Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World Religions

1: JUDAISM AND MUSIC

29 1 JUDAISM AND MUSIC JosephA.Levine T he study of Judaism and music has often been relegated to the periphery of Western music history, which tends to favour theory and consequently has given credit to the Greeks as its primary predecessors. Ancient Greek music is no longer extant, however, and current studies have shown that the Hebrew Bible has been transmitted and received for centuries primarily through the medium of chant and musical intonation, showcasing a living religious musical tradition that originated in the Middle East and is still thriving throughout the world over two millennia later. The study of Jewish music provides modern scholars with a link to the ancient world: many types of musical instruments currently in use, for example, were used in Judaism’s ancient temple worship and even before, in biblical times. Jews have contributed, without a doubt, to Western classical music, but not at the expense of creating their own rich heritage of liturgical music for synagogue services and festivals, and of paraliturgical music for life-cycle rituals and domestic observances. The fact that musical instruments were banned by the rabbis after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans and the subsequent loss of Jewish national sovereignty in 70 ce, and that regional dispersion necessitated the adaptation of foreign folk musical traditions to religious texts, has provided Jewish music with a somewhat disjointed historical continuity . Indeed, while the form and context of music in worship, especially with regard to instruments and the use of foreign melodies, has been vigorously debated by rabbinical authorities over the years, unaccompanied chanting of Scripture has been accepted within all Jewish communities since the beginning. Whereas regional musical practices in synagogue worship have been deeply influenced by the sounds of specific host cultures , they still reflect a creative combination of perceived ancient customs in the Judean homeland. Any successive approach to the study of Judaism and music, therefore, must attempt to blend the historical with the ideological in order to understand the complex role of music in the Jewish experience. Origins The Hebrew Bible is the primary and most fertile source for our knowledge of music in ancient Israel. Besides containing descriptions of some sixteen musical instruments, numerous references are found in it with regard to the role of music in various dimensions of life, including ritualistic, prophetic, therapeutic, magical, ecstatic, military, official, and folk aspects. In addition, post-biblical sources like the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writings of Josephus, and archaeological fragments enable scholars to reconstruct musical life in biblical times. The book of Genesis (4:20–21) credits a man named Jubal with fashioning the first musical instruments: “Jubal was the father of all those who master the kinnor (lyre) and ugav (pipe).” This reference is traditionally understood to mean that Jubal invented music: that is, that music was a human invention. The Hebrew Bible considered music important enough to be mentioned alongside a staple of Bronze Age economy, cattle raising : Jubal’s older brother, Jabal (Yaval in Hebrew), is described as “the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle.” This implies widespread use of the ram’s horn (shofar), mentioned sixty-nine times in scripture and upon which ancient performers must have blown expertly. The shofar was steamed, bent, and flattened, with its smaller tip cut off and pierced to allow the production of perfect fourth and fifth intervals. A ram’s horn first appears in Exodus 19, when the Israelites, awaiting God’s revelation at the foot of Mount Sinai, perceived thunderings and lightnings “and the continuous sound of the shofar that grew ever louder.” Only a multitude of expert blowers could have produced and sustained such extraordinary volume. Aside from the shofar’s permanently fixed pitches, its martial quality made it the ideal public instrument; it was employed by magistrates, tribal chieftains, and army captains. It announced the removal of the Holy Ark, reinforced general rejoicing, called warriors to battle, and proclaimed divine judgment upon erring nations. According to Jewish tradition, “God will sound a shofar” signaling Israel’s redemption at the End of Days (Zechariah 9:14). The shofar remains the only quasi30
Judaism and Music musical instrument—used for signalling purposes only—sounded during worship in all Jewish communities. Worship Scripture first mentions worship when Cain and Abel bring grain and animal offerings (Genesis 4:4). Vocal offerings appear six generations...