that housed most of the theaters) quickly became a wildly popular entertainment choice for American Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “
(https://www.milkenarchive.org/music/volumes/view/great-songs-of-the-american-yiddish-stage/)
Starting in the 19th century there was a continuous tension between secular and religious communities. Those who were either more modernly religious or totally secular would often mock the unquestioning veneration of Hasidic rabbis. This disrespectful song written by Ludwig Satz was a huge hit in its day and every lyricist wrote his/her own verses for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8A5-H2shiU
Across the ethnic divide the barrel organ (basically a largen hand cranked music box) was popular with street performers. It had many names, but in Yiddish it was known as the Katarinke. Here is a sad love song about a katerinshtshik (organ grinder) written by Polish song writer Leyb Olitski (Leib Olitzky) (1894-September 1, 1975).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLiXY50hsVs&list=PLJk9VXX7_rcmK2g6zLK5xX5OBLSMBeEX-&index=15
A song about the triple plagues of tuberculosis, polio, and war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFJhwCakqN4
A comical song about relationships
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxUpc9Q5M_E
From the serious operetta “An Eye for an Eye” by Sholom Secunda and Anschel Schorr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaXRMDce3LE
Having a good time back in the old country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0EUbA4PBPg
The plight of immigrants to America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZ4cJrq7KE&t=1s
There are lots of Yiddish songs which explained English words to eager newcomers. This song by Louis Friedsel, from the Boris Thomashefsky show "The Jewish Yankee Doodle" (Der yidisher yenki dudl) uses a soda stand, unwanted pregnancy, and bedbugs to explain the concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5v_nj-wrQ8
Bridges to Broadway
Some composers’ works bridged the gap between Yiddish and English popular music. One of the most famous breakout numbers was Sholom Secunda’s “Bay mir bistu shayn” (You are beautiful to me) which gained worldwide fame through the Andrew’s Sisters’ version which added English words which added a heavy swing arrangement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNysi5_c2g0
Along with African Americans and Irish, Jewish songwriters dominated the Tin Pan Alley publishing industry which extended from vaudeville, to Broadway, to Hollywood. Among the most famous immigrant success stories was that of Irving Berlin (Born Israel Beilin) (1888-1989) widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history. His music forms a great part of the Great American Songbook. He wrote hundreds of songs, many becoming major hits, which made him famous before he turned thirty. During his 60-year career he wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for 20 original Broadway shows and 15 original Hollywood films, with his songs nominated eight times for Academy Awards. Many songs became popular themes and anthems, including "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Easter Parade", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "Cheek to Cheek", "White Christmas", "Happy Holiday", "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)", and "There's No Business Like Show Business". His Broadway musical and 1943 film This Is the Army, with Ronald Reagan, had Kate Smith singing Berlin's "God Bless America" which was first performed in 1938. [Wikipedia]
Here are some examples of his hits”:
“Puttin on the Ritz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CqsSuWMGQ8
“Cheek to Cheek” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxo-TUkzOQ&t=21s
“White Christmas” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9QLn7gM-hY
“God Bless America” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmc-pEyUHTs
“Never Say You are Going the Last Road (lyrics by Hirsh Glick who died as a partisan in Lithuania fighting the Nazis)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz-ra7GAhQc
Another of Hirsh Glick’s songs commemorates the destruction of a Nazi troop convoy by young woman and two young men near the Vilnius Ghetto in Lithuanian. The melody itself is an old Russian folksong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdjBcuGNFqc
And the frost has strongly burned;
Do you remember how I have taught you
To hold a gun in the hand?
And holds in her hand tightly a Nagant (revolver)
A girl with a face as smooth as velvet
Holds up the enemy's caravan.
Has her tiny pistol.
A vehicle filled with weapons
She has stopped with a bullet.
With snow garlands on her hair,
Encouraged by a minuscule victory
For our new, free generation.