A Season of Singing: Creating Feminist Jewish Music in the United States

Abstract

Sarah Ross's A Season of Singing: Creating Feminist Jewish Music in the United States documents the important work of feminist Jewish singer-songwriters in the United States from the 1960s to the early twenty-first century. The author combines a thorough historical overview with ethnographic fieldwork and reflection, including poignant moments of autoethnography. This methodological approach yields a sophisticated reading of broad social, political, and religious contexts. Drawing on an array of relevant theoretical frameworks, including the feminist theology of Judith Plaskow, Ross teases out the intricacies of what she identifies as the “feminist Jewish music scene.”Ross shows how these actors, whom the author identifies as the core of the feminist Jewish singer-songwriter scene, played pivotal roles in creating and sustaining feminist Jewish music and, by extension, developed new outlets for feminist-oriented Jewish community and practices. In the ethnographically oriented parts of the text, practitioners in the Reform, Reconstructionist, and Jewish Renewal movements, such as Debbie Friedman, are thoroughly discussed in a sensitive and humane way, to the point that the reader feels as if they are in conversation with the respondents. Ross shows how feminist Jewish singer-songwriters drew on secular musical movements, such as American folksong (popularized by singers like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez), to optimize the transformative potential of music as a vehicle for feminist ideals and community cohesion. Ross's sophisticated analysis offers fresh insights into how new materials—composed for the transmission of both tradition and innovation—served as pedagogical tools that, in the eyes of its creators, could be reconceptualized and utilized by Jewish communities within and beyond the United States. This was achieved through a common language as well as a shared “kavannah” (spiritual energy) communicated through musical charisma and spiritual dynamism in performance. The power of communal singing is cited, among other things, as a tool for inspiration and cultural sustainability and as a transformer of ritual practices and experiences.The book's rich cultural analysis and close biographical narrative is bolstered by in-depth chordal and melodic analyses. This level of music and song-text analysis, often absent in recent scholarship in ethnomusicology, amplifies the author's points with nuanced musical data that reveal much regarding (a) the singer-songwriters’ aesthetic choices, (b) textual interpretation and feminist ideals communicated through the music-text interplay, and (c) the musical rapprochement with the American folk song genre. Ross brings to light a compelling array of musical works by American Jewish feminists—including songs, performances, ensembles, and other initiatives—that might otherwise be overlooked in the history of Jewish music in the United States. A striking example, among many, is Ross's account of the formation of the group MiRaJ and its vocal innovation, networks, and potentiality for social and religious change.Perhaps the book's only weakness is its relatively few exclusions. For instance, its lack of engagement with Orthodox Jewish music contexts might be justifiable as a scholarly choice but it is regrettable. The groupings and manifestations of Judaism that fall under the umbrella of “Orthodox” are diverse and, arguably, too large to tackle, even in a book dedicated solely to the topic. Moreover, as Ross argues, Orthodox engagements do not operate in precisely the same musical scene. However, in their absence, Ross, perhaps unintentionally, reduces Orthodoxy to its apparent unwavering adherence to the dictum of “Kol Isha” (literally “a woman's voice”) that takes many diverse forms in Orthodox Jewish contexts. While “Kol Isha” certainly silences the public singing of women in some cases, it has also prompted the formation of lively, reflexive feminist-oriented Jewish musicking spaces in Orthodox contexts. Likewise, this reader would have welcomed a critical reflection on the practitioners’ positionalities within their broader American context. The primary respondents discussed seem to be almost exclusively Ashkenazi-centric, middle class, if not “white” then “white-passing,” and largely aligned with American liberal, left-wing affiliations. Notwithstanding these small points, Ross's in-depth focus on little-explored figures fills a lacuna in American Jewish music scholarship that more than makes up for its omissions.A particular strength of Ross's writing is her ability to comfortably portray complexity, to reflect significantly on “the big picture” and all the different layers and actors within it. The picture she provides of these singer-songwriters is nuanced and sophisticated. In discussing the music industry, for example, she explores both the do-it-yourself approach to “scene” music and perceived barriers, including antisemitic attitudes and intra-Jewish tensions, that impeded the publication and distribution of feminist Jewish music as a commercially viable genre. Ross frames her discussion of musical production as “translocal,” employing the concept of “relational networks” to analyze its dimensions. Overall, the book's multifaceted approach highlights the importance of Jewish feminism in the music-making process but also provides valuable insights into aspects of grassroots religious/spiritually oriented music-making that may be more broadly applicable. While it certainly will be useful for scholars and students of music and feminism, the book can also be valuable in guiding those researching the music of minorities in America. Indeed, this book can serve as a model for communicating the multiple dimensions of such an investigation.In addition to its valuable contribution to ethnomusicological scholarship, A Season of Singing might become a cornerstone for future research investigating how halachic observance and ritual practice in Reform and Jewish Renewal Movements were transformed from an experiential perspective. Given that these movements are cited as having the power to potentially transform social realities, manifesting greater inclusivity and egalitarianism, future scholarship might shift focus from the creators, the movements, and their music to a phenomenologically oriented examination of the day-to-day transformation of ritual and synagogue practices.