"Am Yisrael Sing" 1: Introduction and introduction - the music in the ancient period

This series deals with music and the historical foundations woven together in the fabric of both general and vocal music from the return of Zion to the fourth century AD, while alongside the question: what they sang, what they played and on what instruments, the treatment of the political, economic, social foundations stands out, and certainly the religious and ritual ones acted at the forefront of the musical stage and within it

Research intentions

In this research (*) I would like to examine the following foundations

First - in general terms, I would like to refer to the many and varied topics involved in the world of Jewish music such as temple music, synagogue music, the music of the Essenes and the warriors of Ben Khosva, the music of the sand and more.

Second - I would like to examine the differences between the biblical period and the days of the Second Temple and between the latter and the period of the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Thirdly - I would like to examine the degree of foreign influence, mainly the Greek, Hellenistic and Roman, on Jewish music and even state the reasons for the closure of certain types of Jewish music to it, if indeed this was the case.

Fourth - I would like to examine the historical circumstances that were the foundation of various musical phenomena, directly or indirectly.

Fifth - I would like to trace different aspects, around which different musical episodes are folded, and the reference to political, economic, social and cultural-religious aspects.

Sixth - I would like to highlight the special approach of the Jewish leadership, including Sages, towards music in general and towards special musical episodes in particular, when this approach, and in particular of the Sages, gave to a certain extent and in certain cases a special and interesting dimension to the discussed episodes.

Seventh - I would like to highlight the degree of proportion between the music in the Land of Israel and that of the Diaspora (Persian versus Hellenistic and Roman).

Eighth - I would like to review symbolic aspects - magical, eschatological and apocalyptic, which allow another, slightly different aspect to the examination of music in Judaism.

Ninth - I would like to bring up the issue of dance and the connection created between it and musical phenomena.

With reference to these matters that have been exhausted above, I would like to point out the main innovations in my work, although actually detailing those points, there is already a touch of this:

First - the phenomenon called temple music is nothing but a consequence of the days of the Second Temple.

Second - the special contribution, which has the character of primacy, of Ezra and Nehemiah at the beginning of the Second Temple and of Ribaz after its destruction.

Thirdly - most of the Jewish music, both in the days of the Second Temple and in the days of the Mishna and the Talmud, was essentially Israelite. And as for the Jewish diasporas outside the Land of Israel, we are witnessing a phenomenon of imitation or a special development while foreign influences with reference to place and time.

Fourth - the special dimension of music as a connecting channel, in addition to other means, between the sacred and the public, both in the temple and in the synagogue and especially on holidays and festivals.

Fifth - the direct or indirect involvement of Chazal in the sacred and sacred music, for various reasons, was a phenomenon without parallel and in its special dress as it appears in the sources in any neighboring civilization.

Sixth - the music was used in the coming to different social struggles in the temple for all that this implies.

Seventh - the special contribution of the leaders of the people, the kings, whether indirectly (House of Hasmoneans and House of Herod) and also directly during the days of Agrippa II.

Eighth - the music was mainly used in the days of the First Temple as an expression of popular-mass joy on the one hand and a royal-courtly atmosphere on the other hand, during the days of the Second Temple it became an organized and institutionalized, systematic and very important temple music, the sole property of muhsikaim, a kind of professionals, the case of funerals and the priesthood.

Ninth - the acclimatization of the music in the beit midrash was for teaching, memorization and more.

A tenth - "mainly singing with an instrument" - is typical of the Second Temple period and "mainly singing in the mouth" characterized the days of the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Eleven - a special social aspect was invested in sand music.

Twelve - technological and essential improvements in musical instruments were known, both in the sacred and secular spheres, and more or less successful attempts to adopt certain instruments in temple music such as the "mysterious rake" were identified.

Thirteen - in general, relative to the biblical period, the music, and in particular that which was wrapped in sacred effects, became more refined and was rhythmic and less noisy.

Fourteenth - the special status of the shofar was highlighted from after the destruction onwards, for all that it implies.

Fifteenth - a degree of professionalism was known in certain basics within the sand poetry circle.

And to conclude - if it is difficult to point to a real, revolutionary innovation in general teaching between the days of the first Temple and the second in regard to the sand song and its playing, then in regard to the sacred music, both in the temple and in the synagogue, it is possible to point to the plundering of systems in the full sense of the word.

