Astoria shabbaton attracts 80 lovers of Jewish music

From the Psalms to Paul Simon, with a long stop at George Gershwin

By Paul Haist

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The Weekend in Quest Shabbaton Feb. 22-24 in Astoria attracted some 80 Jews, most from Portland and a few from Oregon’s north coast and Washington’s south coast, for an exploration of Jewish music and mainstream music arising from Jewish tradition.

The conversation began  with the Book of Psalms on Friday night and concluded on Sunday with the music of Paul Simon.

In between the Psalms and Simon, Rabbi Alan Berg also lectured on George Gershwin’s groundbreaking jazz opera “Porgy and Bess” and the contemporary music of Jeffrey Klepper and Debbie Friedman.

The Institute for Judaic Studies presented the event in cooperation with Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Neveh Shalom and Havurah Shalom.

Berg is a former associate rabbi at Beth Israel who in the 26 years since leaving that post went on to a distinguished career both as a pulpit rabbi in Massachusetts and California and as a university lecturer, as well as a newspaper columnist.

He was joined by Joshua Stampfer, rabbi emeritus at Portland’s Congregation Neveh Shalom and founder of the Institute for Judaic Studies; Portland jazz historian and radio station KMHD jazz programmer George Fendel; and Portland singer and recording artist Margie Rosenthal.

The shabbaton was entitled “Gilgul: Spiritual Transformation and the Jewish Musical Voice.” Berg was the featured speaker.

Gilgul—cycle in Hebrew—is the concept of reincarnation arising from the tradition of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah. It proposes that souls cycle through various human lives over time.

In the context of the evolution of Jewish music from its roots in the Psalms to some modern-day music, the idea expressed at the shabbaton—simply stated—was that Jewish values are reiterated in varying form in the music of successive eras in the history of humankind and that the character of those successive expressions reflects the tenor of the times in which they emerge.

So, there is a thread that links the Psalms of David to George Gershwin to Debbie Friedman and Paul Simon, as well as Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) and a host of other Jewish composers and singers, and even non-Jewish musicians such as Woody Guthrie whose work is seen to reflect the focus and values often associated with Jewish-inspired music.

The discussion of “Porgy and Bess,” which included video excerpts from the film version, commanded close attention. Berg led the section to which both Fendel and Stampfer contributed.

Note was made that controversy surrounded the creation of a black opera by a white composer at the time it was initially presented—to very limited initial success—in the 1930s shortly before Gershwin’s early death.

There was a feeling in some quarters, according to Stampfer, that “it should have been written by a black.” The rabbi pointed out, however, that there is considerable similarity between black and Jewish experience, not only in regard to both groups having been enslaved, but also in the Jewish experience of poverty in America.

Stampfer pointed to Porgy’s song “I Got Plenty of Nothin’” and found resonance with Perkei Avot, which asks, he said, “Who is rich? One who is satisfied with his lot,” as in Porgy’s lyric “nothin’s plenty for me.”

Likewise, when the character Sportin’ Life sings “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” (“the things you are liable to read in the Bible”) Sportin’ Life’s attempt to undermine the foundation of the Bible for Bess underscores the centrality of the Bible in African American culture, which comports with the Bible’s similar position in Jewish culture, according to Stampfer.

When Berg moved on to Paul Simon he began by contrasting Simon’s landmark “Graceland” concert in Africa with “Porgy and Bess.”

In the latter, he noted, all the dialogue is sung by black characters. The only spoken dialogue in the work is that of the white police officers who come to Catfish Row, the venue of the drama, in search of a murder suspect.

“In Porgy and Bess, white folks don’t sing,” said Berg. “They bring the message of terror.”

But when Simon went to Africa, it was he, the white man, who sang.On this occasion the white man did not bring a message of terror, but of hope or transcendence.

“The threshold event between Gershwin and Simon is World War II,” said Berg. The hard reality of what the world witnessed in that war and the transformation of American culture in the post-war years impacted the musicians who rose to prominence in the post-war era.

“This music was linked to World War II,” said Berg referring not only to Simon but to his generation of musicians. “The musicians were shattered…Paul Simon is operating in that context.”

Berg concluded the shabbaton by playing two Simon recordings, “America,” first released in the 1960s when Simon performed with Art Garfunkel, and “American Tune,” released as a solo by Simon in 1973.

The latter song has been described as a metaphor for what some see as the decline of American society, but a metaphor that may end with hope in the words “…it’s alright, you can’t be forever blessed. Still tomorrow’s going to be another working day…”

Shabbaton goer Anne Baldwin of Chinook, Wash., heard the song as “a profound answer to the question: What is a Jew?”

Berg elaborated on what he heard in the lyrics, something that resonated with core Jewish belief restated in what he called “a modern vocabulary.”

“It is not incumbent on us to finish the task (of healing the world),” he said. “But (it is incumbent on us) to carry on the work.”

The Saturday session of the Shabbaton featured a presentation by Fendel that captivated his audience.

He shared his personal experience of meeting Ira Gershwin as a young boy, the result of his mother having writen to George’s brother requesting Gershwin memorabilia for her son.

When Ira Gershwin responded with a photograph of himself and his brother  inscribed with happy-birthday wishes for Fendel, as well as a canceled check bearing George’s signature, his mother advised him to call on Gershwin personally; the teenager Fendel happened to be visiting Los Angeles at the time.

Gershwin welcomed the boy for a brief visit that he seems to recall today as if it happened yesterday.

Fendel also shared a small part of his extensive collection of Gershwin recordings.

After Havdallah on Saturday night, Fendel performed at the keyboard, focusing especially on the works of Gershwin. He also performed a number of Jewish compositions for a game of Jewish Name That Tune.

Response to the program by shabbaton goers was positive.

Michael Feldman of Portland attended with his wife Ruth. The couple moved to Portland 18 months ago from Maryland.

“I was attracted by the music,” he said. “It was a great program.”

Longtime Portland resident Alice Meyer said the program shed light on the music her children listened to when they were young. “Their music was consistent with Jewish values,” she said, pleased at least in retrospect.

Bob Epstein, who served on the committee that organized the shabbaton, called the weekend “terrific” and said he especially enjoyed the interaction of the two rabbis and Fendel.

Carol Isaak, who attended with her husband Rabbi Daniel Isaak of Neveh Shalom, said she enjoyed the opportunity to meet and talk with people from all across the community with whom she does not always have the opportunity to sit down.

Rabbi Isaak led Shabbat morning services.

Stampfer expressed his gratitude to all who worked to make the weekend possible. He said it was Berg “who conceived of the whole weekend and its content.”

He said the event, the second in two years in Astoria, recreates annual shabbatons at various places on the coast that he organized until about 12 years ago. He thought the Weekend in Quest would repeat next year.