The Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (American Musicspheres)
"In his fascinatingThe Lord's Song in a Strange Land, Jeffrey Summit, rabbi and Hillel director at Tufts University, studies the link betwen music and identity--spiritual and cultural--in five very different metropolitan Boston congregations....Well-written [and] accessible to anyone interested in the role of music in prayer."--Jerusalem Post"An illuminating study that shows the importance ethnographic research can have in contributing to Jewish musical scholarship....Through well-written studies such as this one, we may gain a broader and more nuanced understanding of synagogue musical expression, less as a test of historical trajectory than as a place where history and legitimacy are constantly subjected to rich layers of negotiation."--Language, Literature, and the Arts"Jeffrey Summit's well-researched book on contemporary Jewish worship in America is a superb way of understanding what keeps Jewish communities inspired and motivated."--Elie Wiesel"Useful to students in general religious as well as musical studies...this work gives an insider's insights and understanding, and a scholar's attention to the world of Jewish diversity." --Notes"Lucidly written and argued...impressively reaches out to a number of readerships." --Journal of Religion"Jeffrey Summit takes insider ethnography home to Boston, exploring Jewish worship across denominational lines and musical boundaries. An eye- and ear-opening exploration of the changing nature of musical tradition in American Jewish life." --Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Harvard University, author ofLetJasmine Rain Down: Song and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews"...innovatively connects prayer and performance with broader social dynamics, examining musical sound in several dimensions and problematizing its relationship to social structure... skillfully grounded in ethnographic theory and rich with vibrant ethnographic material."--Ethnomusicology