Jewish and external sources as well

My research is based first of all on the sources available to us that concern the Land of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora (Jewish and external sources as well), i.e. literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources. I asked, of course, if necessary, to check different versions of manuscripts and to compare and contrast the different types of sources.

I also had before my eyes the essays that have been published so far on this matter. Although I do not have a favorable opinion of what has been researched so far, I sought to get the most out of the things while carefully using the writings of the scholars. And it is true that here and there I raised objections about this or that study while avoiding a natural tendency to get swept away in the stream of criticism.

My work refers to the period from the return of Zion to the beginning of the fourth century AD. Therefore, I made use of biblical sources, only those that were written, or that referred to the period after the return of Zion and onwards. I was very careful not to make use of sources that were written late to the fourth century CE or the fifth century CE, and this is perhaps except for a few and isolated cases in which traditions and testimonies have been preserved that belong to the modern research community, to the period in which the subject's research is discussed. Every single thing in order to be as clean as possible from historical projections.

I also asked to be very careful with the secondary time distribution. That is to say - the Persian period, the Hellenistic period and the Roman period, and especially from the Jewish aspect, namely, the days of the Second Temple, on its secondary division and the period of the Mishna and the Talmud.

The entire work is built according to two cuts at the same time - longitudinally and transversely, and sometimes with a careful combination of them. Since my point of departure is historical, a chronological division is self-evident. However, since different topics and contents were sometimes used in a mixture in several periods, I sought to create a certain, adequate framework, which would give expression to this enlightenment as well. This is why the temple music belongs to the days of the Second Temple only, and hence its chronological division. However, not so synagogue music, sand music and more.

To conclude the introduction, I would like to emphasize that the lion's share of my work concerns the Land of Israel, and this is not only for the simple reason that temple music had no equal outside of the Land of Israel, that is, in the Jewish diaspora. However, the paucity and paucity of the evidence regarding the Hellenistic-Roman Jewish diaspora on the one hand and the great closeness between the synagogue music in the Land of Israel and Babylon (when the source and basis must be seen in the former) on the other hand, was not enough to claim a more prominent place for the diaspora than I have given it in my work.

I will point out with extreme emphasis that in this research as well as in historical-musical research around the world, it was not possible, unfortunately, to trace the technical, vocal and instrumental musical aspects, such as, for example, to present such and such musical notes, as is carried out in studies concerning modern, somewhat contemporary music And even a hundred years ago and more. If only to trace environmental influences of this and that, both near and far, such as for example the influence of American music on this and Eastern music on modern and even old Israeli music. They tried, by the way, to trace ancient musical notes, such as the attempt to check the Hymn to Apollo as revealed by different graphic configurations on finds from ancient Delphi and their appearance (if it is musical notes at all) in the eye of the beholder, of course.

It is true that it can be assumed that musical aspects from Jewish communities, somewhat remote, such as among the Jews of Yemen, were and have been preserved for many years, perhaps even hundreds of years and more, until the present day. However, the above matter is quite up in the air since, unfortunately, of course, it cannot stand the test of musical and historical scientific research, at least until this very day.

In any case, the research in question discusses the historical - social, economic, political and certainly the religious-ritual aspects - of the ancient era in Judaism. And I hope that I have sufficiently examined the depth of such and such facts and descriptions, in order to formulate my conclusions on the subject under discussion, and I will end with the epilogue of the legendary Puck from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream": "If we have sinned against taste, do not be angry this time, just pretend that we died when we found out Here are visions... I will bow your noses to you and you will clap your hands."

(*) It should be noted that the entire subject is an abbreviated adaptation of a post-doctorate thesis at the South African University in Pretoria under the guidance of the head of the department of SEMITICS, Prof. HJDREYER                         

et alia while highlighting the necessary historical contexts, since the research in question does not deal with musicology but rather with the historical foundations woven together in the fabric of both holistic and vocal music, while next to the question: what they sang, what they played and with what instruments, the reference to the political, economic, social foundations stands out, and certainly the religious and ritual ones worked at the forefront The musical stage and within it.

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• Scientific American / about sounds and people
• the egg or the chicken? Reflection between holidays
• The Song of the Muscles chapter XNUMX Let's dance please - dance and faith
• Asher Liason's muscle song
• And in a dream I saw