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What if a song was written by a Jewish person, but the lyrics are not about anything?
That would be equivalent to food eaten by a Jewish person but the meat is from swine.
hrmph. I misread (having quickly skimmed) your OPs last few words as “but the lyrics are anything but”, hence my initial comment.
What if it’s written by a Jewish person but has no lyrics?
Would you be embarrassed to sing it in front of your Rebbe or Rov?
Does the song wear a hat and jacket? White shirt? It’s easy to tell if it’s Jewish
What bichlal makes a tune Jewish?
like yalili
Well, if the song plays for over a minute without any lyrics, that’s a clue.
If a song contains the syllables “oyoyoyyyy” and they are enunciated in an emotive fashion, it is likely Jewish. 😛
I would think that any song that has Jewish-related theme is a Jewish song. In the past, Jewish music was often characterized by being composed in a minor key, but obviously that has changed with all the ripped-off goyishe styles that Jewish musicians have adopted.
lets stop this nonsense already. There are kosher songs and not kosher songs. just like you wouldnt sit around and speak all sorts of neeble peh you should watch what you listen to. songs with jewish themes, all the better. but the idea that the music itself can be jewish or not jewish is complete nonsense which really needs to stop. all (and i do mean all) music that you listen to today is built upon music that preceded it. there are obvious signs like the way mbd ripped off the ghangis khan song from eurovision for his song yidden but other times the signs are more subtle. either way there is no such thing as music which is jewish and which is not.
Better question: What if a Coffee Room post was written by a Jewish person, but the words are not about anything? That’s how you can tell that the poster is a nudnik.
One thing Jewish music is NOT: this techno/electronic music that has become so popular. It grates on my ears.
R Matisyohu Solomon (in the Artscroll book written by R Reinman) holds that music can be acceptable to listen to regardless of the source of composition, as long as the words are not “bad”.
A song with no lyrics does not have bad words, therefore is okay.
RebYidd23- maybe it’s my personal preference, but it’s also not “Jewish” music. A teacher of mine from high school, who is a well-respected Rebbetzin in the Flatbush community, said that you can tell if music is Jewish by whether it inspires you from the waist up, or the waste down.
When it comes to songs with electronic music… enough said.
*waist! Sorry for the typo
you can tell if music is Jewish by whether it inspires you from the waist up, or the waist down
By this criterion, music having nothing to do with Jews could
in theory be considered Jewish, while music created entirely
by frum Jews could in theory not be considered Jewish…
if it has a jewish mother, then, the song is jewish
I think that’s true.
A lot of the niggunim used by gedolim of yesteryear during the Yomim Noraim came from Russian bar songs and the like.
Conversely, I have heard renditions of Shwekey’s “Im Eshkachaich” and other such songs which have been mangled so badly that they don’t sound Jewish at all, except for the words.
Acceptable music styles probably fall into the category of derech eretz similar to behavior how to walk and dress etc. Maybe according to rambam vhalachta bdrachav, adapting our mindset mood and behaviour to the way we see Him act in this world, the famous middle path. If music encourages a mood of silliness its probably not ideal – unless you’re too serious and need to relax ( although classicAl music usually does that much more effectively if you can develop a taste for it. Sometimes music with a heavy beat makes you more angry or sad and cynical.) These are qualities all of humanity should aim for, to be a mensch. This is not Jewish behavior just acting like a true gentleman. If you can imagine the queen of England listening to it its probably OK. Although it would be very comical to imagine her listening and dancing to some of the music we listen to! But if someone is wearing a misshapen, stained sloppy black hat because its Jewish and listens to ‘jewish’ music is missing the point, better wear no hat and listen to Mozart.
I wonder how important which music you listen to is. Is it as important as cutting out sugar or coffee or like quitting smoking? Is it like keeping orderly or avoiding anger? Like getting drunk occasionally? In the ideal world it should be avoided, but none of us are there. How do you decide when to work on it? Or maybe it comes automatically when you are in the mood to only listen to healthy music. Although taste in music usually comes from what you’re used to. Any music experts out there on the effects of music?
Interesting question, rational Jew… I don’t have an answer for you, but I have a feeling that it depends on the person and how musically attuned he/she is.
The one thing I have read, though, is that soldiers in the past would listen to loud, raucous music before going to war, to work themselves into a rage and put them in a mindset to kill.
I also read in the biography of R’ Shlomo Freifeld ??”? about a ????? of his who was mourning the death of a certain non-Jewish singer. R’ Shlomo asked the ????? to bring over a record from the singer. He listened to a few songs, and then he said, “Now I understand why this singer is so popular. You should know that it’s disturbed music, the symbol of a generation in turmoil.”
Music has a great and subtle power.
what are the lyrics to the abie rotenberg song?
“but one thing to keep in mind,
a jewish song of any kind,
is only jewish if and when,
it brings us closer to hashem.”
That sort of sums up my yardstick as well
I hope that people don’t attack me for this, since I don’t know the details, but I was told that there was a major ????? in ???? over whether you’re allowed to put words from ??”? and such to tunes. The consensus was that you can only if it increases ???? ????.
Sadly, I don’t think that a large percentage of today’s “Jewish” music makes the grade.
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