Playing With The Banned
Rabbinic prohibition of chasidic music concert here — 'sin, ribaldry, looseness' — causes furor.
|
<*>Lipa is sealed: Orthodox singing star Lipa Schmeltzer can't have a Garden party, rabbis decree. |
|
by Hella Winston
Special To The Jewish Week
Did the haredi rabbis go too far this time?
That's the question being asked in some circles after a ban
issued by 33 fervently Orthodox rabbinic authorities forced the
cancellation of a major charity concert slated to feature chasidic
singing sensation Lipa Schmeltzer this week at the WaMu Theater at
Madison Square Garden.
The offense?
That the planned March 9 program — featuring separate seating for
men and women and widely billed in Orthodox neighborhoods as ''The Big
Event'' (intended to support an all-volunteer organization that funds
weddings for Israeli orphans), would cause ''ribaldry and
lightheadedness'' and ''strip the youth of every shred of Fear of Heaven
and [lower] them into a pit of destruction,'' according to the ban.
Published in Hebrew on Feb.
*************** src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/N4620.TheJewishWeek/B2659042;sz=300x250;ord=%5Btimestamp%5D?" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" bordercolor="#000000" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="300">
< language='1.1'
SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N4620.TheJewishWeek/B2659042;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;ord=[timestamp]?">
</>
<NO>
<A
HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N4620.TheJewishWeek/B2659042;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=300x250;ord=[timestamp]?">
<IMG
SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N4620.TheJewishWeek/B2659042;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=300x250;ord=[timestamp]?"
BORDER=0 WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 ALT="Click Here"></A>
</NO>
<*
20 in the fervently Orthodox newspaper Hamodia, with
language lifted from a decree against such events in Israel, the ban
also took aim at the ''organizers and singers'' for ''causing the
multitudes to sin,'' and warned that they should not be invited to
perform at ''any joyous gathering or public appeals for charity,''
imperiling their livelihood.
The ban came as a shock to the event's organizers and performers,
who claim they secured rabbinic approval prior to the show's planning,
and it led to Schmeltzer feeling pressured to breach his contract and
back out, forfeiting his reported $100,000 fee.
Schmeltzer's withdrawal, in turn, forced the event's producer, Sheya
Mendlowitz, to cancel the show, which had sold more than 3,000 tickets,
incurring losses ''in the realm of $500,000,'' he said, a ''good portion''
of which was fronted to the producers by the charity.
The whole affair has left many in the haredi world perplexed and
others angry, prompting a raft of questions about the genesis and
execution of the ban itself, and what it might portend for the future
of musical entertainment in the community.
It has also caused criticism of the rabbinic leadership, who, it
appears, may have been duped into signing the ban, and who, some people
believe, are woefully out of touch with their communities.
''How can they do this?'' asked Miriam Hertz, a Brooklyn Bais Yaakov
student, on hearing the news. ''What about the poor orphans who need
this tzedakah money to get married?''
When approached by The Jewish Week, a Flatbush resident who would
identify himself only as Mendy, commented: ''With all the problems our
community is grappling with — teens leaving in unprecedented numbers,
prominent yeshivas accused of knowingly employing pedophile teachers,
chasidim rioting in the streets of Borough Park while their rebbes
engage in public court battles over succession, I am astonished that
this is the issue these 33 illustrious rabbis have chosen to tackle.
''Our children need an outlet,'' Mendy continued, ''and what could be
better than a frum concert? Riots are OK, concerts are ossur
[forbidden]?''
The Schmeltzer incident is not the first attempt by rabbinic
authorities to raise the barrier between their community and the wider
culture, and it seems to highlight the tension in the haredi world over
how to deal with elements of modernity seeping into their culture. Bans
have been issued against the use of television, the Internet, secular
newspapers and certain Jewish books, including one that seemed too
close to a Darwinian reading of evolution.
Regarding Schmeltzer, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Orthodox,
noted, ''there are questions that people have raised. Does this mean the
end of concerts? It's not clear. What are the rules?''
He added that it is important for people to have entertainment
outlets, ''to enjoy things that are kosher.'' And for a community that
worries about losing children to a secular culture viewed as
hedonistic, many see the popular chasidic music concerts as a healthy
outlet.
