I Don't Know About the Music But...

...the picture of the Temple Mount is great!


Explanatory note:

What is Kosher-Gospel?

A lot of confusion arises from this seemingly dichotomous name. Some think, incorrectly, that this maybe some how linked to the Jews for Jesus movement, but it is not. In fact, the soul in Gospel Music, as it is known today, pre-dates the Christian religion. African tribes have carried soul for generations and Jews have been no strangers to this. A visit to a Yemenite synagogue or perhaps an Egyptian or a Moroccan synagogue, and rhythms indigenous to some of the people who inhabit the great continent of Africa will be heard. Before slaves were transported to the so-called New World , they had soul. Many of these Africans spoke many different languages, and represented a plethora of religions and musical styles including Muslims, Bantu, Jews etc…

Many of these slaves would try to communicate as best they could with each other until they had a common language. They developed what would be called a work song, a preamble to the blues. As they were introduced to Christianity, they incorporated this soul into the new hymns that they learned from their slave masters as well as the spirituals. Spirituals were also a form of communication, since slaves were not allowed to talk while they worked. However, the slave owners did like to hear them sing. For instance, “Down by the Riverside ” was a spiritual that the slaves used to communicate a location where they could meet secretly.

From the 1750’s until the mid 1800’s the term applied to this a cappella soul music was spirituals. And, in the 1800’s it developed into jubilee songs. It was not until the late 1930’s early 1940’s that people termed the new bluesy sounds of the urban religious life, gospel music. This was the style spear-headed by Thomas Dorsey, the former pianist for Ma Rainey. The word, gospel, is a Greek word meaning, good news. It is a wonder that later on in history; many descendants of the slaves remained Christian. Especially when many slave owners tried to use the Bible to validate their belief in the slave system. However, there was a number of blacks who returned to Islam and there also was a small wave who return to Judaism, the religion of their ancestors.

Joshua Nelson has spear-headed a new revolution in Jewish liturgical music. Like Thomas Dorsey, Joshua has taken the dull melodies of Jewish liturgical music and added the sounds of soul. But Joshua does not take full credit for this phenomenon. He acknowledges that the black synagogues organized in the late 1800’s and particularly The Commandment Keeper’s Synagogue organized by Rabbi Wentworth Matthew in the early 1900’s has had a long tradition of soul Jewish music. Located at 1, 123rd street in Harlem , NY , It is still a functioning synagogue. Like Mahalia Jackson did in the Christian world of gospel music, Joshua has taken the sounds of soul in Jewish liturgical music to the broader community.

SO… Hashem is the soul and nefesh in our Jewish Gospel Music. The soul of suffering speckled with joy from Hashem above. Jews of European background are no stranger to suffering, as well as Jews from around the world. And although we shall never forget Slavery, the Holocaust, prejudice, or injustice, we cannot continue singing sad songs. As it is said in the book of Psalms: “Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy comes in the morning.”

So let the singing begin…Gospel style!