Klezmer and the ghost of Germany past
By Ruth Ellen Gruber
FREIBURG, Germany (JTA) -- At the height of the recent uproar over Pope Benedict XVI's rehabilitation of a Holocaust-denying bishop, I attended a klezmer concert in the pontiff's native Germany.
The timing was coincidental. I didn't deliberately set out to counter the pernicious folly of denying history by listening to music rooted in the culture the Nazis sought to destroy.
By Anat Heffetz [http://www.ynet.co.il/JewishScene]
Corny, clichéd Yiddishkeit suffers hard blow from young Jewish musicians who take century-old Yiddish songs to a whole new level
We got to the club half an hour after the show was scheduled to start, knowing full well that music shows at this venue always start at least an hour late. However, when we walked into the dark, but surprisingly not smoke-filled basement of Levontin 7, we were stunned to discover that the band has just taken the stage and was about to begin.
Corny, clichéd Yiddishkeit suffers hard blow from young Jewish musicians who take century-old Yiddish songs to a whole new level
We got to the club half an hour after the show was scheduled to start, knowing full well that music shows at this venue always start at least an hour late. However, when we walked into the dark, but surprisingly not smoke-filled basement of Levontin 7, we were stunned to discover that the band has just taken the stage and was about to begin.