A Musical Exploration of the Sabbath Morning Service in Dublin's Orthodox Jewish Community

A Musical Exploration of the Sabbath Morning Service in Dublin's Orthodox Jewish Community Thesis presented for the degree of Ph.D. by research by Melanie Brown B.A. (Mod.), M.A. (T.C.D.); M.A. (N.U.I.); F.T.C.L.; A.R.I.A.M. University of Limerick Supervisor: Dr Helen Phelan Copyright © 2012 by Melanie Brown Table of Contents Abstract i Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii List of Ethnographic Interviews iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1 7 Jewish Liturgical Music in Dublin: Research in the field 1.1 Introduction 7 1.2 Motivations 9 1.3 Selecting a Musical Theme 11 1.4 The Field 13 1.5 Methods 22 1.6 Reciprocity 57 1.7 Disengagement 59 1.8 Conclusion 60 Chapter 2 62 Irish Jewish Identity: Historical and Cultural Contextualization of the Dublin Jewish Community 2.1 A Brief History of the Jews in Ireland 62 2.2 Outlining Jewish Culture and Identity in Modern Ireland 81 2.3 Community 86 2.4 Identity 98 2.5 Culture 124 2.6 Conclusion 138 Chapter 3 139 Ritual Space and Context in Jewish Dublin 3.1 Introduction 139 3.2 Orthodox Jewish Domestic Ritual In Dublin 140 3.3 Prayer and Ritual in the Dublin Synagogue 141 3.4 Structure of the Orthodox Sabbath Service 170 3.5 The Cantor 178 3.6 Conclusion 182 Chapter 4 185 Aspects of Performance Practice in the Jewish Liturgical Music of Dublin 4.1 Introduction 185 4.2 Capturing Data on the Music of the Dublin Synagogue 187 4.3 Five Faces of Jewish Music in Dublin 201 4.4 Congregational Singing in Terenure Synagogue 292 4.5 Music as Part of Worship in the in the Dublin Synagogue 332 4.6 A Theoretical Framework for Examining Performance Practice in the Dublin Synagogue 341 4.7 Musical Language in the Dublin Synagogue 352 4.8 Conclusion 370 Chapter 5 372 Functions of Music within Dublin Jewish Identity: Concluding Propositions 5.1 Introduction 372 5.2 Music and Identity 374 5.3 Congregation Singing: Activism in Maintaining Cultural Identity 387 5.4 The Transfer and Acquisition of Nusach 392 5.5 Women and Orthodox Jewish Liturgical Music 401 5.6 Liturgical Music and Emotion 411 5.7 Conclusion 419 Appendix 1 Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish Terms 422 Appendix 2(a) Table of names and trades corresponding with Appendix 2(b) 428 Appendix 2(b) Map: Jewish Commerce: Clanbrassil St., Dublin, 1930s 429 Bibliography 431 Discography 463 Abstract Thesis title: A Musical Exploration of the Sabbath Morning Service in Dublin's Orthodox Jewish Community Author: Melanie Brown The Jewish community of Dublin has been in existence for 400 years. Nowadays, many Dublin Jews are descended from Lithuanians who settled in Dublin at the turn of the twentieth century. Most Dublin Jews are integrated into Dublin society, yet little is known of cultural practices specific to Dublin’s Jewish community. This dissertation focuses on the practice of liturgical music in Terenure synagogue, one of Dublin’s two remaining Orthodox synagogues. While music is an integral part of all synagogue services throughout the year, the musical repertoire of the Sabbath morning service has been selected as representing the music which is most commonly experienced by practicing Orthodox Jews in Dublin. Much of the music in Dublin’s Orthodox synagogue has been retained as part of a Lithuanian oral tradition. However, the Dublin Jewish community is currently undergoing a demographic shift, owing to the emigration of Dublin-born Jews coupled with migration into Dublin of Jews from a variety of social, cultural and national backgrounds. As the profile of the Jewish community changes, there is evidence of a gradual shift in the musical tradition of the synagogue. Here there is an attempt to preserve part of the Lithuanian musical tradition for the future. Ethnographic fieldwork has been conducted among all sections of the Jewish community of Dublin in order to obtain information regarding the history, culture and identity of Dublin Jews. This has provided insight into the oral tradition which has retained the music of the Orthodox synagogue thus far. Other sources of information have included archives and further published/unpublished resources. The research has also involved recording, transcribing and analysing examples of liturgical Jewish music performed in Dublin. This has resulted in a comprehensive historical account of the Dublin Jewish community together with a discussion on Irish Jewish identity. Such material provides a background for the corpus of music which has been collected from various contributors. As well as recordings, this features six fully transcribed versions of the main sections from the Orthodox Sabbath service performed by five individuals, and a discussion on performance practice within the synagogue. It also includes examples of