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HU Credits:
2
Degree/Cycle:
2nd degree (Master)
Responsible Department:
Musicology
Semester:
2nd Semester
Teaching Languages:
Hebrew
Campus:
Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator:
Prof. Edwin Seroussi
Coordinator Office Hours:
Mon. 11:00-12:00
Teaching Staff:
Prof Edwin Seroussi
Course/Module description:
"’Avodat kodesh" or simply "’avodah" is one of the fundamental concepts in Judaism as a religious practice. It encompasses the various expressions in which individuals and congregations express publicly, often but not always in the form of a regulated ritual according to predetermined rules, their relationship with the deity. In post-biblical Judaism, "’avodah" means the recitation of texts from various sources that have been sanctified by practice for about two thousand years. This textual canon is not the same in all Jewish communities and in all periods, but it has commonalities along the lines of time and place. Individuals and congregations perform these selections of texts with a vast array of “sonorization” techniques, ranging from muffled whispers on a single pitch to sublime polyphonic compositions accompanied by instruments,.
This enormous variety of sonorities forms the basis of what is called “the Jewish liturgy.” This seminar seeks to expand the scope of musicological and ethnomusicological research on this topic by interpreting Jewish liturgical events as multilayered "sound texts." We shall attempt to “read” liturgical events from different geographical areas and historical periods by interpreting them in historical, spiritual and aesthetic contexts while comparing them to similar sonic expressions of spirituality in non-Jewish religions and faiths.
Course/Module aims:
1) To familiarize oneself with the literature on music and religious ritual in general and on music and synagogue ritual in Judaism
2) To recognize different liturgical music traditions in Judaism
3) To acquire bibliographic, paleographic and sonographic skills (i.e. printed scores, manuscripts and recordings) on the subject of the seminar
4) To acquire methodological and theoretical tools for the analysis and interpretation of synagogue rituals
5) To improve academic writing skills on the subject of the seminar
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1) To analyze and interpret the sonic dimension of Jewish liturgical events;
2) To identify different traditions of Jewish liturgical music on a geographical and historical context;
3) To express oneself in writing about Jewish liturgical music at a high academic level.
Attendance requirements(%):
90%
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
The course will be conducted in the form of a seminar, that is, with the active participation of the students in discussions based on readings and listening assignments for every session. After the introductory sessions, each student will decide on a research topic. An oral report on the findings of the individual projects will be presented in class. Please note: there will be at least two meetings in the Music Department of the National Library to familiarize researchers with the rich resources available there.
Course/Module Content:
What is "tefillah"? What does "lehitpalel" mean?
Development of the liturgical textual canon in Judaism
Traditions of research in Jewish liturgy
From mumbling to musicking: sonic genres in Jewish liturgy
Regional traditions 1: The Middle East
Regional traditions 2:
North Africa
Regional traditions 3:
Ashkenaz
Regional traditions 4:
Eastern Europe
Required Reading:
הכהן, רות. 2006. ",לשמוע אל הרינה או אל התפילה?': לידה הדדית של מילים ולחנים בהקשרי השיר העברי", מחקרי ירושלים בספרות עברית כ' (תשס"ו-2006): 13—37
Frigyesi, Judit. 1993. Preliminary Thoughts toward the Study of Music without Clear Beat: The Example of ‘Flowing Rhythm’ in Jewish Nusah. Asian Music 24.2: 59–88.
-----. 2002. Orality as Religious Ideal: The Music of East-European Jewish Prayer. Yuval 7:113–53 &eq; Studies in Honor of Israel Adler. Edited by Eliyahu Schleifer and Edwin Seroussi.
-----. 2014. Psalmody: Concept or Genre, Journal of Synagogue Music 39.2: 1–15.
-----. 2022. Writing on Water: The Sounds of Jewish Prayer. Budapest: Central European University Press. משאב אלקטרוני
Katz, Daniel S. 1995. “A Prolegomenon to the Study of the Performance Practice of Synagogue Music Involving M'shor'rim,” The Journal of Synagogue Music 24.2: 35-79.
Klein, Amit. 2014. Changing Performance Styles of Twentieth Century Ashkenazi Cantorial Recitatives. Analytical Approaches to World Music 3.2. Online
Kligman, Mark L. 2009. Maqām and Liturgy: Ritual, Music, and Aesthetics of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn. Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Schleifer, Eliyahu. “The Priestly Blessing in the Ashkenazi Synagogue: Ritual and Chant.” Yuval 7 (2002), 233-298.
Seroussi, Edwin. 1996. Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue Music in Nineteenth-century Reform Sources from Hamburg: Ancient Tradition in the Dawn of Modernity. Jerusalem: Jewish Music Research Centre, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Yuval Monograph Series 11).
-----. 2002. La musica e il transcendente. Tullia Magrini, Universi sonori: Introduzione all’etnomusicologia, Torino: Enaudi, 2002, pp. 255-271. גרסה באנגלית זמינה במודל
-----. 2002a. The Dimension of Sound in the Traditional Synagogue. La musica sacra nelle chiese cristiane. Atti del convegno internazionale di Studi, Roma, 25-27 Gennaio 2001, ed. Sabina Pozzi. Roma: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Bologna: Alfa Sudio, 2002, pp. 149-156.
-----. 2021. Liturgy: An Overlooked Space on the Moroccan Jewish Musical Map. Jews and Muslims in Morocco: Their Intersecting Worlds, ed. Joseph Chetrit, Jane S. Gerber, and Drora Arussy. Lanham: Lexington Books, pp. 245-268. For a companion to this article see: https://jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/moroccan-synagogue-service
-----. 2020. The Jewish Liturgical Music Printing Revolution: A Preliminary Assessment, Studies in Contemporary Jewry 31: Textual Transmission in Contemporary Jewish Cultures, ed. Avriel Bar Levav and Uzi Rebhun, pp. 99-136.
Summit, Jeffrey A. 2000. The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Tarsi, Boaz. 2002. Observations on Practices of Nusach in America. Asian Music 33.2: 175–219.
-----. 2011. How Music Articulates Structure, Meaning, and Perception: The Kaddish. In The Experience of Jewish Liturgy: Studies Dedicated to Menahem Schmelzer, edited by Debra Reed Blank, 309–40. Boston.
-----. 2013. The Early Attempts at Creating a Theory of Ashkenazi Liturgical Music. In Jüdische Musik als Dialog der Kulturen (Jewish Music as a Dialogue of Cultures), edited by Jascha Nemtsov, 59–69. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013.
Weiss, Sam. 2009. Carlebach, Neo-Hasidic Music, and Current Liturgical Practice,” Journal of Synagogue Music 34: 55-75.
Additional Reading Material:
Additional readings and listening assignments will be distributed via Moodle before each session.
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 10 %
Project work 60 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 30 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
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