But not, apparently, leading rabbinic authorities from the Agudath
Israel Council of Torah Sages, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, the Lakewood
Yeshiva, various chasidic sects and others among the rabbinic
authorities who signed on to the ban.
Schmeltzer, who lives in Monsey, earns his living primarily by
performing at weddings, but his albums have gained widespread
popularity among chasidim in large part because he sometimes sets his
own Hebrew or Yiddish lyrics, as well as liturgy, to pop music
melodies.
His live performances and videos, available on YouTube, often
involve dancing — male only — and humor, both of which have drawn the
wrath of critics who feel he is ''too goyish.''
His own rebbe's name — The Skverer Rebbe, David Twersky — did not appear on the recent ban.
How did the others come to sign on to it, and without warning Schmeltzer or the concert organizers?
A spokesman for Mendlowitz, the event's producer, said that he
believes the rabbis who signed were ''bamboozled'' by extremist activists
who disapprove of Schmeltzer's use of non-Jewish melodies and onstage
''antics'' that ''drive the crowds a little wild,'' and who ultimately want
to ''stop all concerts.''
Such concerts are big business for performers like Mordechai Ben David, Avraham Fried and others.
The spokesman specifically cited Asher Friedman, a Brooklyn resident
who heads Nechomas Yisroel, an organization that pays yeshiva tuition
for children who would otherwise be forced to go to public school, and
Avrohom Schorr, a Flatbush rabbi, as the instigators of the ban.
Mendlowitz's representative believes that Friedman, with Schorr's
backing, obtained the signatures by using some manner of deception to
get the first few rabbis to sign on, and then used those signatures to
persuade others to add their names as well.
Numerous calls to Friedman went unreturned, and Schorr, when reached
at home, told The Jewish Week that he was ''not available to answer
questions over the phone.'' When asked if he would answer questions in
person, Schorr said that he was going out of town for ''a couple of
weeks.''
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of
Philadelphia and one of the signatories to the ban, admitted that the
rabbis who signed it did not consult with one another. When asked about
the ban's origins, Rabbi Kamenetsky was vague, saying only that ''it
seems there was some input from Israel.'' He added that he did not think
this ban would affect other concerts, because it was issued
specifically ''for a certain looseness.''
His assessment seems to be contradicted by an advertisement
published on Feb. 27 in Hamodia, signed by eight of the 33 rabbis,
praising Schmeltzer for backing out of the New York event and another
one planned in London, and supporting a ban on all future concerts.
Indeed, radio show host Zev Brenner told The Jewish Week that he is
''hearing through the grapevine that this ban is chilling any future
concerts [and might] seriously affect the Passover entertainment and
concert scene.''
Numerous other signatories were contacted but would not comment or did not return calls.
There are those in the fervently Orthodox community who believe
that, while the rabbis might have been misled about some of the
specifics, they were well aware of what they were doing when they
signed the ban.
Binyamin Jolkovsky, publisher of JewishWorldReview.com and a close
observer of the haredi community, said he believes the rabbis intend to
''put a stop'' to ''the cultural trend'' within the Orthodox community that
emulates secular society, complete with music ''superstars and concerts
and Madison Square Garden and billboards.
''It's one thing when you have the music on when you're eating
dinner, or while you're driving,'' he said. ''It's another when you're on
Avenue M [in Brooklyn] and see this chasidic face with curly payes
staring down at you. It's enough. If there is anyone whose picture
belongs on a billboard to literally look up to, it should be a rebbe
[not] a chasidic singer, and they're putting an end to it.''
While legal issues regarding the concert cancellation are sure to go
on — and the rabbis are now urging ticket holders for The Big Event not
to request refunds so that the charity will receive the money — one
observer of Jewish life noted that, ironically, the whole affair might
boost Schmeltzer's career.
Marc Shapiro, a professor of Judaic studies at the University of
Scranton, in Pennsylvania, pointed out that previous rabbinic bans,
like those against certain books, have spurred increased interest, and
sales, for the books.
''I think 50 percent of the people went out to get them just because
they were banned'' and the other half adhered to the prohibition, he
said.
But Schmeltzer doesn't seem to feel that way. Interviewed on Zev
Brenner's radio show, he said he felt he had no choice but to obey the
ban. ''I have a career,'' he said. ''I have a wife and kids to support, I
have a mortgage to pay. I have to get out of the fire.''
Hella Winston, a sociologist, is the author of ''Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels.''
