I am a child of the ‘60s. I learned to play guitar to music from the Rabbis’ Sons, Shlomo Carlebach and Lennon and McCartney. When we had a kumsitz at our youth functions we would intersperse Simon and Garfunkel music with songs from the Six-Day War. In 1970 I accompanied Rabbi Carlebach when he played an impromptu concert at Zion Square in Jerusalem.
I also played in a professional simcha band for many years. We often performed on a float in New York City’s annual Salute to Israel Parade. At weddings and bar mitzvahs, in addition to traditional simcha music, we played Beatles riffs and even some Beatles tunes in their entirety. Brides and grooms would request music from the era’s popular bands by which to walk down the aisle.
I remember playing in a band at the bar mitzvah party for the son of a well-known rabbi who asked if we could please play “Yesterday,” the famous Lennon/McCartney song. He also asked if we knew the song “Cherish.” He did not know the name of the band that popularized the song, but we did – The Association. We played “Cherish.”
We seem to be living in different times now. Or maybe not. One of the musicians I played with in those days sports a beard, lives in a strictly Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem and lives a haredi lifestyle. We remain the closest of friends and both he and his wife sing Beatles songs to this day.
Some of the musicians I played with have gone on to careers in the health professions, education and chinuch. Some have remained in the music industry as both performers and educators. One went on to receive a doctorate in musicology. Interestingly, all these musicians have gone on to have successful lives. They have strong family, community and Orthodox religious ties.
Yes, the music may have been loud and “different.” It may even have been rebellious, with words that were difficult to clearly understand. But it did not alter our basic approach to life. Our parents, perhaps in retrospect, now admit that much of our music has withstood the test of time, especially the music of the Beatles, and they too recognize it when it is played, even singing along with some of the words.
In 1965 the Beatles were banned from playing in Israel. There’s a lingering debate over whether the ban was due to fear that their music would corrupt Israel’s youth or whether it was a simple matter of protekzia.
Most writers who have looked into the incident now believe the concert promoter who booked the Beatles for Israel did not have the best political connections. As a result, the concert was banned. The ban had no impact on the Beatles or their talent, of course. In the few years the Beatles existed they came to define a generation and wrote some of the best music in decades.
Ban lifted and protekzia handled, Paul McCartney, the ex-Beatle, recently played a concert in Tel Aviv. He said he’d been looking forward to the experience, as had thousands of Israelis, old and young. As many as 50,000 fans attended his concert on September 26.
McCartney’s music seems to unify. Granted, there are those who would call it corrupting, but it is not music that corrupts but rather people who are corruptible. A person may be troubled, suffering from his or her own problems, and music makes for a convenient but ultimately meaningless excuse. If the music were not available to blame there would be something else. Research shows that music can cause aggression only in those who have a history of violence.
Nevertheless, music bans continue. We have read of an attempt to ban music with a 2-4 beat, or the use of electric guitar or bass that may sound like rock and roll. This ban applies not to gangsta rap – which has no melody, is purely aggressive and should be ignored – but to tunes you can hum or sing along with.
In the U.S. a few months ago, a concert by Lipa Schmeltzer was cancelled due to a ban issued against his music and performance style. Schmeltzer, a chassidic Jew, sings only Jewish and simcha music. But he is a joyful and intense performer, and I suppose that is threatening to some. On the other hand, so many fine people, frum and otherwise, say are elevated by his music and it enlivens their day to hear it. Isn’t this what music is meant for?