Mar 3, 2008

The next big Jewish music ban/cherem (video)

In light of the recent banning in NY of a big (literally, the concert was called "BIG") concert starring Lipa, causing him to promise to change his ways and not sing goyish style and goyish sourced music any longer, nor will he continue with his vildishe style, the ban is taking the next, natural, step.

All Jewish music that has a non-Jewish tune, melody, song, lyrics, or any other connection as its source, or even if there is any similarity to non-Jewish music, that music will be banned and considered beyond the pale of the "Jewish music" category. The expectations are that there will be very little Jewish music left, and we will have to, we will be able to, start over from scratch and recreate the "Jewish music" genre, with true Jewish music..

As a result, the first song picked to be banned under the new rules, because of the timing, is going to be "Mi'Shenichnas Adar Marbin B'Simcha".

That song has a number of tunes, so I found a Youtube video to show you so that you will know which tune I am referring to...



The original song, in its non-Jewish format is this:



So, if the following pashkevil gets signed by the Rabbonim, as it truly should be if just for consistency's sake, that will be the first song to go...

A reader sent me the following "pashkevil"....


Urgently looking for someone to take the following cherem to as many Gedolim as possible and have them sign their names on it. It is imperative to accomplish this before Rosh Chodesh Adar Beit so it can be published in time.
Thank you.


(black hat tip to an anonymous reader)

19 comments:

  1. i guess the next question is " what really is Jewish" music? Is there any tune/melody/beat, not adapted from some goyish style?

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  2. LOTD!


    Laugh of the Day!

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  3. but I thought a lot of the "standard" zemirot that we have nowadays were from polish non -jewish music? Like bar songs.

    Is that not so?

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  4. back to exclusive carlebach!

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  5. can't, Carlbach himself was on a banned list!

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  6. this was meant to be humorous... I thought it was obvious...

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  7. it was funny - I know you were joking, but here there are already people talking about what's next.

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  8. Miriam's right, shaya g's right, but we're just scratching the surface here.

    A recent term, originated in a letter recently published in Jewish Entertainment Magazine, is the best one-word explanation so far: "Frumdamentalism."

    I guess it was inevitable that I find this blog and these comments after submitting a long-overdue response to the vast problems in the Jewish music business.

    You're invited to take a look. "You should continue to comment here, there and everywhere. This is not going away and it's going to get worse."

    I'm glad I found you guys.
    Google and ye shall receive...
    (oh, I'm sorry...is that based on a "goyish" saying...?)

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  9. Gadol! You're the best Rafi. Love your blog. Keep up the good work!

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  10. The Shu"T "Krach Shel Romi" in 1:1 is supportive of the idea of standing outside churches to listen to their singing in order to be able to apply the tunes to the davening in shul.

    -The REAL Mara Dasra of RBS

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  11. My Rosh Yeshiva told a story of a rebbe who "bought" a niggun from a pig-herder. When asked about it, the rebbe said that a niggun is not m'kabel tumah.

    (Yes, I went to a Yeshiva where the RY told chasidishe stories!)

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  12. This continual barrage of nonsensical bannings is going to be a boon to modern orthodoxy. They have started, and will continue, to drive people away in droves.

    Let's just hope they don't get driven totally out!

    Of course anyone remotely conected to the music world knows that there's really no such thing as "Jewish" music. All music is influenced by its era. In short this will effectively ban all music.

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  13. Some of this just makes me shake my head.

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  14. The interesting thing about this video post is that I've promised myself to post the same thing with this song for the past two years.
    I've known about the original song since I was a child.
    Two years ago, on the shabbos before Purim, the chazzan (loose term) in our minyan thought that using this melody would be appropriate (don't get me started here on the ignorant "creativity" now taking place on the pulpit). Not 5-10 seconds before he launched into this song of slavery, our Afro-American custodian (an angelic, hard-working, dignified guy) had just left the room after adjusting the thermostat. The chazzan had no idea what kind of offensive rock he threw and how close we all came to a problem.

    Even musical ignorance can be dangerous.

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  15. The bottom line here is extremism.
    Extremism in any form is dangerous.
    The Rambam and other chochomim suggested everything be done in moderation.

    The word Charedim means those who tremble. Before whom do we tremble?

    Extremist Rabbis? Nosy neighbors? Prospective shidduchim who are more concerned about the color of the tablecloth than what Loshon hara is spoken over the table?

    We should only be concerned about trembling before HaShem. We should also be concerned about the welfare of His children, not where they send their children or which shchita that they eat.

    How many Rebbeshe niggunim came from "less than Holy" sources? By singing these niggunim the Rebbes elevated them!

    Let's be concerned about what is really important.

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  16. you kept me laughing down to the hattip!

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  17. GV: "A recent term, originated in a letter recently published in Jewish Entertainment Magazine, is the best one-word explanation so far: "Frumdamentalism.""

    And the sillier they get, the closer they get to "Frumdementedism". Which is while entertaining in the blog demographics and statistics picture, also totally dismaying and depressing because you start to wonder, "is that the secret message of the Torah you get after peering into it for untold decades? No, please no, G-d, say it's not true." From there, you're guaranteed to inspire more skepticism.

    With respect to music, there's like maybe two camps in my world. The camp that likes the secular with a sense of whimsy and thinks Allan Sherman was a genius, and the camp that actually cares about these silly bans.

    Gotta jump down
    turn around
    pick a dress o' cotton
    Gotta jump down
    turn around
    pick a dress o' wool

    I get all teary eyed for the old days of garment district sales and S&H green stamps... Anyhow, G-d hasn't said not to sing, and didn't tell me what to sing if I do, so I'm not too worried.

    Besides, William Shatner sang and if G-d was going to do a heavenly nuclear blast on anyone for music, it would have been him.

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  18. Wow, this was as shocking/amusing to me as when I found out that yiddin is a "borrowed" tune...
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6687639404892517972&q=ghengis+kahn+music+video&total=36&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

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  19. It's not that so much that "Yiddin" is borrowed from "Gengis Kahn" (or what I like to call the "Eurovillage People") as it was based on Dusty Springfield's 1964 hit "I Only Want To Be With You" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MczZzJ-jy5c), which was a great song and a lot easier to enjoy over and over again.
    Courtesy Warning: Kol Isha. Then again, if you can find it moral to watch "Gengis Kahn," then Kol Isha's a walk in the park.
    Of course, if you need it sung by men, then check out The Bay City Rollers (phony 1978 pretty-boy band produced by a Jewish guy from Hewlett...what you might call an "N Synch with lip-sync")when they brought it back to the hit parade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7erxSM35RvI). Check out the hair & the threads. I just hope bubblegum doesn't make your teeth hurt.

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