congregational singing which also forms a significant part of the service. Considerations are given to issues including emotion, identity, transmission, gender and the role of the congregation in the performance of music within the Orthodox synagogue of Dublin. The findings reveal that musical performance in the synagogue assists in promoting a sense of community among those who participate. Orthodox Jewish liturgical music and the way it is disseminated whether in the synagogue or other setting also provides a link with the past, dialogue with the past being an integral part of broad Jewish culture. Prior to this, little has been documented regarding the music of the Orthodox Dublin synagogue; therefore this research provides a basis on which further study of the topic may be conducted. i Declaration I hereby declare that this is my own work and that it has not been submitted for the award of any degree in any other University or third-level institution. Melanie Brown Signed__________________________________ Date___________________ Supervisor: Dr Helen Phelan Signed__________________________________ Date___________________ ii Acknowledgements There are numerous people whom I need to thank for their time, effort and contribution to the information contained in this thesis. My wonderful parents, Elaine and Leslie Brown have been enormously supportive throughout the entire research process which they have facilitated in every conceivable way. Thanks must go to all those people who consented to be interviewed, recorded and photographed, and whose testimony has told so very much with regard to music, culture and identity in Dublin: David Adler; Mildred Adler; Hilary Abrahamson; Maurice Abrahamson; Bernie Balfe; Andrew Barling; Tara Bell; David Brown; Fiona Brown; Michael Coleman; Diarmuid Curraoin; Alec Diamond; Harold Eppel; Joan Finkel; Howard Freeman; Jim Gibney; Celia Gittleson; Reuben Glass; Hilary Gross; Joseph Katz; Marilyn Kron; Miles Levine; Seton Menton; Kenneth Milofsky; Michael Mullin; Carl Nelkin; Moti Neumann; Emeritus Chief Rabbi Ya’acov Pearlman; Vanessa Rojack; Barry Rojack; Stanley Rojack; Edmund Ross; Stuart Rosenblatt; Maurice Samuelson; Shirley Samuelson; Alan Schwartzman; Edward Segal; Avron Shulman; Nurit Shulman; John Simon; George Smith; Menashe Tweig; Karen Walsh; Terence Walsh; Evelyn Weil; Linda White; Andrew Woolfe; Valerie Woolfe. I am particularly grateful to Howard Gross, Rev. Alwyn Shulman and Stanley Siev for the huge amount of time and immense quantity of information which they were prepared to share, and for the degree of commitment which they showed towards this project. I must also acknowledge those who made valuable contributions to this project, but who are no longer with us and whose memories we cherish: Cynthia Baker; Izzy (Isaac) Bernstein; Donald Buchalter; Stanley Buchalter; Louis Davis; Nick Harris; David Harrison; Geoffrey Kronn; Lila Kronn; Rene Lapedus; Malka Meron; Raphael Siev; Judge Hubert Wine. Finally, I should like to thank my supervisor at UL, Dr Helen Phelan, for her invaluable advice, guidance and support throughout the preparation of this thesis. Melanie Brown, 2012 iii List of Ethnographic Interviews Name Date Place Adler, David 15/07/10 Terenure synagogue Adler, Mildred 15/07/10 Terenure synagogue Abrahamson, Hilary 08/10/10 DJPC Abrahamson, Maurice 07/11/07 Home of E. & L. Brown Baker, Cynthia 23/08/07 Home of H. Wine Balfe, Bernie 10/02/09 Newpark School Barling, Andrew 04/08/10 Own home Bell, Tara 17/02/10 Home of M. Brown 23/12/10 Own home Bernstein, Izzy (Isaac) 06/02/08 Bloomfield Care Home Brown, David 19/11/07 Own home Brown, Elaine 15/12/07; 18/01/08; Own home 02/10/10; 09/10/10; 26/12/10; 29/04/11; 15/05/11 Brown, Fiona 20/06/06 Own home Brown, Leslie 24/06/06; 18/01/08; Own home 03/06/10; 26/12/10; 08/03/11 Buchalter, Stanley 01/02/08 Own home Caplin, Adrian 06/06/09 Terenure synagogue Coleman, Michael 11/06/08 Home of E. & L. Brown Curraoin, Diarmuid 11/07/11 Home of B. Rojack Davis, Louis 21/02/07 Own home Diamond, Alec 06/08/09 Own home iv Donn, Joanna 04/03/11 Own home (London, UK) Eppel, Harold 12/09/09 Terenure synagogue Finkel, Joan 15/03/10 Own home Freeman, Howard 10/02/08 Terenure synagogue Gibney, Jim 04/07/11 Castlecor cemetery, Co. Meath Gittleson, Celia 20/07/06 Own home (Manchester, UK) Glass, Reuben 22/08/10 Own home (London, UK) Gross, Hilary 02/10/10 Terenure synagogue Gross, Howard 13/07/06; 13/02/08; Home of E. & L. Brown 12/10/08 23/06/09; Own home 02/08/10 Terenure synagogue Harris, Nick 30/06/06; 14/07/06; Own home 08/08/07 Katz, Joseph 04/09/10 Machzekei Hadass synagogue Kron, Marilyn 28/10/10 Home of V. & A. Woolfe Kronn, Geoffrey 04/04/06 Own home Kronn, Lila 04/04/06 Own home Lapedus, Rene 04/1999 Own home Levine, Miles 26/08/07; 11/05/08 Home of E.

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