Social Functions of Synagogue Song: A Durkheimian Approach by Jonathan L. Friedmann paints a detailed picture of the important role sacred music plays in Jewish religious communities. This study explores one possible way to approach the subject of music's intimate connection with public worship: applying sociologist Émile Durkheim's understanding of ceremonial ritual to synagogue music. Durkheim observed that religious ceremonies serve disciplinary, cohesive, revitalizing, and euphoric functions within religious communities. Drawing upon musical examples from different composers, regions, periods, rites, and services, Friedmann demonstrates how Jewish sacred music performs these functions.

Social Functions of Synagogue Song: A Durkheimian Approach

Arts & Photography

Friedmann, Jonathan L.

Music

Lexington Books

Quotations on Jewish Sacred Music is a collection of over 700 quotations culled from an array of sources, including rabbinic and theological texts, sociological and anthropological studies, and historical and musicological examinations. The book is divided into five chapters: What Is Jewish Music?; Spirituality and Prayer; Hazzan-Cantor; Cantillation-Biblical Chant; and Nusach ha-Tefillah-Liturgical Chant. Taken as a whole, these quotations demonstrate both the centrality of music in Jewish religious life and the diversity of thought on the subject. They can be used with profit in sermons, speeches, and papers, and may be read in order or selectively. This is a valuable and easy-to-use reference book for scholars, musicians, synagogue staff, and anyone else seeking concise thoughts on major aspects of Jewish sacred music.

Quotations on Jewish Sacred Music

Hamilton Books

Music was integral to the daily life of ancient Israel. It accompanied activities as diverse as manual labor and royal processionals. At key junctures and in core institutions, musical tones were used to deliver messages, convey emotions, strengthen communal bonds and establish human-divine contact. This book explores the intricate and multifaceted nature of biblical music through a detailed look into four major episodes and genres: the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15), King Saul and David's harp (1 Sam. 16), the use of music in prophecy, and the Book of Psalms. This investigation demonstrates how music helped shape and define the self-identity of ancient Israel.

Music in Biblical Life: The Roles of Song in Ancient Israel

Religion & Spirituality

McFarland Company

Music in the Hebrew Bible investigates musical citations in the Hebrew Bible and their relevance for our times. Most biblical musical references are addressed, either alone or as a grouping, and each is considered from a modern perspective. The book consists of one hundred brief essays divided into four parts. Part one offers general overviews of musical contexts, recurring musical-biblical themes and discussions of basic attitudes and tendencies of the biblical authors and their society. Part two presents essays uncovering what the Torah (Pentateuch) has to say about music, both literally and allegorically. The third part includes studies on music's place in Nevi'im (Prophets) and the perceived link between musical expression and human-divine contact. Part four is comprised of essays on musical subjects derived from the disparate texts of Ketuvim (Writings).

Music in the Hebrew Bible: Understanding References in the Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim

McFarland

We are in something of a golden age of music research. Technological advances have merged with philosophical interests to produce an array of distinct yet converging studies illuminating the musical nature of our species. Virtually every day, a new brick is added to the wall of interdisciplinary information, drawn from psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, ethology, anthropology, ethnomusicology and more. This book develops, supports, challenges, and diverges from this abundance of material, which is flourishing at such rapid speed that it is nearly impossible to keep up. It adds a unique and compelling voice to this body of literature, which is ever growing in sophistication and popularity.

Music in Our Lives: Why We Listen, How It Works

The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma on January 24, 1848, initiated one of the largest migrations in US history. Between 1849 and 1855, hundreds of thousands of migrants arrived in Northern California hoping to find gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The rapid population growth and economic prosperity led to boomtowns, banks, and railroads, making California eligible for statehood in 1850. An international cast of gold-seekers, merchants, and tradespeople arrived by land and through the port of San Francisco, which was transformed from a small village to a cosmopolitan metropolis. Jewish pioneers, many of whom had been merchants in Europe, opened stores and businesses in small towns and mining camps in and around the Mother Lode. They established benevolent societies and cemeteries, founded synagogues and companies, held public office and positions of influence, and contributed greatly to the multicultural fabric of the Gold Country.

Jewish Gold Country (Images of America)

Business & Money

Economics

Arcadia Publishing

The first known Jewish resident of the Mexican Pueblo de Los Ángeles arrived in 1841. When California entered the Union in 1850, the census listed just eight Jews living in Los Angeles. By 1855, the fledgling city had a Hebrew Benevolent Society and a Jewish cemetery. The first Jewish congregation and kosher market were established in 1862. Meanwhile, Jewish merchants and business owners founded banks, fraternal orders, charities, athletic clubs, and social service organizations. Jewish property owners developed vast areas of Los Angeles and beyond into the neighborhoods and cities we know today. By 1897, the city's Jewish population was large enough to support its own newspaper. The 20th century brought waves of Jewish immigrants and migrants to Los Angeles, where they built the motion picture and television industries, Cedars-Sinai and City of Hope medical centers, the Jewish Home for the Aging, urban and suburban synagogues and Jewish centers, and other institutions. The foundations laid by these enterprising pioneers helped transform Los Angeles into a major metropolis.

Jewish Los Angeles (Images of America)

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

William Sharlin (1920-2012) was a cantor, synagogue composer, teacher and musicologist. Raised in an Orthodox household, he turned toward Universalism and the liberal Reform movement. A member of the first graduating class of the first cantorial school in America, he was a founding member of the American Conference of Cantors and is recognized as the first to play a guitar in the synagogue. Sharlin developed the Department of Sacred Music at HUC in Los Angeles, where he taught for 40 years, trained women to be cantors before they were allowed in the seminary, and spent nearly four decades at Leo Baeck Temple. Drawing on interviews conducted with Sharlin late in life, the author chronicles the career of one of the most inventive and creative figures in the history of the cantorate.

Cantor William Sharlin: Musical Revolutionary of Reform Judaism

The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma on January 24, 1848, initiated one of the largest migrations in US history. Between 1849 and 1855, hundreds of thousands of migrants arrived in Northern California hoping to find gold in the foothills of th

Jewish Gold Country

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

The first known Jewish resident of the Mexican Pueblo de Los ngeles arrived in 1841. When California entered the Union in 1850, the census listed just eight Jews living in Los Angeles. By 1855, the fledgling city had a Hebrew Benevolent Society and a Jew

Jewish Los Angeles

History

Americas

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